Marzorati Storms Into GB4 Points Lead With Double Snetterton Podium
Hillspeed’s Max Marzorati departed Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 26th June, as the new GB4 Championship partnered by the BRDC points leader after a stellar and highly competitive weekend at the Norfolk track.
Racing to fourth place in round 13 on Saturday, 25th June, the ultra-consistent GB4 racer added a brace of runner-up finishes in rounds 14 and 15 on Sunday to open a nine point advantage at the top of the standings. In the Teams Championship, Hillspeed now leads the way by 21 points.
GB4 team-mate Megan Gilkes just missed out on the podium during an action-packed final lap in the second of the weekend’s races, finishing in fourth place. The Canadian driver bookended that result with fifth in the opener and seventh in race three – the latter impacted by a broken front wing.
Megan’s brother Nick encountered a mixed weekend in the sister GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC, an excellent season-best qualifying performance largely unrewarded in the races. With a shattered flywheel preventing him from taking the start of round 10, he finished a competitive 12th in round 11 but ended the weekend with a frustrating 18th place in round 12.
“Max is a very good racer, as he showed again this weekend, and we’re delighted to see him move to the top of the championship – that’s what his consistency has deserved”, said Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, “Megan was unfortunate to just miss the podium in race two, and race three was very unfortunate – just a little bit of contact ruined the race with the wing damage.
“It was exceptionally unlucky to have the issue with the flywheel on Nick’s car before the first GB3 race, nothing we could do about that, but he raced very strongly in the first of Sunday’s races, battling hard with some top drivers, and he showed his pace all weekend starting with his best qualifying yet. Nick is a much improved driver, and we look to take that forward now to Spa.”
Ultra-consistent Marzorati leaps to top of GB4 standings
Marzorati and Megan Gilkes were expectedly competitive in qualifying on Saturday morning, with the former lapping fourth fastest for the round 13 grid and Gilkes fifth quickest a couple of tenths of a second shy of her team-mate.
Both launched well at the start of race one of the weekend and held position but, into Wilson Hairpin, Gilkes ran a little deep which enabled Jack Sherwood to squeeze past on the inside. By lap three Marzorati was also being challenged by Sherwood and he had to cede fourth spot at Palmer.
During the second half of the race Gilkes closed up behind her team-mate and the Hillspeed duo took the flag on lap 10 separated by just 0.4 seconds. Due to a time penalty for Tom Mills, who was deemed out of position at the start, Marzorati was promoted to fourth and Gilkes fifth.
Starting fourth for round 14, Marzorati was edged back to fifth into Riches by a fast-starting Sherwood while Gilkes retained her grid slot of sixth. Lap after lap the Hillspeed cars ran line astern, staying right on Sherwood’s tail, but on the final lap it all happened!
After contact into Wilson Hairpin between Mills and Nikolas Taylor, the latter was pitched straight on into the barriers while Mills lost his front wing. Opening up a fantastic opportunity for the Hillspeed duo to challenge for the podium, Marzorati took third off Sherwood as they headed out onto the Bentley Straight and then passed Mills on the outside into the Brundle left-hander.
Mills tried to cut-back on the inside into the Bomb Hole, but Marzorati held firm and kept a resurgent Sherwood at bay on the sprint to the line to seal a terrific second place and the championship lead. Gilkes also tried to get in on the podium action, having a realistic look at Sherwood with just three corners to go, but had to settle for a nonetheless great fourth place.
Round 15 was the weekend highlight for Marzorati, with a sensational opening lap setting up his eighth podium of the campaign. Climbing from sixth to fourth into and through the first corner, he then delivered a great pass on the inside at Agostini to seal third and then produced an impressive move at Brundle to take second.
Running close behind leader Sherwood for the first few laps, and with the pace to challenge for the lead, Marzorati latterly settled for second and an enhanced points cushion. In the sister car, Gilkes held fifth at the end of lap one but contact on the first lap led to a broken and dislodged front wing which led to a very difficult remainder of the race. She ultimately took the flag in seventh place.
Max Marzorati – Hillspeed GB4 Driver:
“[Jack] Sherwood’s been so quick all weekend, he really deserved the win [in race three]. I’m really happy with that, had a mega first lap and I did get behind Jack early on but his pace was really good and he started ekeing out a lead. I thought, do you know what, we’ve got any easy P2 here so there’s no point throwing it off and losing everything we’re going to be gaining. I thought it would be a damage limitation weekend but we’ve had a fourth and two seconds, and the championship lead!”
Great pace in qualifying but mixed fortunes in GB3 races for Nick Gilkes
Ever-improving Nick Gilkes delivered a season-best GB3 qualifying performance, lapping just 0.7 seconds shy of pole position and little more than 0.4 seconds away from the top six with the 13th fastest time. On second best times he was even better, securing 11th on the grid for race two.
Unbelievably, he wasn’t able to even try and make the most of his seventh row grid slot in round 10 on Saturday afternoon when his car just wouldn’t fire-up as the drivers prepared to head out onto track. Identified by the Hillspeed mechanics as a shattered flywheel, Gilkes couldn’t take the start.
With the No.64 car repaired and refreshed for Sunday’s action, Gilkes was determined to make the most of his sixth row start for round 11 and although the start didn’t go to plan he battled his way through impressively, with excellent speed – a best lap just 0.2 seconds shy of race winning pace.
Ending lap one in 14th place, he immediately pressured Bryce Aron and swarmed all over the back of his rival’s car lap after lap. On the sixth tour a spin into the barriers at the exit of Riches for Callum Voisin enabled Gilkes to move up into 13th place and three laps later Gilkes made the breakthrough to pass Aron for 12th position. Instantly pulling away, he remained 12th to the flag.
Starting 11th for round 12, Gilkes slipped to 12th on the run through the first right-hander, Riches, but after being edged out wide on the run into Palmer, turn three, he lost a handful of places and slipped to 16th as the field headed to the hairpin at Agostini. Following a Safety Car period, racing resumed with around 11 minutes to go and Gilkes ultimately ended a frustrating race in 18th.
Next on the racing calendar for Hillspeed will be the fifth event of the GB3 season, the overseas visit to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 23rd/24th July. One week later GB4 will continue its season, alongside GB3 in back-to-back events for the senior category, at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.
2022 GB4 Championship – Driver Standings (after Rd15)
1st Max Marzorati, 328pts; 6th Megan Gilkes, 247pts
2022 GB4 Championship – Team Standings (after Rd15)
1st Hillspeed, 575pts
2022 GB3 Championship – Driver Standings (after Rd12)
18th Nick Gilkes, 74pts
2022 GB3 Championship – Team Standings (after Rd12)
9th Hillspeed, 74pts
