Browning bags 2022 GB3 title as Taylor secures GB4 crown

The 2022 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award finalist and 2020 British Formula 4 champion came into the final meeting of the season with a 16.5-point lead over title rival Joel Granfors.

He moved a step closer to the crown by finishing second in Saturday’s opening race, three spots ahead of Granfors, meaning he only needed to outscore the Swede by six points in Sunday’s opening contest to avoid it going down to the final reverse-grid race.

But Browning started only fifth for race two, one spot behind the Fortec Motorsports driver, with both title protagonists and most of the field using wet tyres on a damp but quickly drying track.

Granfors gave himself the best chance of taking the title fight to the final race by surging into the lead, sweeping around the outside of Tom Lebbon’s Elite machine into Redgate while Browning dropped to sixth.

With the track quickly drying Granfors soon found himself under pressure though, Lebbon eventually moving into the lead around the outside of the Melbourne Hairpin on lap four of 13.

Browning meanwhile had moved into third having benefited from a collision between Carlin’s Callum Voisin and Elite’s John Bennett.

Voisin recovered back up to third and demoted Granfors into the Fogarty Esses on lap five, with Browning diving to the inside at Goddards to move ahead of his title rival.

Browning has taken five wins this season – the most of any driver in 2022

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Granfors soon began to drop further back and would eventually finish 13th, while Browning passed Voisin with a neat switchback into Redgate on lap eight to secure second and the title.

“We’ve worked so hard for it. I couldn’t be more happy, the team deserve it and what a way to seal it,” said Browning.

"To be honest I just drove like I would do if it was the start of the season and I think that’s probably the main thing. I was just going out there to get as many points as possible because at the end of the day you just don’t know what could happen.

“It’s difficult when you work so hard for something and it works out for it all to sink in. We’re a double British champion!”

Browning has taken five wins this season – the most of any driver in 2022 – including a double victory at the opening meeting at Oulton Park and Spa, as well as the second race at Snetterton.

The low point of the season came at Silverstone in July, where he was forced to start at the back of the grid for all three races after he and his Hitech team-mates were excluded from qualifying due to a technical infringement.

He accumulated 47 points across the weekend’s encounters, which proved pivotal in securing the championship, making him the only driver to have secured the GB3 and British F4 titles.

He will also drive in a two-day FIA Formula 3 test as a prize for winning the championship.

Fourth enough to hand Taylor GB4 crown

Nikolas Taylor clinched the inaugural GB4 crown with a race to spare at Donington

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Nikolas Taylor clinched the inaugural GB4 crown with a race to spare at Donington, but it was far from a straightforward affair.

A heavy crash in qualifying left his Fortec team with a big repair job ahead of race one on Saturday, where he lined up third on the grid.

That became second when polesitter Jack Sherwood slid into the gravel trap on the formation lap, with Taylor going on to finish 0.445 seconds behind Tom Mills, who claimed his second win of the season.

That left the Anglo-Malaysian needing to finish in the top eight in Sunday’s race two to wrap up the title. Starting from pole, he diced with danger during a feisty opening lap battle with Mills, and then dropped to third behind eventual winner Jarrod Waberski.

Taylor slipped back further to sixth after being squeezed onto the grass by debutant Will Macintyre, but was promoted to fourth by a late collision between Mills and Megan Gilkes, with the race ending behind the safety car.

“I didn’t make it easy for myself,” said Taylor afterwards. “It’s a relief. On the in-lap I could finally breathe. The team did a mega job fixing the car before race one. I owe them every race because the hard work they do is amazing.”

Taylor has won nine races so far this season, his first in car racing, despite being hampered by a few mistakes along the way. He is expected to remain with Fortec for a step up to GB3 in 2023 after receiving a prize fund of £50,000 for winning the title.