Brave move into turn one tees up Tonteri for fantastic first single-seater win.

Priaulx and Simmons double up with podium finishes on the day.

28 JULY, 2018 – At the 17th time of asking Infinity Sports Management-backed rising star Paavo Tonteri claimed his maiden win in the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost.

Starting from the front row, Tonteri’s daring overtake around the outside of poleman and Double R Racing team-mate Sebastian Alvarez into turn one proved decisive.

Out in front the Finn withstood pressure from Sebastian Priaulx and Ayrton Simmons, the trio matching each other for pace throughout.

“It feels really good to finally win,” said a beaming Tonteri. “It has been a long time coming.

“I had a number of different scenarios in my mind regarding how the run down to turn one would go.

“I got away quite well and managed to pull off the move around the outside which is not something that happens too often at this track.

“I built a good gap at the start and just tried to maintain it from there. I felt comfortable in the lead and was just counting the laps down.

“At the top part of the standings coming into the weekend I was the only driver without a win so now it feels so good to have that win to my name.”

Added Priaulx: “It’s always good to be on the podium twice in one day. It would have been nice to get the win in that one, but our pace was so similar. Both Paavo and Ayrton did a great job.

“At the start I got down the inside, which set me up well for turn two to pick up some places and that provided the foundation for my race.

“I would love to have a clean sweep of podiums for the weekend, but we’ll take tomorrow as it comes and try to maximise the opportunities in the race.”

Commented Simmons: “It’s another great haul of points for the championship. I got a good start and managed to get past Alvarez into the second corner.

“It was quite a relaxed race from there. I tried to push as much as I could to catch Priaulx, but the top three were evenly matched in terms of pace.

“It feels good to close the gap in the championship. The team have done an exceptional job to bounce back from the difficulties on Friday. I’m really happy with how today has gone and let’s see what we can achieve tomorrow.”

Priaulx made plenty of headway in the opening exchanges to climb up to second place from fifth, while Simmons followed him past Doohan. The latter in thick of the action for much of the race, but ultimately relegated down the order due to having to pit as a result of front wing damage. A similar fate befell JHR Developments driver Manuel Sulaiman.

Championship leader Kiern Jewiss (Double R Racing) had plenty to do from the penultimate row of the grid and rose to the challenge by carving his way up to fourth place. The pick of his overtakes a dive around the outside of Jamie Sharp (Sharp Motorsport) on lap seven at Riches.

Sharp’s opening lap was pure brilliance, as the Rochdale racer flew up the order from ninth to fourth and found himself locked in battle with the likes of Jewiss and Doohan for much of the race. However, a wide moment and spin at Wilson in the closing stages saw him miss out on what would have been his best result of the season.

Patrik Pasma got the better of Arden team-mate Dennis Hauger to take fifth. The latter bouncing back from a five-place grid penalty which left him starting the race from 11th, while Josh Skelton (JHR Developments) and Johnathan Hoggard (Fortec Motorsports) wound up seventh and eighth respectively.

Alvarez’s race was thwarted by an off on the opening lap. The Mexican doing well to salvage ninth ahead of Lucca Allen (Fortec Motorsports) who claimed his ninth top-10 finish of the season.

The final race of the weekend is set to get underway at 1430 tomorrow and will be screened live on ITV4. Poleman Pasma will want to emulate fellow flying Finn Tonteri by scoring his first win in the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost.

F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost



Provisional results Round 17 Snetterton, 28 July, 2018

11 laps / 32.65 miles

1 Paavo TONTERI / FIN / Double R 20m 56.062s / 93.60 mph

2 Sebastian PRIAULX / GBR / Arden +0.780s

3 Ayrton SIMMONS / GBR / JHR +1.634s

4 Kiern JEWISS / GBR / Double R +8.230s

5 Patrik PASMA / FIN / Arden +11.240s

6 Dennis HAUGER / NOR / Arden +12.137s

7 Josh SKELTON / GBR / JHR +18.728s

8 Johnathan HOGGARD / GBR / Fortec +19.279s

9 Sebastian ALVAREZ / MEX / Double R +19.527s

10 Lucca ALLEN / IRE / Fortec 23.011s etc.

Fastest lap: Hauger 1m 52.773s / 94.77 mph

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

Round 18 grid order (based on second-fastest qualifying times)

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

Provisional championship standings

1 Jewiss 279 points; 2 Simmons 240; 3 Hauger 215; 4 Tonteri 184; 5 Doohan 176; 6 Priaulx 154; 7 Hoggard 120; 8 Pasma 118; 9 Skelton 63; 10 Ericsson 48 etc.

Provisional Rookie Cup standings

1 Hauger 312 points; 2 Tonteri 294; 3 Doohan 292; 4 Skelton 219; 5 Alvarez 149

Full results