Yani Stevenheydens admitted he did not expect to dominate 2026 GB4 Qualifying at Donington Park after claiming both pole positions on offer during his first competitive weekend in the championship.
The Elite Motorsport stand-in produced a 1m27.990s to secure Race 1 pole by 0.372s from teammate Fred Green, while championship leader Alex O’Grady qualified third for KMR Sport. Stevenheydens’ second-fastest lap also proved quickest of the session, putting him ahead of Green again on the Race 2 grid as the Belgian continued an extraordinary introduction to both the car and circuit.
Stevenheydens only learned shortly before the event that he would replace the injured Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso. Having previously completed little more than a shakedown in the Tatuus MSV GB4-025, he has rapidly adapted to machinery and a Donington layout he first experienced on Thursday.
Stevenheydens did not expect dominant Donington pole
Stevenheydens showed encouraging pace during testing but still entered Qualifying with significantly less GB4 experience than the majority of the 28-car field. His performance therefore exceeded even his own expectations, particularly given the sizeable advantage he established over the rest of the field.
The 20-year-old credited Elite Motorsport for providing a car that immediately gave him enough confidence to exploit the pace he had gradually uncovered during Thursday and Friday.
“I wasn’t fully expecting it to go like this. We saw yesterday in testing that we had the pace to do something good, but to put it on pole and by a margin like that, I don’t think anyone, even myself, saw that coming. Awfully pleased with it, but it’s all thanks to the team for giving me the car I had.”
His quickest lap came shortly before the Red Flag caused by Franciszek Cegielski going into the gravel at Coppice. Although the session resumed with five minutes remaining, nobody could challenge Stevenheydens’ benchmark.
Rapid learning curve continues for Stevenheydens
The Donington weekend has required Stevenheydens to learn two major variables simultaneously. He had never previously driven the circuit before Thursday and possessed almost no meaningful experience of the current GB4 car before receiving his late call-up.
Despite those limitations, the Belgian has improved throughout every session and believes his ability to adapt has been central to the strong start.
“[Donington Park] is lovely. I’ve never been around here before until Thursday, when Emmilio dropped out. I figured it out on Thursday, we were fast yesterday, and I just keep learning every day and keep going fast. At the same time as the track, I’d never really driven the car apart from once doing a shakedown with it. It’s all new but the learning and the adapting seems to be going very well.”
His previous single-seater experience includes F4 and Eurocup-3, while he currently races with Elite Motorsport in GT4 Europe. That broader background has allowed him to immediately understand much of what the GB4 car requires despite the lack of direct mileage.
Stevenheydens praises GB4 car as development platform
Stevenheydens has also been impressed by the qualities of the Tatuus MSV GB4-025 itself, particularly as a car designed to prepare young drivers for faster machinery further up the single-seater ladder.
He believes the balance and aerodynamic characteristics make it particularly useful preparation for GB3, while its accessibility has helped him become comfortable quickly during a weekend where preparation time has been extremely limited.
“It’s an enjoyable car. It’s a really lovely car where you can learn a lot for the cars that come after, like the faster aero cars. So, for GB3 for instance, the GB4 is the perfect car to learn it in. The balance is mega, everything on the car just works perfectly, so it’s really enjoyable and I’m having a fun time driving it.”
With both poles secured, Stevenheydens now turns his attention towards converting that outright pace into race results. Practice starts completed on Friday have added to his confidence ahead of starting from the front twice.
“We did some practice starts yesterday that seemed to be going very well, so it’s all about having a good start and managing the race as best I can. Then, hopefully, we can get the two wins in.”
Green frustrated by messy Qualifying despite P2
Green completed an all-Elite Motorsport front row for Race 1, but his session proved considerably less straightforward than that of his new teammate.
The championship contender felt the Red Flag disrupted his rhythm before traffic complicated the final minutes after the restart. Although he still secured second on both grids, he believes the final classification did not fully demonstrate the pace available to him.
