The GB3 Championship season blasted into life at Oulton Park, as the new and quicker Tatuus MSV-022 car stunned onlookers at the Cheshire circuit. Here’s some things you may not have noticed from the opening three races of the year.
Browning just loves being at home
Nigel Mansell always said a home crowd was worth at least half a second a lap, and for Luke Browning, that also seems to apply. The 20-year-old made his GB3 debut at Oulton Park at the end of last year, and immediately impressed with a victory in the second race at his local circuit, having won all three races at the venue in the 2020 British F4 Championship.
So when he confirmed his place on this year’s grid with Hitech GP, he must have been delighted to see Oulton Park regain its traditional slot as the season opener. With “half of Cheshire” supporting him (he had around 50 friends and family at the event), he stormed to two pole positions and a pair of dominant victories, and leads the championship. All that means he’s never finished a GB3 race off the podium at his local circuit, and his rivals will be breathing a sigh of relief that we only visit the track once a year!
Lap records are going to be smashed
The new Tatuus MSV-022 car is fast. Very fast. Browning’s qualifying time was two seconds faster than last year’s pole time, while cars had been lapping even quicker in testing. The best recorded time across the four days was 2.4 seconds faster than those seen in 2021, and as the teams and drivers continue to get used to the new machine, and with longer circuits to visit including the fast and flowing Silverstone GP circuit next up, that gap to previous times will only increase.
Grundtvig is a master of the reverse
Fortec’s Mikkel Grundtvig has quickly become the master of reverse grid races, having now won three of the contests in his GB3 career. He claimed both of the Donington Park races last year, and has now added Oulton Park to his list after a mega drive in the final Cheshire event. As he continues to get closer to the outright pace, don’t rule him out of competing for race one and two honours as the season goes on.
Chris Dittmann Racing’s mechanics are every bit as fast as their drivers
The CDR team has a pair of very quick drivers on its hands for the 2022 GB3 season, with Branden Oxley and McKenzy Cresswell likely to challenge for multiple podiums and wins as the year progresses. But when Oxley was pitched out of the second race of the weekend after contact with Alex Connor, the Thai-British driver picked up lots of damage to the right hand side of his car. The team only had an hour to replace the side pod, floor, and various internal components, but remarkably, the Gloucestershire squad not only got the car back running, but to the assembly area in time to start the final race. Their efforts rewarded with a storming drive to fifth place.
From Ginetta GT5s to the top-three of GB3
John Bennett was an unfamiliar name to single-seater fans at the start of 2022, having competed only in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge prior to confirming his place in GB3 with Elite Motorsport. So while some onlookers will have looked to F4 graduates as the names to watch this year, Bennett was setting about massively impressing his team. He was second fastest in testing at Donington, and carried the strong form over to Oulton Park, as he qualified ninth, and then finished fifth in the first two races of the year, before battling to ninth in race three. Such consistency means he’s sitting third in the championship standings at this early stage, and will only get faster as the year goes on.
Rees right behind rivals
Reigning British F4 champion Matthew Rees made an impressive GB3 debut at Oulton Park. The JHR Developments driver qualified fourth for the season opener, and then pressured the more experienced Roberto Faria all the way to the flag in the opening race of the year, claiming a podium just four tenths of a second behind the Brazilian. It was a similar story in race two, this time finishing just outside the podium places, four tenths behind Joel Granfors!
Single-seater fans are in for a treat this season
With GB4 joining GB3 on the British GT bill at most events this season, spectators are in for a single-seater treat all year! Spectators trackside will get almost two hours of racing across both categories at each event, while those viewing online thanks to the comprehensive live streaming package will get even more. The pre and post-race shows for the championships means drivers get more coverage than ever, and fans watching live get to enjoy around six hours of content around the F1 stars of the future!