GB4: Season’s best results for female drivers at Donington Park
- LIAM REDFORD
- 56 minutes ago
- 10 min read
It was a memorable event for the four female drivers who all achieved their season’s best results. Fortec Motorsport driver Jordyn Martin achieved a best result of seventh after starting from a career-high third position. Solenn Amrouche enjoyed a breakthrough weekend with the Arden Motorsport driver battling inside the top-5, before securing a highest finish of 11th.
It was a chaotic weekend in the GB4 Championship at Donington Park after revised qualifying results led to jumbled up grids and this resulted in a trio of races marred by contact and extensive safety car periods.
Nonetheless, it was a memorable event for the four female drivers who all achieved their season’s best results. Fortec Motorsport driver Jordyn Martin achieved a best result of seventh after starting from a career-high third position.
French racer Solenn Amrouche enjoyed a breakthrough weekend with the Arden Motorsport driver battling inside the top-5, before securing a highest finish of 11th. Amrouche also gained valuable experience after starting from the second row of the grid in the final race at Donington Park.
Caitlyn McDaniel enjoyed a trio of hard-charging drivers with the American racer gaining 19 spots from her starting positions. Achieving a best finish of 14th in race two, McDaniel displayed superb racecraft as she avoided damage while progressing through the field.
Holly Miall also scored championship points in all three races with the KMR Sport driver enjoying a consistent weekend of progress. Miall’s best result came in race two where she finished in 17th position after starting from 26th on the grid.
Lily Watkins was originally scheduled to take part in event, however the British driver suffered an injury during pre-event testing and her focus is now on recovering in preparation for the second half of the season.
Following the opening two rounds of the season, American racer Martin entered Donington Park as the driver with the highest race finish. Securing a top-10 result at Oulton Park, the Fortec Motorsport driver has established herself as one of the championship’s leading rookies.
McDaniel had scored championship points in all but two races of the campaign ahead of the third round, with a superb drive in race three at Oulton Park netting her nine points due to her progression through the field. Amrouche also left Cheshire on a high after also gaining nine positions in the final race, therefore quadrupling her points tally from the opening round of the season.
After a strong start to the season at Silverstone where she scored a top-15 finish, Watkins was looking to bounce back from a challenging event. Nonetheless, her pace in pre-season testing was highly encouraging as she looked to claim leading female honours. KMR Sport teammate Miall scored a superb top-15 at Donington Park in the final round of the 2025 season and therefore she was looking to draw upon this experience on her third visit to the circuit in the GB4 Championship.
The first on-track action took place on Thursday and it was a hugely encouraging day for Amrouche. Setting the third fastest first sector of any driver in the final session, the French racer set the 15th quickest time. Martin was 21st fastest with Watkins in 22nd position with both drivers in the early 1:31 range. McDaniel set the 24th quickest lap at the end of the day with Miall in 26th position as all five female drivers were within two seconds of pacesetter Alex O’Grady’s quickest lap.
Four further test sessions took place on Friday with extremely hot conditions at Donington Park. Martin was the fastest female driver as the Fortec Motorsport racer ended the day in 15th position on a 1:31.281. Amrouche continued her strong form by setting the 18th fastest time, while McDaniel ended the day on the fringes of the top-20 with Miall completing Friday's running in 25th.
Following an incident in one of the morning test sessions, Watkins sustained an injury and she was forced to withdraw from the weekend. The KMR Sport driver will now look to recover in preparation for the next round at Silverstone at the beginning of August.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with the quarter of female drivers aiming for strong single lap pace. Early in the session, Amrouche was again displaying excellent speed through the opening sector, while Miall was making superb improvements relative to her times from testing.
The battle for the leading female driver went down to the final lap of qualifying with Martin improving right at the chequered flag. The American racer set a quickest time of a 1:30.423 which placed her in 16th position, narrowly missing out on reverse grid pole. Amrouche ended the session in 20th position with both Amrouche and Martin less than half a second away from securing a top-12 starting spot.
Miall finished qualifying in 23rd position with her fastest lap of a 1:31.098 seeing the KMR Sport driver lap three-quarters of a second faster than her quickest time from testing. McDaniel also set her best lap of the event with the American driver setting a time of a 1:31.390 to qualify in 24th position.
