JHR Developments’ Joseph Loake strengthened his championship chances with a lights to flag win in the first GB3 Championship race of the weekend on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
Starting from pole, he kept the lead on the first lap, survived two safety car restarts and held off Rodin Carlin’s championship leader Callum Voisin to claim his fourth win of the year.
The lead duo’s championship advantage was strengthened further after Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne, who was second in the standings, was wiped out of the race on the first lap after contact with Matthew Rees at Paddock Hill on lap one.
That meant that Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell and Arden VRD’s James Hedley, who finished third and fourth, gained ground on Dunne, who has slipped to third in the standings.
Douglas Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk recovered from his qualifying spill with Souta Arao to finish fifth, ahead of JHR’s Matthew Rees.
Rodin Carlin's John Bennett was seventh ahead of Hitech Pulse-Eight's Michael Shin, who climbed from 12th to eighth, with Chris Dittmann Racing's Zak Taylor and Fortec's Jarrod Waberski completing the race one top-10.
Loake made a good start from pole position to resist Voisin, but behind, Dunne's title chances took a big hit as he went around the outside of Rees at Paddock Hill, only for the two to make contact, which fired the Hitech contender off into the gravel and retirement.
That brought out the first safety car, with racing resuming on lap three. Loake immediately moved to rebuild his race lead but racing was to be neutralised again on lap six after David Morales went off into the gravel at Westfield.
Loake had to do it all once more when the race resumed on lap nine, this time backing up the field right up to the restart line. While the field went four wide further back, it worked out perfectly for Loake, who rebuild a lead of six tenths, and held that advantage over the next four laps to claim his first win since Silverstone in May.
Both restarts are currently under investigation.
The second GB3 race of the weekend is due to start at 12.05 tomorrow (Sunday).
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch GP race one provisional result
1. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, 12 laps
2. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +0.753s
3. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport +1.628s
4. James Hedley, Arden VRD, +2.912s
5. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +6.385s
6. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +6.845s
7. John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +7.396s
8. Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +7.845s
9. Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +11.502s
10. Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +12.873s
11. Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +12.975s
12. Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +15.469s
13. Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +15.741s
14. Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +16.353s
15. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +16.550s
16. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +16.700s
17. Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +16.988s
18. Lucas Staico, Douglas Motorsport, +17.292s
19. Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +17.492s
20. Daniel MAvlyutov, Hillspeed, +17.935s
21. Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, +18.456s
DNF. David Morales, JHR Developments
DNF. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight