Ninovic overcomes 10s penalty to score eighth GB3 victory

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic moved to within touching distance of the GB3 crown after overcoming a jump-start penalty to win again at Donington Park.

With JHR Developments’ Patrick Heuzenroeder finishing fourth, Ninovic extended his championship lead to 99 points, and he will clinch the title with a round to spare if he outscores his nearest rival by three points in the final race of the weekend.

Argenti with Prema’s Reza Seewooruthun lined up from pole, but he was beaten to Redgate by Ninovic who moved before the lights went out. Fortec Motorsports’ Liam McNeilly also jumped the start from row two, but still lost a place to Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough.

Ninovic pulled out a 2.9-second advantage over the first four laps before a brief safety car period due to JHR Developments’ Kai Daryanani striking trouble at Melbourne hairpin. The race resumed on lap six, by which time Ninovic and McNeilly had been handed 10s penalties.

Having romped clear, Ninovic crucially extended his lead to over 10s on the penultimate lap, and he edged further away on the final tour. His eventual winning margin was 1.1s after having his penalty applied, while Seewooruthun kept Fairclough at bay to retain second by 0.4s.

A frenetic battle raged behind the front three at various stages. Velocity Racing’s Patricio Gonzalez initially ran fifth behind McNeilly before losing out to Heuzenroeder and Lucas Fluxa, but reclaimed the place by diving up the inside of the pair into Melbourne. Heuzenroeder fought back two corners later into Redgate to shuffle Gonzalez to sixth.

Heuzenroeder set his sights on McNeilly following the safety car period, eventually making his move into Fogarty on lap 10. Gonzalez made it a three-wide battle into Melbourne, where Heuzenroeder prevailed and then maintained fourth until the finish.

McNeilly was fifth on-the-road, but he was demoted eight places by his penalty, while Gonzalez lost a further place to Fluxa and came home sixth. Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari was seventh ahead of Jack Sherwood, Max Taylor and Gianmarco Pradel.

VRD’s Enzo Tarnvanichkul recovered from a formation lap collision and a further trip through the gravel to edge out Abbi Pulling to 11th. The Red Bull junior required a front wing change after rear-ending JHR Development’s Noah Lisle, who failed to start the race as a result.

Race results (18 laps)