It’s time for the final race weekend of the season and the grid arrives at Donnington Park for the first time this year with Callum Voisin in the lead of the championship. The big question is, will he take the championship or will Joseph Loarke and Alex Dunne clinch the title?
Qualifying results:
Race 1:
- Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, 1m32.439s
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.013
- Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.167
- Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.169
- James Hedley. Arden VRD, +0.199
- Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +0.242
- McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +0.280
- Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +0.287
- Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +0.357
- Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +0.436
- John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +0.515
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +0.600
- Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.601
- Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +0.726
- David Morales, JHR Developments, +0.944
- Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, +1.057
- Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +1.174
- Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +1.210
- Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +1.213
- Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +1.737
- Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +1.835
- Patrick Heuzenroeder, Elite Motorsport, +1.891
Race 2:
- Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, 1m32.488s
- Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.207
- Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +0.307
- McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +0.313
- James Hedley, Arden VRD, +0.313
- Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.358
- Mathew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.366
- Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +0.423
- Jospeh Loake, JHR Developments, +0.485
- Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.590
- Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +0.597
- Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +0.682
- John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +0.882
- David Morales, JHR Developments, +1.047
- Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +1.223
- Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, +1.296
- Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +1.311
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +1.679
- Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +1.801
- Patrick Heuzenroeder, Elite Motorsport, +1.847
- Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +1.869
- Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +2.720
Race 1 Rundown:
The first race of the weekend at Donnington Park took place on Saturday afternoon after qualifying. With a nice cold day, all thanks to Storm Babet, the drivers lined up on the grid for the first race of the final weekend.
As the lights went out, Voisin took a lunge from pole position to lead the pack into the first corner. Behind the championship leader, the rest of the grid faced carnage. With Cresswell parked up at Craner Curves and Michael Shin in the gravel at Redgate, the safety car was deployed. Shin’s car was pushed out of the gravel and the Hitech driver got going again, but it was a disaster for Cresswell and his championship hopes.
By lap 5 the safety car was in and racing carried on as normal with Voisin stretching the gap between him and the rest of the grid. In P2, Rees was getting a good lead over Dunne in P3 as drama struck again and Ping and Stewart collided.
Once again, the Saftey Car was brought out and the race finished under these conditions. All importantly, Voisin took the win with Rees in P2 and Dunne in P3.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 2 Rundown:
The next race took place on the final day of the season with all eyes on Voisin to take the championship. The Carlin driver was starting in pole position with Dunne and Esterson behind.
Voisin secured the lead off the line however for Elite Motorsport’s, Oliver Stewart, it wasn’t as smooth as he was involved in an incident at the start. As he was slowing down, Souta Arao went straight over the kerbs at Foggys, resulting in a loss of positions.
Esterson was pushing Dunne, who was fighting to keep his championship hopes alive, by lap 2. Dunne’s reaction was to put his foot down and close the gap to Voisin. Lap 5 saw Voisin go wide and Dunne take the lead of the race. Which for the championship meant that it would carry onto the last race of the season. As Dunne extended his lead, Michael Shin was given two 5-second penalties.
With the race ending with Dunne in P1, and Voisin in P2, the wait to see who was going to clinch the championship extended to race 3.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Race 3 Rundown:
For Voisin to win the championship, he needed to score 14 points which he could get by finishing 12th from his 22nd-place starting position. That would see him claim 10 points for positions gained, and a further four for his finishing position.
As the lights went out for the final time of the 2023 season, Xie took the lead from Heuzenroeder and Pearson. Lap 3 saw the start of the chaos, Kucharczyk ended his race in the wall, bringing out the Saftey Car. As this was going on, Voisin was in P12 which meant that he would keep the championship lead even though Dunne was ahead of him. When the race was restarted on lap 8, Christodoulou licked the stamp and sent it around Heuzenroeder and Pearson, passing both drivers.
The next driver to bring out the Saftey Car was Loake who ended his championship early in the grass. This meant that the race would finish under safety car conditions. Looking to the grid positions, Callum Voisin was crowned the 2023 GB3 Partnered by the BRDC Champion!
The Irishman took the title 18 points clear of Dunne and won a FIA F3 test, following in the footsteps of Clement Novalak and Zak O’Sullivan. All eyes now look onto 2024 and a new selection of drivers to take to the championship.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
To look back on the 2023 season, click here.
