Hillspeed's Freddie Slater delivered the drive of a lifetime to surge from 23rd and last on the grid to victory in the final GB3 race of the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.
Having started every race this weekend from the final spot after stopping on track during qualifying, Slater had already salvaged two top-10 results, but saved his best for last with an inspired tyre gamble in challenging conditions.
Having claimed the lead at the mid-race point, he drove into the distance to win by eight seconds, with Hillspeed's day made even sweeter with Kanato Le finishing second to complete a 1-2, with a move on Reza Seewooruthun on the final lap. Argenti by Prema driver Seewooruthun claimed his maiden GB3 podium with third.
Morning rain had left the track damp ahead of the race, but the surface was gradually drying as the race drew closer. Slater was one of five drivers opting to start the race with slick Pirelli tyres, and with nothing to lose, he simply blasted through the field as the racing line quickly dried out.
With the track at its dampest on lap one, Slater still gained seven places to run 16th, and gained three more spots next time around. He broke into the top-10 to run eighth at the end of lap four, and gained another spot on lap five.
But it was lap six, with the leaders on wet tyres all converging at the front, that will live in the memory for some time. Slater started by picking off Hitech TGR's Nikita Johnson on the run to La Source, and Rodin's Alex Ninovic was dispatched approaching Eau Rouge.
Elite's Will Macintyre was next exiting Raidillon, and Slater went third with a move up the inside of JHR's Noah Lisle at Bruxelles. Lisle's teammate Kai Daryanani soon followed, before a dive past Hitech's Keanu Al Azhari propelled Slater to the lead entering Campus.
From there, he romped into the distance to win with an eight second margin to Le, who also opted for slicks pre-race and carved his way from 12th to second place, backing up his win and pole position from earlier in the weekend.
Seewooruthun was another to bank on slicks pre-race, and he also benefited as he went from 15th to third, having followed Slater for much of the contest.
Xcel Motorsport's Patrick Heuzenroder and Hitech TGR's Deagen Fairclough opted to pit for slicks after the reconnaissance lap to the grid and their own gambles paid off with fourth and fifth.
Slick tyre runners filled the top-nine finishers with Heuzenroeder's teammate Jack Sherwood ahead of Argenti with Prema's Lucas Fluxa, and VRD Racing's pole sitter Hugo Schwarze. The German driver was ninth having led early on, but pitted from the lead for slicks, also picked up a 10 second penalty and still finished ninth. Macintyre in 10th was the lead runner on treaded Pirelli tyres.
The GB3 field now has four weekends off ahead of the visit to the Hungaroring on 5/6 July.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Spa-Francorchamps race three provisional result:
1. Freddie Slater, Hillspeed, 11 laps
2. Kanato Le, Hillspeed, +8.155s
3. Reza Seewooruthun, Argenti with Prema, +9.520s
4. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport, +13.083s
5. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech TGR, +14.630s
6. Dion Gowda, Xcel Motorsport, +32.166s
7. Jack Sherwood, Xcel Motorsport, +40.671s
8. Lucas Fluxa, Argenti with Prema, +45.087s
9. Hugo Schwarze, VRD Racing, +51.816s
10. Will Macintyre, Elite Motorsport, +58.538s
11. Nikita Johnson, Hitech TGR, +1m01.486s
12. Keanu Al Azhari, Hitech TGR, +1m02.174s
13. Kai Daryanani, JHR Developments, +1m06.134s
14. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +1m13.824s
15. Yuanpu Cui, Argenti with Prema, +1m14.800s
16. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport, +1m19.112s
17. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +1m21.042s
18. Divy Nandan, JHR Developments, +1m29.017s
19. Hiyu Yamakoshi, Hillspeed, +1m38.042s
20. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +1m47.912s
21. Stefan Bostandjiev, Fortec Motorsports, +2m21.720s
DNF. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, 8 laps
DNF. Bianca Bustamante, Elite Motorsport, 4 laps