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BRDC Rising Star Luke Browning continued his impressive start to life in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship with a hat-trick of top ten finishes from the second meeting of the campaign at Zandvoort.

The US Racing driver headed for the Dutch circuit on the back of a race-winning debut in the series at the Red Bull Ring, with hopes high of another strong weekend to maintain his title challenge in the highly-competitive championship.

Qualifying 1 saw the reigning British F4 champion secure the fourth quickest time with a best lap less than half a second away from pole, and he then secured the eighth best time in Qualifying 2 – going six tenths of a second quicker than he had done in the earlier session.

A solid start to the opening 30 minute long race saw Luke retain his position going into turn one as he slotted in behind team-mate Tim Tramnitz before coming under huge pressure from Russian driver Kirill Small.

Fighting hard to keep Small at bay, Luke was able to edge away from his rival after a brief safety car period to secure fourth place and a solid haul of points to add to his tally.

A strong getaway in race two saw Luke quickly making up places from eighth on the grid, moving up into sixth on the opening lap after an impressive opening lap that included going three-wide with his rivals exiting the banked curve at turn three.

Luke would slip back to seventh when Tramnitz lunged up the inside at turn one mid-way through the race before the race went behind the safety car, with Sebastian Montoya getting ahead on the restart when Luke locked up going into turn one.

A second caution period would then see leader Oliver Bearman back up the field until the last possible moment, with Sami Meguetounif able to sneak ahead of Luke on the restart only seconds before the safety car came out for a third time – remaining on track to the finish to leave Luke with a ninth place finish.

Having missed out on the reverse grid for race three, Luke would line up in ninth place for the start of race three and held his place at the start, moving up to eighth when Meguetounif was handed a time penalty for an infringement at the start.

When Nikita Bedrin ran wide, Luke moved up into seventh place and he then secured sixth when he battled ahead of Joshua Dufek after a safety car period.

The sixth place finish means Luke sits fifth in the standings – just five points away from second – ahead of the third meeting of the season at the Nürburgring in early August.

Rising star Luke Browning enjoyed a fine start to his ADAC Formula 4 programme with victory on the opening weekend of the new season at the Red Bull Ring.

The BRDC Rising Star headed for the home of the Austrian Grand Prix looking to impress for US Racing; the team headed by former F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher and ex-Mercedes DTM boss Gerhard Ungar.

With one race weekend under his belt in the Abarth-powered F4 machine in the Italian F4 season opener at Paul Ricard, Luke headed into the weekend hoping to challenge towards the sharp end of the field.

Luke showed solid pace in practice to secure the second fastest time in FP2, with two qualifying sessions then being used to determine the starting slots for the opening races of the weekend on Saturday.

The reigning British F4 champion would secure fifth on the grid for race one with a best lap less than half a second off pole, whilst his best lap in Q2 would be good enough to ensure a sixth place start for race two.

Luke would retain his position at the start of the opening 30 minute long race but was then run wide across the gravel after contact on lap two and dropped down to twelfth place. As the race progressed, Luke drove well to battle his way back up the order to cross the line in seventh spot.

A fine move on Sebastian Montoya in race two enabled Luke to improve on his starting position in race two as he secured a fifth place finish, with the reverse grid for race three putting him fourth on the grid for the weekend finale.

Unusually, Luke lost a place at the start to Joshua Dufek and was then run wide when clipped by a rival at turn three and slipped back to eighth spot.

After an early caution period, Luke started to recover back up the order – avoiding a collision between Dufek and Oliver Bearman to work his way into the top five. Into the top three as the clock ticked down to under ten minutes, Luke fought his way ahead of team-mate Tim Tramnitz at the final corner to move into second place.

A safety car would then close up the field once again with Luke running behind Montoya on track. Whilst the Colombian would hold position until the finish, a five second time penalty for a false start meant he dropped behind Luke once the times were adjusted, giving the teenager a win at the end of his first weekend in the series.

Rising star Luke Browning was able to celebrate a podium finish from his European racing debut after the new F4 Italian Championship powered by Abarth season kicked off at Paul Ricard.

The reigning British F4 champion was competing at the home of the French Grand Prix in his first meeting with the US Racing team, having agreed a deal that will see him compete in selected rounds of the Italian series alongside a full programme in ADAC F4.

As part of a bumper field of more than 35 cars, Luke showed solid pace in qualifying to secure sixth on the grid for the opening 30 minute race of the weekend, which would start behind the safety car after sprinkles of rain fell shortly before the scheduled start.

