Arden VRD’s Noah Ping claimed a first GB3 Championship victory in the final race of the weekend at Silverstone.
Ping started fourth on the reverse grid but moved up to second at the start, and passed pole sitter Ayato Iwasaki at Brooklands at the end of the first tour.
He then pulled away to win by over four seconds from teammate Nico Christodoulou, who claimed his first podium. Christodoulou finished fourth on the road but time penalties for Oliver Stewart and Callum Voisin promoted him to second and Chris Dittmann Racing’s Arthur Rogeon to third.
Voisin finished fourth despite his penalty, after passing Stewart on the final lap, with McKenzy Cresswell climbing from 13th on the grid to fifth.
Alex Dunne also enjoyed a strong climb up the order from 18th to sixth ahead of the penalised Stewart with Tymek Kucharczyk one of the stars of the race, as he surged from 23rd on the grid to eighth, and earning the maximum possible 15 extra points for places gained.
Pole man Iwasaki was ninth at the end of the 25-minute contest, with Arden VRD’s James Hedley going from 14th to complete the top-10.
Ping’s victory march was courtesy of a strong opening lap that saw him go from fourth to second off the line, and then moved past Iwasaki towards the end of the first tour.
He pulled out a lead of over a second at the end of the next lap, and extended that with regularity, ultimately taking the flag 4.1 seconds ahead of the pack.
While Ping impressed at the front of the pack, there was big progress elsewhere too. Christodoulou’s second place came from ninth on the grid, while Kucharczyk put on a masterclass of salvaging results from tricky circumstances. On the first lap he gained nine positions, and continued to make progress as he ultimately claimed eighth.
The GB3 field are back in action at Spa-Francorchamps on 3-4 June.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race three provisional result:
1. Noah Ping, Arden VRD, 12 laps
2. Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +4.191
3. Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +6.799
4. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +8.167
5. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +8.247
6. Alex Dunne, Hiteck Pulse-Eight, +8.574
7. Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +9.005
8. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +9.465
9. Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +12.791
10. James Hedley, Arden VRD, +18.130
11. John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +20.196
12. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +20.294
13. Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +20.545
14. Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +23.915
15. Lucas Staico, Douglas Motorsport, +24.974
16. Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, +25.144
17. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +31.353
18. Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, +35.518
19. Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +37.840
20. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +1m11.679
21. Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +1m32.873
22. Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +1 lap
23. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +2 laps
DNF. David Morales, JHR Developments