Littlewood secures dominant treble in UK season opener

QUALIFYING

Saturday morning’s qualifying session was twice red-flagged, but Littlewood still secured pole position for the first race. “It felt good, but I didn’t expect the track to be so hot, so it meant the tyres had a short window,” he said.

Lining up alongside him on the front row was debutant Hamish Forrest of Radical Racing Rebels, just 0.348 seconds off pole. “I got my time mid-session, before the red flags. It felt fairly good, as I haven’t had a lot of testing,” he explained.

Jack Yang (Valour Racing) and Rachel Robertson (Racing Rebels) occupied row two, though Robertson’s session ended early due to an off-track excursion. Fangio Trophy contenders John MacLeod (RSR) and Andy Lowe (360 Competition) followed. “I came in to change tyres, ready for some quick laps, but it didn’t happen,” MacLeod admitted. “I just took too long to warm up my tyres,” Lowe added.

Alex Fisher (DW Racing) and Flame Airikkala (Formula Woman) made up row four, with Alicia Barrett (Formula Woman) behind them. James Pinkerton, developing a new car, elected to start from the back.

RACE 1

As the grid formed for the first of the 25-minute sprints, the fading daylight set the stage for an intense battle. Both front-row starters got away well, but contact sent Forrest into the Redgate gravel. “I didn’t see it coming, but I certainly felt it,” he said.

Littlewood led from Yang, MacLeod, Lowe, Robertson, and Fisher, but the safety car was deployed as Forrest rejoined. Lowe admitted to the contact: “I made a mega start, floored it into second gear, but had to lift as I pulled inside. When Hamish braked, it caught me out and I couldn’t avoid him.”

The green flag waved after one lap, and Littlewood quickly pulled clear while Yang solidified second. Macleod held onto third, but Lowe closed in and pressured him through the Esses on lap three. Meanwhile, Fisher demoted Robertson to fifth, and Airikkala outbraked teammate Barrett for seventh at Goddards.

Lowe finally forced his way past Macleod at Goddards on lap nine, only to run wide at the Old Hairpin, allowing Macleod to reclaim the spot at McLeans. The battle continued right to the flag, with Lowe making another attempt at Goddards but ending up on the grass.

As darkness descended, Littlewood crossed the line 8.431 seconds ahead. “I saw Hamish was there at the start, then he got tapped and I was clear onto the Craner Curves. It was difficult as it got darker, but I felt like a Le Mans driver,” he said.

Yang had a steady race to second. “I had a good start and held the inside to stay out of trouble. I had the pace to get away from the third-place battle, but Marcus had already pulled away,” he said.

MacLeod edged out Lowe for the final podium spot. “My start was fine, but I couldn’t escape from Andy—what an exciting race. I knew I would get him back though,” Macleod said.

Robertson finished fifth in challenging conditions. “My first race, and it wasn’t a good one. I found it very difficult,” she admitted. Airikkala took sixth, noting, “I really enjoyed it—very different from F4 though. I need to improve my lap time and be more consistent.”

Fisher recovered to take seventh from Barrett with three laps remaining, while Forrest finished a lap down.

RACE 2

Drama struck early again as Littlewood and Forrest led the field away. “I was in second as we came out of McLeans, but there was oil at Coppice. Marcus found it first, and his off was bigger than mine, but I bogged down and dropped to fourth,” Forrest explained.

“When I hit the oil, I thought I was a goner—right on the edge of the gravel—but I managed to fight it and get back on,” Littlewood said, keeping his lead.

MacLeod emerged in second, followed by Robertson, Forrest, Lowe, and Yang. Forrest wasted no time, passing Robertson on lap three and overtaking MacLeod at Melbourne by the end of the lap.

Lowe, meanwhile, had been making progress but lost ground when he put a wheel in the gravel at McLeans. “I had a good start but lost out to Yang,” he admitted.

As Littlewood and Forrest pulled away, an intense fight for third saw Robertson challenge MacLeod, with Yang joining in. However, backmarkers disrupted their battle. “Rachel had a good dive at me, but then I managed to back them up using the backmarkers and got away,” MacLeod said.

Yang capitalized on Robertson’s delay at Coppice, taking fourth at Melbourne on lap 12. In the end, Littlewood secured another victory, finishing 4.471 seconds ahead of Forrest. MacLeod narrowly held off Yang for third. “I thought I might catch John, but it was good to be in the fight,” Yang said.

Robertson was left frustrated in fifth, while Lowe struggled to recover from his earlier mistake. Fisher claimed sixth, who admitted, “I had an early spin on the Craner Curves—it was a proper spin though.”

Nathalie Neumann finished ninth, a lap down, with Karla Villanueva rounding out the finishers after a spin at Goddards and a pit stop.

RACE 3

The 50-minute enduro began cleanly, with Littlewood once again seizing an early lead from Forrest, MacLeod, Lowe, and Robertson. Lowe passed MacLeod at Melbourne but suffered a rear puncture and was forced to pit three laps later. “I don’t know where I got it—it may have been when John got me back,” Lowe speculated.

As the lead pair consolidated their positions, MacLeod found himself under heavy pressure from Robertson, who challenged him down the Craner Curves. Airikkala moved up to fifth, ahead of Fisher, as Littlewood extended his lead to three seconds by lap eight.

Robertson managed to pass MacLeod at Melbourne, only for MacLeod to reclaim the position at Goddards. The mandatory pit stops began soon after, with Forrest among the first to stop. Robertson edged ahead of MacLeod just before their stops, but MacLeod gained time during the pit cycle.

Littlewood stretched his advantage further, rejoining 11.660 seconds ahead of Forrest. “We had a poor stop, my pace was good, but my tyres went off at the end,” Forrest said. Ultimately, Littlewood took a commanding third win with a 17-second margin. “My best race of the weekend—I needed a gap before the stop and got it,” he said.

MacLeod held off Robertson for third. “Rachel pushed me hard before we pitted, but we had a good stop,” he said. Robertson, however, felt hindered when trying to attack. “I was going for that podium but had problems when I got close with aero turbulence,” she explained.

Fisher completed the top five. “I was off the pace a bit, but I didn’t spin this time,” Fisher noted.

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