Sunday, August 23 2015

Tom Jackson took victory in a dramatic second race of the weekend at Snetterton, ahead of Harri Newey and Faisal Al Zubair, as Lanan Racing’s Chris Mealin was excluded from the results having come home second on the road. A number of incidents saw the complexion of the lead battle change on numerous occasions but it was Jackson who came through the carnage to take his second BRDC Formula 4 win.

Much as on Saturday, the day’s Duo BRDC Formula 4 action got underway in warm conditions in Norfolk, as Indian racer Akhil Rabindra lined up on pole position alongside Lanan Racing’s Rodrigo Fonseca on the front-row. As the lights went out to start the 10-lap contest, it was third-placed man Faisal Al Zubair who made the best getaway and he attempted to squeeze through the gap between the front-row starters. The Omani racer made contact with the right rear wheel of Fonseca’s machine however as the gap disappeared, which turned the Mexican into Douglas Motorsport’s Rabindra.

Fonseca and Rabindra suffered damage that put them into retirement but Al Zubair managed to continue as the incident caused a major shuffle of the pack behind. The safety car was deployed to neutralise the field and enable the marshals to recover the stricken cars, with Chris Mealin coming across the line in first place despite having started ninth. Tom Jackson held second ahead of championship leader Will Palmer, Harri Newey and the Hillspeed car of Al Zubair.

After a number of laps under safety car conditions, the green flag was shown and racing resumed. The Chris Dittmann Racing car of Tom Jackson began harrying Mealin for the lead, which allowed the HHC Motorsport duo of Palmer and Newey to make it a four-way fight at the front.

On lap four, Palmer jinked out of Jackson’s slipstream into Riches and took second position, holding off the 18-year-old as he tried to retake the place into Montreal. Mealin was next in Palmer’s sights and, having got a strong run out of Murrays, the Lanan Racing car forcefully defended down the start/finish straight which, after the race, the Clerk of the Course determined was an unlawful manouevre and Mealin was excluded from the results. Heading into Agostini, Palmer made a move down the inside of Mealin but contact between the two ensued and the championship leader’s race came to end with broken rear suspension, with Mealin receiving penalty points for his role in the crash.

Tom Jackson took advantage of the situation to move into the lead ahead of Mealin with Harri Newey promoted to third. Further back, Faisal Al Zubair was coming under huge pressure from Omar Ismail as a train of cars formed including Ciaran Haggerty, Jordan Albert and Thetford racer Jack Lang.

Jackson, who took his maiden BRDC F4 success at Snetterton in July, was forced to defend from Mealin into Riches on lap seven but, that aside, looked in control at the front. Jordan Albert, who was showing no signs that his heavy testing crash on Thursday was affecting him, passed Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver Haggerty for sixth as the race moved towards its conclusion.

Ameya Vaidyanathan collected Fernando Urrutia on the penultimate lap, with both their races ending on the spot. Following the race, Vaidyanathan was handed a five-place grid penalty for race three.

As the remaining drivers headed on to their final tour, Jackson extended his advantage at the front to 1.597s, with Mealin coming under pressure from Newey for second on the road. The red-and-yellow car of Jackson completed the lap untroubled and saw the chequered flag 2.174s ahead of Mealin and Newey, with Newey moving up to second with Mealin's exclusion. Behind Newey, Faisal Al Zubair defended brilliantly to take fourth on the road and third in the results, just 0.134s ahead of Ismail. His top-three position was Al Zubair's first podium finish.

Jackson’s win moves him into second in the championship standings ahead of Rodrigo Fonseca as Harri Newey is now closing on the Mexican, just three points behind in fourth.

By virtue of his fastest lap in race one on Saturday, Will Palmer will line up on pole position for race three alongside Tom Jackson. Harri Newey will start third with Jack Bartholomew fourth and Ciaran Haggerty fifth.

The third and final race of the weekend gets underway at 15:05 and will be broadcast live on Motors TV in the UK and across Europe. You can also follow all the Duo BRDC Formula 4 action through live timing and updates on the official Formula 4 website.

Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship – Snetterton – Race two 

1. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, 10 Laps
2. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, +2.468s
3. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, +6.094s
4. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, +6.228s
5. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +7.953s
6. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +9.453s
7. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, +9.869s
8. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +10.020s
9. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +11.355s
10. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, +15.364s
11. James Reveler, 23 Racing, +19.931s
12. Joe Stables, JR Racing, 20.682s
13. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +1m07.546s
DNF. Fernando Urrutia, Douglas Motorsport, 8 Laps
DNF. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, 8 Laps
DNF. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 5 Laps
DNF. Rodrigo Fonseca, Lanan Racing, 0 Laps
DNF. Akhil Rabindra, Douglas Motorsport, 0 Laps
Exc. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, Excluded