“The session was very messy with the red flag and then having to rush to get my laps in after that, getting traffic and impeded a little bit. Quite a messy session, but the result isn’t bad, and great for the team to lockout the front row.”
Green’s position carries particular championship significance because O’Grady starts immediately behind in third. With the KMR Sport driver holding the points advantage, Green needs opportunities to reduce the deficit before the championship reaches its Brands Hatch finale.
Green hopes to maximise chance against O’Grady
Green knows the opening laps could prove decisive, particularly with Stevenheydens ahead and O’Grady directly behind. His immediate objective is to establish himself at the front before concentrating on bringing home a strong points haul.
“We’ll see how the start goes and what we can do on the first few laps and hopefully bring back some good points. Alex [O’Grady] will be very happy sitting in third, which is a bit of a shame, but hopefully there can be some carnage.”
Despite the disruption, Green remained calm when Qualifying resumed. He focused primarily on getting clean laps onto the board without falling foul of track limits and ultimately improved despite having already put his tyres through a heat cycle.
“I just did what I do normally [after the red flag] and just drove as fast as I could and tried not to do any track limits.” He continued, “I managed the track pretty well when I went back out and actually improved after a heat cycle already. I don’t think we really showed our main pace, but there were no worries.”
Green expects no assistance from Stevenheydens
Although Elite Motorsport occupies the first two positions for both races, Green does not expect his teammate to sacrifice his own opportunity to help with the championship.
Stevenheydens has arrived as a stand-in with nothing to lose and immediately demonstrated race-winning potential. Green therefore expects both drivers to compete independently once the lights go out.
“I’m not expecting any help [from Stevenheydens] at all, we’re not getting paid to race here, so I think it is every man for themselves. I’m not expecting him to give me any results or anything, so he’s doing a great job and he’ll deserve to win if he does a good job in the race.”
That leaves Green responsible for converting his front-row starts into championship gains on O’Grady rather than relying on any strategic intervention from the second Elite car.
O’Grady pleased with recovery after difficult testing
O’Grady entered Qualifying after a less convincing two days of testing, finishing outside the leading group on Thursday before improving to sixth on Friday. Third on the Race 1 grid and fourth for Race 2 therefore represented a significant improvement at the point when championship points became the priority.
The KMR Sport driver believes even more performance remained available, particularly after taking a conservative approach through some of Donington’s sections to avoid invalidating his laps.
“I’m pretty happy with it because in testing we struggled a little bit. To be P3 and P4 is not too bad. Obviously, Yani [Stevenheydens] was very quick there, but still I had a purple sector two like last time. It was just in the last sector that I lost out a bit, I was just being really safe in the chicane to not hit the green, and in the hairpins too. It was two pretty safe laps, definitely a lot more in it, so I think we can have the pace to stay at the front and hopefully finish on the podium.”
O’Grady’s grid positions place him close enough to Green to limit potential championship losses while also giving him realistic opportunities to fight for the podium in both races.
O’Grady keeps focus on Brands Hatch title opportunity
Despite arriving at Donington with a strong championship advantage, O’Grady does not expect to mathematically secure the title this weekend. Instead, his objective is to score consistently and carry a healthy lead into the Brands Hatch finale.
Podiums in the opening two races would suit that approach, while the reversed-grid third encounter will require him to make progress from further back.
“We could win the championship but realistically it is not going to happen this weekend. I’ll aim to be on the podium in both race one and race two, and then, in race three, try to move forward a little bit too. I think that should be good enough then to go on to Brands. Normally, at Brands, we are really good, so I’m feeling confident going forwards and hopefully we can go on to win the championship.”
Stevenheydens may have produced the standout Qualifying performance, but the championship battle immediately behind adds another dimension to both races. Green needs to capitalise on his two front-row starts, while O’Grady can continue prioritising consistent scoring as he attempts to leave Donington with his advantage intact.