Luke would battle hard for position throughout the opening race, most notably during a frantic side-by-side fight with Victor Bernier, and was running in eighth spot when the action was neutralised in the closing minutes when one of his rivals suffered a spin and stalled on the circuit.

Race two on Sunday morning would see Luke lining up third on the grid and he as lucky to avoid fellow Brit Oliver Bearman when the lights went out and the polesitter failed to get away from the line.

Slotting into second behind team-mate Tim Tramnitz, Luke found himself under pressure from Sebastian Montoya – the son of F1 race winner Juan Pablo – through the early stages but then started to edge away from his rival when the Colombian-American came under pressure for third from race one winner Kirill Smal.

Luke’s hard work to edge away from Montoya was undone when the safety car was deployed and closed the field up, but a solid restart saw Luke retain his place before the race went back under caution again.

There would be less than five minutes on the clock when racing resumed, with Luke under huge pressure on the restart, with Smal having moved into third spot behind. However, Luke was able to fend off the challenge of the Russian through the closing laps to secure second spot behind Tramnitz in a one-two for the US Racing squad.

From fourth on the grid for the third and final race of the weekend, Luke got away well to move ahead of Bearman into third at turn one and then set about trying to take second from Montoya; sweeping ahead to take the place on lap three.

With Tramnitz having been able to break away from the squabble for second, Luke set about trying to reduce the gap to his team-mate and posted the fastest lap as he edged closer to the leader, whilst also building a gap over third place behind.

The safety car was deployed however with little more than ten minutes remaining and there were less than two minutes left on the clock by the time the race resumed, with Luke coming under pressure from countryman Bearman for position.

Bearman made a move round the outside at the end of the Mistral Straight on the penultimate lap, and slight contact between the pair was enough to unsettle Luke’s car and forced him to run wide. Dropping down the order as a result, Luke would end the weekend with a sixth place finish.

“Although the way it ended in race three was unfortunate, it’s been a really good weekend for my first time racing in Europe,” he said. “Considering that the circuit was new to me and given how competitive the grid is, it was really pleasing to secure a podium finish and I think I definitely had the pace to win this weekend if things had been a little bit different.

“On a personal level, I’m happy with three top eight finishes and some silverware from the weekend, and it was great for the team to have a 1-2 finish in the second race. I’m enjoying working with everyone at US Racing and now my focus turns to the opening round of the German series in a few weeks time, where hopefully I can pick up some strong results to start my championship campaign.”

Luke’s next outing will come at the Red Bull Ring – home of the Austrian Grand Prix – on the weekend of 11-13 June as his ADAC Formula 4 programme kicks off

Reigning British F4 Champion Luke Browning has been named as a Rising Star by the British Racing Drivers Club ahead of the 2021 season.

Luke will embark on a new challenge this year when he moves to the German-based ADAC Formula 4 series with US Racing; the team headed by former F1 racer Ralf Schumacher.

The Cheshire-based teenager is one of just two single-seater drivers to be added to the Rising Star programme this year; the other being FIA Formula 2 racer Liam Lawson.

The BRDC Rising Stars programme is open to drivers aged 24 and under who are deemed to be future of the Club, with drivers who are scouted for the programme being given the honour of representing the BRDC in their respective championships.

Luke will be able to stay on the programme until the year in which he celebrates his 24th birthday.

Reigning British F4 champion Luke Browning is to move up to the international stage for the 2021 season after confirming a move into the German ADAC Formula 4 series.

The talented 19-year-old from Kingsley in Cheshire secured the British F4 crown in dramatic fashion during the 2020 season finale at Brands Hatch back in November after hard-fought season on track that included seven wins and a total of 16 podiums from 26 starts.

It marked the first championship win of his career for Luke, who had previously been a race winner in both the Junior Saloon Car Championship, and the Ginetta Junior Championship.

A driver in demand on the back of his success on track last year, Luke has spent the winter months carefully evaluating his options for the year ahead and has now put pen to paper on a deal to move into German F4 with the US Racing team, headed by former F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher and ex-Mercedes DTM boss Gerhard Ungar.

US Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of ADAC Formula 4 and won the inaugural title with Marvin Dienst under its previous name of HTP Junior Team back in 2015.

Rebranded as US Racing for 2016 after Schumacher came onboard, the team went on to secure the championship crown again in 2018 with Lirim Zendeli, and then defended it the following year with Théo Pourchaire.

