HAUGER TAKES MAIDEN BRITISH F4 WIN FOLLOWING JEWISS PENALTY


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Arden’s Dennis Hauger took his maiden victory in the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost in round 10 of the season, after an enthralling race-long battle with Kiern Jewiss (Double R Racing). The latter finished first on the road, but was demoted to second following a three second time penalty.

A slow getaway for poleman Jewiss saw him jumped off the line by Hauger and Patrik Pasma.

Jewiss responded immediately by getting back past Pasma and then set about hustling Hauger for the lead.

Hauger did brilliantly to keep the faster Jewiss behind. The Norwegian positioning his Red Bull liveried, Ford EcoBoost-powered racer expertly around the Cheshire circuit.

However, on the penultimate lap of the race the pair made contact at Island Bend. Both managed to continue on their way to the chequered flag largely unscathed, Jewiss leading Hauger home.

Following the race, Jewiss was handed a three second time penalty for driving in a manner incompatible with general safety as a result of the incident. The penalty promoted Dennis Hauger to race winner, with Jewiss dropping back to second.

“It feels really good to finally get this win,” said Hauger. “We’ve been waiting for this win for such a long time.

“It’s a little bit of shame that we got it this way, but I cannot deny how happy I am with the result in the end. Now we’ve got to take this momentum into tomorrow.

“In qualifying this season we’ve been in the top three almost every session so the speed has always been there.

“Then it has been about building up the experience in the races. This win just reinforces the fact that we are up there and that we will only get better as the year progresses.

“Finally getting this win is such a good feeling after winning on track at Donington Park and getting a penalty, and then at Thruxton leading until the last corner. The luck has not been with us so far this season, but it is hopefully with us now.”

Despite the penalty Jewiss’ second place finish was still enough to see him take the championship lead, outscoring Ayrton Simmons (JHR Developments) by 10 points and overturning a five point deficit coming into the weekend.

Further consolation for Jewiss came in the form of fastest lap, with a time of 1m 22.939s which was 0.041s quicker than his pole time.

“At the end of the day it’s only a few points we dropped because of the penalty,” said Jewiss. “We’ve still taken the lead in the championship.

“Simmons starts on pole for tomorrow’s first race so I’m expecting to probably lose the championship lead, but then I start the last race from pole when I intend to get it back.

“Overall it was a good race and the car was brilliant. I think me being in this Double R-prepared car is the quickest combination on the grid at the moment.

“At the start I probably had the clutch a bit too high which meant the car was close to rolling forward. I was wary of getting a false start so I dropped the clutch down, as well as the throttle and that left me slow off the line.

“The reverse grid race will be about damage limitation and then the last race of the weekend I need to get a better start and maximise the opportunity to win.”

Fast-starting Pasma came home in third. His second podium of the season. He was made to work had for it though after a dice with Paavo Tonteri (Double R Racing) in what was an entertaining battle of the Finns.

“I tried to get into first place at the start, but there wasn’t enough room so I had to back off and settle for second,” explained Pasma. “Jewiss then overtook me and after that I couldn’t quite keep up with the pace of the front two.

“My pace improved as the race went on though and I was able to close the gap to the front which was encouraging.

“I think we will have two better races tomorrow. It was also nice to win the battle in the “Finnish championship” in the race today with Tonteri. It’s always good fun racing with him.”

Jack Doohan (Arden) and Simmons did well to pick up a couple of places from their grid positions to finish fifth and sixth respectively. The sixth place proving particularly crucial for Simmons because it earns him pole for the partially-reversed grid race tomorrow.

Behind Simmons came the Fortec Motorsports’ duo of Hampus Ericsson and Johnathan Hoggard, while Manuel Sulaiman (JHR Developments) and Sebastian Priaulx (Arden) completed the top 10.

It was a luckless opening race of the weekend for home hero Jamie Sharp. The Sharp Motorsport racer ended up in the barrier at Cascades on lap seven.

Round 11 of the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost will take place at 1300 tomorrow and will be broadcast live on ITV4, with the final race of the weekend kicking off at 1745.


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