- Fortec Motorsport leave Brands Hatch with title lead
- Nikolas Taylor wins ninth race of the year to maintain series advantageÂ
- Jessica Edgar shows strong pace in Kent with top-fives
Fortec Motorsport added another victory to their name in the latest GB4 Championship with MSVR meeting at Brands Hatch last weekend (10/11 September) to leave with a 31-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship.
The Daventry squad took a 21-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship to Kent thanks to a sensational Silverstone treble victory courtesy of Nikolas Taylor, a lead that the team hoped to manifest across the penultimate three races at the 2.3-mile GP circuit.
Having topped the championship’s official test session at Brands Hatch a week prior to the main event, Taylor looked set to continue that fine vein of form as the Fortec Motorsport teenager topped Saturday morning’s qualifying sessions with a brace of laps that were not only good enough to place himself on pole position for both races one and two of the weekend, but also clinch the George Russell Cup for the most pole positions of the season.
Uncertainty over the weather remained in the early afternoon prior to the first race, and it would play a key role as rain arrived on the opening lap – Taylor holding onto the lead with a strong defence on the inside at Paddock Hill Bend and Druids. The Anglo-Malaysian rookie would be a victim of the rapidly-changing conditions unfortunately on lap two, as he ran wide at Paddock Hill and clipped the tyre barriers, damaging his left-front suspension terminally.
Jessica Edgar would instead take the spotlight for Fortec on the safety car restart with tricky conditions underfoot. Having moved up a spot from her starting position of seventh, the Cumbrian rookie inherited fifth and stuck like glue to the back of the four-car squabble for the lead ahead of her for several laps, taking the chequered flag fifth after an intense chase.
Taylor took up pole position once again looking to make amends the following day, and he completed his task at hand to reclaim the title advantage with a lights-to-flag performance to notch up victory number nine of his campaign. Edgar lined up seventh meanwhile and only looked forward, carving her way up to another competitive fifth place finish after executing a well-timed pass on Max Marzorati heading out of Clearways before pulling clear.
Taylor would be forced to start from eighth on the grid in the reverse grid encounter, with Edgar a more favourable second. The latter made a challenge for the lead into Druids corner but was squeezed out, and fell back behind a charging Taylor who moved up to fourth place in the early stages. He would soon dispatch Chloe Grant and then chase down Tom Mills for second, passing him with a brave move on the outside at Hawthorns. Second would top off a great Sunday for Fortec’s championship leader, with Edgar finishing seventh.
Fortec Motorsport’s weekend in Kent leaves them third in the Teams’ Championship and just 28 points adrift as the Daventry squad heads to the GB4 Championship season finale at Donington Park on 15/16 September looking to also claim the Drivers’ crown – Taylor leading the way by 31 points with three races remaining.
Oliver Dutton, Team Manager said:
“It was a good weekend for the team overall, and one that could even have been better when you take into account the bad luck of race one for Nikolas. Both he and Jessica showed they had strong pace all weekend and Jessica in particular showed her experience is gaining with some solid drives. It’s important to be leading the championship into the season finale, so hopefully we can finish the job at Donington.”
#17 Jessica Edgar
“Brands went a lot better than expected in the first two races, compared to our pace in testing last week we did really well. However, the last race didn’t go quite to plan. We’ll hope for more top-five finishes in the last round.”
#66 Nikolas Taylor
“It’s been a good weekend overall. The team has given me a rapid car and I almost used it to full effect. I’m disappointed to let the team down in race one but in my first season in racing and changing weather conditions meant that I went into the damp part of the track first. I will learn from that and I think that’s what also made the weekend quite good.”
