Loake scores fourth GB3 win at Brands Hatch as Dunne retires

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Joseph Loake boosted his GB3 title hopes with victory ahead of Callum Voisin at Brands Hatch, while fellow title contender Alex Dunne retired at the first corner.

JHR Developments’ Loake converted pole into the lead at the start, with Voisin slotting into second and Cresswell fending off a challenge from James Hedley into Paddock Hill Bend for third.

Hitech GP’s Dunne moved ahead of Matthew Rees at the start into fifth, but he was then tagged into a spin at Paddock Hill by Rees and slid backwards into the gravel trap.

Rees lost momentum but was able to continue, losing one place to John Bennett, and then ran wide at Graham Hill Bend while battling Tymek Kucharczyk and dropped to seventh.

The safety car was deployed to retrieve Dunne’s stricken car, with racing resuming on lap three. 

Loake maintained the lead from Voisin, Cresswell and Hedley, while Kucharczyk made a good restart to snatch fifth into Paddock Hill from Bennett, who then also lost out to Rees at Druids.

The front four pulled clear of Kucharczyk, who defended from Rees over the next couple of laps, before the safety car made its second appearance due to JHR’s David Morales spinning into the gravel.

The green flags were shown once more on lap nine, with Loake maintaining the lead the final four laps of what became a time-limited race to finish 0.753 seconds ahead of Voisin, who extended his championship lead to seven points. Loake’s win leapfrogs him ahead of Dunne into second in the standings.

Cresswell scored his third podium finish in as many races behind the front two, with Hedley keeping his own title hopes alive with fourth.

Kucharczyk held off Rees for fifth by half a second, with Bennett edging Hitech’s Michael Shin for seventh by a similar margin.

Zak Taylor prevailed in a battle with Jarrod Waberski following the final safety car restart move up from 10th to ninth.

Nico Christodoulou was involved in a three-way battle with Arden VRD team-mate Noah Ping and Fortec Motorsports’ Max Esterson in the closing stages, eventually pulling clear of the pair to finish 11th.

Oliver Stewart was another to hit trouble on the opening lap, eventually finishing 19th after making an early pitstop. 

Race result (12 laps)