BRDC Formula 4 returns to Silverstone

19/08/2013

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For the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth rounds of the championship, the BRDC Formula 4 contestants returned to Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit - where the flourishing series was inaugurated back in April - on the weekend of August 17th/18th.

Matty Graham and Jake Hughes were the meeting's big winners, with victory in Race 1 and second place in Race 3 for Graham, while Hughes finished runner up to Graham in Race 1 and turned the tables on him with victory in Race 3. Further championship points were accrued by both of them on Sunday morning, with Graham finishing fifth and Hughes ninth in Race 2. The outcome was for three-time winner Hughes to head home to Birmingham with an even larger margin at the head of the championship table than he'd had at the start of the weekend, while Graham improved his standing in the table to fourth, albeit some 64 points shy of the leader.

Race 1 was a comfortable looking lights-to-flag affair for pole sitter Graham who raced to his second win of the year, finishing over 4 seconds ahead of Hughes with Charlie Robertson a further 5 seconds adrift in third place. Handicapped by having to race with a stomach bug, championship table runner-up Seb Morris's day was not improved when he was penalised five seconds for ignoring a yellow flag, which dropped him from fourth to sixth in the results.

The reverse grid from Race 1 rule gifted Ross Gunn pole position for Race 2, which he duly converted into his second win of the year, almost 5 seconds ahead of Jack Barlow in second place. James Greenway, a leading privateer, was delighted to make his maiden visit to the podium after a well deserved run to third place.

Hughes had his work cut out in the early stages of Race 3, losing out to Graham at the start and scrapping with Seb Morris before gathering it all together and taking charge of the race on lap 3. Thereafter, he was off and away at impressive speed, leading Graham to the chequered flag by almost 7 seconds. A further 8 seconds down the road, Morris just held off Jack Barlow for the third podium spot.

With six races to go at Snetterton and Donington Park before the end of the season, Hughes now has just over a race in hand – 339 to 305 championship points – ahead of Morris in second place, who is still the only driver in the top eight without a victory on his score card. He really needs – and must now be aching - to register his first win of the year to add to his seven podiums to date. Barlow - with wins at Silverstone in April and Oulton Park in July - is just five points behind and breathing down Morris's neck. There's then a by no means unbridgeable gap back to Matty Graham, Jake Dalton and Charlie Robertson who are separated by just seven points in fourth to sixth places.

Interesting factoid. Jake Dalton is the only driver so far to register back-to-back Formula 4 victories – Race 3 at Silverstone in April and Race 1 at Brands Hatch in May. No driver has yet scored more than one victory at the same three-race meeting.

A dedicated 1 hour recorded programme is televised on ITV 4 on the Sunday following every BRDC Formula 4 race weekend. Complete race reports and comprehensive information on the championship can be viewed at www.formula4.com

Comma is Technical Partner to the BRDC F4 Championship. Comma supplies every team in the BRDC F4 Championship with the lubricants and chemicals they need to compete; Comma is appointed to do so by MotorSport Vision, one of the world's leading operators and promoters of motorsport.