Fortec Motorsports’ Jack Taylor enjoyed a perfect Saturday at Silverstone, as the young Australian claimed his maiden series pole positions in qualifying, and then converted the first of those into a breakthrough victory.
Race one
Taylor made a great start from pole to head the pack to Copse on the first lap, while Leon Wilson shot past Arjen Kraling into second. Wilson attempted a move on the run to Stowe, but it was plain sailing for Taylor thereafter as he romped to an unchallenged victory.
Wilson’s attentions soon turned to defence, as Thomas Ingram Hill from sixth fired into third through the first sequence of corners. He soon applied big pressure to Wilson and made the move for second at Village on lap four.
Immediately setting the fastest lap of the race, he set about closing down teammate Taylor, who by now had a lead of over three seconds. He was able to chip away to bring the gap below three seconds, but Taylor ultimately had too much of a gap, and claimed victory by 2.9 seconds from Ingram Hill, who stood on the podium for the first time. Wilson had to settle for third, his second consecutive podium following his Snetterton victory.
Race two
Taylor had been scheduled to start from pole, having done the same yesterday, but rain on the formation lap led to 23 of the 25 drivers opting to pit for wet weather tyres, leaving only Arden’s Ava Dobson and Graham Brunton Racing’s Mayer Deonarine to start from the grid on slicks from 16th and 18th respectively.
With rain continuing to fall it wasn’t long before Taylor caught up, passing Dobson on lap two and then Deonarine at Club the next time around. The Australian rocketed into the distance, extending a gap before Alex Kattoulas crashed at Stowe.
The race resumed with just one lap remaining, as Deonarine was still second on his slick tyres. But the Safety Car negated his strategy, and the pack poured past him with Hillspeed’s Leandro Juncos gaining several places on the final lap to clinch second ahead of Douglas Motorsport’s weekend debutant Kraling, who claimed the final podium spot off Thomas Ingram Hill just a couple of corners from home.
Race three
With a return to more conventional weather conditions, Stefan Bostandjiev launched from third on the grid in the finale to take the lead at Copse on lap one, passing pole driver Jason Pribyl.
The Bulgarian held the lead from there with Juncos and Ary Bansal frequently going wheel to wheel behind, allowing the leader to occasionally stretch out a small advantage in the process. A slipstream battle for the lead formed in the closing stages, but last lap fireworks were denied by the smoking car of Pribyl at the pit entry, necessitating a red flag halfway around the final tour.
Bostandjiev was therefore victorious with just a four tenths of a second margin to Juncos, who claimed his second successive podium with Bansal third.
The Brands Hatch event next up marks the penultimate rounds of this year’s GB4 Championship, and is the first opportunity for Hillspeed’s Dan Guinchard to establish himself as the latest title holder and claim the £50,000 prize that goes with it.