Both drivers would use their title success as a springboard to move onto the Formula 1 package in FIA Formula 3, and are spending the current season in FIA Formula 2.

Luke is the latest in a long line of British F4 racers – including current McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris – to make the move into the German series, and will get his championship campaign underway at Red Bull Ring in June.

The seven-event season, comprising a total of 21 races, will also visit Oschersleben, Zandvoort, the Nürburgring, Hockenheim and the Sachsenring before returning to Hockenheim in October for the final event of the campaign.

Alongside a full season in Germany, Luke will also contest selected rounds of the Italian F4 series, with further details to be confirmed in due course.

Luke Browning, US Racing ADAC Formula 4 driver, said:
“I am so happy to finally announce that I will be driving for US Racing in ADAC Formula 4. I love working with the team, as have already done some tests together. I now feel well prepared for the upcoming season opener at Red Bull Ring.”

Ralf Schumacher, US Racing co-owner, said:
“Luke is a structured and focused race driver with great potential. I’m very much looking forward to working with Luke in ADAC Formula 4.”

Gerhard Ungar, US Racing co-owner, said:
“We watched Luke already in last years British F4 Championship, where he did a really good job. What Luke showed so far in the car was really good and impressed me. I’m sure we will have some exciting races with Luke coming up.”

Rising star Luke Browning secured the F4 British Championship certified by FIA, powered by Ford Ecoboost in dramatic fashion after a rain affected season finale at Brands Hatch.

Going into the weekend level on points with Zak O’Sullivan, Luke was well aware of what he needed to do to secure the championship crown and an impressive performance in qualifying saw him snare a third pole position of the year ahead of his rival.

Setting two laps that would have been good enough for pole, Luke also secured pole for the third race of the weekend – which was decided on second fastest times.

From the front of the grid, Luke made the ideal start in tricky conditions in the opening race to lead O’Sullivan into turn one and the pair would run together throughout as they eased away from the pack behind.

A controlled drive from Luke saw him keep O’Sullivan at arm’s length to secure a seventh win of the season and move into the points lead.

Race two in wet conditions on Sunday morning saw the grid reversed and started behind the safety car, which was then called out again as soon as the action go underway after an incident at turn one.

With O’Sullivan moving up to fourth – albeit with a move under yellow flags – Luke then took the restart in sixth but some impressive moves saw him quickly making up places as he followed O’Sullivan up into the podium places.

Shadowing his title rival’s every move, Luke crossed the line in third spot but was then promoted into second when O’Sullivan was handed a penalty – giving him a handy lead to take into the season finale.

The final race would feature the most dramatic of starts as Luke slipped back into third on the opening lap but then suffered a spin at the final corner when the leading four drivers all ran off track on oil.

That left Luke at the back of the field and needing to make up places to score the points needed to beat O’Sullivan, who had survived the opening lap incident to find himself running in the lead of the race.

Luke was fighting his way back up the pack when rain started to fall, making all but impossible for the slick-shot cars to stay on the circuit.

As a result, the race was red-flagged and with half points awarded, Luke secured the championship title in the most dramatic of fashions by just four points.

Luke also ends the season having now scored more podium finishes in the series than any other driver and having scored the second highest number of points – behind a driver who spent an additional season in the series.

“Race one went exactly to plan and it was all about the start as I knew I could control it from the front – that was just what we needed,” he said. “The circuit is tricky when it’s wet and to get the win having scored pole was the ideal way to start the weekend.

“In race two, I saw Zak make the move on Mansell under the safety car so I knew that I just had to finish ahead of Mansell because they would be swapped around, so it was a case of just holding my position and making sure that I stayed out of trouble to bank the points ahead of race three.

“I thought we’d been given the biggest dose of bad luck possible in race three as we came out of the final corner on lap one and there was oil down on the track. All three of us at the front lost it, but I lost it the worst and went round. At that point, I thought it was all over and it felt like the bottom had dropped out of my world. I just had to push hard and then the rain arrived and for once, luck was on my side as I’ve had my fair share of bad luck in recent seasons!

“To be British F4 champion is an amazing feeling and I can’t thank the team enough. At times this season we’ve only had one car but we’ve gone out there and beaten Carlin to the title – and to be the first team to do that is a fantastic achievement. I also have to thank my parents and everyone back at home who has supported me as I couldn’t do it without them.

“It’s been a funny season without fans being trackside and winning at Oulton Park in particular with no-one there was tough. There have been challenges thrown up because of COVID, but we’ve come through it and have gone out there and entertained people when they needed it most.”