BRDC Formula 4 2015 - Snetterton

24/08/2015

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HHC Racing's Will Palmer added his seventh and eight victories of the season at Snetterton, Norfolk, over the weekend of August 22/23 to stretch his lead at the top of the Duo BRDC Formula 4 championship table to 74 points. With two more events and six races still to go at Donington Park and Brands Hatch before the end of the season, it's by no means yet a 'done deal' for the Comma-sponsored 16 year old from Southwater in East Sussex. He may have failed to trouble the scorers in Race 2 when an encounter with the leader, Lanan Racing's Chris Mealin eliminated him from the race and Mealin from the results, but his commanding margins of victory on Saturday's Race 1 and Sunday's Race 3 suggest that Palmer is in such a rich vein of form - and with the wind in his sails - that championship honours are now really only his for the losing.

With just two exceptions, Tom Jackson has scored consistently in high double points throughout the year for Chris Dittmann Racing, and his victory in Race 2 was bolstered by third and second place podiums in Races 1 and 3 respectively to elevate him from third to second in the championship. Formula 4 rookie Harri Newey, Palmer's HHC team-mate, once again showed that he's as racy as anyone - and in line for that elusive first F4 win - by taking second place podiums in Races 1 & 2 and third in Race 3. That netted a handsome 75 points and boosted him from fifth to third in the championship table. The only other driver to mount the rostrum over the weekend was Hillspeed's Faisal Al Zubair who finished third on Race 2.

Mexico's Rodrigo Fonseca suffered a major blow to his championship ambitions with his least productive showing of the season. Seventh in Race 1, pointless in Race 2 and out of the top 10 in Race 3 demoted Lanan Racing's main challenger from second to fourth in championship calculations, one place ahead of Ecurie Ecosse/GBR driver, Scotland's Ciaran Haggerty, who somehow managed to drop a notch from fourth to fifth in the points table despite performing strongly all weekend with fourth place in Race 1, sixth in Race 2 and fifth in Race 3. As with Newey, Haggerty is the only driver in the top five still chasing a race win, but there is the sense that it's only a matter of time for both of them.

For the next four drivers in the top ten, it's a case of 'as you were'. In sixth place, SWR's Jordan Albert finished thirteenth in Race 1, fifth in Race 2 and seventh in Race 3 to boost his points by 39, while Mealin only improved his score by 25 points to remain seventh following his disappointing disqualification in Race 2 and a brace of finishes outside the top ten in Races 1 & 3. His Lanan team-mate Jack Bartholemew scored a little more highly with 39 points after taking twelfth in Race 1, eighth in Race 2 and sixth in Race 3 to remain eighth overall. Holding station in ninth championship place, Chris Dittmann Racing's Omar Ismail scooped a very useful 49 points from finishing fifth in Race one, fourth in Race 2 and fourth again in Race 3. Finally, Jack Lang, for his Lang Sport/Gorse Motors team, vaulted in the table from fourteenth to tenth after a brace of top ten results; tenth in Races 1 & 3 and seventh in Race 2.

Celebrating Will Palmer's continuing success, Comma Spokesperson, Mike Bewsey said: "We're the last people to tempt fate, but all of us at Comma are cheering Will on to emulate the outstanding achievement of his elder brother Jolyon who carried Comma's colours to an outstanding championship winning performance in last year's GP2 Series and is now the third driver for the Lotus Formula 1 team. We're proud as can be of the Palmer brothers' performances under the Comma banner and the credit they do to the Comma brand."

Comma is Technical Partner to Duo BRDC Formula 4, and in addition to sponsoring Will Palmer in the 24 race series, supplies Comma brand lubricants, coolants and maintenance chemicals to all teams competing in the championship. Visit the excellent BRDC Formula 4 website at www.formula4.com to keep up with full results, race reports, information and features about the championship.