Rodin Motorsport’s Gianmarco Pradel scorched to his first GB3 Championship victory in race one at the Hungaroring.
The Australian started third on the grid but blasted into the lead on the run to turn one, and despite an early safety car period, was unchallenged as he crossed the line with a three second margin to the rest of the field.
Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic and Argenti with Prema’s Reza Seewooruthun were the winners on Sunday. Ninovic won race two this morning from pole, while Seewooruthun claimed his and the team’s first win having started third in the finale.
With this year’s championship now at the halfway stage, Ninovic holds a 34-point margin to the rest of the field at the top of the standings.
Race one
A nightmare start for Keanu Al Azhari dropped him to fourth on the run to turn one, and it was Pradel from second on the grid who capitalised to take a lead he’s never relinquish. Macintyre followed him through to run second, while Ninovic held third early on.
Pradel built a lead of over a second at the end of the first lap, but Will Macintyre was able to get within DRS range across the next few laps, only for the action to be halted when the safety car was deployed to cover Flynn Jackes’ stranded car. When racing resumed, Pradel was able to pull clear, while Al Azhari passed Ninovic to take third.
Pradel was able to build a much bigger lead in the second half of the race, taking the flag three seconds clear. His charge was aided by the fact Macintyre was soon engrossed in a battle to hang on to his second place, with Al Azhari and Ninovic swarming all over him. Somehow the British driver clung on to his position, with the three cars separated by six tenths of a second at the flag.
Behind Ninovic in fourth was the Xcel Motorsport car of Patrick Heuzenroeder, with Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough completing the top six.
Race two
Ninovic made a good start from pole but had to be watchful in his mirrors with Hitech TGR’s Al Azhari within DRS range for the first half of the race, with the Emirati driver holding his second place starting position.
Ninovic was able to break clear in the second half of the race to win by 1.7 seconds from Al Azhari, who claimed his second podium of the event with second, while Rodin’s Gianmarco Pradel was promoted to third at the expense of JHR’s Noah Lisle, who picked up a one place penalty post-race.
Lisle therefore finished fourth ahead of Elite’s Will Macintyre, who was combative early on, but fell to seventh behind Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough and VRD’s Hugo Schwarze. The German driver was soon dispatched for sixth, while Macintyre moved past Fairclough on the final lap, with the latter having to settle for sixth.
Race three
The top 12 reversal of the qualifying result put JHR’s Kai Daryanani on pole for the final race, ahead of Elite’s Flynn Jackes. But Seewooruthun from third battled past the duo in thrilling style through the opening sequence of corners and then rocketed into the distance.
Such was his advantage, he held a near three second lead at the end of the first lap, was 10.7 seconds clear at the end of nine laps, and won by 16.5 seconds, the second biggest winning margin in GB3 history.
Daryanani had to settle for second ahead of Schwarze, who moved up from fourth on the grid, while Jackes was fourth, his best GB3 result. After a combative drive, Fairclough claimed fifth ahead of Xcel’s Patrick Heuzenroeder, who completed the top six.
GB3 action resumes at Silverstone on 2/3 August, with Ninovic topping an all-Australian top-three in the standings.