Following the conclusion of the qualifying session, the results were significantly revised with all drivers losing multiple lap times due to track limits infringements. As a result, this meant that Martin qualified in fifth position with Amrouche also inside the top-10 in eighth. McDaniel and Miall did not set a legal lap time during the qualifying session along with eight other drivers and as a result, these cars were classified based upon their championship positions.
The first race at Donington Park took place on Saturday afternoon with Martin lining up from fifth, while Amrouche was promoted to seventh following a grid penalty for Alex O’Grady. McDaniel started from 23rd on the grid with Miall starting the opening contest from 26th position.
As the lights went out, it was a relatively clean start throughout the field despite a large number of cars out of position. Although a couple of cars went through the gravel on the exit of Redgate corner, contact was avoided until the Fogarty Esses where Archie Davies and Conor Grant became beached in the gravel.
With both cars requiring recovery, the safety car was deployed with Martin running in seventh position while Amrouche was shuffled back to 11th. McDaniel and Miall both gained positions on the opening lap as they climbed to 22nd and 23rd positions respectively.
It was a lengthy safety car period with the race resuming with eight minutes left on the clock. On the restart lap, both Martin and Amrouche did a superb job to maintain their positions while McDaniel and Miall lost out to a recovery Connor Willis who made a pit stop under the safety car.
On lap seven, Amrouche lost out to Fred Green, Enzo Hallman and Thomas Ingram Hill before she received contact on the following lap. A chaotic lap eight saw Jasser Iskander mis-judge an overtake at Redgate before being beached in the gravel, while Michael Koh stopped out on circuit with a technical issue. Enzo Rujugiro also received substantial damage and this series of events relieved the pressure on Martin.
The Fortec Motorsport driver was now in a secure seventh position while Amrouche was losing spots while managing damage to her car. McDaniel used her racecraft to move up to 18th on lap eight, before climbing to 17th on lap nine after passing Amrouche. Miall was also inside the top-20 and the KMR Sport driver overtook an ailing Amrouche who did a nice job to avoid further contact.
After this chaotic period following the safety car restart, the final two laps were notably calmer with Martin securing a career best result with an excellent seventh place finish. McDaniel crossed the line in 17th position, before being promoted to 16th following a track limits penalty for Archie Bullard.
Miall also benefited from Bullard’s misfortune as she finished in 18th position in the final classification. Amrouche brought her Arden Motorsport machine home in 20th position to complete a challenging opening race at Donington Park for the French racer.
Race two of the weekend took place on Sunday morning and the grid positions were based upon the second fastest times from qualifying. However, due to six grid penalties awarded to drivers following the opening race, the lineup was revised further. As a result, Martin started from third position with Amrouche on the fifth row of the grid in tenth. McDaniel lined up from 20th position with Miall taking the start from 23rd position.
As the lights went out, it was a challenging start for the quartet of female drivers as Martin got a slow getaway while Miall went off the circuit in the middle sector. As the drivers approached the final turn, Martin made contact with Fred Green and this caused damage to her front wing. The Fortec Motorsport driver slipped to 13th at the end of lap one, while Amrouche was in 18th position. McDaniel completed the first lap in 24th position, while KMR Sport driver Miall was in 25th spot.
Due to Green’s stricken car requiring recovery, the safety car was deployed with Martin pitting during the neutralisation for a change of front wing. This promoted Amrouche to 16th after Franciszek Cegielski slipped down the order with McDaniel up to 23rd and Miall to 24th with Martin remaining on the lead lap in 25th position following her pitstop.
The race resumed on lap five and it was a chaotic restart with contact between multiple cars throughout the field. In second position, Demitri Nolan was circulating with a damaged rear wing and this caused a number of drivers to check up. Thomas Ingram Hill hit the barriers at McLeans and with Michael Koh and Joshua McLean also stopping with separate issues, this shuffled the order significantly.
The safety car was then deployed for a second time with Amrouche now up to 13th position, although the French racer had damage to her front wing. McDaniel was doing a nice job to pick her way through the carnage as she was up to 20th with Martin passing Miall for 21st position.
