Rees claims maiden GB3 win as title race tightens

Matthew Rees claimed the first GB3 win for both himself and the JHR Developments team, with a supreme performance on the Brands Hatch GP circuit this afternoon (Saturday). The reigning British F4 champion started from pole position and led every lap as he headed home championship contenders Luke Browning and Joel Granfors, with just 6.5 points separating the pair heading into the final five races of the season. 
 

Qualifying
Elite Motorsport’s Tom Lebbon set the fastest time in qualifying, and ordinarily would have taken a double pole position, having also claimed pole for race two based on second fastest times. But a five place grid penalty carried over from Silverstone meant it was Rees instead who would take up the front of the grid position for the opener.

For what it’s worth, Lebbon was just 0.028s faster than Rees in the red-flag interrupted session, with Granfors and Browning third and fourth quickest ahead of Elite’s John Bennett and Arden’s Nico Christodoulou. Lebbon will however keep his pole for race two, which is due to start at 11am tomorrow (Sunday), with his second best time being just 0.008s faster than Rees, with the top-six order remaining the same. 

Race one
Rees more than made the most of his pole position starting position by blasting into the distance on the first lap. He established a gap of two seconds after the first tour, while Browning battled his way past championship leader Granfors. After holding the margin for the first few laps, Browning began to claw his way back to Rees, and despite a bit of light rain, brought the gap down to six tenths of a second with a handful of laps remaining. 

Rees held his nerve though to take his and JHR’s first GB3 win, seven-tenths of a second ahead of the Hitech machine, with the duo over seven seconds clear of Granfors who took third, with Browning reducing the gap between them to just 6.5 points at the top of the standings.

Elite’s Bennett equalled his best result of the season with fourth place, just ahead of Arden’s Nico Christodoulou, with Lebbon finishing where he started in sixth. Arden's Alex Connor and Hitech's Bryce Aron were next up, while Carlin's Callum Voisin stormed from 21st on the grid after a qualifying shunt to ninth.

Race winner Rees said: “Getting that launch off the line was the best thing we could’ve done. Obviously just getting the first corner right and pulling away, we managed two or three seconds on that lap. Just controlling the tyres, controlling the race as we did, Luke was a bit faster than me but being able to control the gap, control the tyres, not fall off that peak, I think that was the reason why we won today.”

 

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch GP qualifying top-six:
1. Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, 1m18.721s
2. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.028
3. Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +0.337
4. Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +0.384
5. John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +0.493
6. Nico Christodoulou, Arden Motorsport, +0.526

Click here for full result

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch GP race one top-six:
1. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, 14 laps
2. Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +0.723
3. Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +7.836
4. John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +11.560
5. Nico Christodoulou, Arden Motorsport, +11.863
6. Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +15.360

Click here for full result

GB3 Championship, standings after race 19 of 24:
1. Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, 393.5pts
2. Luke Browning, Hitech GP, 387pts
3. Callum Voisin, Carlin, 304pts
4. Roberto Faria, Carlin, 277.5pts
5. Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, 266.5pts
6. Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, 259.5pts

Click here for full standings

GB3 Championship, Teams’ standings after race 19 of 24:
1. Carlin, 655.5pts
2. Hitech GP, 592.5pts
3. Fortec Motorsport, 563pts
4. Elite Motorsport, 529pts
5. Douglas Motorsport, 471pts
6. Arden Motorsport, 359.5pts

Click here for full standings

For more championship information visit www.gb-3.net.