Yani Stevenheydens made an immediate impact on his 2026 GB4 debut by claiming both pole positions during Saturday afternoon’s Qualifying session at Donington Park.
The Elite Motorsport stand-in produced a 1m27.990s to secure Race 1 pole by 0.372s from teammate and championship contender Fred Green. His second-fastest lap of 1m28.448s was also enough to put him at the front for Race 2, completing a remarkable Qualifying performance during his first proper weekend in the Tatuus MSV GB4-025.
Stevenheydens only joined the field at short notice as a replacement for the injured Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso and had never previously raced at Donington. The Belgian nevertheless converted the pace shown during pre-event testing into a dominant Qualifying result, with Green giving Elite Motorsport an all-team front row for both of the weekend’s opening races.
2026 GB4: Donington Park: Qualifying: Stevenheydens dominates on debut
Stevenheydens entered Qualifying with only two days of meaningful GB4 running behind him, having previously completed little more than a short shakedown in the car. He had already demonstrated his potential by finishing close to the front during Friday testing, but his Qualifying performance represented another considerable step forward.
The 20-year-old produced his 1m27.990s before the session was interrupted when Friday testing pacesetter Franciszek Cegielski ended up in the gravel at Coppice. When running resumed with roughly five minutes remaining, the remainder of the field had another opportunity to respond, but nobody could threaten Stevenheydens’ benchmark.
His advantage ultimately stood at 0.372s, a substantial margin in a field where the leading 15 drivers had been covered by less than a second during both days of testing. Stevenheydens also became the only driver to break the 1m28s barrier in the amended classification.
Green emerged as his nearest challenger with a 1m28.362s, strengthening Elite Motorsport’s position at the front while also giving himself an important advantage over championship leader Alex O’Grady.
O’Grady qualifies third as championship rivals share front two rows
O’Grady took third for KMR Sport with a 1m28.412s, finishing only 0.050s behind Green. That places the championship’s leading two drivers close together on the Race 1 grid, with Green seeking to reduce O’Grady’s substantial points advantage during the penultimate round of the campaign.
The amended classification promoted Hillspeed’s Enzo Hallman to fourth after several originally disallowed laps were reinstated. His 1m28.471s placed him only 0.059s behind O’Grady and gave Hillspeed a strong position heading into the opening race.
Thomas Ingram Hill followed in fifth for Fortec Motorsports on a 1m28.536s, continuing his strong Donington form after finishing fourth on both Thursday and Friday. Pace Performance’s Torrin Byrne took sixth, while Douglas Motorsport’s Dayton Coulthard finished another 0.008s behind in seventh.
Cegielski retained eighth despite his trip into the gravel, with Conor Grant and Connor Willis completing the amended top 10. The leading 10 drivers were covered by 0.867s.
O’Donnell outside top 10 after leading Thursday testing
Thursday pacesetter John O’Donnell could not reproduce the pace that had made him the fastest driver across the opening day of testing. His 1m28.912s placed him 11th, although he missed Willis and the top 10 by only 0.055s.
Josh McLean followed only 0.007s further back for Pace Performance, with Elite Motorsport’s Matan Achituv 13th. Demitri Nolan took 14th for Hillspeed ahead of Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing rookie Jamie Leverton.
The qualifying order became more spread out beyond the leading 13, with Nolan 1.405s away from pole. Archie Davies, Michael Koh and Jordyn Martin followed, while Romuald Bocquet and Jasser Iskander completed the top 20.
Track limits also played a significant role in the session. Numerous drivers had lap times deleted, although several judicial fact laps were subsequently reinstated, producing the amended classification and moving Hallman notably higher in the order.
