Quinn leaves it late to snatch victory from poleman Pasma.

Title contenders Caroline, Piastri and Lundqvist suffer misfortune.

27 AUGUST, 2017 – TRS Arden’s Alex Quinn scored his second win of the 2017 F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost season, after a patient drive from second on the grid and a bold move on long-time leader Patrik Pamsa to take to the top step at Rockingham.

Quinn was the better off line of the front-row starters, but Carlin’s Pasma positioned his car perfectly to remain in first. The Finn then endured immense pressure from Quinn, covering off every move that the 2016 British F4 Rookie Champion could throw at him.

Quinn continued to stalk his prey, biding his time and making the decisive move on lap 13. The Cornish racer getting a better run out of Deene hairpin and boldly running around the outside of Pasma through Yentwood.

Unleashed, Quinn immediately recorded his fastest laps of the race and was able to comfortably take the chequer.

“It’s good to be back on the top step,” said Quinn. “I had to work hard for it. I had a lot of attempts to overtake, but Patrik defended so well and that made it difficult to get past.

“Eventually I got the run on him coming out of turn two and got around the outside at turn three. It was a really tricky move and a little bit scary, but I’m happy I pulled it off.

“I was then immediately able to build a gap and the race got easier from that point.

“I knew I was a lot quicker than Patrik so I was careful not to rush things, overdo it or make a stupid move. I waited patiently and it played out right for me in the end.

“It’s good to get a win here. I’ve never had great results here in the past, so it’s nice to change that and this helps us in the championship.”

“The race was really tough,” added Pasma. “It wasn’t the result we wanted, but we just have to keep working hard and improve to get that win.

“I led the majority of the race and unfortunately I made a slight mistake towards the end which gave Alex the opportunity to make a move which was a shame. I’m proud of how well I defended under immense pressure for so many laps.”

As Quinn and Pasma duked it out in front it brought Simmons, Sargeant and York into play. At one point the leading quintet were covered by less than two seconds in a fight for top honours.

Simmons did well to take the final podium spot, balancing attack with defence while managing heavily worn out tyres.

“We had old tyres on in that race which made it harder to keep up with Alex and Patrik, but we didn’t drop too far back from them which was good,” explained Simmons. “I think I was helped by the fact that they were battling with each other.

“I had to defend a lot in that race too. I had to balance attacking with defending, managing the tyres and driving smart. I’m happy with my performance.

“We’ve saved our best tyres for the final race when we will start from P2 so hopefully we can take the win.

“I’m sure Sargeant won’t make it easy starting from pole. I finished ahead of him in this race so hopefully I can come out on top again.”

Sargeant got the better of York after the latter took too much kerb, unsettling his car and leaving the door open for the American to pounce.

Behind York finished Fortec Motorsports team-mate Hampus Ericsson who climbed his way from 10th on the grid to sixth. The Swede finished ahead of fellow big mover and Ford F4 Challenge Cup runner Olli Caldwell who had made up five places from his starting position.

“It’s really good to make it two Ford F4 Challenge Cup wins for the weekend so far,” said Ericsson. “I’m really happy and so is the team. To get sixth place with York in fifth means lots of points for the team.

“The important thing was to keep my nose clean and stay out of trouble. That’s been my plan all weekend and it’s paying dividends.

“If we can get the full set of Challenge Cup wins this weekend that would be brilliant so we can close the gap to the points leader in the Class standings.”

Just a fortnight after recording both his and GW Motorsport’s first top 10 finish, Sam Smelt was at it again, this time bringing his Ford EcoBoost-powered racer home in eighth.

Lucas Alecco Roy was back in the points in ninth, recovering well from early contact with Jamie Sharp (Sharp Motorsport).

Title contenders Jamie Caroline, Linus Lundqvist and Oscar Piastri suffered a frustrating race. Damage from early skirmishes for Caroline and Lundqvist forced them into the pits and retirement.

Meanwhile Piastri’s rapid progress through the field, which saw him overtake eight cars on the opening lap, was abruptly halted on lap two with a trip through the gravel at Tarzan after a battle with Caroline.

Piastri persevered however, recording the fastest lap of the race on his way back up to 10th place by the chequer and denying Falcon Motorsport’s Lucca Allen a maiden points score.

The ITV4 live-televised Rockingham finale follows at 1512.

F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost

Provisional results Round 23 Rockingham 27 August 2017

15 laps / 29.10 miles

1 Alex QUINN / GBR / Arden 20m 20.323s / 85.84mph

2 Patrik PASMA / FIN / Carlin +1.531s

3 Ayrton SIMMONS / GBR / Arden +3.261s

4 Logan SARGEANT / USA / Carlin +4.214s

5 Oliver YORK / GBR / Fortec +4.593s

6 Hampus ERICSSON / SWE / Fortec +5.922s

7 Olli CALDWELL / GBR / Arden +6.804s

8 Sam SMELT / GBR / GW +7.290s

9 Lucas Alecco ROY / GER / Carlin +14.093s

10 Oscar PIASTRI / AUS / Arden +14.802s etc.

Fastest lap: Oscar Piastri 1m 18.854s / 87.45mph

Ford F4 Challenge Cup: 1 Ericsson; 2 Caldwell; 3 Allen

Provisional championship standings

1 Caroline 349 points; 2 Piastri 289.5; 3 Sargeant 258; 4 Quinn 249; 5 Lundqvist 229.5; 6 York 197.5; 7 Simmons 194.5; 8 Pasma 141.5; 9 Webb 68; 10 Massaad 66 etc.

Provisional Ford F4 Challenge Cup standings

1 Webb 315.5 points; 2 York 304.5; 3 Ericsson 225.5; 4 Caldwell 179; 5 Allen 102; 6 Monger 100

Full results