Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne claimed his first GB3 Championship victory at Spa-Francorchamps, after a thrilling battle with Rodin Carlin’s Callum Voisin.
Dunne started second on the grid behind Voisin, and after a couple of attempts on the approach to Les Combes, finally made a move stick around the outside on lap six.
He then pulled away to break the tow, and claimed victory by over a second from Voisin, while Douglas Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk claimed a first podium in third after closing on the Rodin Carlin machine late on.
JHR’s David Morales claimed his best result of the season so far with fourth place, with Arden VRD’s Nico Christodoulou going from seventh to fifth by the chequered flag.
Hillspeed’s Gerrard Xie was another to achieve a personal best result in the race, taking sixth from ninth on the grid, ahead of the Hitech Pulse-Eight car of Michael Shin.
Rodin Carlin’s John Bennett gained three places on his way to eighth, ahead of Fortec’s Max Esterson, with the American’s teammate Jarrod Waberski surging from 17th on the grid to complete the top-10.
As ever at Spa, there was plenty of drama on the first lap, with Voisin making a good start to lead the field to La Source, but as is standard at the Belgian Grand Prix venue, left himself vulnerable to attack from behind as he punched a hole in the air for the chasing field behind.
Dunne’s first attempt for the lead came at the end of the long drag to Les Combes. As he tried around the outside, McKenzy Cresswell in third looked to creep up the inside of the Hitech car and spun at the first segment of the chicane, forcing drivers following to take avoiding action.
While Cresswell recovered, there was more drama behind as Daniel Mavlyutov, Arthur Rogeon and Noah Ping dropped out of the race, with Lucas Staico also involved in the drama.
With three cars parked in the run-off area, the safety car was deployed, with racing resuming at the end of lap three.
Almost immediately, Dunne tried for the lead again at Les Combes, this time trying the inside with Voisin holding off the charge. Next time around he went for the outside, with Voisin resisting once more, before Dunne finally got an ideal run through Eau Rouge on lap six, allowing him to draw alongside Voisin much earlier down the Kemmel Straight, and making it stick around the outside.
From there, he was able extend a lead of approaching a second in two sectors of the lap, and stretched it fractionally in the final two tours to claim his maiden triumph.
The second GB3 Championship race of the weekend is due to commence at 17.37 local time (16.37 GMT), with Voisin on pole once more.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Spa-Francorchamps race one provisional result:
1. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 8 laps
2. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +1.174s
3. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +1.853s
4. David Morales, JHR Developments, +3.751s
5. Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +4.502s
6. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +4.650s
7. Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +5.426s
8. John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +6.471s
9. Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +7.656s
10. Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +9.682s
11. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +10.453s
12. James Hedley, Arden VRD, +10.722s
13. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +11.194s
14. Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +13.093s
15. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +14.372s
16. Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +14.542s
17. Lucas Staico, Douglas Motorsport, +14.893s
18. Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +16.877s
19. Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +17.101s
20. Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1 lap
DNF. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, 1 lap completed
DNF. Noah Ping, Arden VRD, 0 laps
DNF. Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 laps
DNF. Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, 0 laps
DNF. Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, 0 laps