British F4: JHR Developments move into pole position in title race at Knockhill

JHR Developments moved into the lead of the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost courtesy of Matthew Rees after another podium brace for the Welsh teenager at Knockhill.

Steven Hunter’s outfit headed north to Scotland looking to keep the pressure on erstwhile points leader James Hedley and his Fortec outfit atop the Teams Cup and looked to be in good shape following two positive pre-event test days at the 1.2-mile Fife circuit.

Rees led the quartet – including McKenzy Cresswell, Joseph Loake and Abbi Pulling – during qualifying, before registering a sixth podium finish of the campaign in the opener.

That, coupled with a non-score for Hedley, moved Rees to within 10 points of the championship summit, and another third-placed finish in Sunday’s ITV4-televised finale allowed him to overhaul his chief rival, and move 5 markers ahead leaving Scotland.

Rees’ podium finishes book-ended another victory in Britain’s FIA Formula 4 series for Cresswell, who completed another first-lap charge reminiscent of his maiden triumph at Oulton Park a fortnight prior to move from third to the race lead in the opening lap.

From there, the 15-year-old went unchallenged, extending the margin out to 2.5 seconds by the chequered flag to keep his title hopes – and Rookie Cup bid – on course.

Contact at the Hairpin in races one and three respectively hampered Pulling and Loake’s weekends, but the pair also scored a brace of points finishes apiece to keep all four JHR challengers inside the top ten in the standings.

JHR remain 23 points behind Fortec in the Teams Cup, but head next to the high-speed Thruxton circuit in Hampshire, scene of a superb 1-2-3-4 lockout in qualifying and numerous past victories for the team, on 28-29 August.

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