TAYLOR TRIUMPHS IN GB4 TITLE DECIDER
The maiden GB4 Championship season drew to a close at Donington Park, with Nikolas Taylor wrapping up the title. Continuing his fast but inconsistent form from the previous seven rounds, the Fortec Motorsports driver did things the hard way after a heavy shunt exiting Old Hairpin in qualifying.
With his car repaired, Taylor lined up third for race one, and gained a spot before the start when Elite Motorsport’s polesitter Jack Sherwood slid into the gravel on the formation lap at Coppice.
That left Tom Mills alone on the front row, and the Kevin Mills Racing driver went on to narrowly take his second win of the season ahead of Taylor and team-mate Jarrod Waberski. Ginetta Junior graduate Aqil Alibhai with Scorpio Motorsport claimed fourth on their debuts.
Needing only to finish eighth to clinch the championship, Taylor diced with danger in the early stages of race two. A feisty opening-lap scrap with Mills allowed Waberski to slip up the inside of the pair into the lead, with Taylor then losing out to Hillspeed returnee Oliver Clarke. Taylor had another scare when he was pushed onto the grass by Ginetta Junior runner-up William Macintyre exiting Redgate.
Waberski pulled clear to take victory, while Macintyre profited from a late collision between Mills and Clarke at the Melbourne Hairpin to finish second.
Mills was involved in a second incident at Mcleans with Hillspeed’s Megan Gilkes, which put the pair out and caused the race to finish behind the safety car. Clarke took third ahead of Taylor, who was relieved to seal the crown.
“I didn’t make it easy for myself,” said Taylor, who is hoping to make the step up to GB3 with Fortec next year having claimed £50,000 for winning the title.
“It’s a relief. On the in-lap I could finally breathe. The team did a mega iob fixing the car before race one. I owe them every race because the hard work they do is amazing.”
Max Marzorati, Taylor’s closest title rival heading into the meeting, made a lightning getaway from fourth to lead the fully-reversed grid finale, as Clarke and Graham Brunton Racing’s Chloe Grant tangled at Redgate and retired on the spot.
After a brief safety car period, Waberski made a crucial pass on Marzorati, his rival for runner-up in the standings, exiting the Melbourne Haipin before pulling clear to take his second win of the day and complete a clean sweep for KMR.
“It’s been an exceptional season,” said Waberski. “I wasn’t even meant to do this championship and did no testing.”
Macintyre came home second ahead of Taylor, while Marzorati collided with team-mate Gilkes at the Melbourne Hairpin, which dropped him to eighth, consigning him to third in the standings and ending Hillspeed’s hopes of the teams’ title, which went the way of KMR.
“I can’t believe it,” said eponymous team owner Kevin Mills. “The last three meetings we have shown more pace.
We’d never done slicks-and-wings before this year, so it’s been a massively steep learning curve.”