Fox Motorsport’s Liam McNeilly blasted from ninth on the grid to claim his first single-seater victory in the final race of the weekend at Oulton Park.
McNeilly made rapid progress in the first half of the race, and took the lead from teammate Sid Smith at the midpoint of the 18-minute contest. From there he built a comfortable lead and set a strong of fastest laps to claim his maiden win, and the first for Fox Motorsport in single-seaters.
McNeilly finished almost four seconds clear of Elite's Harri Reynolds, a fellow Ginetta Junior graduate, who climbed from seventh on the grid to the second step of the podium, while Fortec's Colin Queen took his first podium with third, having started 10th.
Reynolds' teammate Josh Irfan went from eighth on the grid to fourth ahead of Sid Smith, who led the first part of the race before claiming fifth for Fox Motorsport.
KMR Sport's Tom Mills had an eventful race as he fought his way up from 13th to sixth ahead of Fortec's Ruhaan Alva, while Harry Burgoyne delivered a fighting drive to take eighth.
Cooper Webster secured ninth for Evans GP, with KMR's Jack Clifford completing the top-10.
At the start, it was Smith who got the best launch as he sliced between pole sitter Aditya Kulkarni and fellow front row starter Clifford to take the lead off the line.
Smith led by almost eight tenths of a second after the first lap, but signs of McNeilly's charge were already evident as he rose to sixth on the first tour.
While Smith continued to edge ahead, McNeilly continued his surge, taking fifth from Alva on lap two, and then passed Clifford, Oldfield Motorsport's Jason Conzo and Reynolds in half a lap on the third circulation to run second.
The move for the lead came on lap four, with Reyolds following him through. But McNeilly's pace was such that no-one could live with the 16-year-old, holding a 1.5 second on the lap he took the lead, and stretching that out to 2.5 seconds with a lap to go, before pumping in a scintillating effort on the final lap to take the flag 3.8 seconds clear of the opposition.
The first weekend of the season ends with Mills as the early championship leader, seven points clear of McNeilly, with Irfan sitting third for Elite, a further 14-points behind.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Oulton Park race three provisional result:
1. Liam McNeilly, Fox Motorsport, 10 Laps
2. Harri Reynolds, Elite Motorsport, +3.831
3. Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsport, +4.029
4. Josh Irfan, Elite Motorsport, +14.652
5. Sid Smith, Fox Motorsport, +16.151
6. Tom Mills, KMR Sport, +22.355
7. Ruhaan Alva, Fortec Motorsport, +24.272
8. Harry Burgoyne, Graham Brunton Racing, +24.565
9. Cooper Webster, Evans GP, +24.755
10. Jack Clifford, KMR Sport, +26.686
11. Aditya Kulkarni, Fortec Motorsport, +27.099
12. Jeremy Fairbairn, KMR Sport, +30.418
13. Dylan Hotchin, Dylan Hotchin Racing, +43.032
DNF. Jason Conzo, Oldfield Motorsport, 3 laps completed
