Black Friday Deals
Henry Moore and Graham Carroll were once again the standout drivers in Round 6 of the 2024 British F4 Esports Championship from Knockhill, with both visiting the podium in tricky conditions.
The gap at the top of the championship standings had been cut to 22 points, however, with Carroll looking for more opportunities to eat into Moore’s lead at Donington Park for the penultimate round of the season.
Qualifying saw Carroll and Moore share the third row of the grid – Carroll fifth, Moore sixth – while Joseph Loake continued his impressive recent form to take pole from Guild Esports’ Remy Gilbert. They were followed by G2 Esports’ Isaac Price in third and Carrol’s Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports team-mate Gergo Baldi in fourth.
The presence of Baldi at the sharp end of the grid would turn out to be pivotal to the championship fight.
Race 1
The start of Race 1 was calm enough, despite Price’s car sporadically disappearing due to network issues. Moore found himself out of the race within a few corners, however, after an unfortunate clash with Baldi exiting the Old Hairpin.
The contact saw Moore collected by more cars as he attempted an unsafe rejoin, ending his race on the spot and potentially gaining him a non-qualifying penalty for the next round.
Reflecting on the move, Moore had left Baldi enough room on the outside but the Ferrari driver potentially could have used more space on the outside. It would be harsh to apportion 100% of the blame on the Hungarian in what looked like a racing incident.
Loake led from Gilbert with the blinking Price in third. Carroll sensibly kept his distance from the hobbled G2 car, which was eventually removed from the race by the race director on lap two.
Baldi continued after the incident with Moore but was under attack from Guild’s Leo Brown in fifth, with the battle for the Teams’ championship still in dispute. Brown sliced through at McLeans with Baldi running wide to lose a further two positions.
On the final lap, Gilbert was all over Loake for the win, with Carroll maintaining a watching brief in third. Gilbert launched an audacious move at Goddards which resulted in contact with Loake, opening the door for Carroll to seal victory.
Loake, naturally aggrieved, also gained enough penalty points to go over the race’s proscribed threshold, dropping him further down the standings.
Gilbert held second, with team-mate Brown promoted to third, gifting Guild a huge advantage in the Teams’ championship.
Race 2
Prismatic Motorsports’ Saoirse Fitzpatrick would start Race 2 from pole position alongside Azz Tech Racing by Grid Finder’s Giuseppe Lo Faro, with Matt Caruana third.
The Mensah Racing Driven By Us driver had copped a non-qualifying penalty for Round 7 but has been one of the championship’s frontrunners, so he started the race as the hot favourite. Carroll started 12th, with Moore way down in 21st.
By Turn 1 Caruana was leading, as Lo Faro and Fitzpatrick touched. FreeM UK by Altitude eSports’ William Chadwick slotted into second followed by Baldi.
As has often been the case for Baldi this season, an unforced error at the Melbourne Hairpin led to suspension damage, putting the Hungarian out of contention.
His team-mate, however, was making swift progress through the field, progressing to sixth position at half distance. But with Leo Brown and Remy Gilbert firmly ensconced in the top five, the Ferrari versus Guild team battle was going the way of the latter.
Last-lap drama
The battle for first was between Caruana, Chadwick and Gilbert, with Chadwick launching an attack for the lead at the final corner on the final lap. Unlike Race 1, both drivers kept it clean with Caruana clinching victory as Gilbert shadowed them across the line.
Incredibly, Carroll usurped both Brown and Lo Faro on the final lap, which proved crucial in the Team’s title battle as both Guild and Ferrari now enter the final round level on points.
Henry Moore finished 10th on the road but was bumped up one position after Joseph Loake was penalised for the second race in succession, meaning the gap to Carroll at the top of the championship is 36 points.
With 45 points available for a race win there is still time yet for a dramatic twist in the championship tale.
Tune in to the final round of the British F4 Esports Championship from Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix layout on the 27th of November, broadcast live on iRacing’s YouTube channel.
2024 UK FF1600 Esports Cup, Round 6
Race 1
Shoma Shintani again dominated proceedings in the UK FF1600 Esports Cup’s previous round at Knockhill, taking his second double win in a row. With six victories in total this season the Japanese driver has become the championship favourite despite trailing Mark Fletcher in the overall points.
