Team Release:
• Miles Rudman puts Team F4V on podium during first race of season
• Weekend best of P6 for team owner Nathan Anthony at Cadwell
• Next – first event of Legends Cars Elite Cup three weeks from now
Team F4V made a successful start to the new Legends Cars Championship with MRF Tyres season at the challenging Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire over the weekend, 15th/16th April, with a podium result for Miles Rudman in round one and an event best of sixth place for team boss Nathan Anthony.
Reigning champion Miles, making an unexpected eleventh hour appearance at the 2.2-mile track as a taster for the upcoming Legends Cars Elite Cup with JLM which he will contest for Team F4V, raced to a top three result in Heat One on Saturday on his first competitive outing in the No.1 Se-Van.
After dominating the wet qualifying session, Miles lined-up third on the grid for the dry Heat One – the starting order decided by a grid draw ballot rather than qualifying times – and he soon grabbed second, before being edged back to third midway around lap two. Staying with the two leaders to the finish, he wrapped up his first Team F4V podium just 0.4 seconds shy of the win.
Nathan had much more work to do from a grid draw of 20th place, holding position early on and then beginning to make progress on lap two. Just as he was getting into his stride though, a rival put the No.29 Se-Van on the grass. Thankfully rejoining, he ended the season-opener in 20th spot.
Heat Two was much better for Nathan who, starting sixth on the grid, ran in the lead group throughout. Due to an unfortunate incident the red flags were shown on lap four, and the result was taken back to the end of lap three. Nathan sealed a deserved top six finish, while Miles charged through from the lower order to take a competitive 11th place finish.
In the round One Final, Nathan was on course for his second top six in as many races but a broken rear top link on the Se-Van’s axle meant a frustrating retirement on lap three. In the sister Se-Van, Miles stormed through the order from 23rd at the start into seventh place at the finish on lap eight.
For Sunday’s action, round two, Nathan was the sole Team F4V representative and in Heat One he faced incredible disappointment when, while running strongly at the fringe of the top 10, his engine let-go on lap two meaning instant retirement.
Heat Two was equally frustrating. Starting 16th on the grid, Nathan held position on lap one before the race was red flagged early on lap two due to a nasty incident. Ahead of the re-start, an oil leak on the No.29 Se-Van then meant he had to head to the pits and retire.
Aiming for a positive conclusion to the weekend in the round two Final, Nathan started the race from second on the grid but was effectively promoted to pole position when Mark Higgins’ car headed to the pits. Leading well off the line, the Se-Van stayed at the front to the end of lap one when Matt Knight was able to slipstream and nose ahead across the start/finish.
Staying in second place initially, Nathan was then shuffled back over the course of the next few laps with his spare engine struggling badly for pace. Ultimately, the First 4 Vans, Towergate Insurance, Blue Lizard, Blue Chip Warranty, Moove and Creative Funding Solutions backed driver had to settle for 14th position.
Nathan Anthony:
“Obviously it was fantastic to start the opening weekend with a podium for Team F4V with Miles, which showed what the Se-Van can do and gives us confidence for the season. We both had a bit of a mixed time of things after that on day one, and on Sunday I didn’t have the best of luck at all with the engine going in race one and oil leak in race two. We changed to the spare for the Final but it wasn’t good, so a bit frustrating. We focus on the positives though and we’re now looking forward to the first rounds of the Elite Cup at Brands Hatch in a few weeks.”
Rounds three and four of the Legends Cars Championship with MRF Tyres will take place over the weekend 17th/18th June at Team F4V’s local track, Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. The Kent venue will also host the opening two rounds of the all-new Legends Cars Elite Cup with JLM, in which Team F4V will also be participating, just three weeks from now on 6th/7th May.
Legends Cars Championship with MRF Tyres – Driver Standings:
14th Miles Rudman, 390pts; 22nd Nathan Anthony, 225pts
