BRDC Formula 4 crowns its champion

30/09/2013

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Old records were broken and new ones established during the final rounds of the 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship at Donington Park, Derbyshire over the weekend of September 28th/29th. The outcome of the championship itself – which on paper was still open to six drivers going into the Donington triple-header – was put to bed in conclusive fashion in the first race on Saturday, but there was further dramatic action still to be had on Sunday, when the battle for the minor places in the championship once again produced the close and competitive racing for which BRDC Formula 4 has quickly become popular during its inaugural season.

Race 1

In as series stretched over 24 races, race pace, consistency, reliability and staying out of trouble are always going to be highly rewarded, and Jake Hughes's record in all of these departments for Lanan Racing had been exemplary all season. As a result, he was nursing a handy 45 point championship lead going into the weekend, so it was only the most optimistic of punters who were looking beyond the 19 year old midlander to be the first winner of the new championship. That he was staying focused and not looking over his shoulder was soon apparent when he claimed his sixth pole position of the season – a record which remained intact for the remainder of the weekend – for Saturday's Race 1.

A good start was all he needed - and what he got - to take instant command of the race, and from that point he built of comfortable cushion over the chasing pack to claim his fourth win of the season by just over 2 seconds from Sean Walkinshaw Racing's Matty Graham. Seb Morris, many insider's pre-season tip for the championship, finished a couple of seconds further behind in third place, with Charlie Robertson, a long-shot contender for the championship fourth.

Race 2

With the championship title comfortably decided in Hughe's favour, there remained the not so small matter of who would fill the minor places in the first ever Formula 4 record book. Cue HHC Motorsport's Charlie Robertson, an early-season leader in the championship, to once again step up to the plate. A mid-season dip in fortunes had badly dented his championship chances, and Robertson entered the weekend fifth in the table. Fourth in Race 1 though, indicated that the fire was still burning in 16 year old Charlie, and that burst into flames as, with a series of fastest laps, he charged through the leaders from fifth place on the grid to take victory in Race 2 by less than a second from pole sitter, Struan Moore. Robertson's HHC team-mate, Gustavo Lima was left some way adrift in third place. Champion 'job done' Hughes cruised to sixth place, with Morris (8th) and Matty Graham (10th) the only other drivers who had started the weekend with a mathematical shot at the big prize.

Race 3

Robertson was rewarded for fastest lap from Race 2 with pole position for the final race of the season. Now thoroughly in the groove and with his mind firmly focused on the battle for the vice champion's title, he took off to build a lead which was never threatened, and which he had extended to over 6 seconds ahead of the battling duo of Jake Dalton and Matt Mason as he took his second chequered flag on the bounce. In itself, this was a double landmark achievement, no driver having previously scored two victories in the same weekend, and no driver having equalled his combined weekend points haul of 78 points. So with Matty Graham finishing seventh and Seb Morris a distant tenth, the championship's deserved runner-up spot was Charlie's over Morris by a narrowish margin of 18 points out of nearly 400.

A full review of the inaugural BRDC Formula 4 championship will be published on this site in the near future.

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.