Dunabie strikes first at Donington
Rain, chaos and surprises: the R&G Moto4 British Cup rolled into Donington Park for Round 2, with riders greeted with treacherous conditions. Jack Dunabie (Kovara Projects / RS Racing) mastered the wet conditions on Saturday afternoon, clinching victory by 3.527s over Jack Burrows (Burrows Engineering / RK Racing). The 16 was ultra-competitive once more, finishing second as Ryan Frost (Fibre Tec Honda By MLav Racing) completed the stacked podium as his title charge continued.
Frost qualified in pole position for the opening race after clocking an impressive 1:38.378 in the dry conditions. Now it was a whole new test as the lights went out and the 24 initially went backwards, dropping to fourth at Turn 1 as Dunabie and Burrows got to work. Mason Foster (Mortimer Racing) was impressive in the opening laps following his front row start – fighting for the podium. The top two then began to bridge a gap during the opening laps as the rain and wind increased.
George Bowes (A Edwards Racing) was extremely confident in the conditions, quickly working his way towards the podium scrap. However, his hopes of a strong result came to a disappointing end on Lap 5 as the 67 crashed at the final corner. Bowes wouldn’t be the only rider to be caught out by the conditions, with Jensen Bishop (Wilson Racing) crashing out the next lap, resulting in a safety car. Dunabie controlled the restart, with Clayton Edmunds (City Lifting / RS Racing) briefly having his turn at the front.
Once Dunabie returned to the front, it was business as usual, stretching a margin over Burrows, who remained in second position. The 63 also held the fastest lap, setting a 1:46.705 – around eight seconds slower than the dry conditions. Lucy Curtis’ (Fibre Tec Honda By MLav Racing) day also came to an early end – retiring to the pits. Meanwhile, Dunabie kept his cool, writing Saturday’s headlines and storming to victory.
Dunabie held onto victory, converting his front row start to the top step ahead of Burrows as Frost stole a late podium. Edmunds missed out on a podium finish on the final lap, dropping to fourth at the penultimate corner as Moto4 rookie Harrison Day (LRA Moto supported by HV Solutions) rounded out the top five. Henry McCartney (Stanford Racing) took sixth, beating Foster and Luke Fitchett (Kovara Projects / RS Racing). Meanwhile, Tyler Humphries (Fibre Tec Honda By MLav Racing) and Joshua Williams (Dunsley Heat Racing) claimed the final spots inside the top 10 – setting up Race 2.
