Photo: Mat Acton
Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura prevailed in a thrilling three-wide last-lap battle to win the final GB3 race of the weekend at Silverstone.
While Nakamura claimed a dramatic maiden victory, Elite Motorsport’s Flynn Jackes had to settle for third behind his team-mate Kyuho Lee despite having led for all-but two corners of the race.
Jackes made good use of reversed-grid pole to head the field into Copse for the first time before building an early 2.4-second lead, while Lee profited from a slow start from Velocity Racing Development’s Rodrigo Gonzalez to make it an Elite one-two.
Nakamura made a lightning getaway from the second row to also navigate his way around Gonzalez, but then lost out to Xcel Motorsport’s Lucas Fluxa who was forced wide at Stowe while challenging Lee and slipped back to fourth. Rowan Campbell-Pilling clipped the rear of Nakamura’s car as he tried to challenge Fluxa into Vale, but both cars continued without damage.
Lee was passed by Nakamura into Brooklands on the second tour, and three laps later held on in a frenetic battle for third with Fluxa that lasted all the way from Vale to Abbey.
The safety car was deployed when Hillspeed’s Peter Bouzinelos stopped at the same part of the circuit as he did in race two, and he was not the only driver to suffer recurring issues – as Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough was also forced to retire for the second race in a row with suspected engine failure.
There was enough allotted time remaining for three more laps of racing when the safety car peeled into the pitlane, and Jackes continued to the lead ahead of Nakamura, who had a look up the inside into Brooklands on the penultimate tour but backed out.
The battle intensified on the final lap, with Jackes taking a defensive line into Vale, and Nakamura then drawing alongside as the pair arrived at Village. The squabble brought Lee into contention heading onto the Wellington Straight, and with the benefits of DRS Nakamura and Lee moved either side of Jackes under braking for Brooklands.
Nakamura used the outside line to grab the lead, while Lee sneaked up the inside of Jackes into second, and the trio then ran nose-to-tail until the chequered flag. Fluxa remained fourth, albeit less than a second behind the winner, with Bedrin charging from 12th on the grid to fifth to leave Silverstone with an early points lead.
Gonzalez led home his brother Patricio in sixth, with Campbell-Pilling separating Rodin duo Maxim Rehm and Abbi Pulling in ninth. After failing to start race two due to an engine problem, Rodin’s Martin Molnar struggled with more issues and finished 12th.