Female drivers took a clean sweep of race wins on Sunday in the GB4 Championship at Donington Park, as Megan Gilkes and Logan Hannah claimed sensational victories.
Hillspeed’s Gilkes took her second win of the season from pole position in race two after a fightback drive, while Hannah took a maiden triumph in the series for both herself and the Graham Brunton Racing team after taking the lead on the first lap of the final race.
Race two
Gilkes started from pole position in the weekend’s second contest, but had to mount a fightback to claim her second victory of the year, having also won at Snetterton.
She was passed on the first lap by Fortec’s championship leader Nikolas Taylor at Redgate, but she never allowed him to break clear, keeping the gap at half a second before a mistake from Taylor allowed her to pounce on lap four at the Melbourne Hairpin.
From there she was able to show her true pace, regularly lapping several tenths of a second faster than her rivals, setting the fastest race lap of the weekend in the process on the way to a crushing near-five second victory.
Championship leader Taylor had to settle for second while Jack Sherwood claimed his first podium of the weekend with third place.
Race three
Hannah started from fourth place on the full reverse grid, but launched into the lead on the first lap, passing teammate Chloe Grant through the full-speed Craner Curves and holding a lead of 1.2 seconds at the end of the first lap.
She held a two second margin by the third lap, but Jarrod Waberski (Kevin Mills Racing) and Sherwood had battled their way into the podium positions. The pair halved Hannah’s lead, but began a battle which saw Sherwood move into second, but cost them time as Hannah made good her escape.
Once again building a lead of two seconds, Hannah looked in firm control at the front, and though Sherwood was able to slice into the lead, she took the flag nearly a second clear.
Sherwood took his best result yet with second, while Waberski ended his weekend on the podium in third.
Fortec’s Nikolas Taylor was sixth, and leaves Donington Park as the championship leader, earning a tour of the Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team factory as a result, courtesy of John Cavill.
Race two winner Gilkes said: “Nikolas made a bit of a mistake in the chicane and I was able to get alongside going into the hairpin and took the lead and never looked back. I just thought I was going to drive to my gap, set certain lap times, and if he stayed me with I knew I may have to defend but I put my head down and went. I managed to get away and from there it was just controlling the pace I was doing.
“Thank you so much to Quattro Group for their support, without them I wouldn’t be racing this weekend. They’ve been giving me some fantastic support ever since Oulton Park and I really appreciate it, so thank you to the guys at Quattro for making all of this possible for me.
“Every race I win, for me, is special but this one is extra special because I qualified up there and put myself up there with a good qualifying performance and was then able to hold on for a win. And in a championship like GB4 as well with all the fantastic media coverage that we get, this is a great profile boost for me. So I’m really over the moon with this race result.”
Race three winner Hannah said: “I got a massive launch at the start and hung it round the outside. It was mine to lose at that point if I started making mistakes and I kept pushing. I saw the group behind kept fighting a bit more, but at the end there it was still mine to lose. I’m so happy, so happy!
“The pace hadn’t been there for us from earlier in the weekend. Having not had new tyres in testing, at least on Thursday, we were struggling to find the perfect set up, but it’s all come together at the end there.
“I can’t thank Laser, my family and everyone on the car for everything they’ve done to get us to this point and GBR for pushing through the problems that we’ve had to eventually get to this point. Next one is to do it based on a qualifying position.”
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race two result:
1. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, 12 laps
2. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, +4.936s
3. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsport, +5.399s
4. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +7.833s
5. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, +8.380s
6. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, +9.539s
Click here for full result
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race three result:
1. Logan Hannah, Graham Brunton Racing, 12 laps
2. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsport, +0.991s
3. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, +2.126s
4. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +2.702s
5. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, +7.767s
6. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, +9.347s
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Championship standings after race 12 of 24
1. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 269pts
2. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, 257pts
3. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, 244pts
4. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, 218pts
5. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, 200pts
6. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, 198pts
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Teams’ Championship standings after race 12 of 24
1. Hillspeed, 455pts
2. Fortec Motorsport, 446pts
3. Elite Motorsport, 441pts
4. Kevin Mills Racing, 418pts
5. Graham Brunton Racing, 238pts
6. Valour Racing, 71pts
Image: Logan Hannah and Megan Gilkes were the winners on Sunday at Donington Park
