SWINDON’S Lucas Romanek recorded a debut GB4 victory in the final contest at Silverstone last weekend.

The 18-year-old had been successfully competing in the National Formula Ford series, and only found out that he had the opportunity to drive in GB4 on the Tuesday before the race weekend.

GB4 is Motorsport Vision’s entry-level championship for aspiring F1 drivers.

With only a few hours of practice under his belt, Romanek managed to qualify eighth fastest on Saturday after fighting hard in the first 2 races to finish eighth and seventh.

The Swindon talent started fifth on the grid for the final race of the weekend. He fought his way to second on the opening lap, and then passed Graham Brunton Racing’s Logan Hannah with a stunning move around the outside at Stowe on lap four.

Initially he struggled to pull away, but in the latter stages of the race Romanek was able to extend a small lead to give him and his Oldfield Motorsport team a victory on their maiden GB4 weekend.

From there, Romanek extended a lead of two seconds over Hannah, who claimed her first podium in GB4.

Post-race, Romanek said: “It feels amazing. I can’t believe it. I obviously got lucky with everyone battling but I’ll take it as a win.

“I think the dirty air played a big factor in passing Hannah, then I managed to force her into a mistake around Stowe.

“I’m just so glad that everyone came together and helped me to get to Silverstone this weekend.”

The Formula Ford ace is used to slipstreaming battles at Silverstone, prior to the race he said: “The straights are so long and hopefully we can all stay together and have some slipstreaming fun, but I’m just happy that we’re in amongst it.”

Looking ahead, Romanek is keen to perform at this level again but knows sponsorship is key in the world of motorsport.

He said: “We would really love to compete at the next GB4 race in Donnington next month, we just need to find sponsors who can support us financially to actually make it happen.

“Our main race commitment for 2022 remains Formula Ford, with the next race at Croft in Darlington over the weekend of May 14 and 15.”

If there are any local businesses that would like the opportunity to support Lucas Romanek and have their brand associated with him or his team, please visit www.lucasromanekracing.com.