Podium for Smiley as McLaughlin retakes title lead

Red Bull Junior driver Fionn McLaughlin reclaimed the lead in the British F4 championship after he won the opening race at Oulton Park. The teenager from Northern Ireland won the first race on Saturday after jumping championship rival Martin Molnar at the start. McLaughlin came into the fifth round of the season behind Molnar in the standings but he reclaimed the championship lead by finishing seventh in race two, while the Hungarian driver retired. In a repeat of the opening race, McLaughlin got past polesitter Molnar heading into the first corner in the final outing of the day and looked set for a dominant vicotry. However, a heavy rain shower caused a number of drivers to slide off the road, including McLaughlin and Molnar, and that allowed Thomas Bearman into the lead. McLaughlin recovered to sixth before a number of safety cars and a red flag halted the race early and half points were awarded.
Hitech Racing driver McLaughlin now leads Molnar by 5.5 points ahead of the sixth round of the season in Zandvoort.In his first year of car racing, McLaughlin also leads the rookie championship by 82.5 points over Bearman, who is the younger brother of Haas Formula 1 driver Ollie. In the British Touring Car Championship, Northern Ireland's Chris Smiley collected his best result of the season by finishing third in race one. The Restart Racing driver qualified second and dropped to fourth on the opening lap, but passed championship leader Ash Sutton on the final lap to take a podium spot. Smiley dropped back to 14th on the slower hard tyre in race two, and an electrical problem forced him to retire from the third and final race of the day. The Carrickfergus driver is ninth in the overall championship and leads the Independent championship after a strong start to the season after five rounds.

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