Irish driver Alex O’Grady bagged his first single-seaters win in 2025 in the GB4 championship at Oulton Park last May. It came following a tough start to the campaign.
On the back foot early in the season
GB4 introduced a new car in 2025 with the Tatuus GB4-025, a modified version of the Tatuus MSV-022 that was run in the GB3 championships pre-2025.
With O’Grady’s team KMR not running in GB3, it left them behind at the start of the year. Fortec, Elite, Douglas and Hillspeed all used the car in GB3 at some stage, handing them an advantage heading into 2025.
Round 2 at Silverstone was a tough weekend. 15th and 11th was all Alex O’Grady could manage as the car was well off the pace. P8 was his best result across the three races at that event.
In an exclusive interview with Pit Debrief, he explained how bad it was before changes at Round 3 of the season at Oulton Park started to transform the car.
“Yeah, that Oulton Park weekend was definitely my best weekend in cars.
“Because we started off the year so poorly. Because some of the other teams, like Fortec, Elite, Douglas, they’d all ran that car in GB3. Whereas KMR hadn’t, so we were running the same kind of configuration for the old car.
“And obviously with the new car being 100kg heavier, it didn’t work. And we were really slow, graining tyres. At Silverstone, we were over a second a lap off.
“And then going into Oulton, we made a change to the car and it worked, definitely. Even in the practice sessions we were P3 in both of them. So the dry pace was very good.”
Alex O’Grady on his first F4 win in race 7 of 2025 at Oulton Park in GB4
Having qualified P6, O’Grady and KMR made the right call to start on wets as rain fell before the race. He breezed into the lead on the opening lap and pulled out a massive gap. While a Safety Car brought the pack back together, he comfortably managed the closing stages to take a commanding win.
His weekend got even better with a P2 in race two, securing a double podium on a historic weekend for the then 16-year-old.
“And then going into race 1, it started raining on the pre-grid. Everyone in front went on slicks and we decided to gamble on wets. Yeah, it paid off. It was a very good decision.
“And yeah, the start was very good because I think I was the first person on wets to clear everyone before the middle sector. And in the middle sector at Oulton you pretty much can’t overtake. So I think I pulled nearly a 10 second gap because they were all falling off the track behind me.
“And yeah, when you’re in the lead, especially because I’d never driven the track in the rain, you’re just making sure to not overdrive the entries, to press the brakes softly, to not lock up, to really drive within the limit. And yeah, that’s what I’d done basically the whole race.”
Not needing to push 100% to bring home the victory
“I think the drivers behind me weren’t very quick. So I knew, even if I just underdrive and sort of trundle around, I can win this race. And that’s what I done pretty much.
“I think there was definitely a lot of risk to play with. But I didn’t at all. And I just kept it going until the end and won the race.
“So yeah, that was definitely a bit of a breakthrough weekend to win race one.
“And then to back that up by getting a podium in race two, it just proved that we were very good at Oulton.
“And yeah, that was definitely a win that I really needed because then we managed to make the rest of the season happen after that.
“So yeah, that was definitely a very good point in the year.”
The importance of continuity as Alex O’Grady stays with KMR for 2026 GB4 season
It was officially confirmed in December he would be remaining at KMR in 2026. O’Grady explained the choice was to stay with them as they are very happy working with the team and they get on very well with team owner Kevin Mills.
The driver from County Galway also took massive encouragement from the final round at Donington Park at the end of last year. He had a podium finish + fastest lap in race three, and the now 17-year-old clocked the fastest time in session one of practice.
“Yeah, definitely.
“KMR was the only team we were going to go with for another year. We’ve got a great relationship with the team, with Kevin Mills as well, who’s been very good to us.
“And yeah, definitely to do a second year is very good because obviously we’ve learned everything in the first year and we can carry that into next year.
“So yeah, I think it was very important to keep in with them. And yeah, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to go again.
“Definitely think going into next year we’ll have a bit more testing underneath our belts because obviously last year we had two days in the car before the first race meeting. And we’ll have a bit more pre-season testing going into next year.
“I know the car is very fast and we proved that at Donington when I topped a practice session, and I got a fastest lap in the race [three].
“And the two days we’ve done, one day on the 4th and also in November, they were really strong. We had good pace.
“So yeah, I think there’s no excuses going into next year. We just need to give it our all and try and win it.”
Alex O’Grady targeting GB4 title in 2026
Ahead of his second campaign in GB4, the natural target for Alex O’Grady is to kick on and win the championship after the lessons learned from last year. While he was only 8th in the standings at the end of 2025, he was a top 6 championship runner for most of it.
Alongside the personal glory of winning the title, there is the hugely important financial aspect as well. GB4 hands out 50,000 pounds to their championship winner.
As well as that, Motorsport Ireland also give 50,000 euro to a driver who wins the Young Driver of the Year prize at the end of each year. Jason Smyth was the winner in 2025 and is set to drive in GB4 against O’Grady this year.
“Yeah, I’d say pretty much we have to go for it.
“Even this year [2025], our aim was the title, but obviously it didn’t work out that way because we hadn’t had enough preparation and we were still developing our car a bit.
“And even me as a driver, I wasn’t quite good enough. But I think the experience I’ve gained will definitely help me a lot.
“And the last round at Donington this year, definitely we saw big improvements. We were pretty much the fastest in a session and got the fastest lap in race three.
“So looking at that, I think there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to go for the championship. I think it’s pretty much very important that we do win it.
The financial awards as he tries to climb the racing ladder
“Because obviously the prize money as well, that £50,000 is very important to go towards moving up to GB3 or Formula Regional. And also the [Motorsport Ireland] Young Driver of the Year award, to try and win that, that’s very important too. There’s a lot of money up for grabs.
“So yeah, absolutely we have to go for it.”
You can follow Alex O’Grady’s progress in the 2026 GB4 season by subscribing to the MSV TV YouTube channel that shows every race live.
