Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
JHR Developments’ Matthew Rees topped a tight GB3 qualifying session on the Silverstone Grand Prix layout.
Rees beat McKenzy Cresswell and Tymek Kucharczyk by over 0.2 seconds to secure pole for race one, despite the fire extinguisher going off in his car during the 20-minute session.
Rodin Carlin’s Callum Voisin posted an early benchmark of 1m54.372s to lead title rival Alex Dunne by 0.178s. Cresswell eventually split the pair before Waberski briefly went quickest with a 1m54.202s
Oliver Stewart was the first to set a sub-1m54s lap, with Rees then setting a 1m53.573s to take over at the top by 0.2s. Kucharczyk was next to lead the way, beating Rees’s effort by 0.1s, but Cresswell then set a 1m53.383s to grab the advantage.
The Elite Motorsport driver remained ahead until the final three minutes, with Rees then setting a 1m53.085s, which was not beaten. Kucharczyk improved to take second away from Cresswell, who then responded to reclaim the position from the Polish driver by 0.046s.
Voisin pipped fellow title contender Joseph Loake to fourth by 0.001s, with Dunne 0.1s behind the pair in sixth. Zak Taylor was seventh for Chris Dittmann Racing, with Nico Christodoulou only 0.001s further behind. Stewart ended the session in ninth, 0.010s ahead of Waberski.
Rees also secured pole for race two, the grid determined by driver’s second-best laptimes, with Cresswell just 0.033s behind and the front three rows identical to the race one grid.
Qualifying results
Race 1 grid
1 Matthew Rees JHR Developments 1m53.085s
2 McKenzy Cresswell Elite Motorsport +0.227s
3 Tymek Kucharczyk Douglas Motorsport +0.273s
4 Callum Voisin Carlin +0.379s
5 Joseph Loake JHR Developments +0.380s
6 Alex Dunne Hitech GP +0.492s
7 Zak Taylor Chris Dittmann Racing +0.572s
8 Nico Christodoulou Arden +0.573
9 Ollie Stewart Elite Motorsport +0.716s
10 Jarrod Waberski Fortec Motorsport +0.726s
Race 2 grid
1 Rees 1m53.300s
2 Cresswell +0.033s
3 Kucharczyk +0.120s
4 Voisin +0.215s
5 Loake +0.394s
6 Dunne +0.411s
7 Taylor +0.496s
8 Stewart +0.504s
9 Christodoulou +0.530s
10 Waberski +0.588ss