After nearly a month’s wait from the previous race at Silverstone, the grid arrived at Oulton Park for the penultimate round of the 2021 GB3 championship. All eyes were on Championship leader Zak O’Sullivan who could take the championship win after winning race 3 at Silverstone where he took an advantage over the rest of the grid. Ayrton Simmonds was also on a high after winning both race 1 and 2 at the home of the BRDC. It was a weekend that also saw him move to the top of the 2021 Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup.
Qualifying
It was championship leader Zak O’Sullivan who took double pole for the weekend at Oulton Park. Fortec’s Luke Browning took P2 in both races on his debut weekend on his home turf. O’Sullivan’s teammate, Christian Mansell, is P2 in the championship qualified P6 in race 1 and P5 in race 2.
Race One Grid
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, 1m31.015s
- Luke Browning, Fortec Motorsports, +0.126s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.508s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +0.526s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +0.589s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +0.609s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +0.616s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.637s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +0.712s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +0.936s
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +1.005s
- Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.094s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +1.103s
- Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed, +1.314s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +1.633s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +1.734s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +2.957s
Race Two Grid
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, 1m31.173s
- Luke Browning, Fortec Motorsports, +0.142s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +0.448s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +0.480s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +0.486s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +0.510s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.563s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +0.567s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.623s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +0.845s
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +0.852s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +0.949s
- Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.104s
- Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed, +1.279s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +1.510s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +1.600s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +2.850s
Race Three Grid
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports
- Bryce Aron, Carlin
- Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed
- Roman Bilinski, Arden
- Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP
- Frederick Lubin, Arden
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport
- Christian Mansell. Carlin
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Luke Browning, Fortec Motorsports
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport
Race 1 – Round 19
As the lights went out for the first time at Oulton Park, O’Sullivan managed to hold the lead but had Browning right behind him on his tail challenging him for P1. After the first lap, the top 6 remained in the same places with Reece Ushijima overtaking Javier Sagrera for P7 and Branden Oxley and Sebastian Alvarez completing the top 10.
By lap 6 O’Sullivan had a 1.514-second gap over Browning, with the rest of the field in the same place from lap 2. Lap after lap O’Sullivan was increasing the advantage he had over the rest of the field with a lead of 3.565s as he started the final lap. The 11th lap also finally saw a change in the field as Jonathan Browne overtook Frederick Lubin in the final stages of the race.
As the chequered flag was waved, O’Sullivan took the win of the first race of the weekend at Oulton Park with Browning taking P2 and Simmonds completing the top 3. However, after the race Browning was excluded from the results due to a technical infringement as the Fortec’s skid plank did not meet the minimum dimensional requirement at the front left measurement position. Therefore the Clerk of the Course disqualified Browning, with Faria inheriting P2.
- Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, 13 laps
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +4.415s
- Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +7.354s
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +8.511s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +8.945s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +10.006s
- Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, +13.301s
- Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +15.683s
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +21.298s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +22.023s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +22.534s
- Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed, +23.545s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +24.270s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +25.473s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +37.263s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +37.618s
- Luke Browning, Fortec Motorsports, technical infringement
Post-race, Winner O’Sullivan said: “I haven’t quite done the maths but a win is a win and I’m going to be extending the gap over everyone if I win. So it’s good to get the win, I’ll put my focus onto winning tomorrow’s race and a good weekend rather than winning the championship. The car was awesome, I managed to pull the gap slightly later on in the race. I think from lap three onwards we had a bit of a tyre advantage and really stretched the gap. The car’s been handling great all weekend and I think that really showed there.
“Luke seemed to be able to switch the tyres on a little bit faster, I had a bit of wheelspin at the start and was slightly on the back foot for the first sector. But then even early on when he was quite close it was under control, it’s so hard to overtake here, if you’re leading and don’t make any mistakes you’re pretty much guaranteed a win. But it was good to extend that gap towards the end which was a bonus.
“Hopefully we can do the same again tomorrow, perhaps with a better start. The pace has been great here today so I can’t see why it won’t be tomorrow.”
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 2 – Round 20
As the lights went out for the second race at Oulton Park, O’Sullivan and Browning were wheel to wheel off the line with Browning taking the lead off O’Sullivan. The first lap also saw Balinski on a mission to gain places as he made his way around the track, Lubin was another driver who had a great start, making up two places in the first two laps.
Lap 3 saw the battle between O’Sullivan and Browning continue. With it being Browning’s first weekend in GB3 and in a new car, the British driver was raising eyebrows with his impressive performance. The 5th lap of the race saw Oxley take to the grass and spin around onto the track, after dropping to the back of the pack the CDR driver was able to rejoin the race after losing 4 positions. After Balinski’s efforts to pummel through the grid, a battle with Alvarez saw the Arden driver spin and drop back down the order. On the same lap, the yellow flag was shown as Sagrera ended in the gravel after being in P6 for most of the race as a result of a mistake.
Heartbreak came on lap 10 as the fight between O’Sullivan and Browning saw the Carlin driver off the road trying to overtake Browning after he made a mistake which consequently saw O’Sullivan in the barriers at Oulton Park. However by lap 12 Browning and Faria were then in the battle for the lead but a mistake by both drivers saw them both in the grass on either side of the track, ending the Arden teammates’ race 1 lap before the end. A red flag brought the race to an end on lap 12 with Horsten leading, however Browning was running at the time of the red flag so he took P1 in the race.
- Luke Browning, Fortec Motorsports, 10 laps
- Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +1.516s
- Christian Mansell, Carlin, +2.044s
- Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +4.563s
- Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +9.880s
- Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +17.394s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +17.684s
- Bryce Aron, Carlin, +19.783s
- Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed, +20.361s
- Reema Juffali, Douglas Motorsport, +22.643s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +22.917s
- Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +23.439s
- Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +29.450s*
- Sebastian Alvarez, Hitech GP, +29.454s
DNF. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, 10 laps (not running at the time of the red flag)
DNF. Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, 9 laps
DNF. Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, 8 laps
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 3 – Round 21
The final race of the weekend saw the rain pouring down and consequently low track temperature and wet weather tyres at Oulton Park. Championship Leader O’Sullivan needed to finish in the top 7 to extend his GB3 Championship lead ahead of teammate Mansell and take the title depending on where his teammate finished. As the lights went out, Bilinski had a good start with the rest of the field driving straight into the spray. The first lap also saw Horsten spin and rejoin the track alongside race 2 winner Browning, who was unable to restart and rejoin the race.
With the rain continuing to fall O’Sullivan’s challenge was on to win the championship on a wet Sunday afternoon at Oulton Park and with his head in the game, within a lap and a half he had cleared nearly half of the field. Reema Juffali was the next victim to fall because of the wet weather as her car ended in the barriers on lap 7 after trying to pass Horsten.
As they crossed the finish line for the final time of the weekend, Balinski took the race win after leading for the whole race with Grundtvig in P2 and Lubin in P3. With Mansell finishing in P11 and O’Sullivan in P6, the Brit extended his lead by 115 points. However, there are 116 points available at Donnington so the fight for the championship is not over.
The GB3 Championship concludes at Donnington Park on 16th and 17th October.
