GB4: Megan Bruce shows front-running pace in mixed weather at Donington

Megan Bruce delivered one of her strongest performances in the GB4 Championship with a P8 in a wet race 2 at Donington Park, showcasing impressive pace and racecraft throughout the weekend in challenging mixed conditions.

Photo credits: JEP

Megan Bruce delivered one of her strongest weekends in the GB4 Championship to date, securing her eighth top-10 finish of the season with a P8 in Race 2 at Donington Park, which hosted the sixth round of the championship.

Bruce battled at the front throughout the weekend, showcasing impressive pace in mixed weather conditions. She in fact particularly excelled in the rain during the first and second races, where she matched the speed of the front-runners despite being locked in battles.

Since the start of the season, Bruce has made significant progress in her first year in single-seaters, steadily climbing the order. Her personal best is a sixth-place finish at Snetterton, and added two top-10 finishes at Silverstone GP last time out, where she placed 8th and 9th, demonstrating strong racecraft.

Returning to Donington, a track the series had visited earlier in May, the Fox Motorsport driver steadily built speed during Thursday and Friday's testing sessions, gradually closing in on the top ten.

The wet but drying track presented a challenging condition for Saturday morning’s qualifying session: early on, the session was interrupted by a red flag after Ava Dobson went off at Old Hairpin. Once the green flag resumed with 9 minutes remaining, Bruce had not yet set a representative time.

As times tumbled in the final minutes of the session, Megan put in a solid effort and moved up into ninth. She eventually secured a P11 starting position for Race 1 and 2, with a 1:41.612.

Photo credits: JEP

The first race took place under tricky conditions with light drizzle just before the start, which continued for most of the race with drivers on slick tyres. Megan made a brilliant start, gaining three places within the first lap, jumping up into eighth place.

Lucas Blakely took the lead early on, while Bruce battled through the challenging conditions. She had to take avoiding action during a close duel but held her ground despite coming under attack from Nick Ellis. She managed to defend well, especially at the Melbourne Hairpin, fending off pressure from both Ellis and Jack Taylor.

By lap 7, Megan had settled into a very fast rhythm and was the fourth-fastest on track. She continued to close in on Chloe Grant, setting purple times in the first sector and consistently reducing the gap.

Unfortunately, as Grant ran wide and dropped a wheel into the gravel, Bruce had to take evasive action off track, causing her to drop down to P11 on lap 10.

Despite the unfortunate ending, Megan's performance in Race 1 was highly positive, showing she had the speed and racecraft to be in the top ten.

Heavy rain on Sunday morning set the stage for an even more challenging Race 2. Starting from 11th, Megan once again made a strong start, immediately moving up into ninth place by the end of the first lap.

As the race progressed, Bruce found herself in a tight battle again with Chloe Grant; when Leon Wilson made a mistake and fell to seventh, both Grant and Bruce started to pressure him. Megan quickly began closing the gap, showing great car control in the rain, and soon was within striking distance.

As the rain eased slightly and the track began to dry, Grant started to struggle with understeer due to her car’s setup for heavier rain. Megan capitalized on this and, a few tenths faster per lap, applied pressure on the Scottish driver. On lap 10, she executed a well-timed overtake, moving into eighth place.

Once in clear air, Bruce quickly set her fastest lap of the race with a 1:42.4, pulling away from Grant. Though the gap to the cars ahead was too large to close before the end, Megan crossed the finish line in P8, securing her eighth top-10 finish of the season with a confident drive in challenging conditions.

Photo credits: JEP

The final race of the weekend was the reverse grid race, held on a fully dry track. Starting from the front row in second place, alongside Dan Hickey, Megan had a great opportunity for a strong result. Unfortunately, she struggled to get off the line, which saw her lose several positions off the start.

Burgoyne, starting from fourth, made a sterling start to take the lead, while Blakely slotted into second. Megan initially held third but slipped back to seventh after the tricky first laps.

She quickly found her pace and began closing in on Nick Ellis ahead of her, setting competitive lap times. However, by lap 4, she had dropped to P10, a position she held until she was handed a 5-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

With the penalty, Megan fell behind Baxter and eventually finished in P14, a frustrating end to an otherwise very strong weekend. Despite this setback, she had in fact displayed great battles on track and was among the fastest cars throughout the races.

Although Megan's results were also influenced by some unfortunate circumstances, it was arguably one of her best performances in terms of pure pace. Her steady improvement race after race has made her one of the most improved drivers, and the Fox Motorsport driver remains one of only three racers on the grid to have scored points in every race this season.

With 155 points, she sits 12th in the standings, heading into the final round at Brands Hatch on 28-29 September.