The 2022 GB3 partnered by the BRDC season is finally here! Starting over the Easter weekend at Oulton Park it’s the first time we will see a new grid of drivers, returning teams and how they manoeuvre a new chassis.
QUALIFYING:
It was Hitech GP’s Luke Browning who took the first double pole of the season at Oulton Park. He was joined by fellow rookie Joel Granfors and Roberto Faria who has returned to the championship for another season with Carlin.
Race 1:
- Luke Browning, Hitech GP, 1m28.929s
- Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +0.041s
- Roberto Faria, Carlin, +0.521s
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.579s
- Callum Voisin, Carlin, +0.641s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +0.699s
- McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.723s
- Javier Sagrera, Carlin, +0.890s
- John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +0.894s
- James Hedley, Elite Motorsport, +0.992s
- Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, +1.050s
- Marcos Flack, Douglas Motorsport, +1.286s
- Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.338s
- Zak Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, +1.399s
- Cian Shields, Hitech GP, +1.454s
- David Morales, Arden Motorsport, +1.664s
- Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed, +1.804s
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +2.008s
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsport, +2.249s
- Alex Connor, Arden Motorsport, +5.218s
- Bryce Aron, Hitech GP, +5.436s
Race 2:
- Browning, 1m29.091s
- Granfors, +0.107s
- Faria, +0.527s
- Rees, +0.544s
- Lebbon, +0.598s
- Voisin, +0.668s
- Bennett, +0.774s
- Sagrera, +0.779s
- Cresswell, +0.796s
- Esterson, +0.957s
- Hedley, +0.983s
- Flack, +1.181s
- Taylor, +1.331s
- Shields, +0.355s
- Oxley, +1.399s
- Morales, +1.676s
- Gilkes, +1.684s
- Smith, +2.177s
- Grundtvig, +2.220s
- Aron, +7.393s
- Connor, +9.103s
Race 3:
- Mikkel Grundtvig
- Tommy Smith
- Nick Gilkes
- David Morales
- Cian Shields
- Zak Taylor
- Branden Oxley
- Marcos Flack
- Max Esterson
- James Hedley
- John Bennett
- Javier Sagrera
- McKenzy Cresswell
- Tom Lebbon
- Callum Voisin
- Matthew Rees
- Roberto Faria
- Joel Granfors
- Luke Browning
- Alex Connor
- Bryce Aron
RACE 1:
The first race of the 2022 season took place at Oulton Park with Rookie Luke Browning lining up on pole position for his first race in GB3. As the lights went out Matthew Rees was challenging Roberto Faria for P2 whilst the Carlin duo of Javier Sagrera and Callum Voisin collided exiting Shell with Sagrera out of the race and Voisin dropping to last and taking a trip into the pits with a broken front wing and retiring from the race.
By lap 7 Browning had a 5-second gap from P2 which was being fought over by Faria and Rees with the battle heated up with just 0.245s between the pair as they crossed the line on lap 7. By the time the checkered flag came out at Oulton Park, Browning was 10.258s in front of Faria who held off Rees for P2.
Race 1 winner, Luke Browning said: “The car felt absolutely phenomenal today. The engineers did a smashing job. I was just piecing laps together and it honestly felt easy in that car, so a big thanks to Hitech.
“It’s a tight championship and it’s never easy to win at any level so it just shows you how much hard work we’ve put in over the winter. It was important to keep my head level, it’s the first race of the season, so it’s nice to have the points in the bag but we’ve got to do it again on Monday.”
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
RACE 2:
Starting race two at Oulton Park Luke browning had a great launch off the starting line and was nearly a second clear halfway around the first lap. John Bennett also had a stellar start, going around the outside of his teammate on the first corner, slotting himself into P5. Callum Voisin was looking to move his Carlin around James Hedley at the end of the first lap coming into the second but struggled to make the move. McKenzy Cresswell also impressed after placing his CDR car on the inside line around Javier Sagrera with Headley locking up just behind.
The Hitech of Cian Shields struggled again after having to retire the car on lap 3 of the race. On lap 5 Alex Connor went straight down the inside of Marcos Flack, using the slipstream from behind to move his Arden up into P11. His teammate Bryce Connor also tried to make a move up the grid but was pushed a little too wide by David Morales.
Lap 10 saw Matthew Rees challenging Joel Granfors for the final place on the podium. The same lap saw Brandon Oxley come together with Alex Connor and the CDR of Oxley finished the battle in the gravel with minimum damage to both cars. As the checkered flag was waved at Oulton Park, Luke Browning took the top step of the podium, with Roberto Faria behind and Joel Granfors keeping the final place of the podium after a battle with Matthew Rees.
Taking P2, Roberto Faria said: “Today the team did a good job. We looked at the data and we were way faster than the first race so we found some pace. At the end there were yellow flags so I was just managing the tyres and I opened the gap [to third] and was quite comfortable there.
“The car really improved from one race to the other so thanks to the team. We did good work yesterday and this morning and it was a good start. It’s quite hard to start from second place – yesterday I nearly lost the position because it was quite dirty – and this race I started from third so I could just gain one position from the clean part of the track.”
RACE 3:
The final race of the weekend saw Grundtvig have a brilliant start and fired off pole position to make an immediate gap. Behind him, Douglas teammates, Max Esterson and Marcos Flack came together with Flack ending up off the track after a touch from Esterson. On lap 3 Zak Taylor had Brandon Oxley right on his tail and with a move causing the CDR driver to take to the grass, Kian Shields and Max Esterton used this to their advantage and put pressure on Oxley from behind.
Lap 6 saw championship leader Luke Browning out of the race with right front damage after Tom Lebbon and Browning clashed wheels finishing the Hitech GP’s race weekend early. The battle for P3 started on Lap 3 with teammates Gilkes and Morales battling to take the final podium position. Morales with late-breaking and a lock-up still managed to overtake his Arden teammate to take the position after a brave move.
Contact between Sagrera and Cresswell sent the CDR driver over the grass at the Hilslops chicane where Browning and Lebbon previously had touched. When the flag was waved for the final time of the weekend at Oulton Park, Mikkel Grundtvig took P1, Tommy Smith in P2 and David Morales in P3.
Read all about the 2022 GB3 partnered by the BRDC season here.
