Despite only taking two fourth-place finishes and a retirement at British F4’s second round at Brands Hatch Indy, Louis Sharp has actually extended his championship lead from eight points to 13 as the championship heads to Snetterton for Round 3 from 19–21 May.

By Gerren Scapens

At Brands Hatch, there was little to be heard about championship leader Sharp as a number of other drivers fought it out on the podium places. 

Rodin Carlin left Round 1 with three of their drivers at the top of the standings, though their chances of retaining this already took a hit before Brands Hatch as Noah Lisle, then second in the standings, was to race in Spanish F4 on the same weekend.

This all meant that Dion Gowda’s win in the reverse-grid Race 2 from the front row was the only time a Rodin Carlin driver made it to the podium across all three races. The nearest challenger to the Rodin Carlin line-up in Round 1 was Deagen Fairclough, who now finds himself seventh in the standings.

Lisle’s absence and Gowda’s low scores in Races 1 and 3 mean that Sharp now has Brands Hatch pacesetter James Higgins of Fortec Motorsport as his nearest rival.

Higgins: ‘You can’t really ask for a better weekend’

Higgins’ 47-point  haul from Round 2 was already impressive, but his victory in Race 3, which propelled him from sixth in the standings to second, left him ecstatic.

“IThat was just an amazing race. Obviously, we knew if we could get off the line first, we would be all right,” Higgins explained to Feeder Series after the race. “It wasn’t easy trying to keep Will [Macintyre] behind, but it’s just an amazing feeling to win.”

Despite his strength in qualifying and race trim, Higgins struggled on Friday, finishing 12th in the combined results.

“We struggled a bit with pace here and there and a bit of balance, but we regrouped as a team and found the perfect setup, especially for qualifying. It just worked,” Higgins said. 

“Double pole and now podium and a race win, I think it puts us second in the standings, so you can’t really ask for a better weekend.”

Names to watch at Snetterton

Fairclough and Daniel Guinchard will be two drivers looking to turn pace into points at Round 3. Each took one third-place finish at Brands Hatch, but penalties for the former and a retirement for the latter have jeopardised other podium opportunities across the season.

With Kanato Le’s victory and Will Macintyre’s double podium at Brands Hatch, the group behind the leading pair is growing ever tighter. Just 10 points separate third through eighth in the standings, and Le at the tail end of that group sits 32 points behind Sharp – a decrease from the 42-point gap between first and eighth after Donington Park. 

Not only do they have the two Hitech GP drivers to worry about, but Round 1 race winner and double polesitter Noah Lisle is returning for Round 3. Lisle took a brace of podiums, one of which was a win, at Donington Park before missing Round 2 to race at Spa-Francorchamps in Spanish F4. The Rodin Carlin driver has swapped championship positions with Higgins, dropping to sixth.

Sharp was only 11th in the combined results from the official Snetterton pre-event test on Wednesday, with everyone inside the top nine in the championship standings apart from Fairclough finishing ahead of the New Zealander. Aiden Neate, who is ninth in the standings, was the quickest of those drivers, ending up second and 0.192 seconds behind overall leader Gabriel Stilp of Hitech.

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