Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Will Macintyre was victorious for the second time this season as he held off a late charge from Rodin’s Ugo Ugochukwu in race two at Silverstone, UK. Kiwi Louis Sharp came home in fifth and still holds the lead in the overall championship.
“Silverstone wasn’t our smoothest ride, but P5 in Race 2 keeps us on top of the GB3 Championship standings,” commented Sharp.
Just 10 points separates the leading drivers in the championship standings after the weekend. Sharp continues to lead, with Ugochukwu just nine points further back, with Macintyre a point behind.
Action on Sunday morning was halted due to adverse weather conditions, but it was worth the wait as race two proved to be an entertaining encounter.
From third on the grid, Macintyre blasted into the lead on the run to Copse, as he surged past Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell and Hitech’s pole sitter Tymek Kucharczyk.
While Macintyre moved into the lead, Ugochukwu followed him through into second from fifth on the grid.
Macintyre was able to create a small gap despite damp and greasy conditions, at one point holding a lead of 1.5 seconds, but Ugochukwu mounted a late charge, making big inroads into the gap in the final two laps, and running right under the British driver’s rear wing on the final tour.
In the slipstream down the Wellington Straight, the McLaren junior looked poised to challenge at Brooklands, but Macintyre somehow held him off, taking the flag 0.180s clear.
Race one winner Kucharczyk closed up in all the drama, but had to settle for third place as he completed his best weekend yet in GB3, finishing just over six tenths away from his victorious teammate.
Outside the top-three, Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell dropped to fourth, but still banked strong points across the two races, finishing six tenths of a second ahead of Rodin’s Louis Sharp.
Jarrod Waberski went from ninth to sixth for Elite Motorsport, after a cracking battle with VRD by Arden’s James Hedley and JHR’s John Bennett, who claimed seventh and eighth.
The top-10 was completed by Hitech’s Gerrard Xie and JHR’s Josh Irfan. Series newcomer James Wharton climbed from 16th on the grid to 11th for Fortec.
Race three fell victim to the weather, with action halted this morning. Race two therefore filled the race three timeslot, and where possible, race three will be rescheduled at a later event in the 2024 calendar.
Action resumes at Spa-Francorchamps on 1-2 June.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race two top-six:
1/ Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 10 laps
2/ Ugo Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, +0.180s
3/ Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.679s
4/ McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +3.167s
5/ Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, +3.864s
6/ Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +14.942s
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, driver’s standings after race five of 24
1/ Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 122pts
2/ Ugo Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, 113pts
3/ Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 112pts
4/ McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 101pts
5/ Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 92pts
6/ John Bennett, JHR Developments, 90pts
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, team’s standings after race five of 24
1/ Rodin Motorsport, 235pts
2/ Hitech Pulse-Eight, 232pts
3/ Elite Motorsport, 177pts
4/ JHR Developments, 133pts
5/ VRD Racing by Arden, 85pts
6/ Fortec Motorsports, 62pts
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