The aspiring F1 hopefuls in the GB3 Championship face perhaps the most pivotal weekend of their short careers so far, as this year’s title battle draws to a close on the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
After a season-long scrap across four different countries, Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp is the driver to beat with a 33-point lead at the top of the standings, with this weekend’s triple-header all that’s left in this year’s fight.
The British-born New Zealander took a firm grip on the title scrap last time out at Donington Park, with a double victory and a sixth place securing his biggest points’ haul of the season so far. Sharp has four victories to his name, and almost a win’s margin clear at the top of the standings, and he could secure the title at the first time of asking in race one, but it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances for that to happen!
Instead, expect his nearest challengers John Bennett and Tymek Kucharczyk to give him a stern fight. JHR Developments’ three-time race winner Bennett has enjoyed by far his best GB3 campaign to be Sharp’s nearest challenger heading into the final rounds, with victories at Oulton Park, Zandvoort and Silverstone ensuring he’s always been in the mix.
As for Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight’s lead contender has the potential to be utterly dominant, as demonstrated by his crushing early season form, which netted three wins from four races across the Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps events. But misfortune has never been far away from the Polish ace, with just the one win in the second half of the season, but he’s overturned big points gaps on two occasions already this year, so don’t count him out!
His teammate Will Macintyre is the final driver still in mathematical contention. With 102 points up for grabs this weekend, he’s 88 points away from Sharp, so requires a season’s best performance and for the other three to all encounter major trouble. But with wins of his own at Oulton Park, Silverstone and Spa, Macintyre should at least be in the fight at the front, regardless of whether his title aspirations continue into Sunday’s action.
This year’s champion again earns a two-day test in an FIA Formula 3 Championship car, the proven next destination for drivers on the ladder to F1. Previous GB3 champions Luke Browning and Callum Voisin both won races in the series this year, with Browning finishing third overall and graduating up to Formula 2 in Azerbaijan. The top-five in GB3 this year also receive the must-have FIA Superlicence points, with the eventual champion receiving 10, a quarter of the required tally for an F1 Superlicence.
The driver’s title isn’t the only thing up for grabs this weekend, as there’s an equally ferocious battle for the Team’s Championship honours, where just seven points separate Rodin and Hitech with 189 still up for grabs. Plus, there’s a big cash prize in the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup, with Sharp, Kucharczyk and Bennett all aiming to end the year with the most pole positions plus the trophy and £2,000 cash prize.
And if all that wasn’t enough, last year’s GB3 champion Voisin is back on the grid with Rodin Motorsport for one weekend only, fresh from his high-flying FIA F3 exploits! Talk about a spicy addition to the mix for the season finale…
Away from the championship fight, there’s plenty of scores to be settled, with an international line-up looking to end their campaigns in style.
A title challenge wasn’t to be for Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell this year, but he’s well placed to end the season inside the top-five once more. With a Silverstone triumph and six further podiums, expect him to be towards the front again, while Hitech’s Gerrard Xie is another to have tasted victory (in Hungary) this year, and the Chinese ace will look to replicate his antics at the 2023 finale, which saw him end the season with a win.
Cresswell’s teammate Jarrod Waberski is gunning for a first visit to the top step, but the South African has claimed three podiums so far, while Rodin’s Frenchman Arthur Rogeon has put early season misfortune behind him to claim three wins at the Hungaroring, Silverstone and Donington Park to thrust himself up into the top-eight.
VRD Racing by Arden’s American Noah Ping completes the top-10 in his second GB3 campaign, having claimed two podiums so far, including last time out at Donington Park. Elite’s German Hugo Schwarze is yet to have yet claimed a podium, but did so in Ginetta Juniors last year and has come close in his first year of single-seaters.
JHR’s Aussie Patrick Heuzenroeder has shown great pace in the second half of the campaign, which was rewarded with a podium at Zandvoort. Fortec’s American Colin Queen almost took his first GB3 podium last time out, only to be scuppered by a track limits penalty, so he’s out for redemption this weekend.
Nikita Johnson is another American on the grid, and one with a win at Zandvoort to his name. JHR’s Brit Josh Irfan is hoping for victory having taken a best result of second at Hungary.
Johnson’s teammate Shawn Rashid finally broke his podium duck at Silverstone after his best GB3 drive yet, while Seb Murray leads Chris Dittmann Racing’s charge, having shown top-10 pace on numerous occasions this year.
Hillspeed’s Aditya Kulkarni has flourished in recent events, as proven by another top-10 at Donington Park.
Meanwhile, outgoing GB4 champion Tom Mills, who claimed his title at Brands Hatch last year, makes the step up to GB3 this weekend with Chris Dittmann Racing in a best of Gloucestershire combination!
Mills is not the only new face at the team, which has also handed an end of the season drive to multiple race winner James Hedley. His latest seat will mean he has raced for three different teams during the course of the campaign!
This year’s GB3 honours will be settled over the course of three races on the daunting Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. The most crucial qualifying session of the year at 11.40 will determine the grids for race one (Saturday 14.50) and race two (Sunday 11.30) before the tense top-12 reverse grid finale that’ll likely be the title decider at 15.45 on Sunday afternoon.
GB3 Championship, Brands Hatch GP entry list:
#2 James Hedley, Chris Dittmann Racing
#3 Noah Ping, VRD Racing by Arden
#7 Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport
#10 Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments
#11 John Bennett, JHR Developments
#12 Josh Irfan, JHR Developments
#15 Aditya Kulkarni, Hillspeed
#16 McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport
#17 Nikita Johnson, VRD Racing by Arden
#18 Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport
#20 Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport
#21 Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight
#22 Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight
#23 Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight
#32 Shawn Rashid, VRD Racing by Arden
#33 Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport
#35 Callum Voisin, Rodin Motorsport
#43 Tom Mills, Chris Dittmann Racing
#62 Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsport
#91 Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing