Elite Motorsport’s Isaac Phelps converted pole position into an almost perfect victory in the first race of the new GB4 Championship season at Donington Park.
The Ginetta Junior Winter Champion made a good start from pole to build an early lead, and though Hillspeed’s Dan Guinchard pegged him back in the first half of the race, Phelps was able to stretch his legs in the second half of the 18-minute encounter to over three seconds. Late drama in lapped traffic saw his lead slashed though, but he held on to win by 1.3s.
Guinchard claimed second after gaining two spots on lap one, while a combative drive from Phelps’ teammate Alex Kattoulas ensured he climbed from seventh to complete the podium.
After a slightly slower start, a similarly fighting performance from Hillspeed's Leandro Juncos saw him move up from sixth on lap one to fourth, with his drive including strong overtaking moves on Douglas Motorsport's Luke Hilton and Pace Performance's Stefan Bostandjiev.
Hilton claimed fifth in his first single-seater race, having been shuffled down to sixth on lap five, finishing a second ahead of teammate Enzo Hallman, who gained three places compared to his starting position.
Having run third early on and being in the thick of exciting battles with Kattoulas and Juncos, Bostandjiev netted seventh place in both his and the Pace Performance team's first single-seater race.
Graham Brunton Racing's Alex Berg was another to make big moves, as the F4 race winner jumped from 12th on the grid to eighth after 18 minutes of racing.
Berg headed home teammates Mayer Deonarine and Callum Baxter, who made excellent use of their GB4 experience to round out the top-10, having started 16th and 14th respectively.
It was a dream start to single-seater racing for Phelps, who made a superb start to lead the record 25-car grid down to Redgate, and extended a lead of 1.7 seconds by the end of the first lap. There was trouble just behind though as Jack Taylor (Fortec) and Ary Bansal (Elite), starting second and third, made contact at Redgate on lap one. Bansal's front wing was wiped out against Taylor's rear tyre, which was punctured, and both pitted at the end of the contest for repairs after plunging down the order.
The main beneficiaries were Bostandjiev and Guinchard, who climbed into the podium spots, with Guinchard moving into second past the Bulgarian by the time the pack reached Coppice.
Guinchard slashed Phelps' lead down by seven tenths on lap two, with the gap hovering at just over a second until lap five, when suddenly it extended to over three seconds.
The gap remained at around that margin until the penultimate lap when traffic negated his advantage and wiped it down to just over a second. But Phelps held firm to complete a dream start to his first single-seater campaign, having earned both pole positions on offer in qualifying.
The second race of the season is due to start at 10.10am on Sunday morning.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park provisional race one result:
1. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, 13 laps
2. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, +1.360s
3. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport, +3.996s
4. Leandro Juncos, Hillspeed, +9.584s
5. Luke Hilton, Douglas Motorsport, +10.038s
6. Enzo Hallman, Douglas Motorsport, +11.143s
7. Stefan Bostandjiev, Pace Performance, +12.094s
8. Alex Berg, Graham Brunton Racing, +14.480s
9. Mayer Deonarine, Graham Brunton Racing, +18.262s
10. Callum Baxter, Graham Brunton Racing, +19.646s
11. Tom Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsports, +20.610s
12. Ava Dobson, Arden Motorsport, +20.818s
13. Jason Pribyl, ADM, +21.655s
14. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, +22.434s
15. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, +23.252s
16. Luca Magnussen, Fortec Motorsports, +27.339s
17. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, +41.594s
18. Neirin Evans, Rossoverde Scorpio Racing, +42.362s
19. Holly Miall, Fox Motorsport, +42.986s
20. Lily-May Watkins, KMR Sport, +56.806s
21. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, +1m01.632s
22. Caitlyn McDaniel, Fox Motorsport, +1m02.558s
23. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +1 lap
24. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, +1 lap
25. Megan Bruce, KMR Sport, +1 lap
