It had already been a busy week before the grid had even arrived at Snetterton for rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the championship. Earlier in the week, it had been announced that the championship was moving away from being called British F3 to a new name of GB3. The sole reason for this was because of a decision made by the FIA so that the FIA F3 series could exclusively use the F3 title. Therefore, different series’ all around the world were forced into changing the names of their championships to distance themselves from this title.
The week also saw new additions to the grid. Branden Lee Oxley joined Chris Dittman Racing and Max Marzorati would be absent from the weekend as he considered his options going forward. Australian driver Tommy Smith, also announced that he would be racing for Douglas Motorsport at selected weekends for the remaining season.
Qualifying
The top 3 in both races 1 and 2 were set by the same 3 drivers in qualifying at Snetterton. After returning to the championship after missing a few races, Oliver Bearman took pole in the first race of the weekend with Sebastian Alvarez taking pole in the second race of the weekend. Elite’s Tom Lebbon will round off the top 3 in both races. However, due to penalties incurred at Spa, Alvarez would start the first race further down the grid.
Race one Grid
- Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports, 1m57.338s
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +0.884s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +1.078s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +1.205s
- Brandon Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.676s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +2.406s
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, +2.779s
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +2.880s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +3.335s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +3.472s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +3.505s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +3.646s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +3.659s
- Jose Garfias, Elite Motorsport, +3.802s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +3.843s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +4.037s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +4.048s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, no time set
Race two Grid
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, 1m59.967s
- Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports, +0.069s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +0.754s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +0.774s
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, +1.352s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +1.573s
- Jose Garfias, Elite Motorsport, +1.992s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +2.042s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +2.062s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +3.035s
- Brandon Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +3.241s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +3.910s
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +4.177s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +4.889s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +5.508s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +5.975s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +7.763s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, no time set
Race three grid:
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport
- Branden Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP
- Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports
- Bryce Aron, Carlin
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP
- Jose Garfias, Elite Motorsport
- Christian Mansell, Carlin
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP
Race 1 – Round 13
As the lights went out for the first race of the weekend at Snetterton, Bearman carried his pole position start on the grid to take the lead of the race and created a big advantage from the rest of the field on his first lap. Roberto Faira had passed Lebbon, who had a puncture and was dropping down the grid, and consequently had to pit on his first lap.
After the first lap, Reece Ushijima who is 3rd in the championship had made his way up to P6 after starting the race in P13. However, after the first lap, he went off the track and into the barriers, ending his race early. By lap 4 the rain was coming down and Faria was quickly closing in on Bearman who was chasing his maiden GB3 win at Snetterton, however, the pressure applied on Bearman only made him go faster and by lap 6 his lead was 2.2s over his teammate.
As the checkered flag was waved for the first time at Snetterton, Bearman took his maiden GB3 Championship win, with his teammate Faria taking P2 and Arden’s Roman Bilinski taking P3.
After the race, penalties were distributed to Javier Sagrera who had been handed a 20-second time penalty for causing a collision with Lebbon, he dropped from 11th to 15th. Ushijima was another driver called to the stewards and was handed a 5 place grid penalty for race 2 as The Clerk of the Course found that Ushijima caused a collision with Zac O’Sullivan.
- Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports, 10 laps
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +1.141s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +13.389s
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +13.811s
- Branden Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +17.107s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +17.466s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +18.596s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +22.327s
- Jose Garfias, Elite Motorsport, +25.558s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +25.836s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +31.037s
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +35.259s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +36.680s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +45.618s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +48.209s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +1m23.192s
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, +1m41.567s
DNF. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, 2 laps completed
On his maiden GB3 win, Bearman said: “That was a tough race, conditions were pretty much all over the place! Typical British weather we got some rain in the middle which made it quite tough, but come the end it started to dry again.
“I made a mistake about four laps in when the rain came down at turn two, I just ran a bit wide and had a little lock up. But from that point I was just managing the gap and he didn’t seem like a threat so I just kept managing it and brought it home.”
