The British F4 champion-elect Alex Dunne will miss the final round of the season at Brands Hatch as it clashes with his Italian F4 commitments at Monza.

The Irishman has competed in a dual campaign across the British and Italian F4 championships and has enjoyed superb success in both series.

Dunne holds a 102-point lead over Carlin’s Ollie Gray with one round remaining leaving Gray with an extremely slim chance of snatching the championship.

Dunne said via his Instagram: “Unfortunately I won’t be at Brands Hatch for the final round of British F4, due to it clashing with Monza in Italian F4.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to Hitech Grand Prix for what’s been an incredible year together, winning together in the UAE and breaking the record for most wins in a single season in British F4.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure and I can’t thank them enough, good luck to everyone in the team this weekend.”

Gray has the tall order of winning all three races this weekend and taking a clean sweep of fastest laps to stay in the running for the championship

Points are awarded in British F4 for gaining places from your starting position in Race 2 which could allow Gray to gather extra points.

The 16-year-old’s cause might be helped by an appeal which will be heard post-season about the incident between Dunne and Gray in Race 1 at Silverstone. A successful appeal will reduce Dunne’s advantage by six points.

Dunne has also been a front runner in Italian F4 taking three victories so far this season. 

The 16-year-old sits third in the championship in a brutally competitive championship alongside Mercedes and Ferrari juniors Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Rafael Camara.

The Irish US Racing driver is currently 65 points behind the championship leader Antonelli with two rounds remaining at Monza and Mugello.

Italy’s F4 championship uses the same points system as Formula 1 with 25 points for a victory, six drivers are still mathematically in contention for the title.

Image: Jakob Ebrey