Once dropped scores are taken into consideration, however, the title race is too close to call.
For Round 7 at Donington Park GP the title protagonists qualified second and third on the grid, Shintani just ahead of Flecther, but it was Crofton Woodhatch who impressively snatched pole position by nearly three-tenths of a second.
The top three emerged from Turn 1 line astern until the Melbourne hairpin, where Shintani outbraked himself, dropping to fifth as a result. The top five, also consisting of Sam Sanders and Harvey Jones, broke away from the pack behind.
At mid-distance, Jones attempted an ambitious move on Fletcher at Coppice and was suitably punished, spinning towards the infield after contact. Soon after, Fletcher dropped two spots towards Goddards, as Woodhatch continued unperturbed ahead.
On the final lap, Sanders missed an opportunity to take the lead as Fletcher looked to overtake his championship rival at the hairpin. Shintani held him off and homed in on Sanders at the final corner, sending him a dummy to overtake for second position.
Once again Shintani outscored Fletcher, making the reversed grid draw for Race 2 vitally important.
Race 2
Franek Sikorski was the pole sitter for Race 2, with Fletcher sitting alongside him at what was now a very sodden Donington Park.
Sikorski immediately threw his pole position away after running wide at Redgate, leaving Fletcher, Sanders, Woodhatch and Shintani to resume their Race 1 battle.
Shintani made his way past his Sanders and Woodhatch with aggressive overtakes, making it a duel between the two championship protagonists for the race win.
Exiting the Melbourne Hairpin, Shintani tried to hang around the outside of Fletcher who gave him short shrift, easing his opponent onto the grass. This allowed Sanders and Woodhatch to move ahead with Jones now joining the fray.
At mid-distance, Fletcher aquaplaned down Starkey’s Straight, allowing Woodhatch into the lead and slowing the cars behind. Sanders and Jones eliminated themselves after contact at the hairpin, leaving Fletcher and Shintani to duke it out for second.
His car visibly hobbled, Fletcher had no answer for Shintani, but the Japanese made two mistakes in two corners, spinning down into sixth position.
Shintani mistakes
Incredibly, Shintani sustained further left-front damage on the penultimate lap, with the wheel finally detaching at Goddards, sending him into retirement.
Jones caught Fletcher on the final lap but couldn’t wrest second position from the championship leader, who had dropped around six seconds to the superlative Woodhatch by the end of the race.
The result means Fletcher’s championship chances against Shintani improve massively, with everything to play for at the final round at Brands Hatch GP on the 27th of November.
2024 British F4 Esports Championship, Round 7 Donington Park GP Race 1 results
- Graham Carroll, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team
- Remy Gilbert, Guild Esports
- Leo Brown, Guild Esports
- Will Murdoch, BS+ Competition
- Moreno Sirica, Williams Esports
2024 British F4 Esports Championship, Round 7 Donington Park GP Race 2 results
- Matt Caruana, Mensah Racing Driven By Us
- William Chadwick, FreeM UK by Altitude eSports
- Remy Gilbert, Guild Espors
- Graham Carroll, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team
- Leo Brown, Guild Esports
Driver standings after Round 7
- Graham Carroll, Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team, 440 points
- Henry Moore, Guild Academy, 404 points
- Remy Gilbert, Guild Esports, 345 points
- Leo Brown, Guild Esports, 291 points
- Matt Caruana, Mensah Racing Driven By Us, 281 points
Team standings after Round 7
- Guild Esports, 636 points
- Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team, 621 points
- Aston Martin Aramco Esports Team, 423 points
- Mensah Racing Driven By Us, 418 points
- Guild Academy, 404 points
2024 British F4 Esports Championship and UK FF 1600 Esports Cup schedule
Round 1 – 25th September – Brands Hatch IndyRound 2 – 2nd October – ZandvoortRound 3 – 16th October Snetterton 300Round 4 – 23rd October Oulton Park FullRound 5 – 30th October Silverstone GPRound 6 – 13th November KnockhillRound 7 – 20th November Donington GP- Round 8 – 27th November Brands Hatch GP
Images courtesy of Rhys Caryl / RC Sim Photography
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