Gerrard Xie wins GB3’s first ever race in Hungary

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Hitech GP’s Gerrard Xie converted pole position into his second GB3 victory in the opening race of the weekend at the Hungaroring

The Chinese racer led home his team-mate Tymek Kucharczyk and JHR Developments’ John Bennett to give Hitech its seventh straight triumph.

Xie immediately moved across at the start to cover off Kucharczyk who jinked to the outside approaching turn one before conceding, with Bennett getting a run on the pair but finding there was no space to make a move.

Bennett tried to drive around the outside of Kucharczyk at turn two, but then was challenged into the next corner by Rodin Motorsport’s James Hedley who ran off the road but maintained fourth. 

The race was largely uneventful from there, with Xie holding a 1.1-second advantage at the end of lap one before Kucharczyk closed the gap to less than 0.5s. After resisting the pressure for a few laps, Xie edged away once more and eventually took victory by 0.523s.

Bennett was not able to match the pace of the Hitech duo, eventually taking the chequered three seconds back for his fifth podium of the season despite going off the road at turn 11 at one stage. Hedley was a further 1.8s behind in his first outing with Rodin, with William Macintyre in fifth after losing out to Hedley at the start.

Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell fended off Rodin’s Louis Sharp to take sixth, the latter having gained once place off the line from eighth on the grid. JHR’s Patrick Heuzenroeder passed Rodin’s Arthur Rogeon for eighth, while his team-mate Josh Irfan was edged to 10th by Elite’s Jarrod Waberski.

Race results (11 laps)