Reigning British Formula 4 conqueror Louis Sharp grabbed the early ascendancy in the GB3 Championship by taking a win on his debut at last weekend's opening round at Oulton Park.
The Rodin Motorsport driver stormed to a double pole in qualifying and converted the first of those into a maiden victory. His only challenge came after the start into Old Hall, with John Bennett trying a move around the outside before conceding at Cascades.
A collision at the rear of the field between Aditya Kulkarni and James Hedley necessitated an early safety car period, following which Sharp immediately pulled away and then edged further clear to finish 1.4 seconds ahead of Bennett.
“I really couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said Sharp. “Double pole was a big achievement, a big relief that all the hard work during the winter has paid off. I knew the pace was there, but wasn’t expecting to be on pole by three tenths. The first win of the season is always the hardest one to get, so to get that out of the way gives us that momentum for the rest of the year.”
Further back, Gerrard Xie moved ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu for third on lap one but ran wide at Cascades, allowing the McLaren junior to reclaim the place and eventually finish on the podium, while McKenzy Cresswell and Tymek Kucharczyk came home close behind Xie in fifth and sixth. Arthur Rogeon was seventh ahead of GB4 graduate Colin Queen, who made a double overtake at the first corner to finish eighth on debut.
Wet conditions resulted in race two starting behind the safety car, with Sharp leading from Bennett once it was withdrawn, and Kucharczyk charged past Cresswell, Ugochukwu and Xie in the space of a few corners into third.
Source: Autosport