Caroline takes first win of the season at Brands Hatch

Carlin’s Jamie Caroline took the first honours of the 2017 F4 British Championship today, claiming victory in round one of the season.  The Pirtek backed driver led from start to finish to get his second season in the series off to the best possible start.  Team mates Logan Sargeant and Patrik Pasma put in strong performances on their British F4 debuts; claiming fourth and fifth respectively. It was a steep learning curve for rookie Lucas Alecco Roy who ended his race at Paddock Hill Bend after an impressive qualifying session earlier this morning.

As the racing action got underway for the first time this season, it was Caroline on pole as the field line up behind him at Brands Hatch.  Despite wheel spin off the line, Caroline could maintain the lead, with Sargeant and Pasma making up places behind him, moving up to fourth and fifth on lap one.  Roy initially made a good start but was hampered by damage to his front wing which left him in 14th place.

Fastest lap after fastest lap saw Caroline extend his lead, but as the cars circulated quickly around the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit, the racing action was halted by the safety car, which was needed to clear the stranded car of Roy, who had gone off at the challenging Paddock Hill Bend.  With racing neutralised, Caroline saw his advantage reduced to nothing on lap seven.

With the incident cleared, racing got underway once again, as a very light shower fell over the Kent circuit.  Caroline controlled the restart beautifully, building an early lead on second placed man Alex Quinn while Sargeant and Pasma also retained their positions.

For the first time all race, Caroline started to look under some pressure, as Quinn closed in during the final laps.  With the gap down to just over 0.2s in the final stages, Caroline drove maturely to withstand the pressure and cross the line to win the first race of the season.  Sargeant and Pasma made it three Carlin cars in the top five, taking fourth and fifth place across the line.

Speaking about his win, Caroline said, “I’m feeling really good, it’s a great way to start the year.  I had a good start, but unfortunately the safety car took away my advantage and I struggled a bit more to pull away after that after graining my tyres at the restart I think.  Without the restart I think I could have been easier on my tyres, but the car was mega.  I could see a bit of rain on my visor at one point, but I couldn’t feel anything on track.  It’s a great start to the season and a result we’ll try and replicate in race three tomorrow.”

Two further races will conclude the Brands Hatch action tomorrow at 10.40 and 16.20 local time.