Elite Motorsport’s Aryaman Bansal made the most of a superb start to claim his first GB4 Championship race victory in race two at Donington Park this morning.
The Indian driver went around the outside of teammate and pole sitter Isaac Phelps on the first lap, and then streaked away from the pack to win by over four seconds.
In a dominant performance, Bansal's lead stretched as much as six seconds until easing off to bring the car home in the closing stages.
Bansal's brave move on lap one allowed him to run in clear air, having demonstrated his pace with the fastest lap in race one yesterday, but only after having pitted to replace a front wing after lap one drama at Redgate. This time around, Redgate on the first lap was an altogether happier location for the youngster, as he swept around his teammate and then launched into a two second lead at the end of the first lap.
That gap was almost three seconds a lap later, and extended to over four on lap three. His margin was up to six seconds on lap seven as he asserted his dominance.
While one Elite car ran away with proceedings at the front, his teammates Phelps and Alex Kattoulas were much closer, with the pair completing a podium clean-sweep for Eddie Ives' squad and separated by eight tenths of a second at the chequered flag.
From sixth on the grid, Hillspeed's Leandro Juncos got his elbows out again to take fourth, passing teammate and race two podium finisher Dan Guinchard for fifth on lap three, and then dispatching Fortec's front row starter Jack Taylor two laps later.
Guinchard moved past Taylor on the final lap to claim fifth, while Fortec's Aussie had to settle for sixth.
Arden Motorsport's Leon Wilson made amends for his last lap spin yesterday to register his first points of the season in seventh, ahead of Graham Brunton Racing's Alex Berg, who gained three spots on his way to eighth.
Douglas Motorsport's Dayton Coulthard claimed his best result so far in his first single-seater event with ninth place, finishing just two tenths of a second clear of the second Arden machine of Ava Dobson, who completed the top-10 from 13th on the grid.
The final race of the season opening weekend is due to commence at 15.05, with the top-12 drivers from qualifying reversed on the grid, with Berg therefore starting from pole position.
Post-race a 15-second time penalty was issued to the driver of car #64 (Neirin Evans) for causing a collision with driver #15 (Lily May Watkins). The penalty drops Evans from 19th to behind Watkins in the final results.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park final race two result:
1. Ary Bansal, Elite Motorsport, 13 laps
2. Isaac Phelps, Elite Motorsport, +4.023s
3. Alex Kattoulas, Elite Motorsport, +4.830s
4. Leandro Juncos, Hillspped, +5.709s
5. Dan Guinchard, Hillspeed, +13.379s
6. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, +13.752s
7. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +18.893s
8. Alex Berg, Graham Brunton Racing, +19.669s
9. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, +20.785s
10. Ava Dobson, Arden Motorsport, +21.021s
11. Enzo Hallman, Douglas Motorsport, +22.666s
12. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, +24.333s
13. Callum Baxter, Graham Brunton Racing, +29.133s
14. Jason Pribyl, ADM, +30.026s
15. Luca Magnussen, Fortec Motorsports, +32.529s
16. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, +36.746s
17. Megan Bruce, KMR Sport, +37.258s
18. Mayer Deonarine, Graham Brunton Racing, +42.436s
19. Caitlyn McDaniel, Fox Motorsport, +1m00.330s
20. Holly Miall, Fox Motorsport, +1m10.654s
21. Lily-May Watkins, KMR Sport, +1m11.501s
22. Neirin Evans, Rossoverde Scorpio Racing, +1m00.099s
23. Luke Hilton, Douglas Motorsport, +1m23.764s
DNF. Stefan Bostandjiev, Pace Performance, 12 laps
DNF. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsports, 9 laps
