It’s back to Donington Park for the final race weekend of the 2022 GB3 season! Leaving Brands Hatch last race weekend, Luke Browning was in the lead of the Championship with Joel Granfors and Callum Voisin not far behind.
Qualifying:
For the final qualifying session of this season, Callum Voisin took the top spot with a double pole at Donington Park this weekend. Tom Lebbon also had a great session taking P2 for the first two races with Bryce Aron joining him at the front of the grid in the first race and John Bennett in the second. All eyes, however, were on Luke Browning who only managed to qualify P5 and Joel Granfors who placed P8 in race 1 and P4 in race two.
Race 1 Grid:
- Callum Voisin, Carlin, 1m23.629s
- Tom Lebbon Elite Motorsport, +0.050
- Bryce Aron, Hitech GP, +0.233
- John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +0.272
- Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +0.280
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.302
- Javier Sagrera, Carlin, +0.346
- Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsports, +0.349
- Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.447
- Roberto Faria, Carlin, +0.471
- Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, +0.488
- McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.491
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden Motorsport, +0.576
- David Morales, Arden Motorsport, +0.608
- Alex Connor, Arden Motorsport, +0.622
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +0.656
- Cian Shields, Hitech GP, +0.670
- Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +1.274
- Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed, +1.329
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsport, +1.358
Race 2 Grid:
- Callum Voisin, Carlin, 1m23.802s
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +0.095
- John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +0.196
- Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +0.266
- Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +0.273
- Javier Sagrera, Carlin, +0.281
- Bryce Aron, Hitech GP, +0.312
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.325
- McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.347
- Roberto Faria, Carlin, +0.410
- Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.436
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden Motorsport, +0.450
- Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, +0.524
- David Morales, Arden Motorsport, +0.637
- Alex Connor, Arden Motorsport, +0.662
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +0.764
- Cian Shields, Hitech GP, +0.918
- Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +1.217
- Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed, +1.301
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +1.594
Race 3 Grid:
- Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed
- Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport
- Cian Shields, Hitech GP
- Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport
- Alex Connor, Arden VRD
- Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsport
- David Morales, Arden VRD
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD
- McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport
- Roberto Faria, Carlin
- Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport
- Javier Sagrera, Carlin
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments
- Luke Browning, Hitech GP
- John Bennett, Elite Motorsport
- Bryce Aron, Hitech GP
- Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport
- Callum Voisin, Carlin
Race 1:
As the green lights were shown, both Voisin and Browning had a great start with the Carlin driver sprinting ahead and the Hitech Driver battling his way up the grid. Morales was the first casualty of the session and had to retire his car early after going off and bringing out the safety car with Faria soon following a few laps later after getting a puncture. Lap 6 saw both Browning and Granfors enter the top 4 with Rees, Cresswell and Christodoulou also making up places.
Lap 9 saw Rees and Cresswell also retire their cars with Cresswell losing his front wing after an altercation with Faria. With 3 laps to go, the grid stayed the same to see the checkered flag waved and Callum Voisin taking the win, Tom Lebbon in second and Luke Browning in p3.
On his pole to win victory, Callum Voisin said:
“The perfect way to end Saturday, a double pole, another race win under my belt. I couldn’t be happier.
“The main thing is getting a good start which I did this time which is good. Tom (Lebbon) behind me was extremely quick, it was very hard to keep him behind, I thought midway through I had a nice rhythm and a nice gap but then the Safety Car came out and that undid everything I’d worked for. But anyway, it was a really good race, towards the end I made a little bit of a mistake and the tyres started to drop off which is why Tom got a little bit closer at the end but I managed to hold on.”
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 2:
Coming into race 2, the spotlight was on Luke Browning who by the end of the 12 laps could be crowned the 2022 GB3 Champion. Starting in P5 with both of his championship rivals in front of him, the Hitech driver needed to drive a perfect race. However, arriving at the track on Sunday morning the Great British skies had opened overnight and the track was still wet. As cars prepared on the grid for the race to start, many were still deciding between the slicks or wet weather tyres.
As the lights went out Granfors had a stellar start moving from P4 to take the lead of the race with Browning dropping down to P6. This didn’t last long though as the Hitech driver moved up the grid into P3 by the end of the second lap. Lap 3 saw a change in the lead with Lebbon overtaking Granfors to head the pack.
Unfortunately for Granfors he wasn’t able to make the move to the front of the grid stick and was down in P8 by lap 8. The same lap which saw Browning overtake Voisin to take P2 and step closer and closer to the championship. Aron also had an incredible race after dropping to P14 at the start of the race and moving up to P3 in the final lap. As the checkered flag was shown, Tom Lebbon won with Luke Browning in P2 and Bryce Aron taking P3.
For Luke Browning, P2 gave him the advantage over his championship rivals and as he finished the last lap he was crowned the 2022 GB3 Champion!
Winner, Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport:
“It was really tough out there today with the drying conditions and the wet tyres. I managed to get a bit of a gap at the start and then held the lead from there.
“I think overall the wets were quicker throughout the race but the slicks were quicker at the end. I wanted to go slicks but the team didn’t. This makes up for yesterday getting the win today, overall a great weekend so far.”
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 3:
The final race of the weekend was also the final time the drivers would be lining up on the grid this season. With a reverse grid, Nick Gilkes, Ayato Iwasaki and Cian Shields were up at the front of the grid. As the lights went out for the last time Glikes stretched into the lead with Shields jumping up to P2.
Lap 5 saw Glikes and Shields four tenths apart with the Hitech car inching closer and closer to the back of the Hillspead, however on the same lap the team’s championship hit a turn with all 3 Carlin cars facing trouble with Voisin out, Faria with front wing damage and Sagerera just narrowly missed the incident.
As the flag came out, Nick Glikes took his first win for Hillspead racing Cian Shields in P2 and Alex Connor in third.
With the season coming to a close at Donington Park, Luke Browning takes the 2022 GB3 Championship. Take a look back at the 2022 season here.
