GB4: Jordyn Martin leads female entries at Donington, as Kapoor makes international debut
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The sixth round of the 2026 GB4 Championship produced another eventful weekend for the championship’s female entries at Donington Park, with Jordyn Martin continuing to lead the group despite missing out on a strong result due to a puncture, while Lily-May Watkins, Holly Miall, Solenn Amrouche and Caitlyn McDaniel all scoring a top-20 finish despite facing a mix of opportunities and setbacks. Yana Kapoor completed her first international GB4 weekend without incident, gaining valuable experience.
The sixth round of the 2026 GB4 Championship produced another eventful weekend for the championship’s female entries at Donington Park, with Jordyn Martin continuing to lead the group despite missing out on a strong result due to a puncture, while Lily-May Watkins, Holly Miall, Solenn Amrouche and Caitlyn McDaniel all scoring a top-20 finish despite facing a mix of opportunities and setbacks. Yana Kapoor completed her first international GB4 weekend without incident, gaining valuable experience.
Returning to Donington Park for the second time this season after the circuit hosted the third round in June, the championship welcomed its newest female competitor as US American Yana Kapoor made her first-ever international start in single-seater racing. Kapoor combines her racing career with engineering studies and had previously competed in karting through the Champions of the Future Academy programme before making her single-seater debut in Formula Pro USA earlier in 2026. Her GB4 appearance formed part of her preparation ahead of the F1 Academy Rookie Test in Navarra, where she had been selected by the all-female series alongside fellow GB4 competitor and leading female entrant Jordyn Martin.
Martin led the female drivers during Thursday’s running, while Holly Miall emerged as the quickest of the group on Friday’s combined times, ahead of Lily-May Watkins and Martin. Kapoor, meanwhile, focused primarily on learning the Donington Park circuit and adapting to the GB4 machinery during her first weekend of European single-seaters.
Qualifying proved challenging for the group, although several drivers made significant improvements as the session progressed. Martin initially set a 1:30.1 to run 13th before improving to a 1:29.9 and later a 1:29.7, eventually qualifying 18th. Miall also made considerable progress, dipping below the 1:30 mark with a 1:29.943 to briefly move into the top 20.
Watkins improved to a 1:30.070 before finding another tenth on her final run to set a 1:29.900 and qualify 21st. Amrouche made a late improvement to a 1:30.431 for 24th, while McDaniel qualified 27th with a 1:32.226. Kapoor made one of the biggest improvements of the session as she progressively closed the gap to the leaders, eventually posting a 1:35.527, around 7.5 seconds from pole, to qualify 28th for her first-ever qualifying session outside the United States - having made a 11-second improvement from Thursday.
Martin was the leading female driver in Race 1, moving from 18th to 16th by the chequered flag after a determined drive through the midfield. She initially gained one position on the opening lap before becoming involved in close battles with Iskander and Bullard, dropping back to 19th on lap two. She then recovered strongly, keeping herself within reach of the cars ahead and ultimately benefiting from several track-limit penalties to gain two further positions.
Amrouche also made an excellent start, immediately passing Watkins and Miall before continuing her progress into the top 20. She moved up to 21st and then passed compatriot Bouquet to reach 20th, running strong 1:30s lap times and closing on Martin for the position as she appeared increasingly comfortable in the race. However, her promising run came to an abrupt end when she went off into the gravel, with the French driver’s strong first half of the race going unrewarded.
Watkins recovered to finish 20th, while Miall crossed the line 22nd after also making progress during the race. Kapoor enjoyed an encouraging first international race, avoiding trouble through the opening lap and gaining two positions to run 26th.
She continued to improve her pace throughout the race, eventually setting a 1:35.9 fastest lap, almost matching her qualifying time. McDaniel, meanwhile, suffered an issue on the opening lap and was forced to pit, losing a lap and effectively ending her chances of making further progress.
Race 2 brought more drama, beginning with contact at the back of the field that immediately eliminated Amrouche after her car sustained rear-wing damage. The French driver was caught up in an incident with Rujigiro at Turn 1 and had no opportunity to recover, bringing another frustrating end to her race.
Martin once again produced one of the strongest performances among the female drivers. Starting 18th, she made a good launch and moved to 17th before mounting an aggressive attack on Iskander after the restart. She completed an impressive outside-line pass through the first sector to take 16th, and later continued to fight her way forward despite pressure from the cars behind.
She briefly dropped back to Bocquet before reclaiming the position with another excellent move at the Melbourne Hairpin, moving into 13th with only a handful of laps remaining.
Her outstanding recovery was ultimately undone by cruel timing, however, as Martin suffered a rear puncture at the final corner of the final lap while running 13th and spun just as she was about to complete the race. Unable to finish, she was denied what would have been another excellent result.
Watkins also suffered misfortune after making progress from 20th to 19th. Bullard attempted to pass her where there was insufficient room and made contact, sending Watkins into the gravel and bringing out another Safety Car.
Miall moved forward during the race and eventually finished 19th after fighting back against McDaniel, while McDaniel crossed the line 20th. Kapoor continued to gain experience and finished 22nd after avoiding the opening-lap chaos and making further progress during the race.
The final race of the weekend was shortened to 18 minutes after a delay to the starting procedure required an additional formation lap, and the limited running time was further reduced by multiple Safety Car periods.
Martin made another strong start from 18th, moving up to 17th, while Watkins climbed to 19th. Amrouche once again produced an excellent launch, gaining two places immediately to move into 20th and putting pressure on Watkins.
The race was then interrupted by a Safety Car to recover a stranded car, before unrelated incidents involving Iskander and Byrne brought out a second neutralisation with six minutes remaining. With significant debris remaining on the circuit, the race ultimately finished under Safety Car conditions, leaving the drivers with very little opportunity to demonstrate their full race pace.
Martin nevertheless finished as the highest-placed female driver in 17th, while Watkins followed in 19th. Solenn Amrouche despite the few green flag laps still managed to recover from her earlier weekend setbacks to take 20th and score three championship points.
Caitlyn McDaniel finished 22nd and earned four points for her recovery, ahead of Miall in 23rd. Kapoor completed all three of her first international GB4 races without making a mistake, finishing 24th and gaining valuable experience throughout the weekend, while also scoring her first three championship points after gaining positions in the final race.
Following the Donington Park round, Martin remained the leading female driver in the championship with 85 points. McDaniel followed on 60 points, ahead of Watkins on 48, Miall on 36 and Amrouche on 29, while Kapoor opened her GB4 account with three points from her debut weekend.
The 2026 GB4 Championship will now head to Brands Hatch on September 26-27 for the season finale.