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 2 – Round 14
The second race of the weekend at Snetterton took place at lunchtime on the Sunday, with cloudy skies and a track temperature of 22.5%, Alvarez was looking to transform his pole into a win. As the lights went out Alvarez made the best start, however, Bearman was hot on his tails and after a mistake from Alvarez, Bearman took the lead.
On lap 2 of the race, Championship leader O’Sullivan was in P4, putting pressure on Lebbon in P3 and made a move stick on lap 3 with Bilinski also making his way past Lebbon who was now down to P5. Lap 3 also saw Bearman with a problem and dropped down the pack after having led the race and started lap 4 in P7, however, he did not pit.
The 5th lap of the race saw the top 3 covered by 0.8s after crossing the start-finish line, with Alvarez in the lead, O’Sullivan in P2 and Bilinski in P3. Lap 6 saw Lubin pass Aron for P5 round the Wilson Hairpin after gaining a tow through the pit straight.
After battling from lap 5 for the win, it was Alvarez who took the top place of the podium at Snetterton taking his maiden GB3 win, with O’Sullivan taking P2 and Bilinski rounding off the top 3.
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, 10 laps
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, +0.390s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +0.909s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +3.440s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +6.708s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +9.068s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +9.666s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +10.097s
- Jose Garfias, Elite Motorsport, +10.859s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +11.484s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +13.312s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +13.509s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +14.394s
- Branden Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +16.425s
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +22.508s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +25.728s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +28.588s
DNF. Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports, 3 laps completed
Snetterton race 2 winner Alvarez said: “I think I got lucky, my start wasn’t one of the best I’ve had this year. I was a bit unfortunate with that but then I got lucky because Bearman had an engine issue or something, so I took the lead again, and then I managed to stay there the whole race.
“At the beginning of the race, Zak put me under pressure but in the middle he backed off a bit and at the end he was attacking again. I just had to defend from him and try to make no mistakes and do the best job possible on the last laps and I think I did a good job with that.
“It’s an amazing result. We’ve had good pace all year but we haven’t been able to put it together and some things have not gone our way. But so far everything has gone our way so it’s quite nice.”
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 3 – Round 15
The day’s final race at Snetterton saw Grundtvig, Reema Juffali, Bilinski and newcomer Tommy Smith complete the first two rows of the grid. Off the line Grundtvig and Bilinski had the best start with Smith coming into contact with another car and getting spun around, dropping him down the order. His teammate, Juffali, also didn’t have a great start and she finished lap 1 in P14 after starting in P2. Lap 2 also saw Bilinski get past Grundtvig.
By the third lap of the race, Sagrera in P3 had come under trouble with both O’Sullivan and Bearman coming up behind him and the battle for P3 was on. After O’Sullivan took to the dirt, he had Bearman on his case, taking advantage of the championship leader’s mistake and moved up to P4. This started the battle for P2 with Gruntavig making his car as wide as possible for multiple laps.
With Sagrera picking up damage, by lap 6 Bearman was in P3, O’Sullivan up to P4, just in front of Faria in P5. But the fight didn’t stop there with the top 5 looking to get P2 or P3. With the rain starting to come down on Lap 8, it wasn’t Bearman’s day again with him dropping down the field with a possible overheating problem.
As the flag was waved for the final time of the weekend at Snetterton, Bilinski was on the top step of the podium with O’Sullivan in P2 and Faria in P3.
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, 10 laps
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, +6.185s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +7.659s
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +8.008s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +8.547s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +8.771s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +9.310s
- Jose Garfias, Elite Motorsport, +9.506s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +10.855s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +11.505s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +11.603s
- Branden Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +12.251s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +14.162s
- Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports, +15.608s
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +16.982s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +19.158s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +20.803s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +1m10.082s
GB3 continues at Silverstone on 14th to 15th August.
