GRANFORS STEALS GB3 CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AT SILVERSTONE AS TAYLOR TRIPLES UP IN GB4

Fortec Motorsport’s Joel Granfors claimed the lead of the GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, at the series’ latest Silverstone outing last weekend (30/31 July).

The Swede took full advantage of a post-qualifying disqualification for main championship rival Luke Browning, after his car failed a scrutineering check, relegating him to the back of the grid for all three races.

Granfors capitalised by becoming the first driver this year to stand on the podium in all three races across the weekend. He won the first after an opening lap overtake, and was third across the next two contests, which included a surge from 18th on the grid in the most entertaining reverse grid race of the year, a gain of 15 places.

BRDC SuperStar Browning meanwhile, put on three outstanding recovery drives of his own, showing the sort of pace that had landed him pole position before his results were wiped out. Starting 21st for the first two races, Browning stormed through to 10th and 11th respectively, and then blasted from 20th to fifth in the reverse grid affair.

Having entered the weekend 30.5 points ahead at the top of the standings following a double win at Spa on the previous weekend, Browning’s recovery drives limited the damage and is just 11.5 points in arrears heading to Brands Hatch on 10-11 September.

There were also victories for young British talent Tom Lebbon, who claimed his second triumph of the year for Elite Motorsport, at the same circuit as his first back in May, while Australian driver Marcos Flack, a protégé of BTCC ace Dan Cammish, finished well clear of the field in the final race.

British driver Callum Voisin had another impressive weekend as he continues his first season of single-seater racing, with two second place finishes in the first two races, and now sits third in the championship standings behind Granfors and Browning.

In GB4, Nikolas Taylor reclaimed the lead of the championship after a perfect treble victory, the first driver in the championship’s history to achieve the feat.

Taylor had only qualified fifth fastest, as then championship leader Max Marzorati took his first pole positions. But a drama on the first lap eliminated two front-runners and also hampered Marzorati, giving Anglo-Malaysian driver Taylor the chance to lead the race on the first lap. After a safety car was called to recover two damaged cars, Taylor raced away from the pack, taking his first win of the weekend by 2.6 seconds from Brit Tom Mills and Canadian Megan Gilkes.

Starting third for the next race, Taylor again claimed the lead on the first lap, and was unchallenged once more, winning by 1.3 seconds this time from Marzorati, who kept him within his sights, with South African Jarrod Waberski claiming the final spot on the podium.

The unique treble was completed in the final race, this time from even further back on the grid. Starting seventh, Taylor was already up to third by the first corner, claimed second at Stowe and then dispatched pole sitter Chloe Grant at Luffield. Ending the first lap just a tenth of a second ahead, he romped away from the field, completing a dream weekend with his eighth win of the season, over 10 seconds ahead of his rivals, with Marzorati and Waberski second and third once more.

Taylor holds a 21-point lead over Marzorati heading into the final two events of the inaugural season, at Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

The GB3 and GB4 Championships extends thanks to the BRDC’s Luke Evans and BRDC member David Brabham for presenting trophies on the podium for Sunday’s races.

For more championship information, visit www.gb-3.net or www.gb-4.net.