Winners and Losers: British F4 – Knockhill

With the F4 British Championship drawing to its inevitable conclusion, this seasons stories are starting to play out as only two drivers look to be left in the championship assault.

As we all build up to the crescendo of what we expect to be a year-long Kiern Jewiss vs Ayrton Simmons plot, with the latter picking up a win in race two, Knockhill gave us a chance to take one last proper look at the drivers who needed to make an impact in these remaining races.

A double win for Johnathan Hoggard was exactly what the 16-year-old needed after a tough campaign, moving up to sixth in the standings, just behind Patrik Pasma who enjoyed a triple-podium. It was a reduced grid though with the other two Fortec Motorsports drivers not participating.

Results from the weekend can be found here.

Major Talking Point

Only 12 cars present

The fact only 14 cars entered the season was already a concern for many who were a fan of the F4 product, though the series has proved its attractiveness, keeping the same grid all season. That was until this weekend, when Fortec Motorsports drivers Hampus Ericsson and Lucca Allen failed to turn up.

Whether this has anything to do with their European F3 budget concerns is unknown, but with only twelve drivers on the grid, we were left with the first race of the year in which less than ten took the flag after three retirements in race two.

A return could easily be on the cards for Allen and Ericsson, with the former still active on social media over the weekend, but a missed round by both means the UK falls dangerously close to not qualifying for Super Licence points (12 cars minimum each round).

Star of the Show

Johnathan Hoggard

For the second time this season it was a weekend to remember for Hoggard. The 16-year-old had shown his pace during testing, but it wasn’t until the weekend when he turned up the wick. A double pole, win and fastest lap made for a perfect Saturday.

His second pole in the final race proved to be a less decisive win as Pasma really pushed him throughout the safety car-ridden race. It wasn’t perfect for Hoggard though, with a broken suspension spelling an early end to his second race.

It wasn’t the first time Pasma had challenged Hoggard en route to his win, with Donington having largely the same story line. Hoggard though will know that these spectacular wins will need to be backed up by consistent results, if he’s to end the season on a high.

Weekend Hero

Patrik Pasma

At the start of the year, Pasma was entering his second year in British F4 and his third in UK Single-seaters. Like Simmons, he needed a strong start before the rookies found their feet, however that never came.

Knockhill though looks a long way from Brands Hatch (in more ways than one,) as Pasma proved to be the fastest TRS Arden on a weekend his teammates ran into trouble.

It finally looks like the tables have turned though, recording his fourth podium in a row and his third weekend with a front-row start. He has become the driver to beat and with two rounds to go, the battle for third will almost certainly feature the Finn, who is still uncertain of his future.

Meeting to Forget

Paavo Tonteri

From one Finn to another, Tonteri leaves this meeting seventh in the standings, dropping two places and failing to finish any session in the top six. There were two names I was planning to mention for this event, but looking at the results, it will be the Double R Racing who comparatively now has further to climb.

Friday was the first sign that this was not going to be an easy ride, failing to extract the most out of the car during the cooler morning session and being one of only 3 drivers to set his personal best in the slower end of the day run.

The weekend got no better with an eighth and seventh no consolation for his second retirement in three races during the reverse grid event. He’s now 40 points behind rookie rival Jack Doohan who put in another strong performance with more silverware.

Driver Ratings

List is determined by the current championship order and scores will be given according to how well they performed compared to past experience, reputation and championship position.

Kiern Jewiss: 6.5/10

Ayrton Simmons: 8.5/10

Dennis Hauger: 5/10

Jack Doohan: 7.5/10

Patrik Pasma: 9/10

Johnathan Hoggard: 9.5/10

Paavo Tonteri: 2.5/10

Seb Priaulx: 8/10

Josh Skelton: 5.5/10

Manuel Sulaimán: 8/10

Hampus Ericsson: N/A

Sebastián Álvarez: 6/10

Jamie Sharp: 4/10

Lucca Allen: N/A

The penultimate round of the season will see the F4 British Championship head to Silverstone. A circuit that thrown up an number of dramatic conclusions, will this year be as infamous?