Fighting his way forward in the first two races to get into the top ten, Andrew secured pole for race three and then romped away from the pack behind for a deserved third win of the season. Lady luck would desert the 2013 champion when the field headed to Silverstone, with contact in two of the three races meaning he came away from the weekend with a solitary eighth place finish; albeit one he would secure with a storming drive through the field from 27th on the grid. Nominated to score points for BMW in the Manufacturers’ Championship on Finals Day at Brands Hatch, Andrew would then play a vital role in helping the German marque wrap up the title in its first season back in the series as a full works outfit. Andrew ended the year second in terms of laps led and fourth on the race winners list, only a run of bad luck meaning he was unable to challenge for the drivers’ championship. Having established a strong working relationship with his new team and with experience of the rear-wheel drive BMW, Andrew will look to put this right when he returns in 2018. Jamie’s bid to secure the British F4 title in his second season in the series had continued to go from strength to strength and he headed into the final rounds of the season as odds-on favourite to win the title. A tenth win of the year at Knockhill had given Jamie a lead of 45.5 points over the chasing pack heading to Rockingham, where a brace of podium finishes saw him add more solid points to his championship tally – despite a rare DNF in the second race of the weekend.
Crucially, his main title rival Oscar Piastri would endure a weekend to forget at the Northamptonshire circuit, which allowed Jamie to move to within touching distance of the title heading to Silverstone for the penultimate round of the year. Fresh from being named as part of the BRDC’s Rising Stars programme, Jamie was twice on the podium again at the home of the British Grand Prix – meaning he headed into the final round of the year 67.5 points clear of his main rival with just 75 still available. It would all come down to the opening race of the weekend at Brands Hatch, with Jamie showing his skills in recovering from a turn one clash that dropped him to the back of field to pick up the points he needed to gain the title. Another podium finish would follow as he took the championship by a margin of 65.5 points with the highest score in series history. That simply added another record to Jamie’s already impressive resume, with his ten victories over the course of the season being a new series record and his performance at Thruxton also marking the first time that a driver had managed to win all three races in a single weekend. Further showing his dominance of the series, Jamie would end the year having led almost 40 per cent of the laps run, with a richly deserved second title in three seasons under the Pirtek Racing banner being the ultimate reward.
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