Snetterton hosted Round 6 of the British F4 championship last weekend and it turned out to be an action-packed weekend with plenty of interesting talking points and some surprising results. Here are F1 Feeder Series’ top 5 takeaways.

By Tom Evans

Dominant Dunne

Coming into last weekend Alex Dunne was the obvious pick for driver of the weekend, with a 41-point gap at the top of the championship. Round six turned out to be one of Dunne’s best rounds of the season with a double pole position to kick off the weekend, three and a half tenths clear in P1. In race one, despite losing the lead to Georgi Dimitrov at the start, Dunne swiftly took it back two corners later. Opening up to a healthy 3.1 second gap at the flag, Dunne earned his eighth win of the season so far.

Dunne started in tenth place for the reverse grid race later on Saturday but that didn’t stop him from overtaking four cars and finishing a solid P6 ahead of main championship rival Ollie Gray. Race three on Sunday afternoon was absolute domination from Dunne with a ten-second gap at the front of the field. He took the fastest lap by over seven-tenths of a second and once again extended his championship lead to 66 points by the end of the weekend. An almost perfect weekend from the Irishman who goes into round seven the clear championship favorite.

JHR back on pace

It’s been a difficult season for JHR Developments compared to last year with returning drivers Joseph Loake and Georgi Dimitrov not fighting for the title as expected. The new chassis has proven to have held back the team’s performance towards the beginning of the year, but that looks to have changed.

Georgi Dimitrov had a strong qualifying starting alongside Alex Dunne on row one. Joseph Loake and rookie Noah Lisle had a tougher session, but Dimitrov proved that the car had the pace for top three positions. Dimitrov took a P2 in race one, just ahead of P2 championship holder Ollie Gray. Race two proved to be successful as Joseph Loake took his second win of the year.

Dimitrov producing silverware for the second time over the weekend in the form of a P3. Noah Lisle also claimed a rookie podium in race three, just a few tenths off the points-paying positions. This is great momentum for JHR, more podiums and wins predicted in the coming rounds.

Rookie standings are heating up 

Despite taking the rookie win in 10 races this season, Ugo Ugochukwu is only 20 points clear of Daniel Guinchard at the top of the rookie standings. Third place is occupied by Hitech GP driver Oliver Stewart whose results have picked up dramatically since the first couple of rounds, taking 6 podiums in the last 6 races. 

The gap between Noah Lisle in P4 and Adam Fitzgerald in P5 is only one point, so expect this battle to go on until the final round of the season. Daniel Mavlyutov is the only rookie this year to have not taken a rookie podium, but his consistency this season has been impressive finishing every race this year. 

Chris Dittmann Racing mean business

Before the weekend had even started Chris Dittmann Racing announced two new signings for the weekend. First up was Indian driver Divy Nandan who previously competed in MRF Formula 1600. Nandan’s weekend was a rocky one with a 17th and two 16th place finishes but nevertheless came away from the weekend with his first championship point gained from a single overtake in the reverse grid race, and plenty of experience in the new Tatuus T-421 chassis. 

Elite Motorsport GB4 driver Jack Sherwood was the second driver announcement of the weekend for CDR. The Former Ginetta Junior driver had a decent weekend, first outqualifying both his teammate and two full-time drivers this year in the form of Virtuosi’s Edward Pearson and Hitech’s Daniel Mavulytov. Sherwood walked away from round six with 5 championship points, including a top 10 finish in race three. A solid weekend considering his new team environment and getting to grips with a new chassis. 

These new signings point in the direction of CDR having more than one full-time drivers for the remainder of this year, and possibly next year as well.

Team championship positions

Carlin continues to lead the teams’ championship thanks to their three-car lineup of Ollie Gray, Louis Sharp, and Ugo Ugochukwu, who are P2, three and four in the driver’s championship. Hitech trail by 73 points with Alex Dunne hauling in the majority of them. However, the improved results of Oliver Stewart and Eduardo Coseteng in recent rounds could start to close that gap.

After a very strong round, JHR capitalise on a weaker round for Argenti, extending their lead in P3 which now amounts to 45 points. Virtuosi Racing sit in fifth, with Chris Dittmann racing rounding out the six teams on 28 points. 

Header photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography