Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne claimed his third GB3 win of the season in the first race of the weekend at Zandvoort.
He started from pole, and fended off the pack on the run to Tarzan on the first lap. After an early safety car, he simply romped away, taking victory over six seconds clear of the field.
Dunne finished clear of Elite's McKenzy Cresswell while championship challenger Joseph Loake claimed third place with a move on Arden VRD's Nico Christodoulou at the start of the last lap, closing the gap to championship leader Callum Voisin down to just five points as a consequence.
Christodoulou had to settle for fourth ahead of Dunne's teammate Souta Arao, who enjoyed by far his best race in GB3 to take fifth place ahead of JHR's Matthew Rees.
Rodin Carlin's Voisin meanwhile recovered to seventh place after starting 10th following his qualifying incident. Voisin finished just a couple of tenths behind Rees and half a second ahead of Fortec's Jarrod Waberski in eighth.
Voisin's teammate John Bennett and Elite's Oliver Stewart completed the top-10.
There was drama almost right from the off, as Dunne held off the challenge from Cresswell, while behind, James Hedley and Tymek Kucharczyk, who started seventh and ninth respectively, collided on the run to turn one, forcing Hedley out with suspension damage and bringing out the safety car.
The safety car pitted at the end of the second lap, and the top six of Dunne, Cresswell, Christodoulou, Loake, Arao and Rees built a decent advantage right from the off, with Cresswell and Christodoulou going wheel to wheel at Tarzan, as the former just held off the Canadian.
Their squabble allowed Dunne to start building an advantage, with the lead at almost a second already after the first lap of green flag action.
The Irishman then extended it on almost every lap, up to 1.3 seconds the next time around, and to 2.4 seconds after lap six. His gap was over four seconds at the end of lap nine, and eventually to 6.081s at the chequered flag.
His third win of the year, all of them in continental Europe, slashes his gap to Voisin down to 22 points, with Loake's last lap move on Christoduolou bringing him to within five points of Voisin with five races remaining in 2023.
The second race of the weekend at Zandvoort is due to commence at 17.35 local time (16.35 UK), with Cresswell on pole.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Zandvoort race one provisional result:
1. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 13 laps
2. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +6.081s
3. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +9.858s
4. Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +10.812s
5. Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +13.668s
6. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +15.096s
7. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +15.361s
8. Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +15.851s
9. John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +16.964s
10. Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +17.495s
11. Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +19.036s
12. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +19.484s
13. Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +19.869s
14. David Morales, JHR Developments, +21.741s
15. Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +24.789s
16. Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +25.864s
17. Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +26.270s
18. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +33.947s
19. Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, +34.040s
20. Jack Sherwood, Elite Motorsport, +34.742s
21. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Elite Motorsport, +43.431s
22. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, 5 laps completed
DNF. James Hedley, Arden VRD
DNF. Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight
DNS. Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport