Seb Morris fights back from adversity to cement a championship podium place! by  web editor Rob Allender

photos by Jacob Ebrey

A sterling effort by young Welsh driver Seb Morris in practice for the first of the final races in the 2013 BRDC F4 championship, on the Donington Park ‘Senna’ Grand Prix Circuit, put him in 4^th place on the grid and right in the frame to win the title. However despite a lot of optimism from within in the Hillspeed team, Morris, who was currently 3^rd in the points table, was keeping his feet on the ground. ”I haven’t really looked at the points. I just want to do the best job I can. I will be trying to win the first race and then set the fastest lap so I can get pole for the 3^rd race!’

However a look at the grid for race 1 showed that Jake Hughes, the pre race points leader,

was surrounded by Matthew Graham (2nd) who had declared his own title ambitions and newcomer Matt Mason, a driver with nothing to loose. The other contender Jack Barlow, who was 2^nd in the pre-race points table, had a disastrous practice session and had a lot to do from 13^th place on the grid! So even although Hughes had a 50+ points lead over Morris, there were no certainties as the cars left on their warm-up lap!

However when the lights changed Hughes established an immediate lead that he held to the end. Matthew Graham slotted into 2^nd place, with the hitherto un-fancied James Greenway 3^rd. Seb emerged from the first lap scrum in 4^th place, whilst Matt Mason trailed into the pits to finish well down. Morris stalked Greenway and quickly overtook him to run 3^rd on the road. For time it looked like he was catching Graham, but as the gap stabilised he found himself under pressure from former championship leader Charlie Robertson who had also passed Greenway. Seb however was able to defend his position, to take another podium place!

 (left)  Eyes on the prize-Seb with the race 1 podium spoils 

Although it may have been a scant consolation, the points scored saw him retake 2^nd place in the points standings, as Jack Barlow trailed in to finish in a lowly 13^th place ( Barlow eventually slumped to 6^th place overall as his weekend went from bad to worse). On  the other hand Jake Hughes, from nearby Warkickshire, now had a 63 points lead, meaning he only needed  a couple of minor points finishes in the remaining 2 races to be confirmed as the champion, irrespective of the outcome of Morris & Hillspeeds’ appeal against the loss of his race win at Snetterton.

In the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning, which would be the penultimate race of the inaugural BRDC F4 Championship, Morris started on the 3^rd row in 6^th place with his Hillspeed teammate Struan Moore in pole position. When the lights changed Seb made a bold move around the outside of Charlie Robertson at the potentially dangerous Redgate corner and moved up to 4^th place! However Robertson was on a charge and there was a tremendous battle between Robertson, Morris and Greenway. Robertson was able to make a break and went on to pass Moore to win the race, but late on in the race Morris began to loose places as his tyres began to loose grip, eventually finishing in  8^th place.     ” The tyres just began to loose grip. I didn’t feel as if I had been working them that hard” Later the team found his left rear tyre was completely flat!

Robertsons’ win had catapulted him up to 3^rd place, only 9 points behind Morris who had regained 2^nd in the championship behind Jake Hughes, who finished in 6^th place and was confirmed as the inaugural BRDC F4 champion, as he could not now be caught. But with 3 drivers now fighting Seb for 2^nd place in the championship there was plenty to drive for in the final race of the 2013 championship. Seb would start from the 4^th row, whilst Matthew Graham, and Jack Barlow were ahead of him and Charlie Robertson would start from pole.

As the lights changed the bespectacled Scot Robertson, who looks a little like a Junior Bank Clerk, took an immediate lead he never lost, to become the only driver to take 2 consecutive wins in the 24 race championship! Behind him Jake Dalton took 2^nd place and Matt Mason was 3^rd. Another lightening start put Seb up to a promising 4^th place, until he was rudely punted into a race wrecking spin at the Melbourne hairpin, to resume 18^th and dead last, some 5 seconds behind the field. However rather than bemoan his luck, as he might have been entitled to do, Morris showed his fighting qualities and began to work his way up through the field! Having picked off  a couple of the slower cars, his next target was a group of 6 cars contesting 16^th to 10^th place and he started to close the gap and picked off car after car, eventually passing the much fancied South American drivers, Mexican Diego Menchaca and Gustavo Lima from Brazil, in the closing laps to climb up to 10^th place. However there not enough laps left for him to gain any more places and points!

Even so the points gained were good enough for Seb to retain 3^rd place in the championship, and whilst this may be scant consolation at this time, it is still a considerable achievement!  Whatever happens over the winter and whichever path he chooses, Seb Morris has proved he is a driver who has a mental toughness to go with his undoubted skill, and that will stand him in good stead in the future.