Race ace Abbi Pulling secured her best-ever finish in the F4 British Championship on Sunday as she placed second in the final race.
The podium position capped an already strong showing from the JHR Developments driver from Gosberton, as she managed other finishes of fifth and sixth at Thruxton.
With team-mate James Hedley winning all three paces at the high-speed 2.3 mile Hampshire circuit, Pulling’s best showing saw her complete a JHR one-two finish in the finale, some 7.8 seconds back.
She soaked up race-long pressure from Argenti Motorsport’s Casper Stevenson to seal a career-best result, sparking jubilant scenes in the pit lane.
Starting third for race one, the South Holland speedster was racing for a podium place before a broken front wing saw her fall off the pace and have to settle for sixth – which still represented a strong points finish.
Race two saw a first-corner collision between Zak O’Sullivan, Luke Browning and Alex Connor, which caused chaos at the top end of the field.
Pulling finished fifth this time after fending off late pressure from Browning, who recovered through the field well despite minor damage to his front wing.
Pulling said: “I’m so happy to be back on the British F4 podium with a hard fought P2 and a JHR Developments one-two.
“Big thanks to all the team, especially Alice Powell and mechanic Paul for always turning out a top level car.
“We also had two solid points scoring British F4 races on Saturday. P6 in race one, a safety car messing us up initially and then just missing out on the reverse grid pole for race two. With considerable front wing damage it was a good outcome.
“In race two an incident ahead saw us lose ground at the start, although I gained places.
“It was difficult once the tow was lost but I hung on ahead of the championship leader for a good P5.”
Her strong showing over the weekend sees Pulling at seventh overall in the driver standings on 99 points.
Browning leads the series on 257 points.
Pulling is back in F4 action this weekend, with rounds 16, 17 and 18 taking place on the Silverstone National circuit on Saturday and Sunday.
After that, visits to Croft, Snetterton (300) and Brands Hatch (Indy) will complete the season.
