Dunne and Xie win on final day of the season
Rodin Carlin’s Callum Voisin is the new GB3 Champion, after clinching the crown in the final race of the season at Donington Park.
The British-Swiss driver headed into Sunday with a chance of taking the title at the first time of asking in this morning’s race two, but his nearest rival Alex Dunne threatened to spoil the party after battling past to take his fifth win of the year.
However Voisin still held a strong margin in the standings, and needing to finish 12th in the reverse grid race three to wrap up the title, did just that after fighting up the order from 22nd.
Voisin follows Zak O’Sullivan and Luke Browning as a GB3 champion, and will now receive a prize FIA Formula 3 test for claiming the title.
Race two
After taking his second win of the season yesterday, Voisin lined up on pole again for the second race of the weekend, and could have won the title a race early, had he won with Dunne third or lower. He looked on course to do it too, leading the first few laps, but Dunne shook off a challenge from Fortec’s Max Esterson, and began to close the gap.
Voisin led by a second after the first two laps, but Dunne halved the deficit next time around. The pair remained close for the next three tours, and on lap six, Voisin went in too deep at the Melbourne Hairpin, allowing Dunne to get a run on him on the approach to Goddards.
Dunne swooped to the inside, and the pair banged wheels, but Dunne was through and into the lead. From there he rocketed away, winning by 4.5 seconds at the end of the 13-lap race, with Voisin settling for second ahead of Esterson, who claimed his first podium of the season.
Matthew Rees (JHR), McKenzy Cresswell (Elite) and James Hedley (Arden VRD) completed the top-six, while an eighth place finish wasn’t enough to keep Rees’ teammate Joseph Loake in the championship fight heading into the reverse grid race.
Race three
The final contest of the season saw all 22 drivers reversed on the starting grid, with Patrick Heuzenroeder on pole position, and Voisin and Dunne 22nd and 20th respectively after setting the fastest and third quickest times in qualifying.
Hillspeed’s Gerrard Xie made by far the best start of the front runners, and the reigning Chinese F4 champion led every lap to take his first GB3 win, and his team’s fifth triumph of the season. Edward Pearson (Fortec) and Heuzenroeder completed the podium.
But the main focus was on the title contending duo, with Voisin simply needing to finish 12th in the race to claim the championship, no matter where Dunne finished. Despite some dramatic action in the midfield, Voisin did just that, rising 10 places up the order by the chequered flag despite two lengthy safety car periods.
A surge to ninth wasn’t enough for Dunne, who ultimately finished 18 points away from Voisin at the top of the final championship table, while Loake secured third despite a tricky final weekend.
Prizes awarded at Donington Decider
Several other scores were settled on the final day of action, with JHR Developments sealing the team’s championship for the first time. The Derbyshire squad, led by Steve Hunter, has enjoyed a sensational campaign in GB3, with Loake and Rees finishing inside the top-five of the driver’s standings, and David Morales also enjoying a strong season.
Voisin and his Rodin Carlin team also claimed the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup, and the David Poole-Warren Pole Position Cup, for the most pole positions. Voisin is the first driver to win the award twice, and claimed a £2,000 end of year prize.
GB3 champion Callum Voisin said: “Honestly I can’t put it into words, it was a really stressful race, obviously loads of safety cars and quite a lot of carnage. I’m so happy to come back and to win, especially after what happened this morning, not my finest performance but we came back fighting and we did exactly what we needed to do. I’m pretty ecstatic right now.
"I think yesterday gave me a lot of confidence, we definitely could have got another win this morning, but after the second this morning it did close up the table quite a lot, a lot more than I would have wanted for sure. I always had it in the back of my mind, as long as we do a good job in race three we should be fine and that’s exactly what we did. I kept out of trouble and did what we needed to do.
"I’ve got a flight tonight to Bologna, I’m doing the FIA F3 days at Imola tomorrow and Tuesday and straight back to Silverstone because I’ve got the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award assessments on Wednesday and Thursday. No rest for me but I’m sure when I get back I’ll be sleeping for days on end.
"I love Rodin Carlin, they’ve picked me up since I was 15-years-old and its been one heck of a journey. They’ve never given up, they’ve always believed in me and given me a winning car every time I go out. I can’t thank them enough, Trevor Carlin for his belief, my engineer Jimmy, he’s amazing and always gives me a brilliant car. Thank you so much to them."
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race two top-six result:
1. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 13 laps
2. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +4.498
3. Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +6.963
4. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +7.401
5. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +7.904
6. James Hedley, Arden VRD, +8.481
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park, race three top-six result:
1. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, 13 laps
2. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +0.477
3. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Elite Motorsport, +1.214
4. Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +1.811
5. Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +2.899
6. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +3.598
GB3 Championship, final driver’s championship standings:
1. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, 484pts
2. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 466pts
3. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, 417pts
4. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 390pts
5. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, 370pts
6. James Hedley, Arden VRD, 347pts
GB3 Championship, final team’s championship standings:
1. JHR Developments, 844pts
2. Rodin Carlin, 750pts
3. Arden VRD, 716pts
4. Hitech Pulse-Eight, 699pts
5. Elite Motorsport, 603pts
6. Fortec Motorsport, 528pts
Image: Jakob Ebrey Photography
