Pace Performance’s John O’Donnell set the quickest time on the opening day of pre-event testing at Donington Park, producing his best lap as the chequered flag flew ahead of the penultimate round of the 2026 GB4 season.
The American-Korean driver recorded a 1m29.429s to beat Hillspeed’s Enzo Hallman by just 0.075s in the combined classification. Elite Motorsport title contender Fred Green completed the top three, only 0.114s away from O’Donnell’s benchmark.
O’Donnell edges Hallman in close combined order
O’Donnell returned to the circuit where he made his GB4 debut last year and ended Thursday narrowly ahead of Hallman, who had looked set to finish fastest before the Pace Performance driver’s final improvement.
Green followed just 0.039s behind Hallman in third, while Fortec Motorsports’ Thomas Ingram Hill finished another 0.034s back in fourth. Hillspeed’s Connor Willis completed the top five, leaving the leading quintet covered by only 0.207s.
Douglas Motorsport’s Dayton Coulthard took sixth overall with a 1m29.756s, finishing 0.327s away from O’Donnell. Josh McLean followed for Pace Performance, while Conor Grant placed eighth for Douglas.
Torrin Byrne gave Pace Performance three cars inside the top nine, with Daniel Guinchard completing the top 10 while gathering data for Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing.
Top 15 covered by less than one second
The combined order remained closely packed further down the field, with only 0.456s separating O’Donnell from Guinchard in 10th.
Championship leader Alex O’Grady finished 11th for KMR Sport and remained within half a second of the outright benchmark. Fortec’s Franciszek Cegielski followed in 12th, while Elite Motorsport newcomer Yani Stevenheydens took 13th.
Stevenheydens is substituting for Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso at Donington after the Venezuelan sustained an injury during the Zolder 24 Hours last weekend and was ruled out of the event.
Archie Bullard placed 14th for Fox Motorsport, while Matan Achituv completed the top 15. Achituv’s 0.995s deficit meant the leading 15 drivers all finished within one second of O’Donnell, with Hillspeed’s Demitri Nolan just six thousandths outside that margin in 16th.
Kapoor completes first day of GB4 running
Further down the order, Arden Motorsport’s Yana Kapoor completed her first day in GB4 ahead of her championship debut this weekend.
The 19-year-old American is using the Donington event to gain additional single-seater experience before taking part in the F1 Academy Rookie Test at the Circuito de Navarra later this month. Kapoor will make her first British racing appearance with Arden this weekend.
Kapoor finished 28th in Thursday’s combined classification, while Michael Koh placed 20th and Solenn Amrouche took 25th in the other Arden entries.
Three further test sessions will take place on Friday before the competitive Donington Park weekend begins.
2026 GB4 Donington Park Thursday combined testing results
- John O’Donnell — Pace Performance — 1m29.429s
- Enzo Hallman — Hillspeed — +0.075s
- Fred Green — Elite Motorsport — +0.114s
- Thomas Ingram Hill — Fortec Motorsports — +0.148s
- Connor Willis — Hillspeed — +0.207s
- Dayton Coulthard — Douglas Motorsport — +0.327s
- Josh McLean — Pace Performance — +0.410s
- Conor Grant — Douglas Motorsport — +0.414s
- Torrin Byrne — Pace Performance — +0.426s
- Daniel Guinchard — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +0.456s
- Alex O’Grady — KMR Sport — +0.495s
- Franciszek Cegielski — Fortec Motorsports — +0.612s
- Yani Stevenheydens — Elite Motorsport — +0.699s
- Archie Bullard — Fox Motorsport — +0.742s
- Matan Achituv — Elite Motorsport — +0.995s
- Demitri Nolan — Hillspeed — +1.001s
- Jasser Iskander — Fox Motorsport — +1.019s
- Jordyn Martin — Fortec Motorsports — +1.128s
- Jamie Leverton — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +1.190s
- Michael Koh — Arden Motorsport — +1.237s
- Archie Davies — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.387s
- Holly Miall — KMR Sport — +1.531s
- Lily-May Watkins — KMR Sport — +1.953s
- Faris Organji — Scorpio Motorsport — +1.995s
- Solenn Amrouche — Arden Motorsport — +2.016s
- Caitlyn McDaniel — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +2.193s
- Enzo Rujugiro — Fox Motorsport — +2.245s
- Yana Kapoor — Arden Motorsport — +16.879s
Results: Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Combined results
