The season has been far from perfect for the Double R Racing team. The team’s star driver faced bouts of misfortune, and struggled to make an impact at the start of the season, whilst their second driver missed out on more than half the season. But there were still plenty of positives for the team to take moving forwards.
1. Donington Park: Disastrous weekend for Zane
After a promising opening round, Zane Goddard and the rest of the Double R Racing team will be keen to forget about Round 2 at Donington Park. Things started off well in race one, but an off track moment damaged the Australian’s car which later led to his retirement, the first of the season for the British Formula 4 new comer.
There were still two races left though, and Goddard was keen to make up for the disappointing opening race. The Australian had a strong run, making his way up into the top ten and pushing to move forwards. Challenging Nicolai Kjaergaard for eighth, the two came together, Goddard was launched over the Fortec driver’s car, retiring once again.
The Australian had one more chance to make amends in the final race of the weekend, but Goddard wouldn’t even make it to the starting grid when his car spluttered to a stop on the formation lap. A disappointing end to a weekend to forget.
2. Thruxton Race Two: Podium near miss for Carrie
After missing the Donington Park weekend, Carrie Schreiner was ready to prove what she could do at Thruxton. Race two provided the perfect opportunity for that. The German started thirteenth, but would break into the top ten by the end of the first lap. Retirements ahead promoted Schreiner into fourth, teammate Goddard two positions behind her.
Schreiner spent the remainder of the race glued onto the back of Billy Monger in third, looking for her first British podium. It wasn’t to be, though, and the German crossed the finishing line just 0.2 seconds away from the podium.
3. Oulton Park Race Two: Zane crashes from race lead
Race two started off perfect for Zane Goddard. The Australian took pole position in the reverse grid, and a perfect start kept him away from the chasing pack. Comfortably in the lead of the race, Goddard’s maiden win in British F4 looked almost inevitable when, on the fourth lap, he clipped the tyre bundle on the inside of Knickerbrook. Goddard sped through the gravel and into the barrier. Race over for the Australian.
4. Croft Qualifying: Double pole for Zane
Goddard started his bounce back from the disappointing Oulton Park round by setting two pole position times in qualifying at Croft. The Australian waited until the final five minutes to put in two fantastic laps, over a tenth of a second faster than his closest rival.
5. Croft Race One: Zane’s first British F4 win
Finally, after victory slipping from Goddard’s grasp at the last moment at Oulton Park, the Australian enjoyed his first British F4 win at Croft. Goddard started the race from pole and completely dominated in the beginning. A safety car threatened to steal the win from him again, though, when it peeled into the pits to make for a last lap dash.
Carlin’s Devlin DeFrancesco was right on Goddard’s tail on the restart, coming alongside the Double R Racing driver’s car as they raced to the flag. Goddard defended hard, keeping the Canadian behind him to take his first win of the season.
6. Knockhill Race Three: Another win for Zane
Goddard completed dominated the final race at Knockhill with his second win of the season. The Australian started from third and shot past Luis Leeds off of the line, barely giving Fortec’s Alex Quinn to start to pull out a lead before he began to pull the pole sitter in.
When Quinn locked up on his cold tyres, Goddard was in the perfect position to shoot past at the hairpin, stealing the lead from the rookie. From that point, there was no holding the Australian back, and he took the fastest lap of the race on his way to the race win.
7. Rockingham Race One: Points on Carrie’s return
Having been busy with the German Formula 4, Schreiner returned to the British championship for the Rockingham round. A brilliant drive in the rain on the Saturday afternoon, after starting sixteenth on the grid, saw the German cross the line in eleventh, just outside the points. Luckily for Schreiner, a time penalty for Patrik Matthiesen promoted her a position. Tenth would be her second points scoring finish of the season.
8. Silverstone: Double win for Zane
Goddard’s final wins of the season came at Silverstone in the penultimate round of the championship.
The Australian shot away from the fourth space on the grid at the start of the race, taking the lead of the race before he even reached the first corner. From there, it was a simple race for Goddard, who controlled the race until the chequered flag to take his third British Formula 4 win.
The excitement wasn’t over just yet, though. Goddard took a sixth place in the reverse grid, but started third for the final race of the weekend.
This time, Goddard wouldn’t take the lead of the race at the start. Fellow Australian Louis Leeds sped away from pole whilst Goddard was left to try and find a way past Sennan Fielding. Slowly, the pair of them closed in on Leeds, and Goddard seized the chance to speed past Fielding.
A big lunge past Leeds after getting side by side with the Arden driver put him in the leader of the race. Goddard crossed the line first, taking his fourth win of the championship. It wouldn’t be enough to put him in the title fight at the final showdown at Brands Hatch, but helped the Australian secure eighth in the championship.
Image credit: Caroline Rhea
