BRANDON McCaughan made an impressive start to life in the GB4 Championship over Easter weekend with KMR Sport with a breakthrough win, a podium finish, and two starts from the front row of the grid.
The results have helped to mark out McCaughan as a real contender for the overall drivers’ title in the world-renowned single seater support series and the £50,000 cash prize that comes with it.
The 20-year-old from Ahoghill in County Antrim started the triple header at Oulton Park in dream fashion by clocking a fastest lap time of one minute 35.419 seconds during Saturday’s qualifying session, with this consistency on his full slicks and wings drive also putting him on pole position for the first of Easter Monday’s two races ahead of his new team-mate for 2024, Harry Burgoyne.
Although McCaughan was unable to carry that speed into Saturday’s curtain raiser – which Elite Motorsport’s Alisha Palmowski won from Burgoyne – McCaughan was still happy with third spot as he ran the front two close for most of proceedings around the 2.69-mile international circuit.
Monday’s double-header kicked off with McCaughan not making the same mistake from first as he executed his start, on wet tarmac, to perfection and quickly pulled away from the chasing pack.
Despite organisers having to red flag the action late on following an incident at Druids involving Finn Harrison, the result was already beyond doubt as McCaughan claimed his first GB4 victory. Harrison’s exit promoted Burgoyne to second and Fox Motorsport’s Branden Templeton to third.
In the reverse grid contest, McCaughan started from fourteenth alongside Palmowski but saw his involvement cut short when he experienced front aero wash through Island Bend on the run up to Shell Oils and ran wide onto the grass where his car became stuck. Prior to the off – which led to the safety car being deployed for a period – he had successfully clawed back three positions.
“I am very happy with my debut weekend in GB4,” McCaughan told Irish News Sport. “To get pole and win with five hours of slicks and wings seat time in total shows I have the talent to be here.
“I am very excited for Silverstone in four weeks’ time, to learn more about the car and compete at the front again. I am only going to get faster and should sponsorship materialise, I am confident I can challenge for the Championship this year.”
Meanwhile, Hillsborough’s Dan Harper began the defence of his British GT Championship GT3 title defence in lacklustre fashion, finishing race one at Oulton Park in ninth place and race two in fourteenth with his Century Motorsport team-mate, Michael Johnston.