Airikkala targets improved performance for Hillspeed at Donington Park
Flame Airikkala is targeting a sizable step forward when the final event of the GB4 Championship partnered by the BRDC season takes place at Donington Park just over a fortnight from now, following a very productive two-day test with Hillspeed at the Leicestershire venue last week.
The 18-year-old Finnish-British driver, who made her Hillspeed race debut during the penultimate meeting of the year at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit last month after signing an eleventh hour deal, put together three strong performances during rounds 16, 17 and 18 with little in the way of practice.
Last week’s outing at Donington, therefore, provided the first real opportunity for Airikkala to undertake her first focused test miles with the Markham Vale squad and team principal Richard Ollerenshaw was impressed with the gains made by the young talent. Also testing at Donington, in one of the team’s race-winning GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC cars, was current GB4 front-runner and race winner Alex Kattoulas as the 19-year-old evaluates his options for the 2026 motor racing season.
Kattoulas, who is of Japanese and Greek heritage, has been a strong challenger in GB4 this year, his first full season in single-seaters, and Hillspeed was delighted to test the teenager in GB3 machinery with a view to more testing being a possibility in the coming weeks and months.
Richard Ollerenshaw, Hillspeed Team Principal, said: “It was great to get two full days of testing with Flame arranged, as the turnaround before her race debut with us at Brands GP was very tight indeed. We worked through a structured programme over the two days at Donington and were very pleased with the progress we made with Flame, giving her some important seat time ahead of the final GB4 races of the year in a couple of weeks.” Flame Airikkala added: “It was great to get out for two additional days of testing before the last round of GB4. Good progress was made over the two days, in some challenging weather conditions. I’m looking forward to continuing the progress into the last round with Hillspeed.”
Rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the GB4 Championship season will take place at Donington Park’s full Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend 4th/5th October. The penultimate three rounds of the GB3 Championship season will also be contested that weekend.