Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Gerrard Xie posted the fastest time of the day in the final session, as pre-event testing ahead of the Brands Hatch season finale came to a conclusion on Friday.
On the rapid fire Indy circuit, Xie’s best lap of 46.003s came in the fourth session, with the day’s running heavily affected by rainfall.
No running was possible in the first test, with Chris Dittmann Racing’s James Hedley setting the pace in the next two sessions, which were both affected by red flags.
But conditions had improved somewhat by the final test, and though cars remained on treaded Pirelli tyres, Xie’s lap was significantly quicker than the pace in the preceding two sessions.
The Chinese driver finished 0.099s clear of Rodin Motorsport’s championship leader Louis Sharp, with Hitech’s title contenders Will Macintyre and Tymek Kucharczyk completing the top-four.
Reigning GB4 champion Tom Mills was fifth quickest for Chris Dittmann Racing, just 0.066s away from Kucharczyk and a tenth clear of Arthur Rogeon’s Rodin.
Hedley was next up, a tenth clear of reigning champion Callum Voisin (Rodin), with VRD Racing by Arden’s Shawn Rashid and Noah Ping completing a top-10, which was covered by 1.036s.
While three of the four championship contenders were towards the top of the times, current second placed driver John Bennett endured a troubled afternoon, which included a heavy shunt at Clearways in the third session. His JHR team worked wonders to get the heavily damaged car back into working order for the final session, with enough time to complete two laps. Fortec’s Colin Queen was the only contender not to record their best time in the final session.
GB3 action resumes on the Grand Prix circuit tomorrow (Saturday) with practice at 9am before the final qualifying session of the season.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch Indy test combined result:
1. Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 46.003s
2. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, +0.099s
3. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.372s
4. Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.499s
5. Tom Mills, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.565s
6. Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, +0.693s
7. James Hedley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.740s
8. Callum Voisin, Rodin Motorsport, +0.857s
9. Shawn Rashid, VRD Racing by Arden, +1.001s
10. Noah Ping, VRD Racing by Arden, +1.036s
11. Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.058s
12. Nikita Johnson, VRD Racing by Arden, +1.093s
13. Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +1.095s
14. Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +1.101s
15. Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +1.251s
16. Aditya Kulkarni, Hillspeed, +1.346s
17. Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport, +1.897s
18. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +2.176s
19. Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsport, +3.365s
20. John Bennett, JHR Developments, +5.063s