Guernsey Press

Priaulx shines in the rain at Knockhill

SEB PRIAULX made it four podium finishes in three meetings in the 2018 British F4 Championship with an impressive drive to second position in ultra-challenging conditions at Knockhill in Scotland last weekend.

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Seb Priaulx driving for Arden Motorsport in the British F4 Championship at Knockhill. (Picture by Jakob Ebrey Photography, 22384067)

The Sarnian converted one of his strongest qualifying performances of the season into a pair of hard-fought top-five finishes, which keeps him in the battle for the top six in the championship heading into the final two meetings of the season.

With his podium successes in the previous two outings at Snetterton and Rockingham, Priaulx made the annual trip north of the border to Scotland with confidence high as he prepared to race on the unique, undulating Knockhill circuit for the first time in a single-seater.

Quickly getting up to speed with the track during an official pre-event test on Tuesday, the Guernsey driver continued building a good platform for the weekend ahead as he posted fast, consistent lap times across the traditional free practice sessions on Friday.

Priaulx carried that promising pace into qualifying the next day, with a brilliant lap-time of 49.172sec. putting him less than two tenths of a second off pole as he secured top-five starting positions for both the first and third races of the weekend.

The opening encounter on Saturday afternoon proved to be a relatively quiet affair for Priaulx, with a faultless drive seeing him run in a comfortable fifth position from start to finish, a result that secured him a front-row start for the reverse grid race two.

A dramatic change of weather overnight meant the field were greeted by a tricky wet circuit for race two, with Priaulx adapting superbly to the conditions in his Arden Motorsport machine as he held second position in the early stages.

Maintaining a great pace throughout the 20-minute encounter, the 17-year-old pulled clear of the pack behind and enjoyed a trouble-free run to the chequered flag for a richly-deserved sixth podium finish of his maiden British F4 season so far.

Unfortunately, Priaulx’s weekend ended on a sour note, though, in the live televised final race as, following a great launch off the line, contact from another car heading through McIntyre’s corner spun him around and left him stuck on the edge of the circuit.

A helpful hand from the marshals ensured his race could continue, but by this stage he was a lap down on the remainder of the field, which meant he did the remainder of the race in eleventh position.

‘I’m really pleased to have continued our podium run in the championship this weekend’, said Priaulx.

‘We were very racy and our pace was consistently strong from start to finish, which is a good sign heading into the final two meetings of the year.

‘Our qualifying performance is something we’ve been working hard on and this weekend it felt like we made a step forward with it, having been consistently in the top five in both wet and dry conditions in testing.

‘I gave it everything I had in the opening race and fifth was a good result. It gave us a great platform with the reverse grid for race two and I’m delighted to convert that into the podium, especially with a visor issue hampering my visibility immensely.

‘The final race was unfortunate and it was frustrating to be the innocent party in contact once again. We won’t dwell on that, though, as we leave the meeting with plenty of positives and we’re hoping to enjoy some more success in the final two meetings of the year.’

The penultimate rounds of the 2018 F4 British Championship are coming up at the ‘Home of British motor racing’, Silverstone, on 15-16 September, before the season finale around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on 29-30 September.