Home Formula 3GB3 Voisin tops GB3 practice at rain-soaked Zandvoort

Voisin tops GB3 practice at rain-soaked Zandvoort

by Steve Whitfield

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

GB3 Championship leader Callum Voisin was fastest across three rain-affected practice sessions on Friday at Zandvoort.

The Rodin Carlin driver topped session two when conditions were at their most favourable with a best lap of 1m32.167s despite causing a late red flag by going off the circuit.

Douglas Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk initially led the opening 45-minute session with a 1m42.823s following an early red flag caused by a spin for Hitech GP’s Michael Shin. But Kucharczyk was eventually eclipsed by Arden VRD duo Nico Christodoulou and James Hedley before the session was curtailed two minutes early when Edward Pearson became beached in a gravel trap.

Christodoulou posted a 1m41.270s to edge his team-mate to the fastest time by 0.190s, while Kucharczyk improved to finish within 0.253s of the pace and Hitech’s Alex Dunne ended up fourth.

Fortec Motorsports’ Jarrod Waberski triggered the third red flag on the day when his car ground to a halt at the start of session two. McKenzy Cresswell made use of a much drier track to lead Dunne by 0.027s with a new benchmark of 1m32.375s. Voisin then edged the Elite Motorsport driver by 0.208s approaching the halfway stage, with the return of rain preventing lap times from tumbling further.

Voisin slid off at turn one in the closing stages to bring out the red flags once more, with the session not restarted. That left him at the top ahead of Cresswell and Dunne, with Kucharczyk 0.5s behind in fourth.

Soaking conditions resulted in session three being the slowest of the day. Kucharcyzk set a 1m45.092s to initially lead Christodoulou, who then improved to replace the Pole at the top. Arao lowered the pace further before Hedley registered a 1m42.429s to end the session 0.3s clear of Matthew Rees, Dunne and Max Esterson.

Voisin’s chief title rival Joseph Loake was 23rd fastest across the day, while GB3 newcomers Jack Sherwood (Chris Dittmann Racing) and Patrick Heuzenroeder (Elite Motorsport) were 16th and 21st respectively. Waberski was the slowest of the 25 drivers who posted a time, having missed session two and posted his best effort in session one.

Free practice results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Callum Voisin Carlin 1m32.167s 53
2 McKenzy Cresswell Elite Motorsport 1m32.375s +0.208s 49
3 Alex Dunne Hitech GP 1m32.402s +0.235s 51
4 Tymek Kucharczyk Douglas Motorsport 1m32.671s +0.504s 52
5 Zak Taylor Chris Dittmann Racing 1m32.794s +0.627s 55
6 Souta Arao Hitech GP 1m32.849s +0.682s 51
7 Michael Shin Hitech GP 1m32.968s +0.801s 53
8 Max Esterson Fortec Motorsports 1m33.029s +0.862s 50
9 Nico Christodoulou Arden 1m33.090s +0.923s 54
10 Noah Ping Arden 1m33.260s +1.093s 44
11 Matthew Rees JHR Developments 1m33.372s +1.205s 48
12 Edward Pearson Fortec Motorsports 1m33.468s +1.301s 49
13 John Bennett Carlin 1m33.566s +1.399s 57
14 Costa Toparis Carlin 1m33.713s +1.546s 56
15 Oliver Stewart Elite Motorsport 1m33.848s +1.681s 55
16 Jack Sherwood Chris Dittmann Racing 1m34.016s +1.849s 55
17 Shawn Rashid Douglas Motorsport 1m34.576s +2.409s 39
18 Gerrard Xie Hillspeed 1m34.759s +2.592s 50
19 David Morales JHR Developments 1m35.273s +3.106s 47
20 James Hedley Arden 1m35.370s +3.203s 54
21 Patrick Heuzenroeder Elite Motorsport 1m35.826s +3.659s 51
22 Daniel Mavlyutov Hillspeed 1m36.097s +3.930s 46
23 Joseph Loake JHR Developments 1m36.297s +4.130s 49
24 Arthur Rogeon Chris Dittmann Racing 1m44.263s +7.966s 45
25 Jarrod Waberski Fortec Motorsports 1m42.969s +10.802s 42
26 Lucas Staico Douglas Motorsport no time