The Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA enjoyed an action-packed start to the 2025 season at Donington Park today (26 April) as Henry Joslyn claimed the first C1RCUIT Watches Pole Award of the year before August Raber went on to score victory in race one
Lifting the curtain on a brand-new campaign for the UK’s premier single-seater series, the opening encounter saw Argenti’s Raber narrowly reign supreme ahead of Fionn McLaughlin (Hitech TGR) and Tommy Harfield (Chris Dittmann Racing).
Qualifying in the morning proved to be a frenetic affair around the 1.979-mile National circuit that culminated in the top 17 drivers being covered by less than 0.7 seconds, with a number of drivers topping the timesheet throughout the session and vying for the bragging rights of the season’s inaugural pole position.
As time whittled down, Fortec Motorsport’s Joslyn came to the fore with a best lap of 1:04.968, which was enough to snare double pole position ahead of Raber by 0.048s. Behind, McLaughlin, Ethan Jeff-Hall (Argenti) and James Piszcyk (Rodin Motorsport) rounded out the top five.
Unfortunately for Joslyn he would be unable to convert his advantage into a front-running result, as Swedish ace Raber delivered a virtuoso performance to clinch a maiden British F4 victory.
Slotting in behind Joslyn as the lights went out, Raber wasted no time in applying pressure to the pole sitter and at the start of the second lap he wrestled the lead away with a commanding move down the inside at Redgate.
Behind, McLaughlin produced a carbon-copy manoeuvre a lap later for third on the fast-starting Piszcyk. The Australian would later be hit with a five-second time penalty after being adjudged to have made a false start.
No sooner had Raber hit the front, the safety car made the first of two appearances as Xavier Avramides (Hitech TGR) encountered trouble while threading his way through the final chicane.
As Avramides managed to recover and continue the race, action soon resumed with McLaughlin instantly pouncing on Joslyn to take second place. Joslyn’s race would sadly come to a premature end at the chicane after misjudging and ending up in the tyre barrier.
The safety car’s second outing to recover the pole sitter’s machine set up a dash to the chequered flag on the restart. However, Raber was able to hang on to claim a hard-fought victory ahead of Red Bull Junior debutant McLaughlin.
Piszcyk crossed the line in third place but tumbled down the order after his penalty was applied, promoting Harfield to the third step of the podium. Harfield would also emerge as the lead Challenge Cup contender.
Jeff-Hall finished fourth while Thomas Bearman (Hitech TGR), Rowan Campbell-Pilling (JHR Developments), Martin Molnár (Virtuosi Racing), Adam Al Azhari (Rodin Motorsport), Piszcyk and Ella Lloyd (Rodin Motorsport) completed the top ten.
Despite missing out on victory, Irishman McLaughlin did manage to secure the fastest lap of the race and with it an additional championship point.
Races two and three of the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA at Donington Park are scheduled to take place at 09:50 and 15:15 respectively on Sunday, with both races forming part of ITV4’s free to air coverage that commences at 11:00 BST.
Live stream coverage is available outside the UK on the championship’s YouTube channel.