Sharp leads GB3’s first ever track action in Hungary as Sagrera returns

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp was fastest in pre-event testing for GB3’s first ever race weekend at the Hungaroring.

Sharp was quickest in both 30-minute sessions, ending the day fastest by 0.052 seconds over Hitech GP’s points leader Tymek Kucharczyk.

Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell led the early stages of session one, posting an initial effort of 1m43.052s and then improving on each of his next three laps to lower the pace to 1m41.848s. Kucharczyk then set a 1m41.687s to lead Sharp by 0.059s, and it was Cresswell’s team-mate Jarrod Waberski who held first place at the halfway stage with a 1m41.365s.

Macintyre beat the South African’s time by 0.006s inside the final 10 minutes, but he was swiftly displaced by Kucharczyk who went fastest once more with a 1m41.242s. Fortec Motorsports’ Edward Pearson briefly moved ahead by 0.004s before Sharp went fastest by 0.3s with a 1m40.794s.

Velocity Racing Development by Arden’s Shawn Rashid closed to within 0.013s of the New Zealander in the closing stages, while Kucharczyk was demoted for fourth by Macintyre despite improving his pace. Pearson and Waberski slipped to fifth and sixth ahead of Rodin stand-in James Hedley, who climbed to seventh on his final lap.

Kucharczyk lowered the benchmark pace to 1m40.657s in the opening minutes of session two, and JHR Developments’ John Bennett soon lapped 0.25s quicker. Cresswell knocked a further quarter of a second off the fastest time with a 1m40.147s before Kucharczyk went quickest again with a 1m40.019s.

Waberski moved to within 0.071s of the Pole, who then extended his advantage twice after fitting fresh tyres, with his best effort a 1m29.520s. But Sharp posted a 1m39.468s with four minutes remaining to end testing at the top.

Bennett was third ahead of Macintyre, Cresswell and Hedley, the quartet all improving in the closing stages, while Waberski dropped to seventh. All 21 drivers set their best times in session two, including Eurocup-3 title contender Javier Sagrera who was 19th ahead of his one-off GB3 return with Chris Dittmann Racing.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who scored two podiums during his two GB3 seasons in 2021 and ’22, received a last-minute call-up to replace fellow Eurocup-3 racer Isaac Barashi who no longer is making his GB3 debut and instead is competing in the Formula Regional European Championship round at same venue with MP Motorsport.

Test results