Simmons supreme in F4 season opener

Ayrton Simmons grabbed the early British F4 advantage with two hard-fought victories at Brands Hatch.

Sharing the wins with Sebastian Priaulx, Saturday’s qualifying session crucially gave Simmons the edge as he pipped rookie Kiern Jewiss to pole position.

The JHR Developments driver almost threw away victory in race one, with a wide moment at Paddock Hill Bend on lap two. Fortunately for Simmons, “a small mistake” at Graham Hill Bend for Jewiss meant he could hang on to win.

It took Priaulx until only his second race to claim his maiden victory in singleseaters. The Arden man finished third on the road, but 10s jump-start penalties demoted Fortec Motorsport’s Johnathan Hoggard and polesitter Patrik Pasma to fifth and sixth respectively.

Simmons lost out to Jewiss at Druids on the opening tour of a greasy final race, but the latter drifted wide at Surtees a lap later to hand his rival a second win.

A narrow third in race one, Red Bull Junior Dennis Hauger was then limited to seventh by a slow puncture.

A safety car to remove the bizarrely interlocked cars of Lucca Allen and Sebastian Alvarez gave the Norwegian a chance in the final race to attack Simmons, but he slid wide at Paddock Hill Bend to ninth. “I had the speed to win, but it’s hard to overtake here,” he bemoaned.

Team-mate Jack Doohan put a “difficult” first race behind him to fend off Jewiss for a maiden podium in race two.