- Terrific treble triumph for Fortec Motorsport at Silverstone
- Nikolas Taylor wins all three races in Northampton to take series lead
- Jessica Edgar narrowly misses out on second podium of the season
Fortec Motorsport scored a memorable hat-trick of wins as they grabbed back the series lead in the latest GB4 Championship with MSVR meeting at Silverstone last weekend (30/31 July).
The Daventry squad came into their second visit to Silverstone of the season hoping to fight back in both championships, following a battling weekend in Snetterton which left them chasing to overturn a nine-point deficit in the Drivers’ Championship and move up from third in the Teams’ standings.
It was a track that proved successful for Fortec last time and the 3.6-mile Northampton circuit would again be kind to the team, starting with strong pace throughout both days of testing in the run-up to the weekend heading into qualifying on Saturday morning.
That timed session would be a very tight affair, with the team’s lead driver Nikolas Taylor again heading their charge to challenge the front row of the grid. Just 0.3s would be the gap to the pole position time, Taylor finishing highest of the Fortec duo in fifth place while Jessica Edgar impressed on her second visit to qualify eighth.
A chaotic opening race would follow later that afternoon. Taylor kept his nose clean as he looked to attack early on, but a three-car accident ahead of him at Village corner allowed him to make his way up to second place, passing leader Megan Gilkes at Brooklands on the inside to move into the lead of the race.
It would be one he never surrendered as he came home to take the chequered flag for his and the team’s sixth victory of the season, while a sterling drive from Edgar behind almost warranted her second podium in fourth place. The Cumbrian karter chased Logan Hannah throughout, passing her on the final lap after the latter spun battling with a recovering Gilkes.
Anglo-Malaysian youngster Taylor would line up third for race two on Sunday morning, Edgar again starting eighth behind. A tidy getaway for Taylor gave the Fortec car second spot at the start, and he was soon into the lead once more by making a pass stick at the Club chicane on Max Marzorati. Untroubled for the remainder of the race, Taylor doubled Fortec Motorsport’s win tally for the weekend, while Edgar came home eighth.
Edgar had a better chance to grab her second silverware of the season in race three from a starting spot of fourth, but it would be Taylor once more that shone with an unflappable display to seal a memorable hat-trick for the team. A superb start put him up into the top three, which soon became second at Stowe around the outside with a brave lunge. That swiftly turned into the lead as Taylor braved a move on Chloe Grant at Luffield to take the top spot on the outside, pulling clear for a seventh win of the year to extend his newfound championship lead to 21 points.
Fortec Motorsport’s excellent showing moves them up a spot in the Teams’ Championship as the Daventry squad now sit second overall in the table, the GB4 Championship next heading to Brands Hatch over the weekend of 10/11 September.
Oliver Dutton, Team Manager said:
“We knew we were capable of this, so to come away with a hat-trick of wins and the championship lead is a major achievement for us this season. Both drivers impressed throughout, and Nikolas drove three very mature races including during some chaotic action around him. Jessica meanwhile was very close to the podium which she would have deserved, and showed great pace on her second visit which comes with knowledge and experience. It gives us the confidence ahead of the final two meetings now so we’ll keep pushing.”
#17 Jessica Edgar
“We had a really good first race with a fourth place finish which I was really pleased with, and the pace was good on Saturday. Races two and three didn’t really go our way though. We struggled for pace at the start of both of the races which let us down, but as a team we did a great job.”
#66 Nikolas Taylor
“We were rapid all weekend, made some changes to the car for the races and it really paid off thanks to Mark’s magic touch. Winning the triple was an amazing feeling but I feel like we should have done it last time out at Silverstone but I guess we learn from our mistakes.”
