Lanan Racing’s Arjun Maini and HHC Motorsport’s Will Palmer were the winners of the F4 races at Snetterton with Palmer claiming his second victory of the weekend in race three to jump into third in the championship standings.
Maini’s win in this morning’s second race of the weekend came from pole position, the young Indian driver making a good start to launch into an early lead.
His advantage was soon wiped out by the appearance of the safety car but upon resumption of the race Maini was able to stretch out a comfortable margin to claim his first F4 victory.
Mexican Diego Menchaca finished second for Douglas Motorsport ahead of championship leader George Russell, claiming his second podium of the weekend from sixth on the grid.
Hillspeed’s Gustavo Lima finished fourth ahead of Palmer with Struan Moore completing the top six for Lanan Racing.
Having set the fastest lap of the weekend in yesterday’s opening encounter, Palmer lined-up for the final race of the weekend from pole position, which he converted to his second win in two days.
Palmer finished ahead of HHC team mates Sennan Fielding and Raoul Hyman, the first time any team has filled the top three positions in F4.
Palmer made a strong start but his early advantage was eradicated when the safety car made its second appearance of the day to recover the stranded car of Diego Borrelli.
At the restart Palmer immediately stretched out a lead of over a second, his margin extending to 1.4s before Fielding fought back, reducing the gap to 0.6s at the chequered flag.
Hyman was a further 1.3s further back.
Race two winner Maini scored another strong result with fourth, with Gaetano di Mauro securing the Brazilian PetroBall team’s best ever F4 result in fifth.
Di Mauro had his work cut out though, fending off the attentions of championship leader Russell throughout the 10-lap encounter, with the pair finishing the race side-by-side, with di Mauro just 0.081s ahead.
With a win yesterday, fifth place in race two and a win to end the weekend, Palmer earned an F4 record of 86 points during the meeting.
“It’s been an amazing weekend,” Palmer commented.
“I got a great win in race one and now another win today, it’s absolutely fantastic.
“I have to say a big thanks to the team. HHC have given me a fantastic car this weekend and for the team to get a 1-2-3 result is a massive achievement.
“I’ve been getting stronger with each round and Snetterton has always been a good track for me.
“ We’re at Oulton Park next, I’ve already tested there and it’s been a good track for me as well.
“Hopefully we can have another good weekend there and aim for another win to continue my title challenge.”
George Russell continues to lead the championship.
Russell’s advantage is the same as it was at the start of the weekend, 21 points over Raoul Hyman.
Palmer, moving up to third, is a further 10 points behind. Hyman would have been closer to Russell, having originally finished fourth in race two before being handed a 30 second time penalty for a collision with Nicolas Beer.
The stewards of the meeting upheld the original decision to hand Hyman a penalty, although the South African has appealed the decision of the stewards of the meeting to the national court.
Douglas Motorsport’s Rodrigo Fonseca was excluded from the result of race two for causing a collision with David Wagner, while Diego Borrelli picked up a 10 second time penalty for starting from the wrong grid slot.
Russell commented: “It’s been a good weekend with two podiums, but I think if things had gone my way in race one yesterday we could have had a win and maybe a fastest lap, which could have changed the whole weekend.
“I’ve only done one day in the F4 car at Oulton Park, so hopefully we’ll get some more running there before the next round.
We’ll go there expecting to do well, we’ve been fast at every circuit so far this season and if we keep the same mentality we will continue to get strong results.”
BRDC F4, Snetterton, race two result:
1. Arjun Maini, Lanan Racing, 9 laps
2. Diego Menchaca, Douglas Motorsport, +3.171s
3. George Russell, Lanan Racing, +4.619s
4. Gustavo Lima, Hillspeed, +7.293s
5. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, +8.207s
6. Struan Moore, Lanan Racing, +10.369s
7. Rahul Mayer, Hillspeed, +12.868s
8. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +14.629s
9. Gaetano di Mauro, PetroBall, +15.246s
10. Dan Roeper, PetroBall, +15.730s
BRDC F4, Snetterton, race three result:
1. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 10 laps
2. Sennan Fielding, HHC Motorsport, +0.689s
3. Raoul Hyman, HHC Motorsport, +1.995s
4. Arjun Maini, Lanan Racing, +2.727s
5. Gaetano di Mauro, PetroBall, +8.260s
6. George Russell, Lanan Racing, +8.341s
7. Struan Moore, Lanan Racing, +8.718s
8. Diego Menchaca, Douglas Motorsport, +11.438s
9. Charlie Eastwood, Douglas Motorsport, +11.790s
10. Gustavo Lima, Hillspeed, +13.413s
BRDC F4 Championship standings after race nine of 24:*
1. George Russell, Lanan Racing, 216pts
2. Raoul Hyman, HHC Motorsport, 195pts
3. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 185pts
4. Arjun Maini, Lanan Racing, 179pts
5. Sennan Fielding, HHC Motorsport, 149pts
6. Diego Menchaca, Douglas Motorsport, 139pts
7. Gustavo Lima, Hillspeed, 132pts
8. Struan Moore, Lanan Racing, 112pts
9. Chris Middlehurst, Mark Godwin Racing, 108pts
10. Rahul Mayer, Hillspeed, 90pts
*Provisional standings
