The GB4 Championship arrives for the last act of its 2024 season at Brands Hatch this weekend. Feeder Series spoke to two of the three drivers in with a shot at the title.

By George Sanderson

After six rounds, seven different winners and even a race cancelled due to the British weather, GB4 will take on the famous Brands Hatch GP circuit for its season finale. It is all to play for, with Fortec Motorsport’s Linus Granfors, Elite Motorsport’s Alisha Palmowski and KMR Sport’s Harry Burgoyne Jr all in with a chance of the title.

Granfors’ 391 points puts him at the top of the standings with a 35-point lead over his nearest rival, Palmowski. Just two points separate Palmowski and Burgoyne, with the latter picking up his first victory of the season in the final race at Donington Park last time out. However, with 35 points on offer for a race win in either of the first two races, the contest is far from over.

Granfors: “I always go for the win”

With six victories and a total of seven podiums, Granfors has continued the impressive form which saw him claim the Formula Nordic title in 2023 – a campaign where he also achieved a record-breaking 13 consecutive victories. He spoke to Feeder Series from his home in Sweden to discuss his debut GB4 season. 

“We had time for one test at Silverstone and then just straight into Oulton Park [the season opener]. It was a bit difficult but the same as we had in [Formula Nordic], we’d found a pretty good setup by accident, we just changed some things on the car and the car felt really good.”

Despite the different championships, Granfors described the Formula Nordic and GB4 cars as “pretty much the same car”, with the main difference being that the GB4 car “has a bit more power.” Given his dominance in Formula Nordic, and this familiarity with the car, it makes sense that the Swedish driver was able to hit the ground running when he arrived in GB4.

“My goal is to win every race,” he told Feeder Series. “You can’t win a championship without any wins or something so every weekend I’m just trying to get as many wins as possible, or maybe a podium is good as well.”

It is a mentality that has helped him take twice as many race victories compared to any other driver, as well as producing a clean-sweep performance at the first Silverstone weekend in late April – albeit that weekend only ran two races due to adverse weather conditions.

“I think that is one of the reasons I am leading [the championship] right now as well, because I always go for the win. I can be P2 in every race but then I wouldn’t be leading the championship by 35 points.” Granfors will be hoping to win the title this weekend at Brands Hatch but will have to learn the circuit quickly as it will be the first time he has driven at the venue. 

“I’ve been driving a lot [on the] simulator there and my brother, Joel, says it’s a fantastic track and it’s going really fast when you go into the forest.”

With a lack of Brands Hatch experience and so much on the line, the Swede could be forgiven for being a little more cautious throughout the weekend in order to try and avoid costly mistakes. Granfors admitted that he will “maybe not risk that much into this weekend” but said that he likes having a target on his back as it makes him improve his own performances.

“Yeah, I like being hunted,” he said. “The team just want me to get a decent result so I just can win the series, but I still want to win the races, of course!”

“I just try to get into my head this is just a normal weekend, I always try to get as [many] points as possible, and I will just give everything I can. If something happens, it happens, but I’m not having any nerves like ‘I could maybe lose the championship lead and lose the championship’ because I think when you’re doing that then you will lose the championship.”

Palmowski: “I’m just so comfortable with the car”

One of the stories of the season has been the breakthrough campaign for fellow GB4 debutant Alisha Palmowski, who is also in her first season in single-seaters. The Elite Motorsport driver, who celebrated her 18^th birthday last weekend by going karting and seeing a Whitney Houston show, said to be in a title fight in her rookie season was completely unexpected.

“I think the whole objective for me this year going into single-seaters – obviously my rookie year, my first year – was purely to learn. It was to make mistakes and to grow from them, and to become a better driver from the whole experience which I think we’ve managed to do this year.”

“To have won that opening round [at Oulton Park] and to have actually been in the title fight, and we still are really, heading towards the last round of the championship wasn’t expected. It’s a huge bonus!”

Palmowski described her season as “full of highs and lows” but said that as a whole it has been a “huge learning curve” which has allowed her to become more confident and an overall better driver. By competing at the front and fighting for victories, it has also helped her learn to cope with the pressure and provide her with valuable experience.

Similarly to championship leader Granfors, Palmowski said this weekend is like any other to her, and she can only focus on her own performance rather than those of her championship rivals. However, due to the size of the gap to Granfors, she remains realistic about her chances.

“Admittedly, I am going to need some luck [to close the gap], I am going to need a miracle to happen on my side,” she told Feeder Series.

“I think my mentality is that I can’t control what anybody else does. I can’t control how well Linus does, how well Harry does, but I can just make sure that I’m doing the best job, work as hard as possible in the few days [of] testing we’ve got prior to the weekend, work with the team as hard as possible to try and get a good setup so I’ve got the confidence in the car. Who knows, the weather might come into play!”

A Brands Hatch weekend excites Palmowski, as the “no margin for error” nature of the circuit will “add to all the pressure of the weekend.” The challenge of the back section of the circuit is one she is looking forward to, and she is confident she can deal with any nerves.

“In terms of coping with the nerves and the pressure, I think this year has been my best year that I’ve ever managed it, to be honest. It’s my third year in cars, so naturally I’m getting more experienced and getting more used to the environment around me and managing to cope with those nerves better and not let it affect me as much.”

“But I think, just this year being in the single-seater, I’m just so comfortable with the car and I just love driving it that I have now got this inner confidence that I can succeed and can do well.” It is this new-found confidence that Palmowski hopes will help her to win her first title in motorsport.

“I’ve never actually won a championship in my whole career, which is really depressing to be honest. I think I’ve come second about a million and one times!” Winning a championship is a goal that Palmowski has set for herself in motorsport, but to achieve it she will need to have a strong performance at Brands Hatch, as well as a slice of luck on her side.

“I would absolutely love for it to happen. But yeah, the best person will win and if that is Linus then it’s been a privilege to race him this year. I’ve learnt a lot from him, he’s pushed me the whole way, as has Harry [Burgoyne Jr]. So, I think it will be a great three-way fight and just really, really looking forward to it!”

Header photo credit: Artie C Photo