GB4: Megan Bruce and Ava Dobson back in the top-15 at Silverstone
- RACERS
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
The five female drivers in the 2025 GB4 Championship all showed encouraging progress at Silverstone, with Ava Dobson and Megan Bruce leading the way both finishing in the top-15, while Holly Miall achieved her best result of the season to date and rookies Caitlyn McDaniel and Lily Watkins continued to improve.
The second round of the 2025 GB4 Championship proved to be a challenging but positive outing for the five women of the series, as they all showed progress over the weekend at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone, continuing their development in single-seaters.
Ava Dobson emerged as the best-placed female racer in two out of the three races, closely followed by Megan Bruce – whose pace has been promising since the start of the season. Although Bruce couldn’t capitalize on it at the season opener in Donington due to misfortunes, she was back in the top 15 at Silverstone and topped the female entries in Race 1.
Holly Miall secured her personal best finish of the year to date with a 17th place, and both racing rookies – Caitlyn McDaniel and Lily Watkins – made steps forward despite some challenges. Watkins also improved on her personal best with a 19th-place finish in Race 2.
Dobson, who will make her F1 Academy debut this upcoming weekend in Miami as a Wild Card entry, had impressed at the opening round of the season with a top-10 finish, showing remarkable progress from her two appearances in 2024. The 16-year-old American, racing for Arden Motorsport, was just outside the top ten at Silverstone, gaining places in the reverse-grid contest to secure a P13 as her best result of the weekend.
Megan Bruce, now in her second GB4 season and racing for KMR Sport, took steps forward from pre-season testing, where she had already proved to be a consistent midfield contender in a highly competitive field. Bruce delivered solid drives at Silverstone, scoring points consistently.
In Thursday testing, Bruce led the female contingent with the 13th-fastest time in the combined results, in what was a tightly packed field. On Friday, Dobson made up ground and was 13th-fastest, just a little over one second from the overall pace-setters, dominated by the Elite Motorsport line-up.
A brake pedal issue for Caitlyn McDaniel during Thursday testing eventually became a setback for the young American rookie, who struggled to regain confidence and started her Silverstone weekend on the back foot. Nonetheless, she made progress and steadily closed the gap over the weekend.
A sunny Saturday welcomed drivers for qualifying. Another closely contested session saw tight gaps throughout the field. Ava Dobson started strong, with a 2:02.062 putting her P17, just ahead of Megan Bruce in P18 by 0.017 seconds. Holly Miall improved on her final run to take P21 with a 2:03.292. Lily Watkins continued her progress with a 2:06.471 in P23, ahead of McDaniel in P24 with a 2:06.998.
At the home of British motorsport, the GB4 rising stars tackled one of the world’s most iconic circuits on the calendar; Elite Motorsport locked out the front row, with Kattoulas lining up alongside Phelps. The women lined up as follows: Dobson P17, Bruce in P18, Miall in P21, Watkins P23, and McDaniel in P24.
At lights out, Taylor took the lead ahead of Hilton and Phelps. A hectic first lap saw Megan Bruce emerge as the top female driver, gaining three places to reach P15, just ahead of Ava Dobson, who also gained positions. Miall completed the first lap in P22, with Watkins and McDaniel immediately behind.
Bruce, in the KMR Sport car, attempted to close in on Magnussen and O'Grady, showing strong pace.
Dobson dropped to 18th, losing two positions on lap two, but remained in the thick of the midfield battles. Miall recovered her starting position and passed Evans for P21. Watkins improved her times to the 2:08s, with McDaniel staying within a second.
Bruce had to defend against Deonarine, who made a move stick, but Bruce eyed a response. However, she received a track limits warning. Meanwhile, Dobson pushed to pressure McLean, running competitive lap times in the 2:03.3 range, quicker than some of the cars ahead. Miall settled into a consistent pace in the 2:04s, improving her personal best and opening a 4-second margin to the cars behind.
Lily Watkins stayed ahead of McDaniel, with both setting personal best laps. At the front, the battle for third heated up between Taylor and Phelps, the latter managing to pull away from Wilson.
Megan Bruce clocked a 2:03.0 but couldn’t quite match the cars ahead. With two minutes to go, Phelps was pushed off and fell behind Wilson for second after a grassy detour but was able to continue.
Dobson intensified pressure on McLean but now also had Baxter behind. Unfortunately, she received a 5-second penalty for track limits. Kattoulas took a dominant win in an Elite Motorsport 1-2 ahead of Bansal.
