GB3: Sharp and Rogeon win for Rodin at the Hungaroring, as title battle intensifies
The standings leader changed three times on Sunday, as the GB3 Championship delivered two more entertaining contests to end the weekend’s action at the Hungaroring. Louis Sharp went from fifth on the grid to victory in race two this morning, before his teammate Arthur Rogeon claimed a maiden win in the reverse grid finale.
Tymek Kucharczyk entered the day as the championship leader, but he lost his advantage after being disqualified from the results of race two due to technical non-compliance, handing teammate Will Macintyre, who finished second, the championship lead.
Sharp reclaimed the standings advantage in race three though after taking fourth place, with Macintyre eighth and Kucharczyk outside the points after picking up wing damage.
Race two
Sharp blasted from fifth on the grid to the lead inside the first five corners in this morning’s contest. He claimed two cars at turn one, passed Kucharczyk for second at turn three and pounced on slowing pole sitter Gerrard Xie on the run to the chicane to storm into first place.
From there, the New Zealander didn’t look back, and he finished just under two seconds clear of Kucharczyk, who at that point, extended his championship lead. However the Polish driver’s fire extinguisher had gone off on the formation lap, and having failed to stop the car, Kucharczyk was excluded from the results, swinging the title battle in Macintyre’s favour, who finished second instead.
Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell took third on the amended result, ahead of a season’s best effort for Patrick Heuzenroeder in fourth for JHR Developments, with Cresswell’s teammate Jarrod Waberski and Heuzenroeder’s fellow JHR runner John Bennett completing the top-six.
Race three
JHR’s Josh Irfan started race three from pole, with the grid featuring a top-12 reversal of the qualifying order. Irfan went wheel to wheel with Rogeon through the first two corners before the Frenchman blasted past at turn three, and the Frenchman pulled away at rapid pace to win by 5.5 seconds.
Irfan claimed his first GB3 podium while Waberski took his second rostrum of the season with third place.
Sharp’s run to fourth, having started there, ensured he took the championship lead, with Macintyre eighth and Kucharczyk failing to score after finishing outside the points-paying positions, having to pit to replace a broken wing in the opening laps.
Heuzenroeder completed his excellent weekend with fifth ahead of Rodin’s James Hedley.
Sharp takes a slender two point lead over Macintyre to Zandvoort on 12-14 July, with Kucharczyk and Bennett well within striking range too.
Race three winner Rogeon said: "It's good to be finally on the top step. It was a really hard race but I led from lap one until the end. Pretty good, we have the pace so thank you to the team for all the work they have done today. After race two they had to change all the electronical parts in the car, so they did some good work! I'm really happy.
"We had to make the move on the first lap, I knew I needed a good start and I made one. Josh raced really good in the first corner and managed to stay outside. But then I made the move in the second corner and led all the race."
Race two winner and new championship leader Louis Sharp said: “We weren’t really dialled in with the car at the start of the weekend, so qualifying was really tough. We picked up track limits on our best lap which didn’t help. We were a bit confused after qualifying, and race one was a little bit better to make up two positions to P7.
“For race two this morning we made a few changes to the car and all of a sudden it came alive. The pace we were lacking in qualifying was there and we went from fifth up to first, which was pretty spectacular. In the reverse grid we were on our worst tyres, so starting P4, I was able to hold on but it was honestly the toughest race I’ve ever done. I was very slow and struggled again with the car, but on the whole, after qualifying P9, to be coming away with the championship lead means we’ve maximised everything we could in the races, so I’m really happy with the result and looking forward to Zandvoort.”
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Hungaroring race two results:
1. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 11 laps
2. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +2.102s
3. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +10.606s
4. Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +11.808s
5. Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +15.705s
6. John Bennett, JHR Developments, +16.043s
Click here for full results
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Hungaroring race three results:
1. Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, 14 laps
2. Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +5.582s
3. Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +9.875s
4. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, +13.278s
5. Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +13.632s
6. James Hedley, Rodin Motorsport, +14.003s
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GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, driver's standings after race 12 of 24
1. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 233pts
2. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 231pts
3. Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 212pts
4. John Bennett, JHR Developments, 201pts
5. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 175pts
6. Ugo Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, 155pts
Click here for full standings
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, team's standings after race 12 of 24
1. Hitech Pulse-Eight, 489pts
2. Rodin Motorsport, 456pts
3. Elite Motorsport, 338pts
4. JHR Developments, 316pts
5. VRD Racing by Arden, 204pts
6. Chris Dittmann Racing, 158pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information visit www.gb-3.net.