– British F4 heads back to site of thrilling season-opener
– Granfors closing on first win after four second places
With four runner-up finishes, and a recent upturn in form, Joel Granfors continues his pursuit of a maiden victory in the F4 British Championship this weekend as the field returns to the high-speed circuit of Thruxton.
With round six of the season ushering in the second half of the 2021 campaign, 16-year-old Granfors is in optimistic mood. A double podium last time out at Knockhill – twice runner-up – combined with a front-row qualifying performance to mark the Swede’s most competitive showing yet.
That, however, is not all. The championship’s second visit to Thruxton marks yet another reason for Granfors to smile wide, as he returns to the scene of an explosive debut back in May’s season-opener – where, again, he took a pair of second places.
“I’m feeling very optimistic heading to Thruxton,” says Joel Granfors. “Our pace here was very strong earlier in the season and crucially, I now have much more experience, both in the car and in this circuit, so we’ll be able to use our time in practice very productively to chase some extra performance. Racing is always great here, so it will be close.”
Thruxton: track info
Having qualified a season-best second – a mere 0.013 seconds from a maiden pole – Granfors enjoyed a brace of race-long battles with Argenti’s Matias Zagazeta for victory last time out in Scotland. Eventually finishing just half a second behind in the final race of the weekend, the Fortec rookie appears to be closing in on a breakthrough win.
“Knockhill was another really positive weekend for me,” Joel Granfors concludes. “We’ve tried a few things with the car recently and I’m finding it better to drive, and that’s been shown in the results. We’ve had four second places now – two very recently, and two here at Thruxton on my debut weekend – so the objective is to build on that and keep pushing for my first win.”
The F4 British Championship weekend begins, as always, with a pair of practice sessions on Friday. Saturday’s schedule contains qualifying and the opening two races, with Race 3 bringing the event to a close on Sunday afternoon.
Like always, live timing, radio commentary and results are available throughout the meeting via links from www.joelgranfors.com.
Guide: How British F4 works