Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell claimed his first GB3 Championship victory in the second race of the weekend at Silverstone.
From second on the grid, Cresswell took the lead on the run down to Copse on the first lap, passing pole sitter Matthew Rees up the inside. He then survived a safety car restart and maintained a gap, building his advantage to 1.1 seconds at the chequered flag, with race one winner Rees settling for second, and Douglas Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk third.
Rees’ teammate Joseph Loake claimed fourth place ahead of Rodin Carlin’s Callum Voisin, who regained the championship lead by finishing a place higher than Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne, who finished sixth, coming out on top after a late scrap with Nico Christodoulou.
Arden VRD’s Christodoulou fell behind Fortec’s Jarrod Waberski on the penultimate lap, with the South African one of several drivers to go wheel-to-wheel with Christodoulou’s teammate Noah Ping during the 10-lap contest.
Fortec’s Max Esterson produced another superb recovery drive, gaining eight places on the first lap alone to run 10th, and then engaged in a thrilling scrap with Ping to take ninth, with the Arden VRD contender having to settle for 10th.
Cresswell started second, but with the benefit of a full set of fresh tyres compared to Rees’ half, made a better getaway from the front row, and took the lead on the run to Copse.
But the race was immediately neutralised behind the safety car after Cresswell’s teammate Oliver Stewart went off into the gravel at Copse.
The race resumed starting lap three, with Cresswell and Rees breaking away from the pack behind mid-race. The main action was the scrap for ninth place, as Ping and Esterson exchanged the position on several occasions, with Esterson eventually benefiting.
Cresswell’s lead hovered at around about eight tenths early on, before extending it to as much as 1.6 seconds with a couple of laps remaining. Easing off towards the end, the 17-year-old’s first GB3 win came at a venue where he’d already taken two podiums this season.
The final GB3 Championship race of the weekend, the full reverse grid contest, is due to commence at 14.50, with Daniel Mavlyutov scheduled to start from pole.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race two provisional result:
1. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 10 laps
2. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +1.130
3. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +4.871
4. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +6.309
5. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +8.133
6. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +8.999
7. Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +10.101
8. Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +12.407
9. Max Esterston, Fortec Motorsport, +14.838
10. Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +18.038
11. James Hedley, Arden VRD, +18.285
12. Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +19.118
13. Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +21.074
14. John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +21.873
15. Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +22.403
16. Lucas Staico, Douglas Motorsport, +22.548
17. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +23.376
18. Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +24.163
19. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +24.883
20. Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, +28.632
21. Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, +36.142
22. David Morales, JHR Developments, +1m.16.468
DNF. Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport