Podium Double For Marzorati In GB4 At Oulton Park
Hillspeed’s Max Marzorati added two more GB4 Championship partnered by the BRDC podium finishes to his 2022 tally at Oulton Park International Circuit over the Easter weekend, matching his season-best second place in round four and signing-off the event with third spot in round six.
Departing the picturesque Cheshire track on Easter Monday, 18th April, second in the championship standings by three points, Marzorati confirmed his front-running credentials – impressive on his first race outing at Oulton in three years.
Team-mate Megan Gilkes wasn’t able to repeat her race-winning exploits from the opening event of the season a fortnight ago, but she did showcase her clear speed with the fastest lap of the race in round six. The Canadian only just missed the podium with fourth place in race one on Saturday, 16th April, and was then fifth in round five on Monday before taking 11th in the finale after a luckless excursion.
Oulton Park also marked the start of the GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC campaign, with Gilkes’ younger brother Nick embarking on his first season in the category. Round three on Monday was the absolute highlight with Gilkes only just missing a memorable podium in fourth place, lapping within 0.2 seconds of fastest lap pace to underscore his terrific potential.
“Overall it’s been a strong weekend for Hillspeed in both GB4 and GB3”, said team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, “We’re delighted to see Max on the GB4 podium again, he fought hard all weekend, and Megan wasn’t far away at all – fastest lap in the final race showed that. Qualifying pace was good, there was a bit more to find there but overall I’m very pleased with the performances.
“Starting the GB3 season at Oulton was always going to bring a significant challenge for a rookie driver like Nick, but he made good progress in the races and we were very impressed with how well he did in round three. His pace there was fantastic and he absolutely deserved a podium, I think he can be very satisfied with his first weekend as a GB3 driver. There’s much more to come.”
Marzorati continues podium momentum at Oulton International
Both Marzorati and Megan Gilkes showed strong pace across two days of official testing on Thursday, 14th April, and Good Friday, 15th April, and carried their good form through to qualifying on Saturday morning. Locking out the second row of the grid for round four, Gilkes produced the third fastest time of 1m36.204 seconds (100.73mph) and Marzorati was just 0.1 seconds shy.
Saturday’s GB4 race began superbly for Hillspeed, with Gilkes and Marzorati launching expertly to move into second and third respectively. Then, into Cascades on the outside, Marzorati successfully challenged his team-mate to grab second. Running nose-to-tail, Gilkes had a brief look up the inside into Old Hall on lap three but she then started to come under pressure from Jarrod Waberski.
Defending very well, the Canadian finally had to cede the place at the chicane on lap six but she remained in touch and was very close to mounting a successful re-challenge on lap nine. Marzorati wrapped-up second place after a great drive while Gilkes was just 0.3 seconds shy of the podium.
The first of Easter Monday’s two GB4 races, round five, began with Marzorati fourth on the grid and Gilkes lining-up sixth. Once again, both aced the start with Marzorati scorching off the line to climb into second before Old Hall while Gilkes gained a place to climb into the top five. Marzorati was edged to third on lap two and then had to soak up immense pressure from Nikolas Taylor.
Passed at Island Bend on lap four, the Hillspeed driver then spent the remainder of the race working hard to retain his place. On the penultimate lap Waberski challenged at Lodge and banged wheels on the exit with Marzorati, which dropped the Briton behind team-mate Gilkes to finish sixth.
Fifth for Gilkes marked a good recovery after ending lap one in seventh. On lap four two cars tangled at Shell Oils which enabled Gilkes to slice into the top five and although passed at Hislops on lap seven by Waberski, she stayed in touch and was able to gain when Waberski and Marzorati touched.
Set to begin round six from seventh and eighth respectively, with a rival starting from pitlane the Hillspeed cars actually lined up sixth and seventh. Marzorati delivered yet another of his exemplary starts, climbing into fourth straight away, and he then duly took third. Under huge pressure for the bulk of the 12-lapper, he worked incredibly hard to seal a deserved third spot.
