Maloney takes record-breaking fifth win in a row in Oulton Park opener.

Skelton equals best result in second, Horsten rounds out the podium.

Foster only sixth, but on reverse-grid pole position at 17:45 BST.

Zane Maloney produced a perfect display to make it a record-breaking fifth consecutive victory in the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost in the opening race at Oulton Park.

A lightning start set the tone for a lights to flag victory for the Carlin racer, with the Barbadian eventually crossing the line X seconds clear of JHR’s Josh Skelton and Arden Motorsport’s Bart Horsten to break Jamie Caroline’s 2017 record for race wins in a row.

That result, with his closest title rival Louis Foster just sixth for Double R Racing, means Maloney now has a 22-point advantage in the standings, but crucially Foster will start the reverse-grid contest later this afternoon from pole position, with Maloney on the third row.

“I’m very pleased. I’d like to think I’m the man to beat, but all the drivers here are really tough and I’m just doing the best job I possibly can right now. It’s working out, hopefully it can continue and we’ll keep trying our best and hopefully succeed even more.

“In the first five or six laps, you always push. I knew I had a massive gap, I wasn’t cruising but just backed off two or three percent and tried to save the tyre because of wear.

“I’m going to go into the race later not expecting to win, but I’ll try to make a similar start and have my head on to make the best moves possible. The team’s definitely done the best job they can, they can’t do much more for me. Thank you to them, my sponsors, my family and Kokoro Performance for supporting me.”

Skelton had looked to be Maloney’s chief obstacle in the way of a fifth straight win, but the Cumbria-based racer was forced to go defensive at the start as Horsten looked to the inside on the run into Old Hall, but duly held firm.

Maloney put in a succession of fastest laps at the front of the field to extend his advantage to a high of 2.3 seconds, whilst Skelton and Horsten disputed the runner-up spot between them.

Horsten looked to have the legs on Skelton heading into the closing laps, but the latter held firm to equal his best result of the campaign so far and inject life into his own title bid.

Joe Turney took a well-deserved fourth on his 18th birthday, diving to the inside of Alvarez at Old Hall to secure the place having dropped back at the start, with the aforementioned Foster rounding out the top six.

Carter Williams put in a solid defensive drive to take seventh in the second of JHR’s runners, though Luke Browning might have taken that honour but for disaster at the Knickerbrook chicane.

A detatched wheel sent the local hero spinning into the gravel, and out of the race. That, coupled with a ten-second penalty for a false start for Fortec Motorsport’s Mariano Martinez, gave championship newcomer Alex Walker (JHR) a golden chance to take a point on his debut.

The British karting graduate made no mistake, crossing the line tenth in fine fashion behind Arden’s Tommy Foster and the other Fortec machine of Roberto Faria to round out the points-scorers.

Reema Juffali took eleventh for Double R, with Martinez 12th after his penalty. Alex Connor lost drive in the final third of the race and was forced into retirement, joining Browning on the sidelines.

Drama aplenty already today in Cheshire, with the Ford EcoBoost-powered series now gearing up for reverse-grid action at 17:45 BST.

Round 13 – Provisional Result