DeFrancesco triumphs in thrilling Thruxton finale

Carlin’s Devlin DeFrancesco won a thrilling final British F4 race of the weekend at Thruxton this afternoon.  The 16 year-old claimed victory in easily the most exciting race of the season so far, which saw cars four abreast and several changes at the front.  Max Fewtrell did well to claim third place just ahead of team mate James Pull while Petru Florescu took ninth after initially leading.

It was an all Carlin front row for the second time this weekend, as the drivers lined up for the third race at Thruxton today.   Florescu once again started from pole, this time with Fewtrell alongside, DeFrancesco started fourth and Pull sixth.

As the field pulled away Florescu held onto the lead, but in a repeat of Saturday’s race, Sennan Fielding once again stole through into second, relegating Fewtrell to third, just ahead of DeFrancesco fourth and Pull in fifth.

Florescu immediately found himself under attack from Fielding, but Fielding’s challenge was short lived as the JHR driver was passed by both Fewtrell and DeFrancesco, forming a Carlin 1-2-3, with Pull pushing hard to take fourth as well.

With the Thruxton circuit creating plenty of opportunities for slip streaming and overtaking, the order didn’t remain the same for long though.  DeFrancesco made a move on team mate Fewtrell to take second on lap three and set off in pursuit of Florescu.  The young Canadian managed to take the lead a short time later, while behind him the fight for third was three cars wide with Fewtrell, Fielding and Pull all side by side.

DeFrancesco’s first stint in the lead was short lived, Florescu fought back to take the lead a few corners later, and while trying to recover DeFrancesco was passed by Fielding who was back up to second, and also Fewtrell.  16 year-old Fewtrell was quick to pile the pressure on Fielding for second, but it was ahead of them that the real drama unfolded, as Florescu ran wide and lost a handful of positions.

Fielding was quick to take advantage and claimed the lead, but almost as quickly DeFrancesco managed to position his Carlin machine perfectly to take first with Fewtrell in close pursuit.

By lap 10 the order was changing almost corner by corner, but it was DeFrancesco leading, with Fewtrell second having passed Fielding, Pull in fifth and Florescu tenth.  Busy fighting his team mate for the lead, Fewtrell lost out to Fielding and Billy Monger, who had quietly made his way thought the field, leaving Fewtrell now back in fourth just ahead of Pull.  That left DeFrancesco under attack from Fielding for the lead, but the Carlin man put in a perfect display of defensive driving to hold his position.

The pressure on DeFrancesco eased when Fielding was passed by Monger, Fewtrell and Pull, with the Carlin duo now third and fourth respectively.  Having built up a small gap, DeFrancesco went onto win his first ever British F4 race, with Fewtrell making it a double Carlin podium in third, Pull a strong fourth and Florescu who had recovered to ninth.

Speaking about his victory, DeFrancesco said, “What a great job by the team and a very professional race by everyone.  There was immense pressure, it was a crazy race; it was three wide, the order was changing all the time.  There’s quite a bit of respect between the drivers and I think we saw some good fights today which is just one reason this championship is so highly respected around the world.  It’s been a great weekend, hopefully this is just the start of more podiums and wins this season.”

Team mate Fewtrell added, “I had a great qualifying session, but the first two races were really difficult so it was important to keep my head up and get points in this race.  It wasn’t necessarily just about who had the pace, but also who positioned their car in the right place at the right time.  There was so much slip streaming going on.  Even though I had a big accident yesterday, I wasn’t worried about attacking today; you can’t have the mindset to hold back, and I think I’ve done well to get back on the podium again this afternoon.”