Slater makes a statement as new GB3 era gets under way at Silverstone

Freddie Slater produced a scintillating display to give himself and Hillspeed a double victory in the first weekend for GB3’s new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 machine at Silverstone.

While Italian Formula 4 conqueror Slater’s triumphs were perhaps not a surprise, it was the manner in which he took them that stood out.

The 16-year-old began by dominating GB3’s new two-part qualifying session to take pole for the first two contests by a clear half-second margin.

Slater’s only threat in the opener came on lap one into Maggotts, where he faced pressure from JHR Developments’ fast-starting Noah Lisle, who had swept around the outside of Rodin Motorsport’s Gianmarco Pradel into Copse.

Having remained ahead, Slater pulled out a 1.8s advantage on the opening lap. He continued to go faster on each of the next nine tours, and finished the 12-lap contest seven seconds clear. Lisle kept fellow Australian Pradel at bay throughout to finish second, the pair both scoring podiums on debut.

Abbi Pulling, another impressive debutant, challenged Pradel on the opening lap into Becketts but ran wide and lost fourth to Rodin team-mate Alex Ninovic, and the pair held station until the finish.

Slater was denied a chance to win by an even bigger margin in race two. He had built a huge 10s advantage before a spectacular late collision between Xcel Motorsport’s Dion Gowda and Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari resulted in the contest finishing behind the safety car.

Lisle repeated his start from the first race by passing Ninovic into Copse before again finishing second. Ninovic also conceded third to Hitech GP’s Nikita Johnson on the opening lap and then slipped to fifth behind Pradel while trying to fight back. Pulling inherited sixth after Kai Daryanani was penalised for excessive weaving during the pair’s race-long squabble.

Having stalled in race two, Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre bounced back with his fourth GB3 victory in the partially reversed-grid race. He grabbed the lead shortly after the start, while polesitter Al Azhari recovered from a slow getaway to climb second – only to be given a penalty for passing outside of the track’s limits. Xcel’s Patrick Heuzenroeder and Daryanani therefore finished second and third.

Slater made up four spots to seventh before a late clash sent him and Johnson spinning down the order, with Pradel retiring after collecting Johnson. Rodin’s other two drivers also failed to finish, with Pulling tangling with Gowda on lap one, and Ninovic suffering race-ending car damage in a separate incident. An opening-corner collision also ended Lisle’s race early.

Pre-season title favourite Deagen Fairclough had a largely difficult GB3 debut for Hitech. Having struggled for pace in qualifying and recovering from a grid stall to 17th in the opener, Fairclough was forced to start Sunday’s two contests from the back of the grid after receiving special dispensation to make an overnight survival cell change. He climbed to 15th in race two, before a track-limits penalty dropped him back, and then produced a strong charge up to seventh in the finale.

Red Bull’s Coronel takes Ginetta Junior clean-sweep, as victory spoils shared in GB4

Coronel was unstoppable on landmark weekend for Ginetta Junior

Photo by: JEP

Red Bull protege Rocco Coronel continued his impressive start in Ginetta Junior by winning all three races at Silverstone.

The R Racing driver climbed from third to achieve his first triumph, his hopes boosted by some clever racecraft through the opening corners of the race. Having given Ginetta scholarship winner Fred Green a helping nudge past Pace Performance’s polesitter Torrin Byrne into Maggotts, Coronel then swept past Byrne as well for second. 

The Dutch teenager shadowed Green until snatching the lead on the penultimate lap, and he resisted a renewed challenge from the Elite Motorsport driver for his third win of the season. Fellow Red Bull Junior Scott Kin Lindblom sent Byrne spinning at Village early on, before prevailing in a late battle for second with R Racing team-mate Alfie Slater.

Ginetta Junior celebrated its 500th race in the sequel, where Coronel again passed Green to taste victory. His first attempt to snatch the lead was undone by the safety car being deployed, but he quickly moved ahead once racing resumed with two laps to go.  

Green spun into retirement before the race’s conclusion, with Joseph Smith edging out his Elite team-mate Ethan Carney for second and MDD Racing’s George Proudford Nalder coming home fourth.

Coronel secured his fifth straight triumph by leading from lights to flag in the finale, as Slater made up four places to second ahead of Smith and Proudford Nalder.

Elite’s GB4 drivers enjoyed another podium lockout

Photo by: JEP

While Elite missed out on Ginetta Junior victories, it was the team to beat in GB4’s first two contests of the weekend.

Alex Kattoulas converted the first of two poles into a maiden car racing victory in race one to claim the championship lead. He prevailed in a four-way scrap at the start before finishing a commanding 6.6s clear of his team-mate Ary Bansal.

Isaac Phelps lost out in a fierce scrap for third with Fortec Motorsports’ Jack Taylor and was shuffled back to fifth behind Arden’s Leon Wilson.

Phelps bounced back to score his second win of the season in race two, taking the lead at the start and managing two safety car restarts to lead home Kattoulas and Bansal for Elite’s second podium lockout of the campaign.

Hillspeed’s Daniel Guinchard reclaimed the points lead he had held at the beginning of weekend by capitalising on a mistake from ADM’s Jason Pribyl to take a maiden win in the reversed-grid race.

Leandro Juncos was third to complete a double podium for Hillspeed, while Bansal climbed to fourth to leave round two in a three-way tie for second with Phelps and Kattoulas, who both were hampered by incidents.

James Nicholas took his first win of GT Academy season by leading home Jamie Caudle and Charlie Digby in the opener. The trio battled it out at the front again in race two, with Caudle profiting from a late clash from his two rivals to take victory. Digby damaged his suspension in a further collision with Alex Deighton, who held on to second ahead of Joe Edge and Nicholas. 

MDD’s Archie Clark continued his unbeaten start in the Ginetta GT Championship by winning both contests.

Clark maintained his unbeaten Ginetta GT run

Photo by: JEP