– Season resumes at Oulton Park after lengthy summer break
– Granfors bidding for podium return
Following a five-week break, Joel Granfors and the F4 British Championship return to action this weekend at Oulton Park to commence a busy remainder of the season.
Granfors heads into the weekend having claimed a trio of top eight finishes last time out at Brands Hatch back in June, where he also set the second-fastest lap of the concluding Race 3.
It is that sort of pace, and his two podiums already achieved at the opening round of the campaign at Thruxton, that F4 rookie Granfors will be hoping to imitate as the Ford-powered single-seater series descends on what the Swede himself labels as one of the best tracks on the schedule.
Oulton Park: track info
“I’m extremely motivated to get going again after the break, and I can’t wait to be back on track,” says Joel Granfors. “We had a really good test at Oulton Park a while ago, with promising pace, and I think this is one of the most rewarding and fun tracks to drive here in the UK.”
No surprise there, as Oulton Park is widely known to be a drivers’ favourite. The track – located in western England close to Manchester and Liverpool – offers a challenging layout of fast, flowing corners, naturally embedded in the undulating landscape.
Hectic months ahead
After a fairly slow start to the season, with just three rounds played out in three months, the remainder of the campaign is set to be much more intense for the British F4 pack, starting this weekend.
Granfors and his rivals are now facing seven championship rounds – featuring 21 of this year’s 30 races – within the space of just 12 weeks.
In other words, the most significant portion of the 2021 season still lies ahead.
“We’ve had a bit of a soft start, but from now on we’ll be racing every other weekend,” says Joel Granfors (who made a pace-setting guest appearance in Sweden’s Aquila series last weekend for good measure). “That suits me well. I like to be driving as frequently as I can, especially now being a rookie in F4. I prefer to stay in the zone. I feel perfectly ready to go and we will do our best to put some serious pressure on the other teams.”
Competing for Fortec Motorsport, Granfors currently sits fifth in the drivers’ standings.
Action at Oulton Park begins on Friday with a pair of practice sessions, followed on Saturday by qualifying and the first two races. The weekend then comes to a close with Race 3 on Sunday.
Like always, live timing, radio commentary and results are available throughout the meeting via links from www.joelgranfors.com.
Guide: How British F4 works