On an emotional day at Brands Hatch, KMR Sport’s Tom Mills was crowned as the new GB4 champion, after taking his tenth victory of the season in race two, and then a controlled drive to seventh to wrap up the crown in the final encounter of the weekend.
In doing so, not only did Mills claim his first major title in car racing, but he also banked enough points to ensure that his family-run KMR Sport squad claimed the team’s championship title for the second successive season. Evans GP’s Kai Daryanani meanwhile claimed his first ever car racing victory in the final race of the event.
Race two
Mills put one hand on the title with his tenth win of the year, and his second of the weekend after another controlling drive in race two. Starting from pole, he led every lap once more to finish over a second clear of nearest title rival, Evans GP’s Cooper Webster, with Fox Motorsport’s Liam McNeilly third and just behind Webster as they crossed the line. Zack Ping banked his and VRD’s best GB4 result yet with fourth, ahead of McNeilly’s teammate Sid Smith and Graham Brunton Racing’s Harry Burgoyne.
Race three
Heading into the event, Mills could guarantee the title with a top-five finish, or with a sensible drive to a decent points finish if Webster didn’t win. With pole sitter Kai Daryanani marching into the distance, leading every lap on the way to victory, Mills’ title was assured after an assured drive to seventh, with Webster only fourth.
Daryanani took victory by over three seconds from fellow Indian Aditya Kulkarni (Fortec), while McNeilly strengthened his aspirations of claiming the championship runner-up spot with his third podium of the weekend. Behind Webster in fourth came the second Fox car of Sid Smith, with Ping sixth ahead of new champion Mills.
Mills now has an unassailable 111 point lead at the top of the standings, with only 105 to play for at Donington. Likewise in the team’s championship, KMR Sport hold an advantage of 205 points, with only 195 available at the final round.
Race three winner Daryanani said: "My first race win in motorsports history for me. Every lap I was trying to get it over, I was trying to get it home. I saw the gap and I monitored it. As I came over the final lap, I don’t know what to say I’m speechless to be honest. My Dad’s here, and I’ve got my coach, it’s really emotional today. "I had an incident in race two and the car was badly damaged but the team put it together so well and for that I’m so proud of them and so grateful that they were able to put it together, a great race, great result."
2023 champion Mills said: “It’s nice to get it done with a whole meeting to go. The team has been so brilliant all year and I’d like to thank all my sponsors for getting me here and keeping me on the grid, I didn’t think I’d be racing this year and without that lot I wouldn’t be here. We did it. “That race I just couldn’t take any risks. I was stuck behind Zack [Ping] for the whole race and there was no point in taking any risks. It’s nice to get it off my shoulders.
“I did not expect to be this dominant really, at the beginning of the year we didn’t have this much of an advantage. As their experience was getting better, I thought they would be catching me. To do the same each meeting [and keep winning] - it’s quite hard to be that consistent.
“This is definitely my career highlight. This is my third year in cars - I won the rookie championship in Formula Ford in 2021. Then I did GB4 last year and the experience I gained from that has been really useful. The championship is just fantastic and it’s brought me on so much as a driver. It shows if you’ve learnt so much in your first year it does work if you come back. The GB4 Championship has completely changed my driving.”
Mills' father and team owner Kevin Mills said: "I’m really proud. When we started in Formula Fords and he showed that he had a lot of speed, I knew it was going to be a problem because he was going to cost us a lot of money! But he’s made me really proud.
"This year he’s really dominated it and even in that drive there, he’s so sensible with his head, he thinks about every moment, every position he needs and what he doesn’t need to do. He doesn’t take unnecessary risks. You can see that with 10 race wins and good reverse grid results without having any crashes that you don’t need to. That’s a mature driver all year."
Just three races remain in this year’s championship, at Donington Park on 21-22 October.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch GP race two top-six:
1. Tom Mills, KMR Sport, 11 laps
2. Cooper Webster, Evans GP, +1.201s
3. Liam McNeilly, Fox Motorsport, +1.580s
4. Zack Ping, VRD, +7.359s
5. Sid Smith, Fox Motorsport, +7.753s
6. Harry Burgoyne, Graham Brunton Racing, +10.157s
Click here for full result
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch race three top-six:
1. Kai Daryanani, Evans GP, 12 laps
2. Aditya Kulkarni, Fortec Motorsport, +3.257s
3. Liam McNeilly, Fox Motorsport, +3.375s
4. Cooper Webster, Evans GP, +3.740s
5. Sid Smith, Fox Motorsport, +4.365s
6. Zack Ping, VRD, +6.038s
Click here for full result
GB4 Championship, standings after race 18 of 21:
1. Tom Mills, KMR Sport, 505pts
2. Cooper Webster, Evans GP, 394pts
3. Liam McNeilly, Fox Motorsport, 354pts
4. Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsport, 311pts
5. Aditya Kulkarni, Fortec Motorsport, 213pts
6. Harry Burgoyne, Graham Brunton Racing, 207pts
Click here for full standings
GB4 Championship, Teams' standings after race 18 of 21:
1. KMR Sport, 772pts
2. Fortec Motorsport, 567pts
3. Fox Motorsport, 539pts
4. Evans GP, 512pts
5. Graham Brunton Racing, 274pts
6. Elite Motorsport, 242pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information, visit www.gb-4.net