The final minutes of the ROKIT British F4 certified by FIA Snetterton qualifying session saw a flurry of slashed times as drivers bested, again and again, the fastest qualifying time in a tense and tight battle for pole position. Five different drivers held provisional pole before Dion Gowda (Rodin Carlin) secured the fastest time with a lap of 1:47.415.
The time beats the previous British F4 lap record, aided by the weather conditions and track resurfacing since last season; 17 of the 22 drivers bettered the 2022 qualifying record, all within 0.8s of the pole time. Gowda is the third driver in three events to claim pole position and the Omologato Pole Position Award.
The fastest times set the grid for tomorrow’s Round 9 in which Kanato Le’s Hitech Pulse-Eight will line-up alongside Gowda, with standings leader Sharp (Rodin Carlin) in third and Rookie Gabriel Stilp (Hitech Pulse-Eight) in fourth.
Gowda also set the second fastest time in qualifying, putting him on pole position for Saturday afternoon’s Round 7. Sharp completed the all-Rodin Carlin front-row while a Hitech Pulse-Eight pairing of Kanato Le and local Will Macintyre qualified to take row two for Snetterton’s Race 1. Josh Irfan (Rodin Carlin) was the highest qualified Rookie, starting from eighth overall.
Round 7 however didn’t unfold as planned. Incidents in the opening lap led to a safety car and then a red flag. The restarted race then suffered a further incident with a car damaging the barrier too badly to be repaired in time to restart the race due to a circuit curfew.
“A promising start in the opening race here at Snetterton, taking the early race lead after starting from P2,” commented Sharp. “Unfortunately, the race was abandoned due to an early red flag, resulting in a re-grid and a second red flag following the restart.
“Although no championship points were awarded, safety always has to take top priority, and the race will be re-run later in the season at Donington Park.
“I’m confident we have the pace to feature tomorrow, where I’ll be lining up from P19 for the full reverse grid event and begin the weekend’s final race from the second row, P3.
The race was declared null and void and will be rerun at Donington Park on 26-27 August.
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