Rookie BRDC Formula 4 Championship racers Jordan Albert and Diego Borrelli saved the best for last for top team SWR at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 18th May, after each producing their finest performances of the season in the third and final race of the weekend.

British youngster Albert posted a magnificent top six result during round six of the campaign, by far his highest finish of the year for the Chipping Norton squad, while seventh position for Venezuelan teenager Borrelli marked an equally impressive and deserved step forward.

Overall, the second race meeting of the F4 season was fraught with challenges for SWR’s trio with Nicolas Beer – who had to return home to Denmark for family reasons following race two on Sunday morning – unfortunately losing a strong 11th place result in round five after being handed a penalty.

“It’s been a tough weekend but all three guys did a good job overall and it was fantastic to see Diego and Jordan come through so well to take their best finishes yet”, commented SWR team owner Sean Walkinshaw, “Race three showed if they can qualify well, they both have the pace to run with the leaders. We’re taking a lot of positives forward to the next round after those performances.”

Round six was clearly the highlight for Albert and Borrelli, the team-mates lining-up on row five and six of the grid respectively. Both gaining places on the first couple of laps, on the third tour Albert ran in a superb sixth position with Borrelli just a couple of places back in eighth having been usurped from seventh by Will Palmer. Re-passing Palmer on lap five, Borrelli then held the place to the finish.

Albert produced tremendous pace in sixth and ran as part of a very tight four-way battle over the final podium placing. At the chequered flag on lap 14, just 0.8 seconds separated third placed Raoul Hyman, Arjun Maini, Chris Middlehurst and SWR’s Albert.

Impressively, the result was achieved at the end of a weekend which had started on the back-foot for Albert following a hefty excursion in practice. With too much damage to repair ahead of the qualifying session and first race on Saturday, 17th May, the Silverstone-based teenager had to sit-out round four so his track time compared to his rivals was significantly limited.

Beer was the fastest of the SWR trio in qualifying, securing 11th on the grid for race one, and after a good start he climbed into the top 10 before moving into ninth a few laps later. Remaining there into the final lap, glued to the rear of Diego Menchaca’s car, as Beer attempted to pass at Clearways the Mexican closed the door and inevitable contact meant the SWR man was classified down in 17th.

Team-mate Borrelli, with a lot of hard work to do from the 10th row of the grid, had his progress hampered on lap two after sustaining some damage in a tangle with David Wagner. Pitting a couple of laps later, the Venezuelan re-emerged down in 18th place where he remained to the finish.

In round five on Sunday morning, Beer produced a superb drive from 17th on the grid to finish just outside the top 10 having served up some terrific overtaking. Leaping into 15th place straight away, the Dane then moved up into 14th position soon after.

Maintaining the place until lap five, Beer then moved up into 13th before quickly working his way into the top 12 on lap seven. The SWR racer capped off his impressive drive by taking 11th at the start of lap 12 but, after the race, he was served with a 60 second time penalty from officials after an incident involving Wagner – dropping Beer to 21st place.

Borrelli started alongside Beer on the ninth row of the grid and although slipping to 19th on lap two, the South American was up into 17th position by lap six. During the second half of the race Borrelli took a fistful of places and ended the encounter in 13th spot, making his last gain on the final lap.

Electing to begin round five from the pitlane rather than the back of the grid, where he was set to start after missing race one, Albert did well to finish in 19th place. Profiting from misdemeanors by several drivers, the Briton also lapped strongly which prepared him well for his round six heroics later in the day.

Next on the BRDC Formula 4 Championship calendar is a visit to Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk on 21st/22nd June, where the series will run in support of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship and Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series.