Carlin’s Louis Sharp made a lightning start to take the lead, before expertly managing the gap out front to take a maiden victory in the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA at Oulton Park this evening (12 June).
The Rodin Cars-backed racer started on the front row alongside pole-sitter and championship leader Alex Dunne, but out-dragged the Hitech GP racer on the run down to Old Hall and annexed the race lead on the outside line into the right-hander.
JHR Developments’ Georgi Dimitrov was also able to capitalise on a slower-than-usual start for the Irishman, slotting into second. Although he shadowed Sharp’s every move for the first few laps, the gap between them gradually widened and he was forced to keep a watching brief on a recovering Dunne behind in third.
An opportunity for Dunne to strike back never presented itself, however, and the pair took the chequered flag 1.1 and 1.8 seconds respectively behind an ecstatic Sharp, who also scores a fourth consecutive podium with his win.
“I’m speechless, to be honest. It’s all a bit surreal, scoring three podiums and a race win,” beamed Sharp. “Going into the weekend I wasn’t expecting it, even after qualifying with how hard it is to pass around here, and how quick the top three were.
“I think the team has done a great job, especially in that last race. They gave me a really good setup and have been so supportive. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Daniel Guinchard looked like a potential threat to Dunne in the opening laps, closing to within striking range with the latter boxed in behind Dimitrov. However, as the gap between second and third widened, he too fell back and rounded out a strong day with fourth spot for Phinsys by Argenti.
Neate rounded out the top five ahead of Ollie Gray (Carlin), with Eduardo Coseteng (Hitech) seventh to complete a day in which the Filipino racer made an astonishing 14 overtakes, banishing a difficult qualifying session on Saturday to the history books with a strong haul of points.
Noah Lisle and Joseph Loake (both JHR) ended a character-building day in the points with eighth and ninth respectively, with Ugo Ugochukwu (Carlin) demonstrating his overtaking prowess to move from the back row of the grid to the final points-paying position in tenth, on a circuit famed for its difficulty to pass.
Adam Fitzgerald (Argenti), Joel Pearson (Chris Dittmann Racing), Michael Shin (Virtuosi) and Daniel Mavlyutov (Hitech) rounded out the finishers. Oliver Stewart (Hitech) had run as high as seventh for the majority of the race, but had to pull over with an issue on the final lap. A puncture for Edward Pearson (Virtuosi) after contact from behind at the Island hairpin also ruled him out of contention.
ROKiT British F4 heads next to Croft for a two-day test this coming week (14-15 June) before returning to the Yorkshire venue for the next three rounds of the 2022 season on 25-26 June.
To view full results from the weekend, click here.
