PODIUM FOR QUINN IN BRITISH F4 AT THRUXTON
TRS Arden and Young Racing Driver Academy Driver Alex Quinn took a 2nd position in round 7 of the FIA British F4 – Certified by FIA powered by Ford Championship, as well as taking pole position for round 9 of the championship.
Quinn made to trip to Thruxton, the fastest track on the British F4 calendar aiming to bounce back from a hard weekend at Donington Park which saw his podium run blunted by cruel luck.
Quinn was almost peerless in qualifying, consistently setting the fastest times of the session. In the final minutes of the session, he was pipped to top spot after a rival driver waited to get in his slipstream to pip him to the best time overall.
Quinn’s second best lap was good enough to give him pole position though for the third race of the weekend, such was his consistency.
The start of race one was hectic, as the leader defended hard into turn one - Quinn and rival Jamie Caroline were squeezed, demoting both back down the field.
At the start of lap 5 however, the leading trio bunched up and got pinched towards the pitwalll - this allowed Caroline and Quinn through into 1st and 2nd respectively, albeit Quinn was baulked down into turn three, losing him vital ground in the battle for the win.
Quinn would hold 2nd until the flag, bringing the gap to the leader down by one second, but not enough to challenge for victory.
Race two, starting from 5th position after the top six from race one were reversed saw Quinn not get the best of starts, he regathered positions into turn two but was squeezed out, dropping him down the field.
As the battle at the front intensified, Quinn began picking his way back from 9th position back up to 6th after a brave move around the outside of turn three. Quinn would run out of laps before having the chance to make further progress in the tight pack battling for the podium, finishing in 6th at the flag.
Quinn made a brilliant launch from pole in the final race, taking a comfortable few car lengths into the opening sequence of corners, however his rival managed to draw alongside him into the first braking zone, meaning Quinn was unable to defend and was forced down to 3rd at the end of the lap. Quinn stayed with the leading pack until lap three when another driver jumped the kerb at the final corner and made contact with Quinn, losing him momentum and dropping him down to 6th position. A trio of cars went into the final chicane all looking to make up ground - Quinn had to climb the kerb in order to avoid contact, which unsettled the car and saw him spin sadly to the back of the pack.
He would continue and finish the race, recovering to 11th at the chequered flag.
Overall it wasn’t the end result the Cornish young gun wanted at Thruxton after such a great start to the weekend, seemingly struggling with straight line speed in the final two races meaning he was a sitting duck to chasing pack in the slipstream.
The next round of the British F4 Championship takes place in just two weeks time at Oulton Park on the 20-21 May, which cannot come soon enough to get back in the chase for wins and podiums!
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Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography.