VICTORIES FOR WALKER AND GILKES ENSURES THREE WINNERS FROM THREE GB4 RACES AT SNETTERTON

Victories on Sunday for Elite Motorsport’s Alex Walker and Hillspeed’s Megan Gilkes meant the inaugural GB4 Championship event at Snetterton ended with a trio of different winners from the first three races.

Walker triumphed in race two this morning, after overtaking race one winner Nikolas Taylor at Riches on the first lap, while Gilkes triumphed in the reversed grid race three, to end GB4’s maiden weekend with a female winner. 

After the first three races in the championship’s history, Walker holds a slender nine point lead at the top of the standings, with Tom Mills second and Taylor third, equal on points with Max Marzorati. 

Race two
In a near repeat of yesterday's start, pole man Taylor and front row-starter Walker went wheel to wheel in the opening moments, but this time it was Walker who emerged in front after a move around the outside of Riches. 

Taylor attempted to fight back at Palmer moments later but Walker rebuffed the challenge, while just behind, Mills passed teammate Jarrod Waberski and then moved past Taylor at Agostini to take second. Taylor then spun away third place at Brundle, which led to an exciting comeback drive. 

Walker and Mills pulled away at the front, with the Elite driver holding an eight tenths of a second lead after two laps. In the mid-phase of the 18 minute contest, the pace advantage swung Mills' way, and he was able to shave a few fractions off Walker's lead with a couple of fastest laps. But Walker began to pull away again towards the end of the race, taking the flag 1.3 seconds clear, and claiming the championship lead too. Mills took his second podium of the weekend with second, with Waberski claiming a podium having only sat in the car for the first time on Thursday. 

Marzorati was fourth, just falling short of passing Waberski on the line in a thrilling drag race to the finish, with Elias Adestam fifth and Taylor recovering to sixth having fallen as low as tenth.

Race three
Gilkes started second on the reversed grid, but blasted into the lead immediately, while Hillspeed teammate Marzorati surged from fifth to second by turn one. Adestam had also climbed from fourth to third, but was demoted to fourth again by Mills towards the end of the first lap.

Early squabbling behind her allowed Gilkes to build a reasonably comfortable lead, but once Adestam had passed Mills, the Swedish driver began a charge that brought him closer to Marzorati, who in turn closed on Gilkes. 

Starting the penultimate lap the trio were separated by just over a second, with Adestam looking the most likely to launch an attack. But defensive driving from Marzorati ensured Gilkes escaped up the road to win by almost five seconds, while Marzorati was involved in his third close finish of the weekend, this time taking second place just a tenth ahead of the Swedish contender. 

Mills claimed fourth, just over half a second ahead of Waberski, with Walker competing the top-six and consolidating his championship lead. 

Race two winner Walker said:
“Obviously that was really good, it was a stressful race as I had Tom right behind me the whole time, but I had a feeling that once I got through turn one that we were going to be alright as long as I was consistent. The car felt good, so thanks to everyone at Elite.

“It’s a great feeling, hopefully we can carry this through to the rest of the season. The start was really important, I worked really hard on the tyres on the formation lap as we put new tyres on the left hand side. That was where I struggled on the first few laps, but once we got into a bit of a rhythm we were away and home."

Race three winner Gilkes said: 
“This feels absolutely fantastic! The start of the weekend didn’t go quite to plan but I couldn’t have wished for a better race than that, I’m absolutely over the moon and so happy to be the first female winner of a GB4 race!

“Hillspeed did a fantastic job to get a 1-2 finish with both cars, I can’t thank the team enough for getting everything back together after the somewhat disappointing second race. To bring back a win in the third race, it’s been a weekend of highs and lows, but boy am I enjoying the highs!”

On leading the championship, Walker added:
“It’s been a good weekend for us, we’ve taken second, first and sixth across the three races, so we’ve got good points in the bag and looking good for the rest of the season. Hopefully we can carry this forward while also getting some more pace in the car for Oulton Park.”

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, race two top-six:
1. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, 10 laps
2. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, +1.373s
3. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, +8.900s
4. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +9.009s
5. Elias Adestam, Fortec Motorsport, +9.968s
6. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, +10.593s

Click here for full result. 

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, race three top-six:
1. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, 10 laps
2. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +4.976s
3. Elias Adestam, Fortec Motorsport, +5.136s
4. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, +7.790s
5. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, +8.470s
6. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, +12.628s

Click here for full result. 

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Drivers Championship standings after race 3 of 24
1. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, 77pts
2. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, 68pts
3. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 62pts
4. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, 62pts
5. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, 57pts
6. Elias Adestam, Fortec Motorsport, 52pts

Click here for full standings.

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Teams Championship standings after race 3 of 24
1. Kevin Mills Racing, 125pts
2. Elite Motorsport, 114pts
=. Fortec Motorsport, 114pts
4. Hillspeed, 98pts
5. Graham Brunton Racing, 41pts
6. Rossoverde Racing, 26pts

Click here for full standings.

For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net