The season-opening rounds of the 2023 GB3 Championship delivered all the drama that Oulton Park has become renowned for. But away from the obvious headlines there were several other talking points that observers may have missed. Here’s just some of them.
Shin shines on maiden GB3 weekend
Hitech Pulse-Eight have assembled another formidable driver line-up for the 2023 GB3 season, as they look to defend their titles from 2022. With dominant British F4 champion Alex Dunne, and French F4 front-runner Souta Arao amongst the line-up, the expectation was that they would lead the way, but it was Michael Shin who banked the most points for the squad after three supremely impressive displays. The British F4 race-winner qualified less than three quarters of a second away from pole position, he lined up in 13th place on the grid for race one and banked a strong 10th place finish, but it was his Monday performances that really stood out. In soaking conditions, he surged from 14th to fifth in race two, and then climbed from 13th to fourth in the final contest, despite limited green flag running. An extremely impressive battling debut from the South Korean, who sits fourth in the early championship standings.
Rogeon impresses on car racing debut
Frenchman Arthur Rogeon is a total newcomer to car racing, but judging by his pace at Oulton Park, you’d never have guessed it. Having been inside the top-six at the Donington Park media day test, he carried over that strong form to the opening round, taking a top-10 qualifying slot and just half a second away from pole. In the opening race he picked up a penalty for a false start, moving fractionally before the lights went out, but he out-ran F4 champion Dunne and was running sixth on the road before the penalty was applied post-race. While races two and three didn’t go his way, the season opener was a clear sign that there’s a driver with plenty of potential here.
More Oulton Park records for Loake
Early championship leader Joseph Loake broke the outright Oulton Park circuit lap record during the first race of the season, but he also impressed in other ways at his local venue. His 13 points for places gained in the final race of the event is the most achieved by any driver at the circuit since the rule came into place back in 2018. In addition, his total Oulton Park haul of 76-points is the most at a three-race event at the venue since Clement Novalak banked 81 back in 2019.
GB3 2023 is going to be as wide open as they come, but early omens look good for Loake
21 drivers within a second of pole position in qualifying, three different race winners, seven drivers on the podium. The assumption going into the weekend was that the 2023 GB3 Championship could be one of the most fiercely contested in years, and the first rounds of the season truly confirmed this. Just five points separate Loake and James Hedley at the top of the standings, but if Loake’s looking for an omen, here’s one; the championship leader at the end of the first weekend of the season has won the title for the past four seasons…
Getting cracked on…
Torrential weather on the formation laps ahead of race two cued frenzied scenes up and down the paddock as half the grid pitted for wet tyres and the remainder stayed out on slicks. Immense teamwork up and down the pit lane saw cars quickly switched onto wet tyres and released, including all three Douglas Motorsport cars pitting in one go! When the race start was inevitably delayed to allow all cars to change tyres, there was more outstanding work from teams on the grid. Trevor Carlin became a jackman for his squad, comradery up and down the grid saw opposing team members assist other squads with carrying tyres and other equipment, and there was even a great balancing act! An Arden VRD mechanic managed to leave the grid carrying a stack of two tyres, with a jack balancing on top, and they dropped none of it, respect!
