Hillspeed’s Daniel Mavlyutov claimed his fourth reverse grid victory of the season in the final GB3 race of the weekend at Zandvoort, as Rodin Carlin’s championship leader Callum Voisin gained 10 positions in the contest to rebuild his margin at the top of the standings.
Mavlyutov’s victory came after a brave pass for the lead at the end of a safety car restart, with the race taking place in soaking wet conditions. The Hillspeed driver started second on the grid, but his move on pole sitter Patrick Heuzenroeder came just moments before the Australian newcomer crashed at turn three, bringing out another safety car.
Mavlyutov therefore took the chequered flag ahead of Arden VRD’s Noah Ping, who started sixth, and Chris Dittmann Racing’s Arthur Rogeon, who climbed from 10th to third.
JHR’s David Morales was fourth, but behind him, Voisin stretched his title advantage to 13 points with fifth place, having started 15th.
Voisin entered the day with just a three point lead over Joseph Loake at the top of the standings, and Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne just one point further back in third following his double win yesterday. However Voisin’s surge up the order came despite limited green flag running, giving him a replenished 13-point lead heading to the Donington Park season finale next weekend.
Loake and Dunne climbed to 13th and 16th respectively from 21st and 24th on the grid respectively. 17 points now cover the top three drivers ahead of the final three races of the year, and with 105 points still available at Donington, McKenzy Cresswell (Elite) and Matthew Rees (JHR) remain in mathematical contention.
Race winner Mavlyutov said: “My fourth win, it’s not too bad! It was very slippery and I didn’t really get a good start on lap one, it was pretty average. I couldn’t get into P1 on lap one, but I had a decent restart and I committed to turn one, and it worked!”
Championship leader Voisin said: “I’m very happy to have stayed out of trouble, I think I only made about four or five overtakes, the rest was just from people crashing. I still had to go for it, but there was a lot of carnage.
“Especially after the setback we had in qualifying, if you’d told me I’d pretty much keep the same amount of points ahead [at the end of the weekend], I’d have been over the moon. We’ve not had the weekend we’d have wanted, we had a lot more pace than P7 and P6, but we made the most of the reverse grid and that’s all we could ask for, so I’m decently happy.”
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Zandvoort race three top-six:
1. Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, 9 laps
2. Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +0.878s
3. Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.650s
4. David Morales, JHR Developments, +2.426s
5. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +3.072s
6. Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, +4.167s
GB3 Championship, driver’s championship standings after race 21 of 24:
1. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, 406pts
2. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, 393pts
3. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 389pts
4. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 351pts
5. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, 309pts
6. James Hedley, Arden VRD, 297pts
GB3 Championship, team’s championship standings after race 21 of 24:
1. JHR Developments, 753pts
2. Rodin Carlin, 656pts
3. Arden VRD, 623pts
4. Hitech Pulse-Eight, 590pts
5. Elite Motorsport, 543pts
6. Fortec Motorsport, 426pts
Image: The Hillspeed driver passed Patrick Heuzenroeder for the lead after a safety car
Image credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
