British F4: McLaughlin takes final race win of Zandvoort weekend to extend championship lead

Race 3 would see Fionn McLaughlin take another race win to further extend his championship lead after a well-controlled race from him.

Qualifying on Saturday morning saw the championship leader Fionn McLaughlin take the pole for race 1 after an intense battle between a number of drivers including rivals Martin Molnár and Joslyn who sit behind him in second and third on the grid. McLaughlin would also take the lap record for British F4 on the circuit after having done so multiple times this season already.

McLaughlin would manage to get an excellent start managing to defend from Molnár who was unable to do anything to get alongside the Irishman. Tussling further back would leave Ella Lloyd having to defend from Ethan Jeff-Hall before a crash on lap 2 between a couple of drivers forced Alba Larsen into a spin and Charlie Edge into the barrier after trying to avoid the car in front meaning a Safety Car would be deployed. A red flag would then be thrown as repairs would need to be made and the clock would be stopped.

With 15 minutes left on the clock and the race restarted, McLaughlin would lead from Molnár, Adam Al Azhari and Jimmy Piszcyk as the quartet pull a small margin over Joslyn and Jeff-Hall battling behind. Molnár would have to defend from Al Azhari but would lock the brakes into turn 1 almost going into the side of Al Azhari as the two manage to just about avoid one another before another lock up from Molnár would end in catastrophe for Al Azhari who ends up in the barrier of turn 3 and Molnár with suspension damage. This would lead to another Safety Car and McLaughlin’s main championship rival out of contention.

The race would get back underway with Piszcyk and Jeff-Hall battling for second while McLaughlin builds a gap quickly. Battling between Lloyd and Tommy Harfield would leave them both dropping further back from the podium places as the scrap for the Challenge Cup victory would continue between the two. Soon a Safety Car would be deployed for Cole Hewetson who spun at turn 1 ending his race in the process.

The final couple minutes of the race would be green briefly as McLaughlin would once more pull a small margin over the Piszcyk and Jeff-Hall behind him before a red flag was thrown for Emma Felbermayr as she comes to a halt after contact meaning the race would not be resumed and McLaughlin would take victory ahead of Piszcyk and Jeff-Hall who complete the podium. Lloyd would finish ahead of Harfield taking the win in Challenge Cup all while Chase Fernandez would finish in 6^th ahead of Thomas Bearman in 7^th. Joslyn, August Raber and Oleksandr Savinkov would complete the top 10.