Piastri made a lightning getaway from pole position, leading teammate Alex Quinn through the first corner. Quinn suffered an engine glitch which caused him to lose power – causing Hampus Ericsson to launch over the back of his car, causing damage to yesterday’s race winners Arden machine.
Ayrton Simmons managed to move himself up into 5th position in the opening lap with another great launch and taking the opportunities that presented amongst the first corner melee. Caldwell likewise picked off his rivals well as he moved up into 8th position early on.
Piastri led from Championship Rival Jamie Caroline after the opening tours – before setting an electric pace that nobody was able to match. As Piastri drove into the distance, Quinn was fighting with an ailing and damaged car – reporting multiple engine issues, causing misfires upon the exit of Copse as he began to drop down the field. Quinn would later retire with the issues worsening.
Simmons continued on his charge, getting past Carlin Driver Logan Sargeant with a brilliant move around the outside of Brooklyn’s to move himself up into 4th position. He continued in his pursuit of the
podium, closing onto the back of Jonathon Hoggard and pulling off an almost identical move on the Fortec Motorsport driver – bringing himself onto the podium.
Caldwell likewise was charging through, moving himself up to 7th position and all over the gearbox of Sargeant. However, Caldwell was unable to find a way through, being forced to surrender a position to Linus Lundqvist in the progress.
Piastri took a dominant victory by over 4 seconds from rival Caroline, meaning the championship battle would be decided at Brands Hatch GP. Simmons crossed the line 3rd, however a penalty was applied for abusing track limits – dropping him to 6th in the final classification. Caldwell held on to a strong 8th position, taking the victory in the Ford F4 Challenge Cup in the process with a strong comeback drive from a difficult Saturday – making it a double TRS Arden victory in the final race of the weekend.
Oscar Piastri “It’s special to win at Silverstone, the home of British Motor Racing and the Grand Prix. It’s a home race for the team with TRS Arden based about half an hour down the road in Banbury, so it’s great to get a win and two podiums this weekend. I did everything I could this weekend. It’s a shame Jamie finished right behind me in second which limited the amount of points I took out of his championship lead, but I’ve managed to take the title fight to the final meeting at Brands Hatch and anything can happen there."
Olli Caldwell “It’s really nice to be back on the top step of the podium, especially after the way the other two races went this weekend, as well as the weekend at Rockingham. We were running as high as fifth at one point and although I lost
some places towards the end I still think this a really good result after such an eventful weekend. Staying mentally strong when things aren’t going your way is helped by having a great team around you and that’s what I’ve got at TRS Arden."
The earlier race was the partially reversed grid race two and round 26 of the championship. Simmons was the highest place TRS Arden driver from 4th on the grid, with Piastri 6th, Quinn 8th
after his victory in race one, and Caldwell starting from 13th.
Piastri and Quinn both made a good launch, jumping up places at the start and running in formation of 5th and 6th. Simmons slotted in just behind in 7th position while Caldwell had moved up just outside the top ten.
With the track conditions still damp off line due to yesterday’s and last night downpour, the two Fortec Motorsport drivers ahead went wide at Copse on lap two. Piastri slipped past Oliver York by staying on the racing line as Quinn followed in pursuit. York however veered aggressively over on Quinn, running him off the track with contact – pitching the Cornishman into a series of spins on the wet grass, luckily avoiding drivers behind.
Piastri picked off his rivals ahead, setting a series of fastest laps as he moved his way up to 3rd position with half the race left to run. He began to eat in the advantage ahead held by race leader
Sargeant and Caroline. The Aussie however ran out of laps, finishing less than one second off the victory in 3rd position, claiming his 14th podium of the season.
Simmons came home in 5th position after another strong battle back from, with Quinn recovering to 11th position after his earlier dramas – just missing out on championship points.
The final round for races 28-30 takes place at the Brands Hatch GP Circuit on the 30th September – 1st October in just a fortnights time.
Piastri remains in contention for the British F4 Drivers Championship, but will require to overhaul a 67.5 point deficit to leader Caroline to become the 2017 Champion.
TRS Arden remain 2nd overall in the Team’s Championship heading into the season finale as the championship reaches its climax.