Seb wins on the road at Snetterton - but keeps title hopes alive after exclusion! by Marc Orme - web editor Rob Allender

photo by Jacob Ebrey

Seb Morris achieved his season long-held aim of winning a round of the BRDC Formula 4 Championship at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 8th September, with an outstanding performance during round 20 of the season…but the victory was short lived when officials later excluded his car on a technicality.

Delivering an exceptional showing in the second of the weekend’s three races at the Norfolk track, Seb was in great form and battled back from a slip to third place midway through the racer to score his first win of the season.

During the Post-race checks, however the series scrutineers declared the gurney flap on the rear wing of the 17-year-old’s car to be non-compliant with the technical manual in respect of its dimensions. Seb, his management and the Hillspeed team lodged an official protest with the MSA, which will be heard at a later date.

“We’re certain the gurney flap is fully compliant with the regulations which is why we have appealed the decision, there would have been no point doing that otherwise. Taking the first win was fantastic, especially after having to work so hard for it, so to have it taken away is beyond disappointing.”

Sebs’ weekend got off to a low key start with a 7^th place in Saturdays race (round 20 in the 25 race championship). This transferred into a front row start on the ‘reverse grid’ for Sundays 1^st race (round 20) Seb started second on the grid but after an enthralling, race long fight, managed to pass pole sitter Jack Barlow at Montreal to claim his first win in F4, and becomes the 11th different winner this year from the 20 races held so far. Barlow was left to defend from a charging Jake Hughes, who rose from sixth in the grid to claim another podium finish.

Barlow and Morris made good starts, and were side by side into Riches on lap one, with Barlow taking the inside line for the corner. Morris slotted into second while Lima kept third. At the end of the lap, the lead trio had a good advantage over the rest of the field, while the quick starting Hughes had fired up to fourth.

Morris was tucked right under the rear wing of Barlow, and in attempting a pass on lap two, lost ground and Lima took advantage to climb to second. Morris re-passed Lima on lap four at Montreal, but by which time Barlow had built a slight gap of 0.4 seconds. Morris closed the gap, and on lap five just 0.192s covered the pair, as Morris attempted a move around the outside of Riches.

Barlow held firm, and established a lead of 0.6s on lap six, which until that point, was the biggest margin between the pair. But ending lap seven, Morris was swarming all over Barlow, and finally made a move stick on lap eight at the Montreal hairpin.

Barlow wasn't prepared to settle for second, and kept Morris within touching distance over the remainder of the race, but eventually Morris built a gap of 0.6 seconds to claim a breakthrough win, and reduce the margin to championship leader Hughes to 30 points.

Amid scenes of euphoria Seb confirmed how great it felt ‘Finally! I had to work really hard for that one as Jack was defending really well. Whenever he defended I lost time and I actually lost out to Gustavo (Lima) at one point, but I managed to pass him at the Montreal hairpin and I managed to do the same to Jack. I had the car to do it this time. It was incredibly hard to break away at the end, and the tyres were going off a bit towards the end but I think that's the same for everyone. I just had to keep it smooth, stop the tyres going off and handle the pressure! That's done the championship the world of good."

 That was before he was excluded due to the ‘Gurneygate’ incident!

 However showing his resolve Seb bounced straight back with a fighting 2^nd place in the final race of the race (round 21) to make another trip to the podium after delivering another excellent drive.

Moving into third place at the start, from fourth on the grid, Seb ran close behind team-mate Struan Moore and forced the Jersey driver into a small mistake before shooting by for second position. With his Yokohama tyres not as fresh as those on race leader James Fletcher’s car, though, Seb had to be satisfied with the runner-up spot.

 "Not a bad way to end the weekend I suppose. We had an incredibly good car then but unfortunately James' tyres were so much fresher than everyone elses and he got away from us.

This has been by far our best weekend of the season in terms of our race pace and the overall race performance. I drove the best I could, did all I could do to win the second race, and whatever happens with the hearing, no-one can take away the fact I won that race on the road. If we get the second race result back, we will have closed down the championship lead and if we don't,  then never mind. We've had a nice and consistent season and we've got the car sorted now, this has been by far our best race weekend and hopefully we can carry that through to Donington and fight for win, podiums and the title!

Due to the loss of his 30 points from round 20, which will still hang in the balance pending the outcome of the upcoming MSA hearing, Seb has slipped to third in the F4 championship standings ahead of the final three rounds of the season at Donington Park in Leicestershire on 28th/29th September, and with a maximum of  90 points still available, there is still everything to drive for!

Highlights of this weekend’s action from Snetterton will be screened next Sunday, 15th September, at 18.00 on ITV4 and ITV4 HD.