Pace Performance’s Josh McLean claimed a second victory in as many GB4 race weekends, as he fought back in a frantic final contest at Donington Park.
McLean started from fifth on the grid, with the race featuring two starts after an early red flag on the original opening lap.
At the first time of trying, Fox Motorsport's pole sitter Jasser Iskander held the lead on the run to Redgate while McLean from fifth surged to second. However that was all in vain, as a six-car incident at Goddards at the end of the lap wiped out Dayton Coulthard, Matan Achituv, Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso, Connor Willis, John O’Donnell and Conor Grant, with the race brought to a halt. Coulthard had been spun round, with the remaining five caught up in the carambolage.
The grid was reset based on the original order, with vacant grid slots for the missing drivers, while pre-event championship leader Fred Green was forced to start from the pit lane after a separate incident.
Upon the restart, Iskander again made a strong getaway to lead the pack to Redgate, and McLean also replicated his earlier start to move into second.
This time, McLean was able to make a move stick on the Saudi Arabian driver at the Melbourne Hairpin to claim the lead. Meanwhile, Hillspeed’s Demitri Nolan had also enjoyed a decent first lap to rise three places to third.
The safety car was deployed on the second lap, with the Scorpio Motorsport car of Romuald Bocquet nudged into the gravel at McLeans, but only after Nolan and Arden’s Solenn Amrouche had demoted Iskander further after a lap-long battle that was eventually resolved at the Fogarty Esses.
Upon the restart on lap five, McLean was challenged into Redgate immediately by Nolan, who went up the inside, only for McLean to fight back on the exit. American driver Nolan braved it out through the flat out Craner Curves, kicked up the dust when moving to the inside and forced his way past at the Old Hairpin.
Nolan was to hold the lead for the next five laps, but was never able to extend a gap of more than half a second to McLean. The British driver eventually reclaimed the lead on lap 10 and went on to win by just over a second.
Nolan still claimed second, by far his best result in GB4, while Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing’s Luke Hilton stood on the podium for the third time this weekend, gaining six places with some typically combative moves. An outstanding weekend for the British driver has moved him up to fourth in the standings.
New championship leader Alex O’Grady ensured he ended the event still in control of the title battle with fourth place, and like Hilton, gained six positions.
Hillspeed’s Enzo Hallman was the mover of the race, gaining an outrageous 19 positions in the 20-minute contest, keeping him third in the championship fight as he finished fifth.
Pre-event championship leader Fred Green was yet another to have a dramatic contest. Forced to take the restart from the pit lane, he powered his way though to sixth, and sits 11 points behind O’Grady in the standings after the ninth race of the year.
Iskander held on to secure his best GB4 result with seventh ahead of Arden’s Michael Koh, with Fortec’s Franciszek Cegielski ninth. Pace Performance’s Torrin Byrne recovered from his incident with Bocquet to complete the top-10 ahead of Amrouche, who dropped to 11th.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park, provisional race three result:
1. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, 12 laps
2. Demitri Nolan, Hillspeed, +1.103s
3. Luke Hilton, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing
4. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, +2.581s
5. Enzo Hallman, Hillspeed, +7.113s
6. Fred Green, Elite Motorsport, +10.604s
7. Jasser Iskander (R), Fox Motorsport, +13.712s
8. Michael Koh (R), Arden Motorsport, +13.875s
9. Franciszek Cegielski (R), Fortec Motorsports, +14.077s
10. Torrin Byrne, Pace Performance, +14.134s
11. Solenn Amrouche, Arden Motorsport, +14.379s
12. Archie Bullard (R), Fox Motorsport, +14.576s
13. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsport, +14.797s
14. Archie Davies, Scorpio Motorsport, +15.123s
15. Jordyn Martin (R), Fortec Motorsports, +17.225s
16. Jamie Leverton (R), Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +17.633s
17. Caitlyn McDaniel, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +18.885s
18. Holly Miall, KMR Sport, +19.848s
DNF. Enzo Rujugiro (R), Fox Motorsport, 10 laps
DNF. Romuald Bocquet, Scorpio Motorsport, 1 lap
DNF. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, 0 laps
DNF. Matan Achituv, Elite Motorsport, 0 laps
DNF. John O'Donnell, Pace Performance, 0 laps
DNF. Connor Willis, Hillspeed, 0 laps
DNF. Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso, Elite Motorsport, 0 laps
DNF. Conor Grant (R), Douglas Motorsport, 0 laps