JHR Developments’ John Bennett claimed his third GB3 Championship win of the season in the first race of the weekend at Silverstone, as the title lead changed hands once again after early drama.
Bennett started fourth on the grid, but took advantage of an opening lap squabble between Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp and Elite Motorsport’s pole sitter McKenzy Cresswell to surge into the lead at Stowe halfway round the opening tour.
Sharp had taken the lead on the run down to Copse on the first lap, but Cresswell fought back through Maggotts and Becketts, with the pair going wheel to wheel at high speed. That allowed Bennett, who had already moved into third place at the expense of Gerrard Xie, to close up down the Hangar Straight, and he squeezed between both of them to take the lead at Stowe.
Cresswell and Sharp went wheel to wheel again through Maggotts and Becketts on the second lap, allowing championship leader Tymek Kucharczyk to get a run on them. But at Stowe, Kucharczyk and Cresswell collided, leaving the Polish driver stranded in the gravel and sending Cresswell down the order, swinging the championship back in favour of Sharp and Bennett.
The safety car was deployed to recover Kucharczyk's stranded car, and the race resumed at the end of lap five. Bennett built a comfortable gap to take the flag 1.2s clear of Sharp, who reclaimed the championship lead as a result of all the drama.
Elite's Jarrod Waberski claimed his third podium of the year ahead of Hitech's Xie, while VRD Racing by Arden's Noah Ping blasted from ninth on the grid to take fifth.
Elite's Hugo Schwarze bagged another top-six finish from eighth on the grid, while Cresswell recovered from his early spill with Kucharczyk, which is under investigation, to take seventh.
Rodin's Ugo Ugochukwu secured eighth ahead of Fortec's Colin Queen, who gained six places to finish ninth with VRD Racing by Arden's Nikita Johnson completing the top-10.
The second race of the weekend is due to commence at 10.55 on Sunday morning.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race one provisional result:
