British F4 Esports Championship, Round 4: Moore and Carroll shine through Oulton fog

Guild Academy’s Henry Moore once again impressed in the third round of the 2024 British F4 Esports Championship from Snetterton, extending his championship lead over Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team’s Graham Carroll, taking his first win in the process.

Carroll and Moore were in a three-way fight at the top of the table with Mensah Racing Driven By Us’ Matt Caruana, who would unfortunately be absent from Round 4 at Oulton Park, despite showing impressive early-season form.

While Oulton’s International layout would prove to be a stern challenge for Moore and Carroll, thanks to inclement weather and an unfavourable reverse grid draw for Race 2, but it showcased their talents perfectly, with the pair emerging from the chaos as the championship’s two main protagonists.

Race 1

Moore navigated the foggy qualifying session for Round 4 best of all, taking his second consecutive pole position. Championship nemesis Carroll would line up alongside the rookie for Race 1, just over a tenth-of-a-second behind.

G2 Esports’ Isaac Price was an impressive third, while 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship driver Joseph Loake was a surprise fourth, driving for the Formula 1-affiliated Aston Martin Aramco Esports Team.

The race got underway with Moore heading Carroll, while further back an incident at the Shell Oils hairpin eliminated the unfortunate Giuseppe Lo Faro of AZZ Tech Racing by Grid Finder.

With neither Carroll nor Moore willing to risk their heavy points-scoring positions, the battle for first was a cagey affair, with Carroll’s attempts at overtaking tempered by his reluctance to lose track position to the chasing pack.

With Price falling back, Loake took up the mantle as Carroll’s foremost threat, eventually slotting into second position after Carroll lost momentum after a failed pass on Moore. 

Although Loake reeled in the leader, he couldn’t find a way through the assured youngster’s defences and had to settle for second. Carroll consolidated in third, losing more ground to Moore in the championship as a result.

Race 2

The reversed grid draw saw Moore starting from 14th on the grid, which, around the tight confines of the Cheshire circuit, would give Race 2 an element of randomness notwithstanding the heavy rainfall now moving over Little Budworth. Composure would be key here and Moore had already shown plenty of it.

G2 Esports’ Joni Katlia started cleanly from pole position, with Remy Gilbert almost immediately coming to strife on the exit of Turn 1, running wide onto the grass. The Guild driver completed an awful opening lap by spinning at Hislop’s after a clumsy-looking move. Carroll made the most progress of the frontrunners on the first tour, climbing from 12th to eighth.

Further back in 13th, Moore was making tentative progress, which was more than could be said of Loake. The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver had jumped up to 11th place on the opening lap but undid all his hard work with a high-speed spin at Island Bend, rejoining in 20th.

Up front, Katila was making the most of his unobscured vision to hold the lead, with Guild’s Leo Brown acting as lead chaser, eager to regain his early season form.

Williams Esports’ Beckham Jacir had just made a bold outside overtaking move on Mensah Racing Driven By Us’ Ronnie Smith for third position with five minutes gone, before mysteriously heading for pitlane.

Turning point

This allowed Carroll’s Ferrari team-mate Gergo Baldi into fourth – but not for long. The Hungarian was tapped into a high-speed spin at Old Hall by a combination of Will Murdoch and Will Chadwick, the pair not helped by the treacherously wet surface. 

Chadwick later accepted blame for the incident, having locked up under braking after being squeezed to the outside of the track by Murdoch. The ensuing damage eliminated Baldi and Murdoch from points-scoring contention, with Chadwick able to continue behind Smith.

However, Carroll was now hot on his heels, eager to capitalise on Moore’s midfield placing. It would be Chadwick making moves, though, as he slotted past Smith at the Shell Oils hairpin before pouncing on Brown’s mistake at Old Hall to go second.

Chadwick’s progression continued, as with around five minutes to go he slotted through into first position after Katila made a mistake at Lodge. In his eagerness to make a move on Katila, Brown looped it at Druids, promoting both Smith and Carroll up one position.

Brown spun again, allowing Moore to climb just behind Carroll in the standings, albeit with a five-second deficit. Sensing a chance to eat into Moore’s championship lead, Carroll launched a superb move around the outside of Katila at Cascades, with both cars squirming across the soaking wet asphalt.

The Scotsman emerged ahead on the run to Island Bend, but with only one lap left, there wasn’t enough time to reel in the front two.

Chadwick took the win on the road, with Smith coming home a fine second in his first-ever British F4 Esports event. Carroll was third, with Kitala and Moore finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

However, a post-race penalty for Chadwick elevated Smith to the top step of the podium, with Carroll also benefiting with some extra points. Chadwick still kept his podium finish, albeit after a 5s penalty.

Even though we’re only at the halfway point in the championship, the British Championship laurels appear to be heading in the direction of Henry Moore or Graham Carroll. And with both drivers showing unflappable consistency thus far, the fight is too close to call.

Tune in to the next round from Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit on the 30th of October, broadcast live on iRacing’s YouTube channel.

2024 UK FF1600 Esports Cup, Round 4

Race 1

Championship leader Mark Fletcher endured a tough qualifying session and picked up some early damage in the first race of Round 4, finding himself mired towards the back of the field.

His four biggest championship rivals, on the other hand, were right at the sharp end, with Shoma Shintani leading after the first lap, followed by Harvey Jones, Lewis Wherrell, with Hans Jakob Siversten Mollatt in fifth.

The racing between the Ray FF1600 single-seaters was fast and frenetic, with cars continuously driving two or three-wide, the drivers taking advantage of the dry track.

Inevitably, this resulted in a huge crash for five or six of the leading pack, which gifted Fletcher a few positions. The other championship protagonists were able to continue, however, with Shintani and Jones breaking away from the cars thanks to the earlier stramash.

The pair drove sensibly to build a gap to third-placed Sondre Mollatt, with Shintani taking the win ahead of Jones by the narrowest of margins. Mollat was fourth and Wherrell sixth, with Fletcher mitigating the damage to his championship lead by coming home ninth.

Race 2

The reverse grid draw saw Mike Pollard on pole, alongside championship leader Fletcher. Fletcher made the better start but Pollard held position through the first two corners before Crofton Woodhatch bump-drafted himself and Fletcher ahead at Island Bend.

Brandon Lowden slotted into third position soon after, with Fletcher under pressure from the chasing Wherrell behind. The front four put on a sublime racing demonstration, with each having a spell at the front of the pack.

Shoma Shintani had a troubled second race, with early progress stymied by a mid-race spin. His Race 1 nemesis Jones also endured a tricky time of it, but was able to at least consoidate an eighth-place finish.

The battle for second position was to be the highlight of Race 2, however, with Woodhatch, Wherrell and Lowden duking it out lap after lap, allowing Fletcher to break free into an unassailable lead.

Onto the final lap, Woodhatch moved ahead of Wherrell around the outside of Old Hall, with Lowden using his superior momentum to move aggressively for the lead at Island Bend. However, he carried too much speed into Shell and lost the rear of his car, the incident forcing Corey Alleyne into an evasive spin.

Woodhatch forced Wherrell onto the grass at Hilltop but it wasn’t enough to prevent the erstwhile championship leader from taking second position, a position he held at the chequered flag by a minuscule 0.009s.

The result sees Fletcher maintain his position as championship leader, but with drop scores taken into account, he still has some work to do to hold off the advances of the ever-consistent Wherrell and Jones.

2024 British F4 Esports Championship, Round 4 Oulton Park Race 1 results  

1. Henry Moore, Guild Academy
2. Joseph Loake, Aston Martin Aramco Esports Team
3. Graham Carroll, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team
4. Remy Gilbert, Guild Esports
5. Will Murdoch, BS+ Competition

2024 British F4 Esports Championship, Round 4 Oulton Park Race 2 results  

1. Ronnie Smith, Mensah Racing Driven By Us
2. Graham Carroll, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team
3. William Chadwick, FreeM UK by Altitude eSports*
4. Joni Katila, G2 Esports
5. Henry Moore, Guild Academy

*Post-race 5s time penalty for contact

Driver standings after Round 4

1. Henry Moore, Guild Academy, 283 points
2. Graham Carroll, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team, 261 points
3. Matt Caruana, Mensah Racing Driven By Us, 185 points
4. William Chadwick, FreeM UK by Altitude eSports,182 points
5. Remy Gilbert, Guild Esports, 162 points

Team standings after Round 4

1. Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team, 378 points
2. Guild Esports, 309 points
3. Guild Academy, 283 points
4. G2 Esports, 268 points
5. Mensah Racing Driven By Us, 260 points

2024 British F4 Esports Championship and UK FF 1600 Esports Cup schedule

• Round 1 – 25th September – Brands Hatch Indy
• Round 2 – 2nd October – Zandvoort
• Round 3 – 16th October Snetterton 300
• Round 4 – 23rd October Oulton Park Full
• Round 5 – 30th October Silverstone GP
• Round 6 – 13th November Knockhill
• Round 7 – 20th November Donington GP
• Round 8 – 27th November Brands Hatch GP

Images courtesy of Rhys Caryl / RC Sim Photography