Race 1 grid – Full Qualifying results (provisional)
- Yani Stevenheydens — Elite Motorsport — 1m27.990s
- Fred Green — Elite Motorsport — +0.372s
- Alex O’Grady — KMR Sport — +0.422s
- Enzo Hallman — Hillspeed — +0.481s
- Thomas Ingram Hill — Fortec Motorsports — +0.546s
- Torrin Byrne — Pace Performance — +0.653s
- Dayton Coulthard — Douglas Motorsport — +0.661s
- Franciszek Cegielski — Fortec Motorsports — +0.738s
- Conor Grant — Douglas Motorsport — +0.815s
- Connor Willis — Hillspeed — +0.867s
- John O’Donnell — Pace Performance — +0.922s
- Josh McLean — Pace Performance — +0.929s
- Matan Achituv — Elite Motorsport — +0.947s
- Demitri Nolan — Hillspeed — +1.405s
- Jamie Leverton — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +1.423s
- Archie Davies — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.633s
- Michael Koh — Arden Motorsport — +1.765s
- Jordyn Martin — Fortec Motorsports — +1.794s
- Romuald Bocquet — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.892s
- Jasser Iskander — Fox Motorsport — +1.903s
- Lily-May Watkins — KMR Sport — +1.910s
- Faris Organji — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.940s
- Holly Miall — KMR Sport — +1.953s
- Solenn Amrouche — Arden Motorsport — +2.441s
- Enzo Rujugiro — Fox Motorsport — +2.669s
- Archie Bullard — Fox Motorsport — +3.026s
- Caitlyn McDaniel — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +4.236s
- Yana Kapoor — Arden Motorsport — +7.537s
Full amended Qualifying classification
2026 GB4: Donington Park: Race 2 grid: Stevenheydens completes double pole
Stevenheydens’ dominance extended to the second-fastest-lap classification, which determines the grid for Sunday morning’s Race 2.
His 1m28.448s second-best effort was strong enough to beat Green by 0.211s, giving Elite Motorsport another front-row lockout. The result is particularly impressive given Stevenheydens’ limited experience with both the car and circuit ahead of the weekend.
Byrne climbed from sixth on the Race 1 classification to third on second-fastest times, putting the Pace Performance driver on the second row alongside O’Grady. The championship leader’s 1m28.730s was 0.282s away from Stevenheydens.
Ingram Hill remained firmly towards the front in fifth, while Coulthard again completed the top six. Grant moved up to seventh for Douglas Motorsport ahead of McLean, with Hallman ninth and O’Donnell completing the Race 2 top 10.
Cegielski was one of the largest movers in the opposite direction. Having qualified eighth on outright pace, his second-fastest lap left him 13th for Race 2 behind Achituv and Willis.
Race 2 grid – Second-fastest Qualifying results (provisional)
- Yani Stevenheydens — Elite Motorsport — 1m28.448s
- Fred Green — Elite Motorsport — +0.211s
- Torrin Byrne — Pace Performance — +0.249s
- Alex O’Grady — KMR Sport — +0.282s
- Thomas Ingram Hill — Fortec Motorsports — +0.317s
- Dayton Coulthard — Douglas Motorsport — +0.324s
- Conor Grant — Douglas Motorsport — +0.403s
- Josh McLean — Pace Performance — +0.508s
- Enzo Hallman — Hillspeed — +0.510s
- John O’Donnell — Pace Performance — +0.556s
- Matan Achituv — Elite Motorsport — +0.619s
- Connor Willis — Hillspeed — +0.809s
- Franciszek Cegielski — Fortec Motorsports — +0.984s
- Jamie Leverton — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +1.150s
- Michael Koh — Arden Motorsport — +1.459s
- Demitri Nolan — Hillspeed — +1.462s
- Jasser Iskander — Fox Motorsport — +1.484s
- Jordyn Martin — Fortec Motorsports — +1.496s
- Holly Miall — KMR Sport — +1.547s
- Lily-May Watkins — KMR Sport — +1.622s
- Romuald Bocquet — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.652s
- Faris Organji — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.691s
- Solenn Amrouche — Arden Motorsport — +2.141s
- Enzo Rujugiro — Fox Motorsport — +2.330s
- Archie Davies — Scorpio Motorsport — +2.457s
- Caitlyn McDaniel — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +5.065s
- Archie Bullard — Fox Motorsport — +5.066s
- Yana Kapoor — Arden Motorsport — +7.725s
The opening race of the weekend is scheduled to begin at 18:00 BST on Saturday, with Stevenheydens and Green forming an all-Elite Motorsport front row. Race 2 follows at 11:25 BST on Sunday before the reverse-grid finale at 17:35.
