Rodin’s Arthur Rogeon wins final GB3 race of the weekend in Hungary

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Rodin Motorsport’s Arthur Rogeon scored a maiden victory in the partially-reversed grid race at the Hungaroring while his team-mate Louis Sharp claimed the points lead.

Starting from the inside of the front row, Rogeon drew alongside JHR Developments’ Josh Irfan when the lights went out. The pair ran side-by-side all the way until the exit of turn two where Rogeon snatched the lead on the outside. A similar duel took place behind them, with Elite Motorsport’s Jarrod Waberski fending off race two winner Sharp to maintain third.

The top four remained unchanged until the chequered flag, with Rogeon coming home 5.582 seconds clear of first-time podium finisher Irfan. The French driver finally claimed his first win after being denied by mechanical failure while leading on the final lap of race three at Oulton Park at the beginning of the season.

There were plenty of frenetic battles elsewhere in the top 10. Pre-race points leader Will Macintyre lost ground on the opening lap after contact with Velocity Racing Development by Arden’s Shawn Rashid. Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell was forced off the road at turn 12 by Rodin’s James Hedley as they contested sixth, and he then lost a further position to JHR’s John Bennett at the final corner.

Hitech GP’s Gerrard Xie was next to challenge Cresswell, but ran off the road twice at turn one while trying to find a way by, and the Chinese racer eventually retired in the pitlane with an issue.

Hedley and Bennett caught JHR’s Patrick Heuzenroeder for fifth and the trio soon closed in on Sharp, who faded in the closing stages. The quartet were separated by little more than one second at the chequered flag despite a late feisty battle between Hedley and Bennett. By holding onto fourth, Sharp holds a two-point lead at the championship’s halfway stage.

Cresswell finished ninth ahead of team-mate Hugo Schwarze after losing a further place in the closing stages to Macintyre. Following his disqualification from race two, Kucharczyk failed to score again being forced to pit with a broken front wing and eventually finishing 17th. Chris Dittmann Racing’s Seb Murray retired after suffering car damage on the opening lap.

Race results (14 laps)