Lights-to-flag win for Lundqvist after measured drive from Double R racer.

Ericsson ensures a Swedish lock out of the top step by claiming Ford F4 Challenge Cup victory.

First non-finish of season for title contender Piastri.

26 AUGUST, 2017 – Linus Lundqvist withstood pressure from a fast-starting Oliver York to take a commanding win from pole position in Round 22 of the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost.

York sniffed his second victory of the season in the opening exchanges through turns one and two, at one point just nudging in front of Lundqvist. However, the Swede was wise to his advances and kept York pinned to the outside to prevent him from scything past.

The Double R ace then set about pulling a gap and controlled the pace out front on the way to his fourth win of the campaign, with York 1.895 seconds behind.

“It’s brilliant to be able to add to my tally of wins for the season,” said Lundqvist. “I was so happy after qualifying on pole and now I’m on a whole other level!

“It was a bit tough at the start, defending the lead from the guys behind, but I held on and pulled a gap.

“Then it was all about managing the tyres which was made harder by being chased by York. So I had to manage the tyres while trying to maintain the gap which is not easy.

“I’m hugely excited to see what we can achieve tomorrow. I’m so happy with how the car is handling. The team have done an incredible job. It’s always so exciting to get behind the wheel of the British F4 car. Let’s see if we can get another win this weekend.”

“We were very evenly matched at the front,” added York. “Linus got a gap in the first part of the race. I managed to get alongside and just slightly in front of him through the first and second corners, but was on the outside so couldn’t quite make the move stick.

“Second is a good result. It’s good points for the championship and we can build on this.

“Even though I got my first win a fortnight ago we’ve been struggling a bit so it’s good to qualify well and carry that through into the race, battling at the front and showing we have the pace to win. Hopefully we can bag plenty more points tomorrow.”

Another fast starter was Jamie Caroline with lightning reactions off the line from fifth on the grid. The championship leader ran three abreast with Carlin team-mate Logan Sargeant and TRS Arden’s Ayrton Simmons on the run into Deene, running around the outside of the pair to emerge in third place.

Struggling with worn tyres, Caroline was unable to escape Sargeant’s clutches and in the closing stages his mirrors were full of Sargeant’s Ford EcoBoost-powered racer.

Caroline’s saving grace was a better run out of Brooke Chicane lap after lap. It was just enough to prevent Sargeant from getting sufficient slipstream down the straight and around the turn one banking to set up a move into Deene.

“We were fortunate in that race that Piastri was unable to finish and that I was able to hold on to third,” explained Caroline.

“We were on our most used tyres in that race which showed with the kind of lap times we were achieving, as well as the fact I was drifting through quite a few corners!

“It’s not a bad result at all as far as the championship is concerned with another good points haul.

“If we can get a podium in all three races this weekend that would be brilliant and then go into Silverstone with the chance of taking the title there.

“I initially pulled a gap to Logan and was catching York, but I just knew I didn’t have it in the tyres to mount a proper attack so I backed off, but then the tyres dropped off further and Logan was able to reel me in.

“I was kind of surprised I was able to pull away from Logan coming out of the last corner and onto the banking because I was struggling for traction due to the life left in the tyres. On one lap I even rubbed along the wall and I have no idea how the car stayed intact. Ford and Mygale clearly know how to build a strong car!”

As Caroline and Sargeant squabbled, the TRS Arden duo of Ayrton Simmons and Alex Quinn looked to pick up the pieces, but ran out of laps and had to settle for fifth and sixth; ahead of Patrik Pasma whose seventh place earns him pole for the reverse-grid race.

Caroline’s third could prove all the more decisive when taking into consideration the fate of Oscar Piastri in the race. His chief title rival suffered front wing damage early on and then encountered a technical problem which left him dropping down the order despite an impressive rear-guard action which saw him initially keep a gaggle of six cars behind him.

The Aussie ultimately had to retire on lap six after coming into the pits. His first non-finish of the season after a remarkable run of 21 consecutive races in the points.

Jamie Sharp was in fine form for Sharp Motorsport, showing no signs of the balance issues that hampered him on Friday to climb more places than any other driver from 13th to eighth. The Rochdale racer pulled off some perfectly-judged moves, notably a bold dive up the inside of Karl Massaad at Tarzan.

The latter finished ahead of Fortec Motorsports’ Hampus Ericsson who is making a habit of taking Ford F4 Challenge Cup victories, and did so again with his fourth Class win of the campaign with Olli Caldwell (TRS Arden) and Lucca Allen (Falcon Motorsport) completing the podium.

Caldwell found himself facing an uphill battle from lap two after a tangle at Tarzan saw him spun around. The talented teenager was unperturbed though and climbed up to 12th, behind Sam Smelt (GW Motorsport) after entertaining battles with Allen and Carlin’s Lucas Alecco Roy.

Ford’s young stars are back on track at Rockingham at 1005 tomorrow for the reverse-grid race with the Rockingham finale, in which Sargeant will go from the pole, to be televised live on ITV4 at 1512.

F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost

Provisional results Round 22 Rockingham 26 August 2017

15 laps / 29.10 miles

1 Linus LUNDQVIST / SWE / Double R 20m 05.929s / 86.87mph

2 Oliver YORK / GBR / Fortec +1.895s

3 Jamie CAROLINE / GBR / Carlin +5.329s

4 Logan SARGEANT / USA / Carlin +5.672s

5 Ayrton SIMMONS / GBR / Arden +6.010s

6 Alex QUINN / GBR / Arden +7.235s

7 Patrik PASMA / FIN / Carlin +15.905s

8 Jamie SHARP / GBR / Sharp +19.923s

9 Karl MASSAAD / LEB / Double R +21.332s

10 Hampus ERICSSON / SWE / Fortec +24.284s etc.

Fastest lap: Linus Lundqvist 1m 19.629s / 87.70mph

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

Grid for Round 23 Pasma – Quinn – Simmons – Sargeant – Caroline – York – Lundqvist – Sharp – Massaad – Ericsson etc.

Provisional championship standings

1 Caroline 349 points; 2 Piastri 288.5; 3 Sargeant 246; 4 Lundqvist 229.5; 5 Quinn 224; 6 York 187.5; 7 Simmons 179.5; 8 Pasma 123.5; 9 Webb 68; 10 Massaad 66 etc.

Provisional Ford F4 Challenge Cup standings

1 Webb 315.5 points; 2 York 304.5; 3 Ericsson 200.5; 4 Caldwell 161; 5 Monger 100; 6 Allen 87

Full results