Fortec Motorsport claimed a hat-trick of podium finishes in the GB4 Championship at a sun-soaked Snetterton last weekend [17-18 June].
The Daventry-based team made the trip to the 2.99-mile Norfolk venue in buoyant spirits after a similar haul of silverware last time out at Donington Park, and with the team’s trio – Colin Queen, Ruhaan Alva, and Aditya Kulkarni – continuing to improve round-on-round.
Queen maintained the form book by heading the trio in qualifying, the US racer securing third spot in a competitive session that saw lap records tumble. Alva was seventh, with Kulkarni rounding out the top ten.
In race trim, Queen was part of a breakaway three at the front. In the opening race, the 18-year-old from South California was able to keep the pressure on championship leader Tom Mills for second for the duration.
But a risk-free opportunity to pass never materialised, and they took the chequered flag just 0.3 seconds apart. In race two, that gap would be slightly more pronounced, but Queen was still able to make it five podiums from seven races in third spot.
He then demonstrated his overtaking prowess once more in the reverse-grid finale, moving forward from ninth to fifth to cement third overall in the championship standings.
That reverse grid race nearly delivered a maiden win for Kulkarni. The British-Indian talent led well from the front until half distance, before coming under fire from a charging Cooper Webster. He rebuffed one attempted pass at Wilson Hairpin but had to settle for second spot on the next.
It still represents a career-best result for the 16-year-old, and added to a pair of healthy points finishes in Races 1 & 2, with Kulkarni 10th, then 6th respectively on each occasion.
Alva was similarly a permanent fixture inside the top ten. He improved one spot to sixth in the opening race, then settled for tenth after contact from another car shuffled him back down the order in Race 2. Race 3 yielded another strong finish, with P8.
In the Teams’ standings, Fortec leave Snetterton in a strong second, and with three rounds left to chase down leaders KMR Sport.
The first of those takes place at Silverstone GP on 29-30 July, after the series’ six-week summer hiatus.
Aditya Kulkarni (#15) said:
“This weekend was really tough, having GCSE exams and so only getting a handful of laps in practice before heading into qualifying.
“I had a few problems in qualifying, so only managed one flying lap, which put me near the back. But the team and I worked really hard throughout the weekend to battle back from that, and we got the rewards for that in race three.
“It was a really tough battle, especially against someone like Cooper, who has significantly better pace than me, at the moment, and a lot more experience.
“I managed to hold him off for a few laps, but regardless, finishing P2 is a very rewarding result for myself.”
Ruhaan Alva (#27) said:
“It wasn’t a great weekend for us, especially after being pretty strong during practice. I didn’t put a lap together in qualifying, which put us P7.
“In race one, I had a really strong launch and that put me up to fourth, but then we struggled with the tyre temperatures as it wore on and dropped back to sixth.
“Again, we were in the fight for P4 in race two, but I had a snap of oversteer in the first corner and lost a couple of positions, then another car lunged me into Wilson Hairpin and damaged the car.
“In race three, I just couldn’t do much, we were struggling with the car. Onwards and upwards to Silverstone.”
Colin Queen (#62) said:
““It’s frustrating that we didn’t quite get the win we were aiming for coming into this weekend, but it’s another consistent haul of points, and two podiums.”
“We had great pace throughout the weekend, but on this circuit it’s so crucial to optimise the first couple of laps and make up some ground, and after qualifying we just had a little too much to do, on that front.”
“A huge thanks to the team though, for all their hard work. We’re consistently at the front of the grid every weekend now, and it’s definitely a case of ‘when, not if’ for that first win, so I’ll keep pushing hard to make it a reality.”
“For now, though, it’s time to fly back home and have a bit of a summer break, and then come back to the UK re-focused and committed as ever for Silverstone and beyond.”
Oliver Dutton, Team Principal said:
“It’s never a bad weekend when you head back to the factory with a bunch of trophies, but we definitely had a bit more in the tank this weekend we didn’t make the most of.
“GB4 is predominantly a learning formula, though, so the guys are expected to be learning, and developing – it’s not always going to be the perfect reflection of where our pace was at.
“Colin’s continuing to bank podiums, and I’m sure that win is coming. I was super impressed with Adi during the reverse grid race, against a more experience competitor, and with so few laps before the weekend due to his exams.
“And Ruhaan just got unlucky with a few incidents, there’s absolutely no doubting he could have been in the mix for podiums in all three races – his starts alone speak to that.
“All in all, it’s good points banked, and we move on now to Silverstone.”
