KMR Sport's Alex O'Grady secured his first GB4 win in a dramatic opening race of the weekend at Oulton Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Irishman, who opted for treaded Pirelli tyres after pre-race rain, carved his way from sixth to the lead within three corners at the start of the contest, and despite a mid-race safety car period, claimed his first GB4 win ahead of Fortec's Luca Magnussen, who started 11th, and Douglas Motorsport's Enzo Hallman, who started 17th.
Rain ahead of the race sparked frenzied scene in the assembly area as teams gambled to run either wet or dry tyres, with the top-five starters, including championship leader and pole sitter Daniel Guinchard opting for slicks. O'Grady in sixth was the lead runner to take a chance on wet tyres, and that paid off immediately.
With rain continuing to fall, the top-five still made good enough getaways as Elite's Alex Kattoulas initially claimed the lead from second place, only for O'Grady to power through and pass all of the quintet by the time the pack reached the exit of Cascades.
His lead was beyond five seconds at the end of lap one, with Magnussen similarly surging through from 11th and Pace Performance's Stefan Bostandjiev moving up to third from tenth. O'Grady's teammate Megan Bruce and Swedish driver Hallman were up to fourth and fifth, gaining 15 and 12 places respectively on the opening tour.
O'Grady's lead extended beyond six seconds at the end of lap two, while Bruce moved past Bostandjiev into third. However O'Grady's run at the front was halted temporarily as the safety car was deployed, with Hillspeed's Leandro Juncos off into the gravel at Lodge and Douglas Motorsport's Dayton Coulthard stranded at Druids. Fortec's Jack Taylor was also a casualty, the slick shod runner off midway around the lap but eventually rejoining.
With the two cars requiring recovery, the race resumed at the end of lap five with four minutes remaining, and O'Grady built a small lead, while Hallman continued his surge to the podium by passing Bostandjiev for fourth.
O'Grady extended his margin to 2.5 seconds by the end of the contest, which ran to eight laps, with Magnussen earning his first car racing podium in second after pulling clear of the battle for third.
Bruce looked on course for her own first GB4 podium but was passed at Old Hall on the final lap, with Hallman snatching the position with a well executed move. Bruce still earned her best ever GB4 result in fourth, ahead of Bostandjiev, with the Bulgarian's teammate Josh McLean another taking a career best position in sixth, having started 20th, though he was demoted a place in the final result for crowding Leon Wilson off the track.
Arden duo Wilson and Ava Dobson enjoyed a wheel to wheel battle, with Wilson taking seventh on the road having started there, but was promoted to sixth after McLean's penalty, while Dobson was yet another big mover as she secured eighth from 16th, her own best GB4 result.
Holly Miall (Fox) and Lily-May Watkins (KMR) completed the top-10 from 21st and 23rd on the grid respectively.
As for the slick shod championship contenders, it was Guinchard who kept it clean to retain his championship advantage, nursing his car home to 13th. Initial race leader Kattoulas fell to 15th after at least one off track moment, heading home Bansal and Phelps.
The second race of the weekend is due to commence at 12.30 UK time on Monday, with Guinchard again on pole.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Oulton Park provisional race one result:
1. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, 8 laps
2. Luca Magnussen, Fortec Motorsports, +2.506s
3. Enzo Hallman, Douglas Motorsport, +4.151s
4. Megan Bruce, KMR Sport, +5.187s
5. Stefan Bostandjiev, Pace Performance, +8.466s
6. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +16.675s
7. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, +16.201s*
8. Ava Dobson, Arden Motorsport, +17.470s
9. Holly Miall, Fox Motorsport, +26.883s
10. Lily-May Watkins, KMR Sport, +28.085s
11. Alex Berg, Graham Brunton Racing, +39.509s
12. Callum Baxter, Graham Brunton Racing, +42.123s
13. Daniel Guinchard, Hillspeed, +42.623s
14. Caitlyn McDaniel, Fox Motorsport, +42.827s
15. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport, +46.938s
16. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, +50.259s
17. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, +51.218s
18. Mayer Deonarine, Graham Brunton Racing, +51.494s
19. Luke Hilton, Douglas Motorsport, +53.335s
20. Jason Pribyl, ADM, +55.607s
21. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsports, +1m21.226s
22. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, +1 lap
DNF. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, 1 lap completed
DNF. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, 1 lap completed
*One place penalty