Megan Bruce concluded her rookie season in single-seaters with a top-ten finish at the GB4 Championship Brands Hatch finale, marking significant progress throughout the year, including nine top-ten finishes and a best result of sixth place.
Megan Bruce completed her rookie season in single seaters with a top-ten finish at the GB4 Championship Brands Hatch season finale, where she made significant progress throughout the weekend, culminating in a strong performance in race 3, securing ninth place.
The 19-year-old began her journey in formula cars at the start of the year and showed noticeable improvement in both qualifying and race battles. She consistently finished in the top ten at nearly every race weekend, missing out only at the second round at Silverstone, where one race was canceled due to weather.
She recorded her best finish of the season in race 3 at Snetterton, taking sixth place. Toward the end of the year, Bruce built more consistency, momentum, and confidence, showing increasing pace at each event.
The season finale at the Brands Hatch GP circuit, an iconic track however with limited testing opportunities, posed a challenge, but Bruce made significant gains in pre-event testing, closing the gap to the frontrunners. On Friday, rain-affected testing on the Indy layout further limited track time, but she continued to prepare for the weekend. In Saturday morning's qualifying, Bruce found a couple of seconds improvement and qualified in 12th place with a time of 1:26.837.
In the first race on Saturday afternoon, Megan Bruce lined up from 12th place on the grid. As the lights went out, race leader Linus Granfors made a clean start, while Lucas Blakely and Michael Burgoyne immediately engaged in a tight battle for second place. Bruce made a strong start herself, gaining two positions on the opening lap to move up into 10th place.
Bruce, fighting to maintain her early gains, had a big save after a moment of oversteer, which caused her to lose momentum and fall back to 12th by lap 3. She found herself behind Dan Hickey and Jack Taylor, pushing to keep pace with them.
Despite pushing hard and running some of her best lap times, Bruce couldn't quite regain the gap to the cars ahead. A small mistake on lap 10 saw her briefly go off track, but she rejoined the race, although now trailing by 11 seconds to the rest of the field.
Though she had a somewhat lonely race for the remainder, the experience was crucial in setting her up for the rest of the weekend; Megan finished P12, gaining valuable insights for the following races.
Race 2 on Sunday morning saw Bruce once again starting from 12th on the grid. As the lights went out, Granfors, on pole and looking to secure the championship, struggled with a poor start due to wheelspin, allowing Blakely to slip through into the lead. Finn Harrison also capitalized on the situation, temporarily moving into second place before making an error that dropped him back down the order. Megan, meanwhile, took advantage of the initial chaos to gain one position, moving up into 11th.
Bruce immediately found herself in a battle with Dan Hickey, who had dropped a place and was looking to fight back. Despite the pressure from behind, Megan improved her lap times significantly, setting a best of 1:27.8, which allowed her to hold off Hickey for much of the race.
The Fortec driver kept the pressure on, but Bruce showed impressive defensive skills, keeping him at bay. On lap 12, Hickey eventually managed to find a way past Bruce, despite her efforts to defend her position. A minor mistake from Megan, where she dropped a wheel off track, allowed him to build a small gap.
Bruce rejoined the race but had to settle for 12th place once again by the time the checkered flag fell.
Despite the result, it was a race filled with learning moments, as she continued to close the gap to the cars ahead, and her consistent pace set the stage for Race 3.
The third and final race of the weekend – and the season – took place on Sunday afternoon with the traditional reverse-grid format. This meant Megan started from P12, sharing the row with freshly crowned champion Linus Granfors.
Drama struck before the race even started when Lucas Blakely spun on the formation lap as he struggled to warm up his tyres in the cold 12°C temperatures. When the lights finally went out, almost every driver struggled with wheelspin due to the cold track conditions.
Bruce, however, made a great start, gaining two positions to move up into 10th place by the end of the first lap. Baxter, who had taken the early lead, made a mistake at the final corner, dropping a wheel off the track, allowing Harrison to take over the lead. Further back, chaos struck as Jack Taylor spun out, triggering the safety car on lap 2.
Megan skillfully avoided the incidents, moving up another spot to take 8th place as Wilson and Burgoyne fell behind. The race resumed on lap 4, with just 8 minutes remaining: Hickey, under pressure from Palmowski, went too deep into a corner and spun; Megan again managed to avoid any incidents and maintained her position, though she now had Burgoyne closing in behind her.
Burgoyne, who had recovered from earlier misfortunes, managed to overtake Bruce on lap 5, dropping her back to ninth place. Despite the pressure from behind, Megan held her ground, defending fiercely against Hickey, who was now directly behind her, trying to claw back into the top ten.
Finn Harrison secured the win, with Megan Bruce crossing the line in 9th place, a strong finish that saw her gain three positions from her starting spot.
This result marked Bruce's ninth top-ten finish of the season, capping off a weekend filled with progress and development.
"My first season in slicks and wings completed", Bruce commented. "Where to even start, this year has absolutely flown by and I’ve enjoyed it so so much."
"From only starting racing last year in a Caterham, to racing an F4 car, it’s been a massive experience I’m forever grateful for", she continued. "It’s been a step up for sure, I’ve had some great races, and some that I’ve taken a lot away from, mistakes were made, but every race I’ve learnt a load."
"Firstly a massive thank you to my Dad for giving me this opportunity and believing in me since the beginning, as well as my family for the support. "
Bruce wrapped up her rookie season in single-seaters by finishing 11th in the championship standings with 183 points. Her best result came at Snetterton in the fourth round, where she secured sixth place. Over the course of the year, she demonstrated significant progress, holding her own in midfield battles and showing consistent improvement. The experience gained in her first season will undoubtedly be valuable as she looks ahead to her future in motorsport, with her 2025 plans yet to be finalized.
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