Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp converted pole position into victory in the first GB3 Championship race of the season at Oulton Park.
The reigning British F4 champion resisted a race long challenge from JHR Developments’ John Bennett throughout the 20-minute contest, with the second Rodin car of Ugo Ugochukwu completing the podium positions.
“It’s a dream start to the championship, after practice I knew our pace was going to be good,” commented Sharp. “Obviously to get pole position by three tenths of a second was a bit of a surprise for me actually, and it showed the pace that we did have.
“It was a good race, my first start in GB3 wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t the best getaway and I had a bit of pressure from John into the first two corners. But I was able to just stay in front from that point onwards. Obviously, there was a safety car at the start too, so I’ve pretty much experienced it all in the first race! But I kept it clean, minimised mistakes and I knew the pace was good.
Sharp held off a challenge from Bennett at Old Hall on the first lap, as the British driver attempted to go around the outside at the first corner.
Bennett then tried again at Cascades, with Sharp rebuffing the challenge. The race was then neutralised behind the safety car as James Hedley and Aditya Kulkarni collided at Shell Oils, wiping the latter out of the race and forcing Hedley, who started last after a difficult qualifying, to head to the pits.
The race resumed on lap four and Sharp led the field across the line, building a small gap that he was to extend gradually across the contest.
His eventual victory margin over Bennett was 1.4 seconds, with Ugochukwu finishing a couple of seconds further back to complete the podium.
Gerrard Xie also looked to force his way towards the front early on for Hitech Pulse-Eight and claimed fourth place, six tenths away from the podium positions and holding off McKenzy Cresswell, who has already started his season in a better style than last year with fifth place for Elite Motorsport.
The second Hitech car of Tymek Kucharczyk was sixth, ahead of the third Rodin car of Arthur Rogeon, with GB4 graduate Colin Queen claiming eighth on his GB3 debut for Fortec.
British F4 runner-up Will Macintyre (Hitech) and Elite’s Jarrod Waberski completed the race one top-10.
The second race of the weekend is due to commence at 09.30 on Monday morning, with Sharp due to line up on pole again.
“We need the same again in race two, hopefully a better start and turn one,” said Sharp. “But same again, another win would be amazing, and in the last race with the top-12 reverse grid, starting there will be tough but I think we’ve got the pace to come through.”
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Oulton Park race one provisional result:
1/ Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 11 laps
2/ John Bennett, JHR Developments, +1.433s
3/ Ugo Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, +3.440s
4/ Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +4.044s
5/ McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +4.920s
6/ Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +5.663s
7/ Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, +7.789s
8/ Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsports, +8.394s
9/ Will MacIntyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +8.775s
10/ Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +9.361s
11/ Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +11.129s
12/ Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsports, +11.545s
13/ Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +12.002s
14/ Noah Ping, VRD by Arden, +12.575s
15/ Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing, +13.774s
16/ Flynn Jackes, Chris Dittmann Racing, +14.995s
17/ James Hedley, VRD by Arden, +15.751s
18/ Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport, +18.317s
19/ Shawn Rashid, VRD by Arden, +18.634s
20/ Rishab Jain, Chris Dittmann Racing, +24.386s
DNF Adi Kulkarni, Hillspeed
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Oulton Park provisional qualifying result:
1/ Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 1m29s.292
2/ John Bennett, JHR Developments, +0.287s
3/ Ugu Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, +0.399s
4/ Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.513s
5/ McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +0.521s
6/ Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.569s
7/ Will MacIntyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.689s
8/ Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, +0.732s
9/ Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +0.751s
10/ Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsports, +0.763s
11/ Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.798s
12/ Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +0.816s
13/ Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +0.992s
14/ Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsports, +1.119s
15/ Noah Ping, VRD by Arden, +1.181s
16/ Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport, +1.261s
17/ Flynn Jackes, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.276s
18/ Shawn Rashid, VRD by Arden, +1.844s
19/ Adi Kulkarni, Hillspeed, +1.965s
20/ Rishab Jain, Chris Dittmann Racing, +2.228s
21/ James Hedley, VRD by Arden, +2.614s
GB3 Championship, Qualifying second fastest times:
1/ Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 1m29.554s
2/ John Bennett, JHR Developments, +0.147s
3/ Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.288s
4/ Ugo Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, +0.376s
5/ McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +0.391s
6/ Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.492s
7/ Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +0.515s
8/ Will MacIntyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.630s
9/ Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.656s
10/ Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +0.826s
11/ Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsports, +0.848s
12/ Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, +0.910s
13/ Noah Ping, VRD by Arden, +0.956s
14/ Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +1.025s
15/ Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport, +1.110s
16/ Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsports, +1.302s
17/ Flynn Jackes, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.357s
18/ Adi Kulkarni, Hillspeed, +2.094s
19/ Rishab Jain, Chris Dittmann Racing, +2.199s
20/ Shawn Rashid, VRD by Arden, +3.715s
21/ James Hedley, VRD by Arden, +4.373
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