Race Report – Round 7 – Knockhill
Deagen Fairclough visited the top step of the podium for an incredible ninth time this season after securing a double British F4 victory at the weekend. With three events and 10 rounds remaining, the championship is never over until it’s over, but the championship front-runner appears to be an increasingly unstoppable force having extended his championship lead to 101 points.
British F4 was returning to UK asphalt after its first overseas event at Zandvoort, the popular Knockhill racetrack enjoying dry conditions and even glorious sunshine for Races 2 and 3. While the Scottish weather played ball, there was no shortage of Red Flags and Safety Cars earlier in the weekend, and Qualifying saw three interventions that made it difficult to gather momentum. When the track went green for a fourth time with just five minutes of the session remaining, Deagen stormed to another double Pole Position to line up on the front row for Races 1 and 3.
The 18-year-old converted what was his third C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award of the season into a lights-to-flag Race 1 victory over Ninovic and Molnar. The Motul Fast Lap Award added to a clean sweep of the day’s accolades.
“I’m really happy with my eighth win of the season. We’ve shown good consistency and pace so far here, which bodes well for the rest of the weekend. We’re getting closer to the Alex Dunne record (of 11 victories) which is great, so now we just have to stay focused and keep doing what we’re doing.”
In the reverse grid round (Race 2) on Sunday morning, Deagen drove brilliantly to make up seven places and in doing so accrued another substantial haul of bonus points for overtakes, in addition to his 10 points for finishing fifth.
“Starting from 12th in the reverse grid race it’s all about maximising points, and I really enjoyed chasing down the pack ahead to get to fifth,” Deagen added after Race 2.
The final race of the weekend saw another commanding performance. Lining up on Pole, he got a superb start and quickly eased away from the rest of the field, pretty much claiming the undulating Scottish track as his own. In another utterly dominant lights-to-flag victory he finished more than six seconds ahead of Molnar.
“It’s been an amazing weekend and I’ve enjoyed every minute of racing here,” said a delighted Deagen, who has incredible memories of Knockhill after securing his first ever car race win at the track last season. “Only two wins to go to equal the record but there’s still a big chunk of the season left so our main focus has to be on the Championship first.
“It’s been a pretty much perfect weekend. After Zandvoort, it’s been a real change of pace coming back to a track with a sub one minute lap time. This track can be quite abrasive, so it was important to make sure not to push beyond the limit and just keep hitting the reference points. Again, maximising the points – 12th to fifth in Race 2 was great fun – and fastest lap in all three races.”
On his commanding lead at the top of the table, the Championship hopeful is measured. “It’s nice to have a decent gap in case we have another weekend like Thruxton, where things can go wrong – it’s racing, after all. But I’m looking forward to Donington Park now in two weeks’ time and we’ll just take it one event at a time from here.”
Reza Seewooruthun collected some good points to boost his third place in the standings. Having qualified eighth, he incurred damage in the initial Race 1 start but impressive teamwork by Hitech Pulse-Eight allowed him to make the restart and he repaid their efforts with a charging drive to fourth. He repeated that result in Race 2 on Sunday morning and finished eighth in Race 3.
“Overall, not the results we’d hoped for, but we’ve got to take the positives from it. Good points and a weekend of finishing every race – and scoring points in every race. We want to be back on that podium again but that will come in the next few rounds. A massive thanks to the whole team – it’s a long drive up here, so I’m pleased we’ve rewarded their hard work with some really good points.”
The next round, at Donington Park, takes place on 24-25 August and will feature four races rather than the customary three, to enable the championship to play catch-up from the postponed Race 3 at the Leicestershire track earlier in the season.
Hitech is now 51.5 points clear at the top of the Teams’ Standings.
