- The battle between Hitech's Irishman and Carlin's Briton has never been as heated as at Silverstone.
- Sharp, Dimitrov and Gray share the victories in the penultimate round marked by numerous contacts and safety cars.
- The title will be awarded at Brands Hatch in a fortnight' time.
It was a high-voltage finale for the F4 British Championship which, at the Silverstone track, reached a record 20 Tatuus F4 T-421 powered by the 180hp Abarth T-Jet 1.4 engine on the grid. Alex Dune (IRL - Hitech GP) failed to clinch the 2022 title with a round to spare in a weekend marked by a head-to-head battle with his direct rival Oliver Gray (GBR - Carlin). The two made contact in the early phases of race 1 and, while Gray crossed the line first but was then penalised by three seconds and slipped to fourth, Dunne recovered from the bottom and finished on the podium behind Louis Sharp (NZL - Carlin) and Daniel Guinchard (GBR - Phinsys by Argenti). The results of race 1 remain sub-judice after the appeal filed by Carlin on Gray's penalty. In race 2, Dunne and Gray were again the protagonists, battling for important points for the title around the fifth and sixth positions, but once again the two overdid it and were both penalised, scoring 0 points. Victory went to Georgi Dimitrov (BUL - JHR Developments) who took his third win of the season ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu (USA - Carlin) and race 1 winner Louis Sharp. In the third race, marked by several contacts and numerous interventions of the safety car, victory went to Oliver Gray who, thanks to his success, still keeps alive his title hopes, at least mathematically. On the podium, with Carlin's Briton, go Joseph Loake (GBR - JHR Developments) and Alex Dunne who, at Brands Hatch, will only have to be in control to win the 2022 title.
Hope for a 'miracle' Ollie Gray ahead of the last round of the season: “A win is a win, at the end of the day. I’m happy now and just looking forward to Brands Hatch. Hopefully we can get that win tally up, so it’s a few more than two this year. Even though the championship wasn’t sealed here, it has gone to Brands, but it’s still very unrealistic to win. I’m just going to do everything I can, and hopefully a miracle will happen!”
On the other hand, Dunne's intentions did not go to plan: “It definitely didn’t work in my favour. We were always under safety car, and I needed to finish in the top two to be confirmed as champion. I’m definitely upset and I’m definitely disappointed. There’s a race [Brands Hatch] that clashes with Italian F4, and I don’t know which I’ll be doing, that’s why we’ve been trying so hard to wrap it up a round early”.
F4 British Championship Overall Standings: 1. Alex Dunne (IRL – Hitech GP) 412; 2. Oliver Gray (GBR – Carlin) 310; 3. Ugo Ugochukwu (USA – Carlin) 264; 4. Louis Sharp (NZL – Carlin) 243; 5. Joseph Loake (GBR – JHR Developments) 214.
Turin, September 26, 2022
International
