Australians Hungary for GB3 success as Ninovic extends lead

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic extended his GB3 Championship lead in Hungary last weekend as this year’s campaign reached the halfway point at the Hungaroring.

The Australian was one of three different winners across the trio of races at the Hungarian Grand Prix venue, with his third triumph of the year coming in Sunday morning’s race two.

His team-mate, fellow Australian Gianmarco Pradel, was victorious in Saturday’s race one, passing slow-starting polesitter Keanu Al Azhari off the line, with Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre following him through into second, as Hitech’s Al Azhari dropped to fourth behind Ninovic.

After an early safety car, Pradel pulled away to claim his first series win by three seconds over Macintyre, with the main focus being the fight for the final spot on the podium. Al Azhari moved past Ninovic into third at the restart and then closed onto the back of Macintyre, bringing Ninovic with him.

Despite repeated attempts, Macintyre was able to rebuff the challenges, with Al Azhari having to settle for third and Ninovic banking the points in fourth ahead of Xcel’s fellow title contender Patrick Heuzenroeder and Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough.

Ninovic’s big haul came in race two, which he won from pole. He held off a challenge at Turn 1 from Al Azhari, who started alongside him, though the race was neutralised under the safety car after Jack Sherwood clattered into Kai Daryanani at the first corner.

Upon the restart, the leading pair quickly pulled away and were closely matched initially, with Al Azhari constantly within DRS range. However, Ninovic was able to eke out a small advantage across the final laps, extending his margin to 1.8 seconds at the flag to add a Hungaroring victory to those achieved at Zandvoort and Spa-Francorchamps.

JHR’s Noah Lisle initially claimed third, but was handed a one-place penalty post-race for forcing Pradel off the track, with the latter benefiting to claim his second podium of the event. Lisle therefore was classified fourth ahead of Macintyre, who entertained as he battled his way up to fifth ahead of Fairclough, who was demoted at the start of the final tour.

Reza Seewooruthun then threatened to break the all-time record for the series’ biggest winning margin in the final race on Sunday afternoon. From third on the grid, the Argenti with Prema driver claimed the lead after a first-lap battle with Daryanani and then blasted into the distance.

His eventual gap of 16.6s has only ever been bettered by a Lando Norris triumph back in 2016, and secured not only his own breakthrough GB3 win, but also the first for the Argenti with Prema alliance.

Daryanani claimed his second podium of the year in the runner-up spot ahead of VRD Racing’s Hugo Schwarze, with Elite’s Flynn Jackes banking his best result in fourth. Fairclough and Heuzenroeder completed the top six.

From 12th on the grid, Ninovic climbed to eighth, and holds a 34-point margin to Heuzenroeder at the top of the standings heading to Silverstone at the start of August, with Pradel completing an all-Australian top three.

Seewooruthun streaked clear of the opposition to dominate race three and score first win for Argenti/Prema alliance

Photo by: JEP