Al Azhari takes maiden GB3 win as title rivals collide

Photo: Mat Acton

Hitech GP’s Keanu Al Azhari profited from a clash between Alex Ninovic and Deagen Fairclough, and overcame a late error, to win a dramatic GB3 race two at Silverstone.

Al Azhari passed Xcel Motorsport’s Patrick Heuzenroeder twice en route to his maiden victory, with Heuzenroeder coming home second ahead of first-time podium finisher Michael Shin to reduce his gap to points leader Ninovic.

Rodin Motorsport’s Ninovic initially converted pole into the lead ahead of fellow front row starter Fairclough, while Al Azhari slipped back one place to fourth behind Heuzenroeder.

The lead changed hands when Ninovic ran wide at Aintree on lap two, and the safety car was deployed on the next tour, just as he had moved into the slipstream of Fairclough on the Wellington Straight.

The intervention was caused by Ninovic’s team-mate Abbi Pulling, who slipped to 18th at the start and then retired with rear-right wheel damage following a collision at Village.

The safety car was withdrawn one lap later, with Fairclough immediately forced to defend from Ninovic who swept around the outside of Copse and got his nose ahead. But Fairclough had the better momentum and regained the advantage before Maggotts.

Ninovic had another stab into Brooklands later around the lap but backed out, and the pair then held station on the following tour.

The pair’s squabble ramped up once more on lap seven, as Ninovic powered his way into the lead heading onto the Wellington Straight. Fairclough made a late lunge to try and reclaim the place into Brooklands, but the pair came together. Ninovic was spun around, and secondary contact resulted in both drivers losing their front wings.

Al Azhari, who by this stage had fought his way past Heuzenroeder, inherited first place only to soon make an error and drop back to second. But he wasted no time in making amends, surging up the inside into Brooklands one lap later, and he then pulled clear over the final two laps to finish with 1.588 seconds in hand.

Shin, making a one-off return, passed his Hillspeed team-mate Yuanpu Cui for fifth early on and benefitted from Ninovic and Fairclough’s incident to come third.

Cui, meanwhile, was swamped after losing out to Shin and eventually finished eighth. Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre climbed from 13th on the grid to sixth, and gained another place when JHR Developments’ Noah Lisle ran off the road at Aintree on the penultimate lap.

Lisle took sixth ahead of team-mate Kai Daryanani, as Rodin’s Gianmarco Pradel gained in the title race by making up three spots to ninth ahead of Xcel Motorsport’s Yevan David.

Argenti with Prema’s Lucas Fluxa and Velocity Racing Development’s Hugo Schwarze both retired late on, the latter having his front wing dislodged under his car.

Al Azhari’s win takes him up to fourth in the points, while Fairclough has slipped to sixth.

Race result (12 laps)