GB4: Taylor and Romanek triumphant in Silverstone slipstream thrillers

Fortec’s Nikolas Taylor and Oldfield Motorsport’s Lucas Romanek claimed victories on a sensational day’s racing on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on Sunday.

Taylor claimed his second win of the weekend in this morning’s race two, which at the time put him level on points with championship leader Alex Walker.

Romanek meanwhile claimed victory from fifth on the grid in the final event, completing his and the team’s debut GB4 weekend in fine style.

Race two
Taylor started from pole in race two, earned via his second best time in qualifying. Max Marzorati made the best start though from the front row and led the first corners, only for Taylor and Walker to blast past on the long run to Stowe.

Moments later, the championship contenders made contact at The Loop, with Walker retiring and Taylor falling to fourth, promoting Marzorati back into the lead. 

After a brief safety car, Marzorati made a good restart but Taylor was on a charge, passing Megan Gilkes and Tom Mills within a couple of corners, though Mills fought back next time around to pass the lot of them at Stowe. 

Taylor kept him in check and moved into the lead with a move around the outside of Stowe on lap five, and then managed to break the tow, pulling out a five second advantage at the chequered flag.

The intense racing continued behind him, with Kevin Mills Racing’s Jarrod Waberski blasting up to second place ahead of Marzorati. His Hillspeed teammate Gilkes was fourth ahead of Elite’s Jack Sherwood and Fortec’s Elias Adestam. 

The result put Taylor level on points with Walker at the top of the championship standings. 

Race three
Graham Brunton Racing duo Chloe Grant and Logan Hannah locked out the front row of the reverse grid contest, but it was Hannah who made the best start to lead the first few laps.

Behind, an ambitious move at Vale resulted in Taylor and Waberski retiring from the race, handing the championship initiative back to Walker. 

In the chaos, Romanek had found his way from fifth to second, and closed down Hannah to make a move stick at Stowe on lap four. For a while, Hannah kept him in check, but Romanek pulled out a two second gap by the flag to complete an excellent debut weekend for himself and the Oldfield Motorsport team.

Hannah claimed a maiden podium with second, while behind an all-out battle raged throughout the race. It was ultimately decided in the favour of Elite’s Jack Sherwood after third place on the road finisher Elias Adestam was handed a two second penalty post-race for gaining an unfair advantage while overtaking Tom Mills. Gilkes was fourth again with Adestam classified fifth, and Marzorati sixth.

With Taylor failing to finish and Walker taking eighth place in the final race, the latter holds a 12 point lead in the standings, with Taylor and Marzorati now equal in second place. 

Race two winner Taylor said: “I had a pretty poor start. It was pretty intense for the first few laps. I tried to go around the outside of Alex, I felt like I had enough space but then contact happened of course.

“I knew I had the pace, and I knew Tom had a problem as well so I wanted to get by as soon as possible, in case I got a penalty I wanted to pull a gap. It was a good race.”

Race three winner Romanek said: “It feels amazing. I can’t believe it. I obviously got lucky with everyone battling but I’ll take it as a win. I think the dirty air played a big factor [in passing Hannah], I managed to force her into a mistake around Stowe.”

The GB4 Championship resumes with three more races at Donington Park on 28/29 May.  

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race two top-six:
1. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, 9 laps
2. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, +5.839
3. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +6.464
4. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, +7.838
5. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsports, +9.763
6. Elias Adestam, Fortec Motorsports, +9.917

Click here for full result

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race three top-six:
1. Lucas Romanek, Oldfield Motorsport, 9 laps
2. Logan Hannah, Graham Brunton Racing, +2.064s
3. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsport, +7.508s
4. Megan Gilkes, Hillspeed, +8.131s
5. Elias Adestam, Fortec Motorsports, +9.380s
6. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, +9.738s

Click here for full result

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Championship standings after race nine of 24
1. Alex Walker, Elite Motorsport, 200pts
2. Nikolas Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 188pts
=. Max Marzorati, Hillspeed, 188pts
4. Jarrod Waberski, Kevin Mills Racing, 168pts
5. Elias Adestam, Fortec Motorsport, 151pts
6. Tom Mills, Kevin Mills Racing, 148pts

Click here for full standings

GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Teams’ Championship standings after race nine of 24
1. Fortec Motorsport, 340pts
2. Elite Motorsport, 334pts
3. Hillspeed, 324pts
4. Kevin Mills Racing, 316pts
5. Graham Brunton Racing, 169pts
6. Oldfield Motorsport, 52pts

Click here for full standings

For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net