The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Johnathan Hoggard endured a mixed weekend at Thruxton as his F4 British Championship campaign continued.
Weston Hills teenager Hoggard, who was once again racing for Fortec Motorsports, secured a sixth place in round seven at the Hampshire circuit before going off on the first lap in round eight and having to settle for 13th in round nine.
That sees the promising race ace place fifth in the overall standings on 86 points, just 15 points off a place in the top three.
Having been a double winner at Donington Park in the previous round, Hoggard came into Thruxton full of confidence.
The South Holland speedster was sixth fastest in qualifying after clocking 1.13.704mins, but lined up in fifth place after championship leader Ayrton Simmons was forced to take a ten-placed grid penalty.
Norweigan Dennis Hauger (Arden) took pole with a formidable lap of 1.13.183mins.
However, it took just four corners for Hoggard to storm up the grid and take the lead in Saturday’s race.
He couldn’t keep that going, though, with Kiern Jewiss (Double R Racing) emerging victorious after an enthralling battle with pole-sitter Hauger – who ended up careering into the tyre barriers after the two came together.
In the end, Hoggard had to settle for sixth – 5.688secs behind Jewiss – despite his opening lap heroics.
Ahead of him, Simmons stormed back to take second place, with Paavo Tonteri (Double R) filling the final podium position.
Hoggard started from sixth place in Sunday morning’s round eight, but it was to be his most frustrating race of the weekend.
On the first lap Jamie Sharp made contact with Hoggard – a move that forced both to retire from the race.
That forced the pace ace to watch on as Jewiss took another victory ahead of team-mate Tonteri in second, with Simmons third on the podium.
The finale saw Hoggard starting from fifth, but his race was ruined as a result of damage from contact. It forced him to take to the pits and finish in 13th.
Arden’s Jack Doohan took the chequered flag for round nine, with Simmons second and Hauger third.
The series returns on the weekend of June 23 and 24, with Croft (North Yorkshire) the venue.
Standings: 1st Ayrton Simmons 153pts; 2nd Kiern Jewiss 148pts; 3rd Jack Doohan 101pts; 4th Sebastian Priaulx 100pts; 5th Johnathan Hoggard 86pts.