Gilkes too made up good ground when the lights went out and moved into a position to challenge for fifth into Old Hall, but after being edged over the kerbs she lost momentum and slipped down to ninth before an unfortunate spin on lap two at Island Bend.
Recovering, but almost 12 seconds shy of the next car, Gilkes got her head down and pumped in a series of fantastic laps. Delivering the fastest of the race, a time of 1m36.720 seconds, she finished in 11th place and closed to within just 0.393 seconds of the top 10 at the flag on lap 12.
Nick Gilkes only just misses podium on maiden GB3 weekend
Qualifying 17th on the grid for his GB3 Championship debut, with a lap of 1m30.733 seconds (106.81mph) which was just 0.8 seconds shy of the top 10, Nick Gilkes made a good start to the first race on Saturday, missing a stalled car and then smartly avoiding incidents at Shell Oils and Britten’s.
Through it all he emerged in an improved 15th position and he swiftly passed the hobbled car of Callum Voisin on lap two. With more than three seconds to make up to the next group, Gilkes reeled off some very good laps in clear air and within another couple of tours he had got the gap down to just over a second. Edged back to 15th on lap five, he eventually ended the race in 16th position.
After a day off on Easter Sunday, GB3 action returned on Easter Monday and Gilkes lined-up 17th on the grid for round two of the season. Getting away from the line cleanly, he was then shuffled down to 19th on lap one. Closing to within less than a second of Tommy Smith around mid-distance, by the start of lap eight the gap was down to just 0.4 seconds.
Queued up behind Smith and David Morales, Gilkes applied pressure lap after lap and all three drivers then moved up a place on lap 10 after an excursion for Branden Oxley. Holding 18th spot to the finish on lap 14, Gilkes was just 0.5 seconds shy of Smith at the flag.
For the ‘reverse grid’ race, round six, Gilkes lined-up third on the grid and with a great opportunity to showcase his talent. After covering off challengers at the start on the inside line to Old Hall, he maintained position out of the corner and expertly repelled the attentions of Morales. Gilkes then began to close on second placed Smith and by lap six was just 0.3 seconds shy.
Driving faultlessly, Gilkes sought an opportunity to try and pass but on lap nine he was edged back to fourth by Morales who swept around the outside at Island Bend to ensure the inside at Shell Oils. In the end, Gilkes consolidated his fourth position and produced a best lap of 1m30.651 seconds which was impressively only two tenths of a second shy of fastest lap pace.
Max Marzorati – Hillspeed GB4 Driver:
“It’s been a great weekend, I’m loving running with Hillspeed – they’ve done such a great job. I’m happy with how Oulton has gone, I haven’t done this circuit for three years so to come here and take two podiums and be second in the championship is great. It’s 100% good for our confidence going forward, tracks like Silverstone and Donington have been happy hunting grounds for me in the past.”
Megan Gilkes – Hillspeed GB4 Driver:
“Race three was a bit of an event! They were three wide in front of me, I was so busy trying to set myself up to challenge I was unsighted, missed the apex, got on the marbles and then got onto the grass and took the scenic route. I was putting in some decent lap times [after that] and had fastest lap in the end.”
Nick Gilkes – Hillspeed GB3 Driver:
“I’m very happy with our first weekend in GB3, I really think the podium was on the cards in race three but fair play to David [Morales] as he put a good move on me. On my first weekend to have a P4 and show such good pace is fantastic, the team did a fantastic job. The beauty of the reverse grid race is if you’ve had a tough qualifying, it gives you the opportunity to show what you can really do.”
Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in Northamptonshire will host rounds four, five and six of the GB3 Championship plus rounds seven, eight and nine of the GB4 Championship three weeks from now, over the weekend 7th/8th May.
2022 GB4 Championship – Driver Standings (after Rd6)
2nd Max Marzorati, 127pts; 7th Megan Gilkes, 81pts
2022 GB4 Championship – Team Standings (after Rd6)
4th Hillspeed, 208pts
2022 GB3 Championship – Driver Standings (after Rd3)
14th Nick Gilkes, 21pts
2022 GB3 Championship – Team Standings (after Rd3)
9th Hillspeed, 21pts