Megan Bruce finished P16, highest among the female drivers. Holly Miall had a clean and composed run to P19. Dobson’s penalty cost her, and she dropped to P21 after a tough final-lap fight. Watkins took P23, closing in on Evans toward the end and setting a personal best of 2:05.444. McDaniel finished P24 at the end of Race 1.
Sunday morning brought another sunny day to Silverstone. Ava Dobson started P15, Megan bruce lined up P19, Holly Miall in P21, Lily Watkins in P23, and Caitlyn McDaniel P24.
Once again, it was Kattoulas vs Phelps in an Elite Motorsport front-row lockout: Phelps took the lead at Copse after a better start, followed closely by teammates Kattoulas and Bansal.
Magnussen went off at Turn 13 and retired, while Dobson dropped to P16. Bruce gained one place to P18. Miall also moved into the top 20, with Watkins and McDaniel picking up a position due to Magnussen’s retirement, which triggered a safety car at the end of Lap 2.
At the restart with 10 minutes to go, chaos resumed in the midfield. Pribyl retired after contact, and Coulthard also had incidents and lost ground after being forced onto the escape road.
Dobson climbed to P14, running 2:04.6 lap times, though she had to be cautious with track limits.
Miall passed Bruce for P17 after a strong start from the Fox Motorsport driver. Watkins and McDaniel kept pace with the field, with McDaniel setting a personal best of 2:07.8. They ran P20 and P21 as the safety car was deployed again.
Back to green with 3 minutes to go, Phelps accelerated away from Kattoulas and Bansal, with the Elite trio escaping as Taylor and Wilson fought for fourth. Dobson pressured Baxter but had McLean and Hallman close behind. On lap 7, she fell behind both and slotted into P15.
Miall and Bruce battled over P16, with Bruce moving ahead. Hilton dropped down the order, allowing both Watkins and McDaniel to gain a place. Bruce showed strong pace at the end, clocking a 2:04.3. On the final lap, she passed McLean and hunted Dobson, but the American held on to finish P14 – the top female finisher – just 0.6s ahead of Bruce, who had a strong recovery to P15.
Miall had another solid run to finish P17, securing her personal best to date. Both Watkins and McDaniel secured top-20 finishes with clean races, ending P19 and P20 respectively. McDaniel also went under the 2:08 barrier, finishing just half a second behind Watkins.
The final race of the weekend was the usual reverse-grid contest that always delivers surprises. Ava Dobson started P17, just ahead of Megan Bruce in P18. Miall lined up P21, with Watkins and McDaniel in P23 and P24. At lights out for the final time at Silverstone, Pribyl took the lead ahead of Guinchard and Juncos as pole-sitter Baxter fell down the order. Dobson retained P17 but came under pressure from Wilson, who passed her on Lap 2. Bruce lost one position.
Miall was caught in battles and lost a place, but McDaniel had a strong start, passing Watkins and staying close to Miall. Watkins clocked a 2:07.2 early on, running near her personal best.
Dobson and Bruce were separated by just 0.6s on Lap 3. Ava set a 2:03.0 and stayed close to Magnussen, gaining ground on the Dane. Bruce remained only two-tenths adrift – in a tight fight between the two.
Ahead, Guinchard forced Pribyl into a mistake at Club and took the lead. Chaos erupted behind: Taylor made contact with Phelps and went off; Berg followed suit after contact with Hilton. Several cars suffered front wing damage.
Dobson and Bruce capitalized on the mayhem, climbing to P16 and P17 before the safety car was deployed. Racing resumed with 2 minutes remaining. Guinchard survived the restart with Pribyl under pressure from Juncos and Bansal.
Dobson tried to make up more places, but McLean made a move stick to take P16. Miall moved up to P19, just ahead of McDaniel and Watkins, all chasing Hilton, who had a penalty.
On the final lap, Coulthard and Kattoulas collided. Dobson passed Magnussen and secured a solid P13 – her best finish of the weekend – in a strong final race where she defended well and maximized the reverse-grid opportunity. The Arden Motorsport driver was again the top female finisher, gaining four positions.
Megan Bruce wasn’t far off, taking P16 and gaining two places. Miall crossed the line P18, close to her best result of the weekend after gaining three places.
McDaniel set a 2:06.4 in a good run and, despite not repeating her top-20 finish, took P21 ahead of Watkins in P22 – both improving from their starting positions.
While it was a more challenging weekend for the five women of the series, they will be looking to build on these foundations and make further improvements at the third round, scheduled for 25–26 May at Oulton Park. Ava Dobson, however, will shift her focus to her F1 Academy debut next weekend, as she enters the Miami Grand Prix as the Wild Card entry.
