Joel Granfors may hold a slender lead at the top of the GB3 Championship standings, but that doesn’t tell the full story of the season so far. So far in 2022, there’s been multiple race winners, a variety of pole sitters, the majority of contenders on the podium and drivers putting in strong recovery drives. Here’s some of the key stats from the start of the year up until now.
Most podiums
Joel Granfors – 10
Luke Browning – 9
Roberto Faria, Callum Voisin – 5
Mikkel Grundtvig, Max Esterson, Tom Lebbon – 3
Championship leader Joel Granfors tops this particular stat, having taken 10 podiums from the 18 races so far. The Swede has stepped onto the podium at each meeting so far, while championship rival Luke Browning enjoyed a similar record until his post-qualifying disqualification at Silverstone ended chances of maintaining that streak. Behind them, Carlin’s Roberto Faria and Callum Voisin have shown well with five podiums each, while Mikkel Grundtvig, Max Esterson and Tom Lebbon have three each. In total, 19 of this year’s drivers have stood on the podium at least once.
Race wins
Browning – 5
Grundtvig, Voisin, Granfors, Lebbon – 2
Esterson, Cian Shields, Bryce Aron, Tommy Smith, Marcos Flack - 1
Hitech’s Browning tops this chart by quite a distance, with victories at Oulton Park (two), Snetterton and another double at Spa putting him three clear of any other driver. When the British driver wins, it tends to be quite dominant too, with an average victory margin of over seven seconds. Grundtvig, Voisin, Granfors and Lebbon have two wins each, with Grundtvig’s successes coming in reverse grid races, while both of Granfors’ and Lebbon’s victories have come at Silverstone. As for Voisin, he could well have four victories to his name, having lost potential wins for reasons out of his and the team’s control at both Spa and Silverstone. Five other drivers have solitary wins, with 10 of this year’s grid having won so far.
Laps led
Browning – 54
Grundtvig – 26
Voisin – 24
Granfors – 23
Lebbon – 20
It’s no surprise to hear that thanks to his five wins so far, Browning tops the charts for most laps led so far this year with a total of 54. That’s a long way clear of Grundtvig, who is next up with 26; the Dane’s two wins have come in races with a shorter lap distance, while Voisin and Granfors are evenly matched with 24 and 23 laps led each. Granfors has actually led more races than any other driver with the exception of Browning, with four races led. Lebbon meanwhile led every lap on the way to his two Silverstone triumphs.
Fastest laps
Browning – 6
Faria, Voisin - 3
Esterson – 2
Morales, Sagrera, Christodoulou – 1
Another chart topped by Browning, who has set the fastest lap in a third of this year’s races, with six in total. Carlin duo Faria and Voisin are his nearest rivals ahead of Esterson who has taken a pair. Arden duo David Morales and Nico Christodoulou, plus Carlin’s Javier Sagrera each have fastest laps to their name too.
Pole positions
Browning – 5
Granfors, Voisin – 3
Esterson – 1
Another stat topped by Browning, who has taken five pole positions so far this year (six before his Silverstone disqualification). Browning’s poles have generally come in pairs, with two at Oulton Park, two at Spa and one at Snetterton. Those poles have been valuable to the Brit, earning him £1,250 in prize money for the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup, and he’s won every race that he's started from the front! Granfors and Voisin have also shown their speed on Saturdays with three poles each, while Esterson’s pole at Donington Park provided the platform for his first victory.
Points for places gained in race three
Granfors – 48.5
Voisin – 39.5
Browning – 31
Matthew Rees – 26
Sagrera – 20.5
Granfors has been supreme in the reverse grid races, having earned nearly 50 points for places gained in that particular contest each weekend. That figure could have been even higher too, had Spa race three run to its full distance (the reason for half points being shown here), while his biggest gain of 15 places came in the most recent race at Silverstone. Voisin is next up with 39.5 places gained, while Browning is 17.5 behind Granfors in this particular chart, but also gained 15 positions at Silverstone, as did Voisin. Granfors’ championship lead could well be attributed to this stat, as he’s 11.5 points clear at the top; things would look quite different without his feisty drives on Sunday afternoons!
Biggest win margin
10.258s – Luke Browning
We mentioned above that when Browning wins, he tends to win big! His first victory of the year in the season opener at Oulton Park remains the biggest margin of the year, 10.258s clear of Faria. That’s not his only 10-second plus win though, as he triumphed in race two at Spa, 10.1 seconds clear of Max Esterson…
Smallest win margin
0.235s – Luke Browning
…They’re not all big though! While he sometimes runs off into the distance, sometimes Browning has to fight hard for the top step of the podium, none more so than in race two at Snetterton, where he crossed line less than a quarter of a second ahead of Granfors after a tense race-long scrap between the two.