The curtain fell on a memorable Formula 4 season for Gosberton race ace Abbi Pulling at the weekend.
She returned to the scene of the year’s greatest triumph for the final round of the British F4 season at Brands Hatch but was unable to repeat May’s remarkable achievement, when she became the first female winner of a race in the formula.
Even so, two top-ten finishes saw her finish seventh overall in the championship standings on 130 points, despite missing two rounds.
Pulling was absent for the previous round at Silverstone, due to clashing F1 Academy commitments, where she is heading for title glory after finishing in a podium position in all seven of the ten races so far.
The Rodin Motorsport driver started the weekend’s first race in ninth place on the grid but was forced into the pits with a broken front wing after a minor collision.
She returned at the back of the field but set several top-six lap times on her way to 19th position – later adjusted to 18th after a
post-race penalty for August Raber.
Sunday’s reverse grid race saw Pulling start in third place but she soon dropped back to sixth. She was then involved in a battle with Martin Molnar for fourth place and was holding him off when the race was stopped early due to barrier damage.
That left Pulling one spot off the podium but with reduced points due to the early curtailment.
Rain meant wet conditions for the weekend’s final race with Pulling back in ninth on the grid.
Several cars skidded off the iconic near-4km Kent circuit as they struggled to master the slippery surface and the safety car was in frequent use.
Pulling was down in 13th place at one point but recovered well to finish in eighth place.
That was her 16th top-ten finish of the season, of which three were on the podium and six in the top five.
Pulling returns to F1 Academy action in Lusail, Qatar from November 29 to December 1, before the final round on Yas Island, United Arab Emirates on December 6 to 8.
