Bennett boosts title hopes with third GB3 win at Silverstone

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

JHR Developments’ John Bennett climbed from fourth on the grid to win the opening GB3 contest at Silverstone, while pre-race points leader Tymek Kucharczyk crashed out.

Bennett came home 1.298 seconds ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp, who reclaimed the championship lead, while Elite Motorsport’s Jarrod Waberski finished third to score his first podium in a non-reversed-grid race.

Waberski’s team-mate McKenzy Cresswell started from pole but he was beaten off the line by Sharp, as Bennett moved up once place to third.

Cresswell attempted to retake the lead through Maggotts and Becketts and despite running wide onto the Hangar Straight continued to run alongside Sharp. Bennett then squeezed in between the pair of them on the run to Stowe before snatching first place under braking.

Sharp faced a further challenge at the start of lap two from Cresswell, who then appeared to be involved in a collision with Kucharczyk which resulted in the safety car being deployed. The Hitech GP driver had climbed up two places from sixth on the grid but then slid into the gravel at Stowe after making a bid for third, with Cresswell tumbling down the order to 10th.

Bennett remained ahead of Sharp and Waberski following the restart to seal victory and move to within four points of Sharp in the standings. Hitech’s Gerrard Xie finished fourth, having slipped back three places to sixth at the start before profiting from Cresswell and Kucharczyk’s clash.

Velocity Racing Development by Arden’s Noah Ping climbed four spots to fifth ahead of Hugo Schwarze, whose team-mate Cresswell made up three positions following the safety car period to seventh, while Rodin’s Ugo Ugochukwu lost out to the Elite duo late on and came home eighth.

Fortec Motorsports’ Colin Queen prevailed in a late battle with VRD’s Nikita Johnson to finish ninth from 15th on the grid. Johnson’s team-mate Shawn Rashid retired in the pitlane late on, while Hitech’s Will Macintyre suffered a blow to his title hopes in 13th.

Race results (9 laps)