Loake leads the way in GB3 at Brands Hatch test, McNeilly fastest in F4

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Joseph Loake was fastest in GB3 testing on Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix layout today, ahead of his JHR Developments team-mate Matthew Rees.

The points leader bettered Rees by 0.384 seconds in the fourth and final session, with Arden VRD’s James Hedley third and Douglas Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk fourth.

Hedley set the pace for most of the opening 30-minute session, setting a 1m19.678s late on. Rees was 0.054s behind, his lap having briefly moved him ahead of Hedley with five minutes remaining, while Loake was a further half-second adrift in third.

Hitech GP’s Alex Dunne led for a large part of session two with a time 0.045s shy of Hedley’s earlier benchmark before Rees went quickest with a 1m19.503s inside the final five minutes. But it was Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell that ended the morning fastest with a 1m19.325s, while Hedley improved on his session one best to edge Loake to third by 0.033s.

Rees headed the early stages of session three with a 1m19.890s before improving by a further 0.038s. Fortec Motorsports’ Max Esterson set the best time of the day so far with 10 minutes to go, but he was quickly beaten by Kucharczyk, who ended the session 0.295s clear with a 1m18.846s. Dunne also set a personal best in third place, and Loake was again fourth.

Kucharczyk again set the early pace in session four, but was one of five drivers to not set their best lap in that session. Hedley moved to the top with a 1m18.774s, but he was beaten by both Loake and Rees inside the final 10 minutes, with Loake then improving again by half a second with his test-topping 1m18.257s.

Dunne ended the day fifth ahead of Esterson, another final session non-improver, while Cresswell did not better his morning efforts.

The first-generation Formula 4 cars of GB4 and second-generation cars of British F4 were also on track for joint sessions. Fox Motorsport’s Liam McNeilly was fastest overall, leading the GB4 times in the first three sessions. His best lap, a 1m25.195s, put him 0.259s clear of Fortec’s British F4 pacesetter Aiden Neate and 0.465s ahead of Evans GP’s Cooper Webster, the next best GB4 runner.

Fortec’s Colin Queen was a further 0.096 further, third in GB4 but 13th in the combined F4 pack. Webster beat McNeilly to the best GB4  xtime in a slower session four.

Test results