McKenzy Cresswell wins GB3 race one at Brands Hatch

Photo: Mat Acton

McKenzy Cresswell converted pole into his second GB3 victory of the season in the opening race of the weekend at Brands Hatch.

The Elite Motorsport driver resisted a challenge on the run to Paddock Hill Bend from fellow front-row starter John Bennett before taking a lights-to-flag win on the track’s Grand Prix layout.

JHR Developments’ Bennett came home second to close to within 19 points of championship leader Louis Sharp, who finished down in seventh following an lap one clash with fellow title contender Tymek Kurcharczyk.

Cresswell built a 0.8-second lead over Bennett on the opening lap, extended it to 1.2s on the next lap and edged a further 0.1s clear on lap four. Bennett responded by reducing the gap to 1.1s on lap seven, and closed to within one-second on the next tour.

The gap returned to 1.1s when Cresswell posted the fastest lap, and he pulled away by a further 0.6s on lap 10. Bennett then recorded a new fastest lap to close back in by 0.4s, and he continued to edge closer in the remaining laps to finish 0.5s behind.

Having lined up alongside each other on the grid’s second row, Rodin Motorsport’s Sharp and Hitech GP’s Tymek Kucharczyk tussled over third on the first lap, with Sharp tumbling down to eighth after being squeezed off the road on the exit of Graham Hill Bend.

Kucharczyk eventually finished the race 5s behind the front two in third, with Elite’s Hugo Schwarze fourth. Hitech’s Will Macintyre’s remote title hopes came to an end in fifth, while Velocity Racing Development by Arden’s Nikita Johnson climbed from 12th to sixth.

Hitech GP’s Gerrard Xie crashed out of seventh place late on after appearing to suffer rear suspension failure, with Sharp promoted one position as a result. Arthur Rogeon and the returning Callum Voisin finished behind their Rodin team-mate in eighth and ninth, with VRD’s Noah Ping completing the top 10.

JHR’s Patrick Heuzenroeder was another driver to end up on the grass exiting Graham Hill Bend on the first lap, and he was further hampered by an early collision with VRD’s Shawn Rashid who retired in the incident.

Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tom Mills was 14th on his GB3 debut, while team-mate James Hedley finished down in 18th on his series return after an early pitstop.

Race results (15 laps)