Home Formula 3GB3 Arden’s Morales fastest in GB3 Brands Hatch Indy test

Arden’s Morales fastest in GB3 Brands Hatch Indy test

by Steve Whitfield

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Arden’s David Morales was the pace-setter in Friday’s GB3 test on Brands Hatch’s Indy layout.

Morales set a best time of 42.351 seconds in the third of four sessions held across the day to finish ahead of Carlin duo Roberto Faria and Callum Voisin. Tomorrow the series will switch to the circuit’s Grand Prix layout for the penultimate round of the season.

Luke Browning led the early stages of the opening 25-minute session with a time of 45.875s before a brief red flag period. He driver improved to 43.018s following the resumption, but title rival Joel Granfors edged him to top spot by 0.003 seconds moments before the session was halted for a second time. JHR Developments’ Matthew Rees was 0.067s off the pace in third.

Roberto Faria lowered the pace to 42.887s in session two, 0.001s clear of JHR’s James Hedley, before another stoppage. Voisin set a series of quick laps to lead the way once action resumed, but Hedley finished on top by 0.022s with a 42.683s. Browning and Arden’s Nico Christodolou were less than a tenth behind in third and fourth.

Times improved further in an uninterrupted session three, with Granfors getting down to 42.597s. He was not able to improve from there, with Voisin moving ahead with a 42.480s. Morales then lapped 0.082s faster before Faria put Carlin back on top once more with a 42.373s. But Morales responded in the final two minutes with what proved to be the day’s quickest lap, as rain arrived before session four.

Alex Connor completed a strong day for Arden as the fourth fastest, and Carlin’s Javier Sagrera set an identical pace. Voisin and Rees were both caught out in the final session’s wet conditions and slid into the gravel, with Douglas Motorsport’s Max Esterson leading Browning by 0.203s.

Kevin Mills Racing’s Jarrod Waberski was fastest in GB4’s test, setting a 44.949s in the series’ final session. His team-mate Tom Mills led session one by over 0.4s from points leader Nikolas Taylor with a 46.553s. Hillspeed’s Max Marzorati led session two with a 45.479s, and Taylor responded in session three with a 45.307s, edging Elite Motorsport’s Jack Sherwood by 0.006s.

Waberski went even faster in the final minutes of session four before a late rain shower. Taylor also improved to get within 0.155s, as did Mills who ended the day third. Marzorati was the only driver to not improve in the final session. Fortec ran an unnamed third driver in the test.

Test results

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
GB3
1 David Morales Arden Motorsport 42.351s 71
2 Roberto Faria Carlin 42.373s +0.022s 71
3 Callum Voisin Carlin 42.482s +0.131s 64
4 Alex Connor Arden Motorsport 42.510s +0.159s 71
5 Javier Sagrera Carlin 42.510s +0.159s 65
6 Luke Browning Hitech GP 42.533s +0.193s 74
7 Joel Granfors Fortec Motorsports 42.597s +0.246s 73
8 Nico Christodoulou Arden Motorsport 42.623s +0.272s 70
9 James Hedley JHR Developments 42.683s +0.332s 62
10 Max Esterson Douglas Motorsport 42.746s +0.395s 71
11 Tom Lebbon Elite Motorsport 42.758s +0.407s 65
12 John Bennett Elite Motorsport 42.819s +0.468s 69
13 Zak Taylor Chris Dittmann Racing 42.825s +0.474s 68
14 Cian Shields Hitech GP 42.848s +0.497s 60
15 Mikkel Grundtvig Fortec Motorsports 42.875s +0.524s 66
16 Bryce Aron Hitech GP 42.885s +0.534s 56
17 Matthew Rees JHR Developments 42.900s +0.549s 60
18 McKenzy Cresswell Chris Dittmann Racing 42.925s +0.574s 28
19 Tommy Smith Douglas Motorsport 42.965s +0.614s 68
20 Branden Lee Oxley Chris Dittmann Racing 43.008s +0.657s 59
21 Nick Gilkes Hillspeed 43.196s +0.845s 69
22 Marcos Flack Douglas Motorsport 43.416s +1.065s 31
GB4
1 Jarrod Waberski Kevin Mills Racing 44.949s 78
2 Nikolas Taylor Fortec Motorsports 45.104s +0.155s 82
3 Tom Mills Kevin Mills Racing 45.171s +0.222s 80
4 Jack Sherwood Elite Motorsport 45.211s +0.262s 76
5 Max Marzorati Hillspeed 45.479s +0.530s 90
6 Jessica Edgar Fortec Motorsports 46.010s +1.061s 78
7 Chloe Grant Graham Brunton Racing 46.063s +1.114s 62