Fortec Motorsports continued its GB4 Championship campaign with its three-car line up of Linus Granfors, Jack Taylor, and Dan Hickey showing front-running and top-10 pace at Snetterton.
After pre-weekend testing, Linus kept his strong form going, qualifying on the second row in fourth position whilst Jack was 10th, just ahead of teammate Dan in eleventh, a promising start to the weekend for both.
For the opening race of the weekend, Linus had a good start off the line, and he held his position all the way to the chequered flag, retaining his championship lead with fourth position. Both Dan and Jack also had solid races moving forward, with the former finishing eighth and the latter ninth.
On Sunday morning, Linus did well to take advantage of a slow starting car ahead, moving into second place, but a small error in locking his brakes into turn two meant he made contact with the leader, losing momentum and falling back to fourth where he would once again cross the line. Jack and Dan held their respective positions for much of the contest, taking advantage of a spin ahead to finish ninth and tenth respectively.
For the final race of the weekend Dan started second, Jack third, and Linus ninth, with the reverse grid. Jack had a great start to the race and was already in the lead by lap two, before having pressure from the car behind, which managed to get past. However, after losing the place he gained it back a corner later, showing his speed and determination.
Linus made his way through the pack to start fighting for podium positions just before the Safety Car was called, as unfortunately, Dan – who had a slow start – had contact from the car behind. Jack and Linus were then running one-two for the one-lap dash to the flag, however Jack lost grip on his cold tyres into turn one, making contact with Linus, meaning neither finished the race.
Next up for the team will be a return to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of July 26-28, where Linus took victory in both races earlier this season, before the final contest was cancelled due to bad weather.
Linus Granfors, #16
Race 1: Start – 4, Result – 4
Race 2: Start – 4, Result – 4
Race 3: Start – 9, Result – DNF
Championship: 2 (245 points)
“We struggled a bit in qualifying which led us to be P4 and that’s where I finished for the first two races as its quite tricky to overtake around Snetterton. In the reverse grid for Race Three I made it up to P2 and then I had contact going into turn one at the restart. Our weekend started okay, and we know we have the pace, so I’m looking ahead to Silverstone in a couple of weeks.”
Dan Hickey, #17
Race 1: Start – 11, Result – 8
Race 2: Start – 11, Result – 10
Race 3: Start – 2, Result – DNF
Championship: 13 (91 points)
“We were already on the back foot in qualifying and I started P11, so I had a lot of work to do in the races. Race one was a decent start with a few little mistakes from me, then race two the pace was better, but I dropped back a little from the pack. My starts have been good in all the other races except for the last one, I got a load of wheel spin off the line and then got swallowed up by the pack. I was then defending from that point and unfortunately got contact from the car behind, which ended my race. Its experience and every weekend are getting better so there’s a lot of things we can take from this into Silverton in a couple of weeks.”
Jack Taylor, #50
Race 1: Start – 10, Result – 9
Race 2: Start – 10, Result – 9
Race 3: Start – 3, Result – DNF
Championship: 8 (105 points)
“I really enjoyed Free Practice but then unfortunately I didn’t have a great qualifying and race one. Race two I picked up the pace a bit more and was going well, but unfortunately in the final race on the last lap, I came into turn one too fast and the tyres were a lot colder, so I spun. The next round is Silverstone, and as I learned a lot this weekend about my race craft, I’m looking forward to it.’
