Macintyre wins incident-packed finale as Kucharczyk takes championship lead
Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Will Macintyre won a chaotic final GB3 Championship race of the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. In an incident-packed event finale, the Brit steered clear of trouble to take his third win of the year ahead of teammate Gerrard Xie and VRD Racing by Arden’s Noah Ping.
Macintyre started fifth on the grid, but climbed up to second within two laps, capitalising on the tow in front of him, and gaining spots when front-row starters Hugo Schwarze and Seb Murray tangled at Les Combes on the second lap while fighting for second, moments after Gerrard Xie had passed them to take the lead.
After the first appearance of the safety car, Macintyre made his move immediately at Les Combes, as he swooped past his teammate, who slotted into second.
Any attempt to make an escape was scuppered though as Shawn Rashid clattered into the back of cars at La Source on the restart, with Josh Irfan and Nikita Johnson also dropping out of the race with damage and forcing another safety car.
On the second restart, an intense battle for the podium developed between Ping and Rodin Motorsport duo Louis Sharp and Ugo Ugochukwu, but it came to a dramatic end as all three cars made contact at Bruxelles, with Ugochukwu retiring after contacting the barriers, and pre-race championship leader Sharp retiring to the pits while Ping claimed third.
The third appearance of the safety car neutralised the race again, and there was time for one more racing lap, with Macintyre made a good restart to put himself out of attack range, with Xie and Ping following.
Double race winner Tymek Kucharczyk was the main beneficiary of the chaos, as he surged from 12th on the grid to fourth, and had a look at the podium on the last lap as he closed on Ping approaching the Bus Stop chicane, but ultimately settled for fourth as he claimed the championship lead. Macintyre's victory meanwhile means Hitech Pulse-Eight has won every race this weekend, while Xie and Ping enjoyed their first podiums of the year.
Behind the top four came Chris Dittmann Racing's star debutant Kanato Le, who blasted from 14th on the grid to fifth ahead of Elite's McKenzy Cresswell. Pole sitter Schwarze still claimed seventh despite his early drama, finishing ahead of Rodin's Arthur Rogeon who went from 13th to eighth. Fortec's Colin Queen and Chris Dittmann Racing's Flynn Jackes completed the top-10, from 18th and 16th on the grid respectively.
Race three winner Macintyre said: "It’s been a great job by the whole team all weekend, the car felt like a literal rocket ship. That’s six wins in a row now for Hitech!
"We have a lot of respect for each other and before the race we were all talking to our engineers and coaches about what’s going to happen and how we’re going to do it. We did it perfectly, clean, respectable and hard, and that was the main thing. I learned from the safety car restarts and tried to implement my own thing which worked. I thought I was going to get overtaken into Les Combes at the last restart, but it turned out alright in the end! I’m really enjoying the European tour so far and we just need to sort qualifying out so I can be up there with Tymek in the first two races."
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Spa-Francorchamps provisional race three result:
1. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 9 laps
2. Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.838s
3. Noah Ping, VRD Racing by Arden, +1.405s
4. Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +1.705s
5. Kanato Le, Chris Dittmann Racing, +2.370s
6. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +2.605s
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GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, driver's standings after race nine of 24
1. Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 183pts
2. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 174pts
3. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 170pts
4. Ugo Ugochukwu, Rodin Motorsport, 155pts
5. John Bennett, JHR Developments, 148pts
6. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 127pts
Click here for full standings
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, team's standings after race nine of 24
1. Hitech Pulse-Eight, 385pts
2. Rodin Motorsport, 338pts
3. Elite Motorsport, 242pts
4. JHR Developments, 218pts
5. VRD Racing by Arden, 147pts
6. Chris Dittmann Racing, 137pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information visit www.gb-3.net.