Weston Hills speedster Johnathan Hoggard picked up two more wins in the F4 British Championship at Silverstone over the weekend.
For the second meeting in succession, Hoggard roared to a double pole position – which set up wins number six and seven of his season.
The Fortec Motorsport driver made it three poles for the season after emerging on top of what proved to be a tight battle around the short Silverstone National circuit that ended with the top 12 drivers on the grid covered by less than four tenths of a second.
Hoggard set his best time on just his fourth lap of the session and then saw his rivals gradually erode what had been a gap of some two-tenths of a second at one stage, but a best time of 56.967secs would ultimately prove good enough to secure pole. His second best time was good enough to be first in race three, too.
In race one he saw off the challenge of series leader Kiern Jewiss to secure his maiden triumph of the weekend. The South Holland star was able to lead the race from the front, despite the best efforts of Jewiss behind.
Hoggard was able to manage the gap to fellow front-row starter Jewiss, with the pair never split by more than a second throughout the 21 lap race. He managed to eek out an advantage of nine tenths of a second, he took the chequered flag with an advantage of seven tenths.
Speaking to the official F4 website, Hoggard said: “The start was good and I could build a small gap to Kiern but it became a bit tricky after that.
“He was losing out in the dirty air behind me at points but could then come back at me with the slipstream on the straights so I couldn’t relax.
“I think I managed it well to stay out front and I’m delighted to take the victory. ”
With the reverse grid order in effect for race two, Hoggard had to settle for sixth place as Jack Doohan (Arden) took a fine first place.
His team-mate Patrik Pasma landed second place, with Jewiss completing the podium.
Race three saw Hoggard back at the front of the grid – and he maintained his record of winning every race where he has finished on the podium with victory.
Having emerged victorious from the opening race at the Northamptonshire circuit, Hoggard once again led from start-to-finish to take another win for Fortec, although it was a victory that was far from straightforward thanks to the pressure of the chasing pack behind.
Hoggard had started the race from pole position and headed the field into Copse for the first time, emerging from the opening lap with a handy advantage after championship leader Kiern Jewiss (Double R) lost ground following a touch from team-mate Paavo Tonteri.
That allowed Rookie Cup leader Jack Doohan (Arden) through into second spot and he set about chasing down Hoggard for the victory.
While he would close to within a tenth of a second at one stage, Hoggard was able to hold on at the front and was then forced to defend from Jewiss in the closing stages when he managed to battle his way back into second place.
Jewiss would try hard but couldn’t make a move stick, allowing Hoggard to take a win that moves him up to fifth in the standings.
“That was one of the toughest races of the season,” he added. “There was a lot of pressure from Jack at the start and then from Kiern at the end and I can take a lot of satisfaction from that one.
“To have seven wins this season is something that I’m very proud of and I’m really happy with how the second half of the year has gone. It’s a shame for me that the season didn’t start in the summer!”