After quick work from the marshals, the race restarted on lap eight and with Nolan continuing to circulate with reduced rear downforce, this caused further issues for the midfield runners. Amrouche also pitted and with the damage more extensive than first feared, she was forced to retire from the race and this elevated McDaniel to 18th, Martin to 19th and Miall was now inside the top-20.
With three laps remaining, the racing continued to intensify with positions continuing to change throughout the field. On the penultimate lap, further contact at the Melbourne Hairpin saw Jasser Iskander and John O’Donnell retire from the race with debris strewn throughout the final sector.
McDaniel was now up to 15th position and following a superb move at Redgate on Archie Davies on the final lap, the American racer scored a season’s best finish with a 14th place result. After pitting for a new front wing, Martin charged through from 25th to cross the line in 16th position to recover some valuable championship points. Miall enjoyed a clean race as she also achieved her highest finish of her 2026 campaign with a 17th place result.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and featured a partial reversal at the head of the field. Amrouche lined up from third position with Martin in 11th spot after she received a five place grid penalty after her earlier incident with Green. McDaniel started race three from 23rd position with Miall completing the field in 26th.
As the lights went out, it was a challenging start from Amrouche as she immediately dropped to fifth, however she competed well on the opening lap to retain a top-5 position. As the drivers approached the final turn, contact just behind Amrouche saw six drivers caught up in a multi-car incident which led to a red flag period.
Martin, McDaniel and Miall all avoided this incident and emerged unscathed with the drivers lining up in their original grid positions for the restart. As the lights went out for a second time, Amrouche placed her car well through the opening turns with the Arden Motorsport driver completing lap one in fourth. Martin slipped to 14th after a challenging opening lap while McDaniel and Miall climbed to 17th and 18th positions respectively.
Beginning lap two, Amrouche immediately fought back and began challenging for a podium position. Following a superb run out of the Fogarty Esses, Amrouche passed Iskander to move back into third position. Martin also gained a spot as she climbed to 13th, while McDaniel was now inside the top-15 with Miall close behind in 17th position.
The race then entered a safety car period after the car of Romauld Bocquet became beached in the McLeans gravel trap. After a short neutralisation period, the green flags were displayed on lap five with Amrouche getting a superb restart. Challenging Nolan through Redgate and down the Craner Curves, the French racer was just unable to make a move with Iskander taking advantage of her loss of momentum as he moved back through.
Meanwhile, it was a challenging restart for both McDaniel and Miall as the KMR Sport driver passed McDaniel with the two young racers now in 18th and 19th positions respectively. Martin was also struggling in the middle stages of the race and at the conclusion of lap six, the Fortec Motorsport driver was back to 16th position.
After regaining her rhythm, Amrouche was the third fastest driver on track on lap six as she looked to apply pressure to Iskander. As she caught the Fox Motorsport driver and started to battle for position, this brought Luke Hilton and Alex O’Grady into contention. On lap seven, Amrouche slipped behind both former race winners as they now aimed to pass Iskander.
As a result, this lost Iskander time with Amrouche closing back in on the Saudi racer. After attempting a move on Iskander, Amrouche slipped behind Michael Koh, Enzo Hallmann and Fred Green. Just behind this battle, Enzo Rujugiro pitted and this elevated Martin into 15th and McDaniel to 17th after she made a nice move on Miall who was now in 18th position.
Fighting hard to maintain a top-10 position, Cegielski moved ahead of Amrouche on the penultimate lap with Torrin Byrne now the next driver behind. Despite a spirited effort, Amrouche took the chequered flag in 11th position to secure a career best finish in the GB4 Championship.
Martin crossed the line in 15th after a challenging race where the American racer fought within the competitive midfield. After passing Miall, McDaniel enjoyed a strong end to the race as she took the chequered flag in 17th position with Miall in 18th as both drivers secured a good haul of championship points via their progression.
It was an action-packed weekend in the GB4 Championship with highlights aplenty for the quartet of female drivers. After encouraging performances by all four young racers, they will now be looking to build upon these performances in the next round of the championship at Silverstone on the weekend of August 1st/2nd.
