Elite Motorsport's Jesse Phillips won the final race of the weekend at Snetterton, but it wasn't quite enough as Douglas Motorsport's George Proudford-Nalder somehow claimed third spot on the final lap to steal the Winter Series title.
In a race that packed plenty of drama into its 20 minutes duration, it was pole sitter Harrison Mackie that led the early stages but Proudford-Nalder entered the race knowing a second place finish or better would guarantee the title. And that's the position he blasted into early on, as he moved up to fourth at turn one, then took Phillips for third at Palmer and finally went past John O'Donnell's Elite at Oggies.
After an early safety car, Proudford-Nalder found himself in the middle of two Elite machines as Mackie continued to lead, and was still very much in the title mix himself. Phillips had also demoted O'Donnell early on, and as Proudford-Nalder looked to attack for the lead, he had to defend as well, with Phillips looking to claw his own way back into title contention.
Lapping almost as one, it felt inevitable drama was on the way, and it came at Agostini on the sixth lap, as Proudford-Nalder dived up the inside of Mackie. The two cars collided, and almost locked together on the exit. That allowed Phillips to scorch into the lead while Mackie and Proudford-Nalder dropped to fifth and sixth respectively.
That seemingly handed the title to Phillips on a plate, with the 15-year-old leading the rest of the race to claim his second win of the weekend, taking the flag clear of R Racing's Chase Fernandez.
But Mackie and Proudford-Nalder moved into fourth and fifth respectively on the penultimate lap with moves on KMR's Lewis Goff, putting them directly behind Proudford-Nalder's teammate Conor Grant.
That still wasn't enough to give Proudford-Nalder the title at that point, but Grant played the team game on the final lap, holding up the pack and creating an opportunity for a front wing-less Proudford-Nalder to squeeze through and claim the third place he needed to secure the title, but only after a drag race to the line with Mackie.
Goff also found his way past Grant on the final lap, with the Irishman dropping to sixth ahead of O'Donnell, who had challenged for the lead on lap one.
Qarrar Firhand (Fortec), Jasser Iskander (Fox) and Solenn Amrouche (KMR) completed the top-10 in the event finale.
The results of the race and championship remain provisional pending further investigations.
More to follow
GB4 Championship Winter Series, Snetterton, provisional round four result:
1. Jesse Phillips, Elite Motorsport, 9 laps
2. Chase Fernandez, R Racing, +2.498s
3. George Proudford-Nalder, Douglas Motorsport, +5.672s
4. Harrison Mackie, Elite Motorsport, +5.848s
5. Lewis Goff, KMR Sport, +6.556s
6. Conor Grant, Douglas Motorsport, +6.642s
7. John O'Donnell, Elite Motorsport, +7.080s
8. Qarrar Firhand, Fortec Motorsport, +7.733s
9. Jasser Iskander, Fox Motorsport, +16.038s
10. Solenn Amrouche, KMR Sport, +18.064s
11. Gianna Pascoal, Pace Performance, +20.316s
12. Archie Bullard, Fox Motorsport, +22.916s
13. William Rohan, Pace Performance, +23.956s
14. Archie Pearce, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +29.926s
15. Max Yuill, Fortec Motorsport, +30.203s
16. Toby Campbell, KMR Sport, +52.742s
DNF. Alexander De Benedittis, Pace Performance, 0 laps
DNF. Jamie Leverton, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 0 laps
DNF. Rob Crawford, Fox Motorsport, 0 laps
