Deagen Fairclough kicked off the second half of the GB3 Championship season in style with two poles and a double victory, as Hitech GP took a clean sweep at Silverstone last weekend.
A tough start to his campaign had left Fairclough a lowly 10th in the standings heading into the latest round, but he turned around his fortunes with his most convincing GB3 performance to date.
He made a good launch in the opener to initially lead Martin Molnar (Rodin), who capitalised following an early safety car period to move ahead, forcing Fairclough to go defensive into Village before completing the overtake on the Wellington Straight.
Fairclough was not to be denied, however, as he dived back up the inside into Club on the next lap, while Molnar briefly lost second to Xcel’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling before fighting back at Brooklands. Campbell-Pilling faded in the closing stages, while Fairclough fended off Molnar to seal his second win of the season.
“In all honesty I didn’t expect it,” Fairclough said of his race-winning overtake. “It was make or break, I had to get it done early. It’s nice to be back on top. It’s not my championship to lose anymore, so it’s maximum attack.”
Behind, Maxim Rehm and Lucas Fluxa tangled at Brooklands after a three-wide battle with Flynn Jackes. Fluxa spun down the order, while a one-second penalty for a safety car infringement demoted Rehm to fifth behind Jackes. Meanwhile, championship leader Nikita Bedrin recovered three places to eighth after a tricky qualifying.
Late Micallef (r) move at Brooklands in race three ensured Hitech took a clean sweep
Photo by: Ollie Read
“We just had to survive with what we had,” VRD racer Bedrin explained. “We drove with some issues in testing which put us on the backfoot, so in qualifying we came unprepared and the car was not in the right window.”
Fairclough’s second triumph was slightly more straightforward, resisting race-long pressure from Campbell-Pilling by leading from lights to flag. Molnar passed Fluxa at the start before challenging Campbell-Pilling at Club, but was forced wide and slipped to fourth. Fluxa finished third, while Molnar led home Bedrin and Rehm behind him.
Having received a late call-up by Elite Motorsport, Italian Formula 4 winner Edu Robinson started the final race of his debut GB3 weekend from reversed-grid pole, but he was beaten off the line by VRD’s Rodrigo Gonzalez, who led for all-but one lap of a thrilling contest.
Having dropped one place to fourth early on, Hitech’s Jacob Micallef pulled off a stunning overtake on Arden’s Leon Wilson at Abbey, and joined the front two’s squabble. Robinson briefly took the lead at the Loop only to lose out on the exit, and another failed attempt allowed Micallef to steal second at Becketts. The Maltese racer then pulled off a dramatic last-lap overtake on Gonzalez at Brooklands to secure his maiden win.
Wilson was relegated to sixth by Patricio Gonzalez and Bedrin, the latter ensuring his championship lead remained almost unchanged – despite his challenging weekend – at 103 points over Molnar, who finished 12th. Fairclough gained two spots to 10th, while a difficult event for Abbi Pulling was compounded by a race-ending spin at Copse.
Ingram Hill was one of three different winners in GB4
Photo by: Ollie Read
The first GB4 contest featured a dramatic opening-lap lead clash, and Luke Hilton survived the ensuing chaos to claim his second win for ADM Racing.
Front-row starters Thomas Ingram Hill (Fortec) and Fred Green (Elite) both suffered damage by coming together at Becketts, and Hilton was initially delayed by the struggling pair, which allowed Connor Grant to briefly edge ahead.
Hilton snatched the lead into Club and he initially pulled out a two-second margin while a frenetic scrap raged for second. Grant halved the gap in the closing stages, but he was demoted to third behind KMR Sport’s points leader Alex O’Grady at the chequered flag by a 5s track-limits penalty.
An issue for Grant’s Douglas machine on the formation lap led to an aborted start in the sequel. Ingram Hill beat Green off the line when the action eventually got under way, and he dominated the race from there to clinch his maiden win by 2.7s from the Elite driver, while Hilton kept Torrin Byrne at bay to record his fifth-straight podium.
Hillspeed’s Connor Willis scored his first win in the reversed-grid race ahead of Byrne. A three-lap dash to the chequered flag followed a mid-race safety car period, and Hilton’s charge from 10th was ended by a dramatic crash with Josh McLean at Club, enabling Ingram Hill to snatch third from 12th on the grid.
McLaren of Yates father-and-son duo (l) led the way in the GT Cup
Photo by: Ollie Read
The GT Cup’s 50-minute opener was shortened by a red flag, caused by oil on the circuit that claimed four cars on lap one. Gilbert Yates (McLaren GT3) and Peter Erceg (Audi GT3) headed to the pits before the stoppage to hand over to Bradley Yates and Marcus Clutton respectively, and the latter stormed through the field following the restart before snatching the lead on the penultimate lap to take the victory.
Despite being denied a debut triumph by Clutton, father-and-son duo Gilbert and Bradley Yates made amends by winning the 100-minute enduro. On his first weekend in GT3 machinery, Yates Jr climbed from the second row to snatch the lead at the first corner, and his father eventually brought the car home over one minute clear of Felix Livesey and Charlie Digby’s Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo.
Reigning champion Jake McAleer passed Ed Hayes’ polesitting Cayman at the start of the opening Porsche Club contest before taking victory in his 997. Hayes eradicated a 1s deficit to McAleer, but had to settle for second after colliding with a lapped car.
McAleer climbed from third to lead again in the sequel. Hayes took advantage of backmarkers to renew his battle with McAleer, but then faded into the clutches of Steve Wood’s 996 before losing further ground with an excursion at Club. Wood’s late victory charge was halted by the chequered flag being waved early, as McAleer sealed his second win of the day.
Gordie Mutch also secured a double victory in the Radical Cup UK. Cian Geraghty was best of the rest in race one, but he was forced to serve a drive-through penalty while leading the sequel, with Tom Hodge claiming second after Shane Kelly was penalised 30s for a safety car infringement.
Mutch was a double Radical Cup UK winner
Photo by: Ollie Read
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– The Autosport.com Team
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