Champions crowned on TOCA support bill at Brands Hatch
Titles were decided on the TOCA support package this past weekend (October 10-11), resulting in five drivers walking away with the bragging rights of being able to call themselves a 2026 Drivers’ Champion.
McLaren Development Driver Dries Van Langendonck became the latest driver to reign supreme in the Wera Tools F4 British Championship, certified by FIA as he capped off a dominant season by clinching title glory.
Following in the footsteps of current FIA Formula 1 World Champion Lando Norris and FIA Formula 2 title contender Alex Dunne, the Belgian teenager swept aside the opposition to lift the coveted single-seater crown this year.
Van Langendonck arrived at Brands Hatch needing just a handful of points to secure an unassailable lead in the standings, and he did just that in race one as he shadowed vice-champion Theo Palmer from lights-to-flag.
Palmer would clinch a second win later in the weekend while Virtuosi Racing’s Joseph Smith also triumphed. In the end though, all eyes were on Van Langendonck as he savoured the spoils of the championship and the 12 FIA Super Licence Points that come with it.
Just one point proved to be the difference when it came to deciding who was champion in the Power Maxed MINI CHALLENGE JCW as Tom Ovenden held his nerve to successfully retain his championship.
In what proved to be a nail-biting finish to the season, the EXCELR8 Development Driver snared the fastest lap in the final race of the season - which ultimately gave him the required points he needed to go defend his crown.
Max Edmundson went into the final race trailing Ovenden by 18 points and his flawless performance at the head of the field saw him triumph, although he ultimately came just short of a completing a remarkable comeback.
Small margins separated the top two in the Porsche Carwow Sprint Challenge Great Britain as well, with Joe Marshall being crowned champion by just five points ahead of his Team Parker Racing team-mate, Joshua Rogers.
Having been the leading lights of the championship throughout the year, Marshall and Rogers continued their rich vein of form in front of a capacity trackside crowd.
Australian native Rogers certainly did all he could to overcome his stablemate by winning all three races. However, Marshall’s trio of second place finishes proved to be just enough to allow him to triumph for the season.
History was made in the Motul Caterham Seven Championship UK as Taylor O’Flanagan became just the second driver to be crowned champion at every level of the Caterham Motorsport pyramid.
Having triumphed in the Caterham Academy, Roadsport, Seven 270R and Seven 310R previously, O’Flanagan stopped up to the manufacturer’s premier class this year and duly delivered as he took on established stars such as reigning champion Matthew Armstrong and Harry Senior.
Armstrong and Aaron Head enjoyed a share of the weekend’s spoils on the legendary Grand Prix circuit however a third and a fifth in the opening two races proved to be enough for O’Flanagan to seal the deal.
One title that wasn’t up for grabs at Brands Hatch was the Porsche Carwow Carrera Cup Great Britain, with Callum Voisin having secured an unassailable lead at the top of the standings at Silverstone last month.
The Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport driver emerged as the cream of the crop in his debut season, with ten wins and a further four podium finishes providing the backbone to his championship charge this year.
Voisin’s final win of the year came in race one of the weekend as he hit the front and checked out to ultimately triumph by almost four seconds. He then shadowed Pro-Am racer Jacob Tofts, who was an overall winner for the first time this year, in race two.