Hillspeed’s Nick Gilkes held off a sustained challenge from Hitech GP’s Cian Shields to take his first GB3 victory in the final race of the season at Donington Park.
Gilkes started from pole, and held off a first lap challenge from Elite’s debutant Ayato Iwasaki to lead the pack to Redgate. Cian Shields took second on the first lap, and then pressured Gilkes throughout the contest, with the pair never separated by more than a second.
The charge was halted momentarily by a mid-race safety car when all three Carlin cars hit trouble at the same time, a moment which swung the team’s championship honours to Hitech GP.
Gilkes led every lap to win by nine tenths of a second from Shields, while Alex Connor took his first podium of the season for Arden VRD.
Connor’s teammate Nico Christodoulou took fourth from eighth on the grid, while Joel Granfors ended his season in style by surging from 13th on the grid to fifth.
Iwasaki held on to sixth, just ahead of newly crowned champion Luke Browning, who climbed to seventh from 16th on the grid.
McKenzy Cresswell went from ninth to eighth for Chris Dittmann Racing, ahead of Matthew Rees, who was ninth from 15th, and David Morales who completed the top-10 for Arden VRD.
Carlin’s misfortune, when Callum Voisin ran across the chicane and re-entered in the path of teammate Javier Sagrera and lost his front wing, which also wiped off the front wing of Roberto Faria, handed the GB3 team’s title to Hitech GP, and also ensured Tom Lebbon finished third in the driver’s championship, having finished 12th in the final race from 19th on the grid.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race three provisional result:
1. Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed, 13 Laps
2. Cian Shields, Hitech GP, +0.903
3. Alex Connor, Arden Motorsport, +1.198
4. Nico Christodoulou, Arden Motorsport, +1.507
5. Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +1.671
6. Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +3.235
7. Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +3.952
8. McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing, +4.699
9. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +5.264
10. David Morales, Arden Motorsport, +5.680
11. Javier Sagrera, Carlin, +5.898
12. Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +6.194
13. Bryce Aron, Hitech GP, +7.206
14. Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +10.549
15. Roberto Faria, Carlin, +11.755
16. John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +12.013
17. Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +12.386
18. Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, +13.227
19. Mikkel Grundtvig, +13.384
DNF Callum Voisin, Carlin