Kucharczyk edges Sharp in tight GB3 practice at the Hungaroring

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Hitech GP’s Tymek Kucharczyk was fastest ahead of his title rival Louis Sharp in GB3 free practice on Friday at the Hungaroring, with the pair topping a session each.

The quickest times came in a very close second session, with points leader Kucharczyk ending the day just 0.007 seconds clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Sharp, with his team-mate Gerrard Xie and JHR Developments John Bennett completing a top four separated by 0.031s.

First practice was dominated by track limit infringements, with all 21 drivers having multiple laps deleted. Hitech’s Will Macintyre led twice in the opening 15 minutes only to lose his lap times. Xie’s 1m40.699s became the new benchmark, and Elite Motorsport’s Jarrod Waberski then lowered the pace by 0.4s.

Macintyre and Kucharczyk went quicker than the pair but had their laps removed, and Xie inched back ahead with a 1m40.184s before Waberski responded by going 0.036s faster. Waberski’s team-mate McKenzy Cresswell briefly moved into second but his time was also cancelled.

Chris Dittmann Racing’s Javier Sagrera brought out the red flags by stopping on track inside the final 20 minutes, and when the session resumed Macintyre finally made a lap count to take over at the top but Sharp displaced him moments later with a 1m39.646s.

JHR Development’s John Bennett edged the New Zealander in the closing stages, but he ended the session 20th after his time was deleted, leaving Sharp quickest by 0.155s from Macintyre. Waberski also had his best lap removed late on and slipped back one place to fourth behind Kucharczyk, with Rodin’s James Hedley fifth ahead of Xie.

Sharp’s benchmark was not troubled in the first half of FP2, with Kucharczyk posting a 1m40.142s approaching the 10-minute mark to lead Macintyre by 0.005s. Another 10 minutes elapsed before Macintyre edged the Pole by 0.056s, and despite fractionally improving on his next lap was then beaten by Rodin’s Arthur Rogeon who lapped 0.002s quicker with a new personal best.

Kucharczyk posted the fastest time of the day so far with 20 minutes remaining, dipping under Sharp’s FP1 time by 0.131s, and Bennett then lowered the pace by a further 0.027s to take over at the top.

Drivers returned to track on fresh tyres in the final 10 minutes, and Macintyre set a new personal best to climb into third before Xie went quickest by 0.287s. Kucharczyk improved to second before having his lap time deleted but he responded with a 1m39.185s to deny Xie by 0.016s with just over two minutes remaining, with Sharp edging the Chinese driver into second by 0.009s on his penultimate lap.

JHR duo Patrick Heuzenroeder and Josh Irfan climbed to fifth and sixth in the closing stages, and Rogeon also made a late improvement to demote Macintyre to eighth. Fortec Motorsports’ Edward Pearson was the only driver to post his best time in FP1 and ended the day in 19th.

Free Practice results