24 races, 8 weekends and 6 different circuits made up the 2021 GB3 calendar. With a close championship battle, 28 different drivers and a new name for the championship, let’s take a look back at the season.
If you are new to the series here is a rundown of how the weekend works before looking back at 2021. The race weekend consists of one qualifying session and three races. Within this qualifying session, the drivers fastest times set the grid for the first race of the weekend. The grid for the second race is set by the drivers second-fastest times in the qualifying. As no driver is knocked out in qualifying, everyone has the opportunity to set two fastest laps. The third and final race of the weekend is a reverse grid race from the first race grid, essentially those at the front of the grid are now at the back of the grid. Each race awards drivers in the top 10 points which contributes to their overall championship standings.
The 2021 season kicked off at Brands Hatch at the end of May after a revised calendar due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The first race of the season was won by Ayrton Simmons who also took pole in the first two races. However, this luck did not stretch all weekend as he saw his first DNF in race two after an incident with Bart Horsten which saw Zak O’Sullivan take his first win of the season.
A month later the grid arrived at the home of the BRDC, Silverstone. With Simmons and O’Sullivan in the lead of the championship after three races, this weekend also saw the introduction of a new championship contender. Reece Ushijima stepped into the spotlight taking a double pole which he then converted into two race wins, which added him to the list of favourites to win the series. This weekend also saw Simmons take his second win of the season in the final reverse grid race of the weekend.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Arriving at Donnington Park all eyes were on O’Sullivan to extend his championship lead. With a strong weekend taking pole position in races one and two and finishing both on the top step of the podium, he did exactly that even with Arden’s Alex Connor hot on his tail. It was a disappointing weekend for championship contender Horsten after losing places on the opening laps in race one, he was then disqualified from race two after an incident with his Hitech teammate and received a 5 place grid penalty for the final race of the weekend.
For the first time in two years, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the GB3 Championship visited the iconic track of Spa-Francorchamps. In typical Belgium weather, rain was forecast for the whole weekend, giving drivers the true Spa experience. Making up for his previous disappointing weekend before, Horsten took pole position in races one and two. Unfortunately, the Australian driver wasn’t able to take those positions and create wins as the two Carlin’s of O’Sullivan and Christian Mansell overtook the Hitech driver in the opening stages of both races. This weekend also saw Mansell become the underdog in the championship fight with his teammate out in front.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Snetterton saw a change in the name of the championship, moving away from British F3 to GB3. Not only was there a change in the series’ name, but there were also changes to the grid. Branden Lee Oxley joined Chris Dittman Racing as Max Marzorati took a step back. Australian driver Tommy Smith also joined the grid with Douglas Motorsport for the rest of the season. After a return to the championship, it was Fortec’s Oliver Bearman who took pole in race one, Hitech’s Sebastian Alvarez in race two and Mikkel Grintavig in race three. Both pole position drivers in race’s one and two took the top step of the podium with Roman Balinski taking P1 in race three.
The second visit to Silverstone proved to be a strong weekend for CDR driver Simmons, who took pole position in race two with Bearman taking pole in race one. In both races one and two, Simmons took the top step of the podium, his earlier pole position also put him at the top of the 2021 Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup at the time. This weekend also saw the return of Hillspead Racing’s Jonathan Browne who took the final step on the podium in race three.
In the penultimate round of the Championship, all eyes were on O’Sullivan to see if he could take the championship at Oulton Park. The game was on with the Carlin driver taking pole in both races one and two and the top step of the podium in race one. Unfortunately, heartbreak came for O’Sullivan after making a move off the circuit to get past Browning to reclaim the lead which consequently ended with the Carlin driver in the barriers and the opportunity to claim the title this weekend gone.
For the final race weekend of the season, we returned to Donnington Park. Once again the spotlight was on O’Sullivan to see if he could cope with the pressure to win the championship. In qualifying, he took pole in race one but was down to P3 in race two with Usjijima in pole position. The pressure then mounted as if the Carlin driver won race one, he would take the championship. After a few incidents on the opening laps and Ushijima’s Hitech closing in quickly behind, Zak O’Sullivan crossed the line in P1 taking the GB3 Championship and winning the first race of the weekend.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
The winning streak for O’Sullivan continued in race two after a move around Ushijima on lap 3 to take the lead and race win. The Hitech driver had to settle for P2, whilst a battle at the end of the race between the Hitech of Horsten and the Carlin of Mansell saw Ushijima’s teammate go off track and the Carlin driver took P3. As the checkered flag was waved for the final time in the 2021 season, Gruntavig took the top step of the podium and was joined by Alex Fores in P2 and Frederick Lubin in P3. The results also decided that Simmons would take P2 in the driver’s championship, with Mansell in P3 and Ushijima in P4.
For the full standings, click here to visit the GB3 website. The 2022 GB3 championship is back this year and starts on 16th April at Oulton Park.
