Jack Taylor followed up his maiden GB4 Championship partnered by the BRDC victory on Saturday with a wet weather masterclass to double his tally for the season this afternoon (Sunday).
The race started in unusual circumstances, with them majority of runners including pole-sitting Taylor, opting to give up track position to pit for wet rubber as rain began to fall heavily. This left Arden Motorsport’s Ava Dobson and Graham Brunton Racing’s Mayer Deonarine as the only two runners on the grid as the lights went out, with both on slicks.
Dobson took the lead initially but Deonarine moved past to take first as the pair reached the end of the Hangar Straight on the first lap. The race then entered a game of cat and mouse with the lead runners on dry tyres attempting to negotiate the slippery conditions whilst the wet shod chargers ate into the gap.
After returning the track with wet tyres, Taylor was very much the lead hunter for Fortec Motorsport, passing Dobson on lap two before moving ahead of Deonarine with a move at Club the next time around. Full speed action was paused on the fourth lap however, following an impact for Alex Kattoulas, who had been third and the second runner on wets, at the exit of Stowe.
This bunched the pack up and eliminated the advantage of over 15 seconds that Taylor had built over those chasing him. Deonarine remarkably remained second during the neutralisation despite the increasing dominance of the wet tyres with Thomas Ingram Hill third in another of the Fortec machines. Dobson, the other early slick contender, used the opportunity to pit for wets.
Taylor picked up where he left off when the race got back underway for a seventh and final lap, setting the best lap of the race. Taylor’s effort of 2m18.09s was over a second clear of any of his rivals’ fastest efforts.
Deonarine immediately plummeted down the order on the slippery surface. This moved Ingram Hill into second to set up the prospect of a second Fortec Motorsport one-two in as many days. Leandro Juncos had other ideas however, attacking from third throughout the lap before eventually making a move stick at Brooklands with just a couple of corners still to run.
Whilst Taylor crossed the line to celebrate victory his teammate Ingram Hill lost yet more ground with Arjen Kräling following Juncos through to claim a spot on the podium in just his second ever GB4 race. Ingram Hill did hold on to fourth however, with Alex O’Grady crossing the line fifth.
O’Grady was made to work hard for his top-five result with Isaac Phelps and Luca Magnussen both pressing him hard towards the finish. In the end, the trio crossed the line just over two tenths apart with Phelps sixth and Magnussen seventh. Ary Bansal was a handful of tenths further back with Enzo Hallman and Dayton Coulthard completing the top-10.
Deonarine finished all the way down in 24th position after his early heroics on the dry tyre, whilst Dobson crossed the line 18th after joining the contingent on wets. An 11th place finish for Daniel Guinchard once again limited the damage to his advantage in the standings, which still stands at 30 points over Bansal despite a challenging start to the weekend in qualifying.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone, provisional race two result:
1. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsport
2. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, +3.022s
3. Arjen Kräling, Douglas Motorsport, +3.356s
4. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsport, +3.953s
5. Alex O’Grady, KMR Sport, +5.157s
6. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, +5.249s
7. Luca Magnussen, Fortec Motorsport, +5.411s
8. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, +6.096s
9. Enzo Hallman, Douglas Motorsport, +9.908s
10. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, +12.375s
11. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, +12.554s
12. Megan Bruce, KMR Sport, +12.611s
13. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +12.933s
14. Dudley Ruddock, Arden Motorsport, +13.542s
15. Callum Baxter, Graham Brunton Racing, +14.330s
16. Stefan Bostandjiev, Pace Performance, +14.648s
17. Jason Pribyl, ASM, +14.833s
18. Joshua McClean, Pace Performance, +15.134s
19. Ava Dobson, Arden Motorsport, +15.928s
20. Holly Miall, Fox Motorsport, +17.139s
21. Lily-May Watkins, KMR Sport, +18.330s
22. Caitlyn McDaniel, Fox Motorsport, +18.994s
23. Flame Airkkala, Pace Performance, +19.818s
24. Mayer Deonarine, Graham Brunton Racing, +50.445s
DNF. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport