Louis Foster dominates in Donington to lead championship standings

Vansdirect sponsored racer, Louis Foster dominated in the second weekend of the British F4 season, taking two race wins and a further podium to put him a staggering seventeen points clear at the top of the championship standings. Vansdirect reveals all!

Race Weekend Two - Donington Park

After an impressive opening weekend at Brands Hatch which saw Louis Foster gain his first victory in British F4 and sit comfortably in third place in the championship standings, Vansdirect sponsored Louis Foster headed to Donington Park for the next round of race fixtures, a circuit he had fond memories of from his Ginetta Junior Championships campaign last year. Louis was confident that he could build on his impressive start to the season, starting the weekend at the top of the timesheets in the weekend's test session on Thursday.

He then continued to show his talent and confidence behind the wheel as the Saturday rolled by. In a windy and wet qualifying campaign at Donington Park, Vansdirect sponsored Foster dominated the twenty minute session, securing his maiden pole position by more than four-tenths of a second to his Double R teammate Sebastian Alvarez.

He also dominated to secure pole position for the third race of the weekend with his second fastest time with him sitting pretty ahead of the weekend's races.

Race One - Top of the Podium for Louis

Louis started the race well, defending the lead from his teammate Alvarez. However the teammates continued to battle for the lead in the first lap of the race, this allowed the cars behind to profit from their battle and heading in to lap two there were no fewer than four cars fighting for the top spot.

The fight didn't end well for Foster, who was related to fourth following the battle, however after Maloney and Alvarez came to blows at Redgate, Louis found his way back up to second spot with his eyes on Skelton in first.

Louis found himself 2.3 seconds behind Skelton, however he was digging into this advantage each lap and it didn't take long before he was on the tail of the race leader. With under five minutes of the clock left, he then flew past Skelton and pulled clear to win the race almost a second clear.

Commenting on his win in the first race of the weekend, Foster said:

"It was a crazy start to the race, Seb and I had a good battle on the opening lap but that allowed everyone to join in the fight! There were four of us side by side for the lead and I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't block, so I just had to stay out of any trouble and make it through the corner. I was annoyed because I went from first to fifth or sixth in one straight but I kept my head up and fought back. I got past a few and then Seb (Alvarez) and Zane (Maloney) came together and I was on the hunt for Josh (Skelton), and I knew I had the pace to get past so just pushed hard and caught him in the end. I'm over the moon with the result and hope to keep the momentum rolling!"

Race Two - Another podium finish for Louis

After winning race one of the weekend, Louis had to settle for sixth place off the start as a result of the reverse grid. The young Vansdirect sponsored racer got off the line well, however the race was swiftly stopped after Faria left the track and went into the barriers at Hollywood, with the first of two red-flag stoppages.

As the race restarted, Foster was one place better off in fifth, he then showcased his speed by overtaking Connor for fourth place in a thrilling battle between the pair.

With just two laps of the race remaining, Williams, who was running in third place, had an off-track excursion that subsequently promoted Louis to third place. The race was eventually ended under the red flag due to the incident and the Vansdirect sponsored racer earned his second podium finish of the weekend.

Speaking after the second race of the weekend, Louis commented:

"It was a good race, with some fun battles out on track." The reverse grid race is always difficult but we made the most of the opportunities to score some strong points and get on the podium. We have now finished on the podium in two of the three races here at Donington, so the aim for the final race is to continue the success!"

Race Three - Louis continues his dominance at Donington Park

The third and final race of the weekend was televised live on ITV4 and despite getting of the line well, it was his Double R Racing teammate Sebastian Alvarez who got the better start and led the race. Foster then needed to fight off Browning heading into the Old Hairpin to keep his place in second.

At the end of the opening lap the race was then paused after Tommy Foster (no relation) ran out wide into the barrier at the exit of the final corner, with the safety car making an appearance whilst the car was recovered.

With ten minutes left on the clock, the race restarted. Foster and Alvarez had an enthralling battle for the race victory, with Louis all over the back of his Double R Racing teammate. Louis made an excellent move around the outside of McLeans, however Alvarez defended equally as well, this allowed Turney in third place to pass both racers to take the lead at the final chicane.

Louis then passed his teammate on the finishing straight, with eyes on Turney ahead. Foster was the fastest man on track and back fighting for the lead and finally took first spot following an excellent move before the final chicane.

Turney attempted to fight back starting the final lap and made a move on Foster at Redgate, however he misjudged this move colliding with the back of the Vandirect sponsored racer. Louis was luckily fine to continue on and took the chequered flag to earn his second race win of the weekend and extend his lead at the top of the British F4 championship standings to 17 points!

A jubilant Foster spoke following the final race of the weekend:

"It's a fantastic way to end the weekend," Seb got a good start and took the lead but I knew I was quicker than him so kept pushing. We had a great fight but this allowed Turney to come at us and he went through into the lead. I just remained confident in myself and the car and got past him at the final chicane to take the lead. I was lucky he didn't collect me at turn one on the final lap but I'm absolutely delighted with the weekend and these results. After winning race one, finishing third in race two and now winning race three, it's an amazing points haul, and puts us in a strong position heading to Thruxton."

British F4 Championship leader Louis returns to action in round three of the season at Thruxton Circuit in three week's time (18 - 19 May).

Images courtesy of Jakob Ebrey Photography

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