Abbi Pulling made motor-racing history at the weekend when the Gosberton race ace became the first female winner of a Formula 4 race.
The Rodin Motorsport driver claimed victory in the second race of the ROKiT British F4 round at Brands Hatch.
She had finished seventh in the opening race and was sixth in the third but it was the one in the middle that wrote her place in the annals of motor sport.
“I’ve finally done it and it was a special weekend,” she told ITV Motorsport. “I competed in this championship a couple of years ago and my aim was always to set that record.
It came after a dominant F1 Academy weekend in Miami, where she recorded a pair of victories.
“There is such a buzz now around women in motorsport by bringing more participation and licence holders in,” she added.
The Brands weekend brought her three sets of points and leaves her seventh in the overall standings with 36 points.
The historic race saw Pulling lead off pole, alongside Xcel Motorsport’s August Raber with Jack Sherwood (Rodin Motorsport) and Leo Robinson (JHR Developments) on the second row. Pulling took the lead off the line over Raber, only for Fortec Motorsport’s Kai Daryanani to become stricken at turn one, necessitating the appearance of the safety car.
Racing resumed and Pulling led the way, followed by teammate Sherwood with Robinson in third place. Pulling worked hard to pull away and eventually crossed the line 5.5 seconds ahead of Sherwood with Robinson joining her on the podium. Pulling’s pace also secured her an extra point and the Motul Fastest Lap award.
Due to a technical infringement, Robinson was later excluded from the results, promoting Xcel’s Zack Scoular to the third step of the podium.
In the opening race of the weekend, Pulling had equalled her result from the last round at Donington Park with a seventh place finish and went one better in the final race. The next round is at Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit on May 25-26.
