Hedley tops GB3’s pre-event Silverstone test, Granfors fastest in GB4

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

VRD by Arden’s James Hedley topped GB3’s two-day pre-event test on Silverstone’s Grand Prix layout.

Hedley was 0.156 seconds quicker than Louis Sharp, setting his best lap in Thursday’s second session. FIA Formula 3 race-winner Arvid Lindblad was third quickest for Fortec Motorsports as he tested to learn the track.

Action got underway in dry but chilly conditions. McKenzy Cresswell set the early pace and continued to improve before being edged by Edward Pearson. Sharp then exchanged top spot with John Bennett, but it was Tymek Kucharczyk who ended session one fastest with a 1m53.149s, with Hedley 0.109s behind.

Jarrod Waberski lowered the pace to 1m53.046s with five minutes left of session two before Hedley posted two quicker laps than him, his 1m52.743s ending up being the fastest of the test.

Lindblad’s personal best was delivered in session three, which he led over Shawn Rashid and Bennett. Light rain fell at the start of session four, and Cresswell posted a 1m52.911s to lead Lindblad and Sharp. The lap put him fourth overall.

Few improved on Friday despite bright and sunny conditions. Lindblad led session five with a 1m53.536s before a brief red flag period, with Hedley going quicker at the resumption. Waberski posted a session-topping 1m53.265s after the chequered flag, with Nikita Johnson lapping within 0.003s of him and FIA F3 race-winner Martinius Stenshorne just 0.071s further adrift ahead of his GB3 debut.

Johnson led most of session six before being pipped late on by Sharp who fractionally improved on his personal best but remained second in the test’s combined timesheet. Having also set a personal best, Johnson moved up to fifth overall.

Stenshorne, Will Macintyre, Gerrard Xie and Aditya Kulkarni also bettered their Thursday pace.

Formula Regional driver James Wharton – making a GB3 cameo this weekend – drove on Friday and was 23rd fastest. Santiago Ramos – another F3 driver learning Silverstone ahead of racing there on the British Grand Prix support bill – joined the test on both days with Douglas Motorsport but ran without a transponder in the first three sessions.

There were 18 drivers in GB4 testing and Linus Granfors topped five sessions. The Swede was only beaten in the opening one, when Finn Harrison was quickest ahead of Alisha Palmowski before a late rain shower.

Harry Burgoyne Jr led session two before Granfors lowered the pace over a series of laps to end fastest with a 2m01.885s. Arden’s Leon Wilson was 0.231s behind, and Palmowski moved up to third on her final lap.

Granfors improved his benchmark in the final five minutes of session three to a 2m01.291s, putting him 0.078s ahead of Brandon McCaughan, as Callum Baxter edged Wison and Palmowski to third. Granfors led again from McCaughan and Burgoyne in a slightly slower session four.

Megan Bruce, Christian Lester and Marcus Luzio were the only drivers setting personal bests on Friday, and the latter ended session five third behind Wilson – the pair over 0.8s off Granfors. Wilson was again Granfors’ closest challenger in a final session disrupted by red flags, with Branden Templeton third.

Test results