Gianmarco Pradel ended his GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC weekend on a high note by claiming a second victory of the weekend with a lights to flag victory this afternoon (Sunday). The Rodin Motorsport driver made a strong start from pole to lead from lights to flag.
Whilst the Australian streaked away at the head of the pack, it was fellow reverse grid front row starter Jack Sherwood who slotted into second in his Xcel Motorsport machine. The rest of the top-six were unchanged on the opening lap with Kai Daryanani, Enzo Tarnvanichkul, Noah Lisle and Reza Seewooruthun tucked in behind.
Patrick Heuzenroeder was an early driver on the move, passing both Yuanpu Cui and Michael Shin on the opening lap to move into seventh from ninth on the grid. Another competitor moving in the right direction was Abbi Pulling, who climbed three places to sit tenth as they crossed the timing line for the first time, just ahead of championship leader Alex Ninovic.
The first major change-up came when Lisle attempted to guide his JHR Developments machine past Tarnvanichkul’s Red Bull Branded VRD Racing entry through Vale and Club on lap two. Heuzenroeder, fresh from his rapid start to the race attempted to capitalise on this to pass them all. He ended up running wide as the field drove towards Village however, dropping not just behind those he’d passed, but all the way back to 16th.
At the same time, Ninovic began to work his way into the top-10, making the most of the lively midfield to cut through into eighth, just ahead of Pulling. Cui was another to lose ground at this point, dropping to the very rear of the top-10.
Further forward, Seewooruthun was up to fourth for Argenti with Prema, just ahead of Tarnvanichkul and free to chase down the podium positions. Daryanani was the first in his sights and he began to really attack on lap five before moving by the next time around just before the race reached its halfway point.
Ninovic began to make further progress on lap seven with a DRS pass on Shin at the end of the Hanger Straight. There was another move at exactly the same spot on the next lap too, with Seewooruthun lining up Sherwood for second before flying around the outside at Stowe.
Another driver sizing up a pass as the race entered its final few laps was Lisle, who attacked Tarnvanichkul through the Village Loop on lap eight. He made the move stick on the Wellington Straight, with the opportunistic Ninovic following him through to continue move up the order.
With just two laps still to go, the top two seemed relatively settled with Pradel and Seewooruthun both circulating comfortably. But the final spot on the rostrum was very much up for grabs with Daryanani trying to regain his top-three place with a move on Sherwood at Vale. The attempt slowed both drivers down, enabling Lisle to move into third with Ninovic once again making the most of an opportunity to progress in fourth.
The top-four remained unchanged for the final two laps, with Pradel crossing the line just under two seconds clear of Seewooruthun. Lisle was over six seconds back from the victor when the flag fell, ending the race with Ninovic right on his tail. Despite their brief delay, Sherwood and Daryanani regrouped to finish fifth and six, just under four seconds behind Ninovic.
Pulling was seventh after a bold end of the race which included a double pass on Shin and Tarnvanichkul on the 10th lap. The latter of those came eighth, though Shin had to settle for 10th after he and Keanu Al Azhari made contact late on, with the latter losing his front wing. Will Macintyre made a late surge to beat him, whilst Cui was 11th after spending much of the race in the leading 10, just ahead of Heuzenroeder who recovered to 12th after his earlier detour.
The result means that Ninovic re-extends his championship lead to 39 points over Heuzenroeder after losing ground earlier on, with Pradel a further seven back.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, provisional race three result:
1. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport
2. Reza Seewooruthun, Argenti with Prema, +1.838s
3. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +6.489s
4. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, +6.920s
5. Jack Sherwood, Xcel Motorsport, +10.046s
6. Kai Daryanani, JHR Developments, +10.545s
7. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +10.995s
8. Enzo Tarnvanichkul, VRD Racing, +11.399s
9. Will Macintyre, Elite Motorsport, +14.147s
10. Michael Shin, Hillspeed, +14.601s
11. Yuanpu Cui, Hillspeed, +14.714s
12. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport, +14.601s
13. Lucas Fluxa, Argenti with Prema, +14.714s
14. Hugo Schwarze, VRD Racing, +15.175s
15. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +17.285s
16. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +20.927s
17. August Raber, Argenti with Prema, +21.150s
18. Bianca Bustamante, Elite Motorsport, +21.661s
19. Yevan David, Xcel Motorsport, +26.168s
20. Rodrigo Gonzalez, Chris Dittmann Racing, +26.769s
21. Nicolas Stati, Chris Dittmann Racing, +30.644s
22. Divy Nandan, JHR Developments, +31.114s
DNF. Keanu Al Azhari, Hitech TGR
DNF. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech TGR