Lights-to-flag win for Pasma.

Arden lockout the podium with Red Bull Juniors Doohan and Hauger finishing second and third respectively.

Storming opening lap enables Simmons to reduce Jewiss’ championship lead.

11 AUGUST, 2018 – Arden and Patrik Pasma took victory in round 19 of the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost at Rockingham Motor Speedway in emphatic fashion. Pasma recorded a lights-to-flag maiden win in the series ahead of team-mates Jack Doohan and Dennis Hauger. The two rookies also securing an Arden one-two in the Rookie class.

Poleman Pasma was flawless from the outset and found an excellent rhythm out front after a textbook getaway to finally score his first single-seater win and record fastest lap in the process.

It was plain sailing out front for Pasma who was chased home by Doohan and Hauger, as Arden stamped its authority all over proceedings.

“It feels so good to win my first race in single-seaters,” said an elated Pasma. “It was quite lonely out front. It was a pretty straightforward race.

“In the first few laps Jack was able to get a tow from me, but after that I managed to build a little gap and that was key.

“The car felt really good. The whole team has done an amazing job and this result is the reward.

“We’ve got two more races tomorrow. It might well be wet, but I still think we’ve got a great chance for more excellent results.”

Added Doohan: “We were missing a little bit of pace compared to Pasma, but that’s something I hope we can find overnight. I think we need to find something in sector three.

“I’m still pleased to pick up the podium and all these points for the championship. I need to have a few more consistently high-scoring races and then everything is possible with regard to the title.

“It looks like the conditions will be different tomorrow with the weather. We start slightly further back in the reverse-grid race so we need to adapt quicker than the others in those conditions to make our way to the front.”

Said Arden team manager Ben Bloomfield: “This is a fantastic result and I couldn’t really ask for much more.

“Everyone in the team has done a phenomenal job this weekend. We’ve got really good pace and I’m so pleased for everyone. We can go out and celebrate now and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

“We’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve tomorrow. We start from pole again in race three. Race two will be a little bit trickier, but hopefully we should come away from this weekend with a very decent haul of points.

“For Patrik to get his first win is absolutely fantastic. He’s had his ups and downs and probably had more than his fair share of bad luck so he’s understandably over the moon.

“We’ve got really good momentum now in the championship. It’s so competitive in this series. It always has been and always will be.

“There are three or four drivers who still have a really good chance of winning the title this year so that bodes well and we’re already excited for what’s to come next year too.

“The level of competition is so high, especially when you look at the times here with the leading drivers separated by just thousandths of a second.”

Hauger earnt third place after getting the jump on Kiern Jewiss (Double R Racing) off the line. However, Jewiss refused to relinquish the podium place and made the Norwegian work hard for third. The two dicing through the opening sequence of corners and Hauger finally making the move stick through Yentwood.

“I got a really good start and then I tried to go around the outside of Jewiss into turn two,” explained Hauger. “I kept my position alongside Jewiss after that and then got down his inside at the next corner and that was pretty much my race really.

“A 1-2-3 is a really fantastic result for Arden which I’m really proud to be a part of and I’m also pleased to score all these points for the championship, outscoring Simmons and Jewiss.

“It will be wet tomorrow I think. I like those conditions so it should be a lot of fun.”

Fast-starter Ayrton Simmons pounced on Jewiss with a late dive down the inside of his championship rival at Tarzan on the opening lap. The JHR Developments ace snatching fourth place and went on to keep Jewiss at bay for the duration to reduce his gap to the championship leader to 27 points.

Jewiss then had to contend with fellow Ginetta Junior graduate Sebastian Priaulx in his mirrors. Fortec Motorsports’ Johnathan Hoggard reeled in Messrs Simmons, Jewiss and Priaulx in the closing stages, but was unable to make any further progress up the order having started eighth. His seventh place finish earning him reverse-grid pole for round 20.

JHR Developments driver Manuel Sulaiman picked up a couple of places to finish eighth and in doing so broke into the top-10 in the standings, while Paavo Tonteri (Double R Racing) and Josh Skelton (JHR Developments) bagged the final points paying positions. The latter prevailing after an entertaining battle for 10th place with Sebastian Alvarez (Double R Racing), Jamie Sharp (Sharp Motorsport), as well as the Fortec Motorsports pair of Lucca Allen and Hampus Ericsson.

Ford’s rising stars are back on track at Rockingham at 1045 tomorrow for the reverse-grid race. The Rockingham finale, in which Pasma will go from the pole, is set to be televised live on ITV4 at 1550.

F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost

Provisional results Round 19 Rockingham, 11 August, 2018

15 laps / 29.1 miles

1 Patrik PASMA / FIN / Arden 20m 05.030s / 86.93 mph

2 Jack DOOHAN / AUS / Arden +2.183s

3 Dennis HAUGER / NOR / Arden +2.951s

4 Ayrton SIMMONS / GBR / JHR +11.187s

5 Kiern JEWISS / GBR / Double R +11.703s

6 Sebastian PRIAULX / GBR / Arden +12.319s

7 Johnathan HOGGARD / GBR / Fortec +12.751s

8 Manuel SULAIMAN / MEX / JHR +16.231s

9 Paavo TONTERI / FIN / Double R +18.922s

10 Josh SKELTON / GBR / JHR +23.811s etc.

Fastest lap: Pasma 1m 19.619s / 87.71 mph

Rookie class: 1 Doohan, 2 Hauger, 3 Tonteri, 4 Skelton, 5 Alvarez

Grid for Round 20: Hoggard – Priaulx – Jewiss – Simmons – Hauger – Doohan – Pasma – Sulaiman – Tonteri – Skelton etc.

Round 21 grid order (based on second-fastest times)

Pasma – Jewiss – Doohan – Hauger – Sulaiman – Priaulx – Simmons – Tonteri – Hoggard – Alvarez etc.

Provisional championship standings

1 Jewiss 289 points; 2 Simmons 262; 3 Hauger 248; 4 Doohan 219; 5 Tonteri 201; 6 Priaulx 168; 7 Pasma 151; 8 Hoggard 138; 9 Skelton 64; 10 Sulaiman 51 etc.

Provisional Rookie Cup standings

1 Hauger 348 points; 2 Doohan 342; 3 Tonteri 324; 4 Skelton 241; 5 Alvarez 171

Full results