Boulton Ramos and Fairclough win ROKiT Racing Star F4 drives

After months of competition, the ROKiT Racing Star F4 Esports Competition would come to a close on the evening of 15th May.

A LAN event held at the NCME University of Bolton using Racing Unleashed simulators, one girl and one boy – aged between 14 and 15 – would walk away with a coveted 2023 British Formula 4 drive courtesy of the series’ primary sponsor ROKiT. 

Preliminary qualifying races were held remotely on RaceRoom Racing Experience. Monica Boulton Ramos was undoubtedly the favourite female competitor having shown dominant pace overall thus far with only small hiccups along the way.

Dylan Warren, meanwhile, was a less assured favourite having done well in the early part of the season only to then see the likes of Deagen Fairclough rock the apple cart.

In the meantime, several other competitors across both genders have gained form and momentum, such as Macie Hitter and Theo Micouris. 

Girls Qualifying 

The top three were only separated by a tenth of a second in girls’ qualifying around Brands Hatch for the first race of two. Boulton Ramos was, perhaps surprisingly, at the tail end of this trio as both Chloe Grant and pole-sitter Jess White outperformed her. Grant was due a two-place grid penalty, however, seeing Jaz Shaw up into third place on the grid. 

After winning the final race of the online qualifying race, Macie Hitter would be in fifth and 1.6 seconds off the quickest time. 

Girls Race 1

Bogging down off the line, White witnessed Boulton Ramos’s perfect launch propel her into a move around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend and into the lead.

Soon Grant was hassling White too, but the two made contact while running side-by-side through Hawthorn Bend. Chloe ended up in the wall and Jess was severely hampered. 

A 4.5-second lead was Boulton Ramos’ reward for her flawless first lap. Hitter then spun on her own entering Surtees. White was back to where she was by the first corner whilst Grant was closer to where her pace suggested she should be. 

Grant in second started to close the gap to the lead, but an error on the exit of Stirlings dashed her hopes. Second was White’s once more before Grant made an unforced tap on the rear of her car causing a spin.

The chaos gave Boulton Ramos the luxury of entering cruise control for the last few laps with a win taking her one step closer to a British F4 drive. 

1. Monica Boulton Ramos
2. Chloe Grant (P)
3. Jess White (P)
4. Macie Hitter
5. Ella Wrigley
6. Jasmine Shaw 
7. Charlotte Bell

P – Penalty applied post-race

Girls Race 2

With pole position her’s for storming to victory in Race 1, Boulton Ramos once again led into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Grant knew she had to win in Race 2 while also taking the fastest lap unless misfortune were to befall her direct rival.

Things began well thanks to a brave move around the outside of Druids that saw Boulton Ramos down to second. 

Very unlike the first race, affairs were much calmer this time around. Come the final two laps though, all eyes were on the gap between Grant and Boulton Ramos alongside the fastest lap times coming in from the latter. It appeared that the overtake would have to be made for Monica to win, but it wouldn’t even come to that. A tragic mistake out of Hawthorns Bend sent Grant barrier bound in heartbreaking scenes. 

Although a sterner test than she would have liked, Monica Boulton Ramos’ consistency and outright pace won her a British F4 drive on the day it mattered.

1. Monica Boulton Ramos – 18 Laps
2. Chloe Grant
3. Jess White 
4. Macie Hitter
5. Ella Wrigley
6. Jasmine Shaw 
7. Charlotte Bell

Boys Qualifying 

As was largely expected, it was Fairclough and Warren who stood out in this qualifying session. Both were two tenths clear of the other six competitors and only four-hundredths separated from each other. Fairclough claimed pole position. Marcus Luzio rounded out the top three. 

Boys Race 1

All got away well off the line in first boys race, but later around the lap Marcus Luzio, who initially dropped a position to Micouris, went off through Hawthorns Bend. Fairclough wasn’t afforded the opportunity to break away like Boulton Ramos before him, yet he did survive long enough to force a mistake out of a key rival. 

The fifth lap was where Warren’s first major error of the season unfolded; a snap through Sheene Curve forcing him to rescue the car lost him three places in total. Now in the tow of an intense scrap between Kai Bachini and Ronnie Smith, he would witness the latter passing the former before capitalising himself. 

Smith would prove a much tougher customer and defended resolutely for the majority of the race. The 16th lap would see the boiling point reached as the two made contact side-by-side through Hawthorns Bend. Warren, on the outside, was clearly the worst off and most likely out of championship contention. 

Fairclough was untroubled towards the end and netted a fastest lap point to support his final charge of the season. A post-race time penalty was thrown the way of Smith following his incident with Warren leaving Luzio on the podium along with Micouris. 

1. Deagen Fairclough
2. Theo Micouris 
3. Marcus Luzio
4. Dylan Warren
5. Ronnie Smith (P)
6. Kai Bachini
7. Zach Sweeney
8. Nathan Clifford

P – Penalty applied post-race

Boys’ Race 2

Although Fairclough and Micouris got away cleanly, the same couldn’t be said of those behind for the final race of the season. Involved in the first turn carnage was Warren and Luzio ruling both out of the running for victory barring a miracle in their favour. To rub salt in the wounds, Warren was deemed to be at fault and handed a drivethrough penalty; a miserable end to such a promising campaign. 

It was quite the opposite story for Fairclough in what evolved to become a rather quiet contest. Micouris couldn’t maintain the blistering pace that the race leader was setting and thus in a dominant fashion, Deagan Fairclough became the boys’ victor in the ROKiT Racing Star F4 Esports Competition and joins Boulton Ramos as now being part of the Motorsport UK British F4 training programme.

1. Deagen Fairclough
2. Theo Micouris 
3. Nathan Clifford
4. Marcus Luzio
5. Kai Bachini
6. Zach Sweeney
7. Ronnie Smith 
8. Dylan Warren

Images: ROKiT Racing Star