Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
John Bennett says that his maiden GB3 victory claimed in the Oulton Park season opener had “been a long time coming”.
The JHR Developments driver finished second behind Louis Sharp in race one of the event, and passed the Rodin Motorsport driver in race two to take a comfortable victory on a rain-soaked track.
Bennett stood on the top step of the podium twice at Silverstone last year but was lost both victories to post-race penalties, with a second and a third place therefore his best two results prior to his Oulton triumph.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he told Formula Scout. “Up until this point I’ve only had one podium in each of the last two seasons, so to come away from the first two races with a second and a win is amazing.
“I got a bit of a run on the exit of turn two, I saw a gap on the outside and I knew the grip would be there so I just thought ‘if I don’t go for it now I never will’ and made the move stick and was able to drive away,” he added on his race-winning overtake.
“I’ve always been comfortable in the heavy rain but once I passed Sharp it was so much easier without the spray so I just kept my head down and put the laps in.
“It’s amazing. It’s pressure off my shoulders and now I know I can win and I can carry this momentum forwards into the next couple of rounds.”
Bennett’s success came after showing strong form in pre-season testing, feeling his move to JHR had been “a fresh start” following a difficult campaign with Rodin Carlin last year.
“I’m in a way better position than I was in last year. I [was strong] at Silverstone in the wet but in the dry we really never really got any proper results.”
He also said his time racing with Evans GP at the start of this year in Formula Regional Middle East, where he came 23rd in standings, helped him prepare for his third GB3 season.
“I think that was really beneficial. I had never driven a different single-seater before, I didn’t do Formula 4, so I think it was really good to get the experience driving something else. There was quite a bit of unluckiness going on throughout the season so I didn’t really go as strongly as we’d hoped.
“But just the experience and racing a car for six weeks over the winter when I normally wouldn’t be able to do anything has definitely helped me hit the ground running in GB3.”