Ayrton Simmons enjoyed a stunning return to GB3 Championship form at Silverstone today (Saturday), as the Chris Dittmann Racing driver enjoyed his best qualifying since the Brands Hatch season opener, and then stormed to a third win of the season in race one.
Simmons had set the second fastest time in qualifying, but controlled the race from the start. He also claimed race two pole for tomorrow morning’s contest, courtesy of his second fastest lap time in qualifying.
Qualifying
Fortec’s Ollie Bearman was the fastest driver for the second successive qualifying session, held in tricky damp conditions. Drizzle before the session continued throughout the 20 minutes but Bearman claimed race one pole despite staying on dry tyres throughout, with the vast majority of the runners switching to wets midway through.
The British youngster’s time of 2m07.074s reflected the tricky conditions, and put him 0.159s ahead of Simmons, who looked on course for pole until Bearman’s late effort. Frederick Lubin in third pitted twice, once for wet tyres, then returned for slick rubber, and eventually claimed third on the race one grid.
Hillspeed debutant Jonathan Browne was a superb fourth in his first GB3 qualifying session, with Carlin’s Christian Mansell and Hitech’s Bart Horsten sixth.
On the second fastest times that determined the race two grid, Simmons claimed pole a full second ahead of Bearman, with Roberto Faria third for Fortec.
Race one
Simmons made the better start from the front row and jumped into the lead at Copse ahead of Bearman. The Chris Dittmann Racing driver romped away on the first lap, crossing the line over two seconds clear of Bearman, who moments later stopped at Copse corner with a wheel nut issue.
That promoted Browne to second while Mansell ran third, before the safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Fortec machine. The safety car pitted at the end of lap four, and Simmons almost immediately restored his 2.3 second lead, as Faria climbed from fourth to second with moves on Mansell and Browne on the restart lap.
Faria then set three fastest laps to close the gap down to just over a second, but in reality Simmons had the race under control and claimed his third victory of the season, with Faria second from ninth on the grid.
Browne meanwhile continued his exceptional debut by claiming a comfortable third, and securing a podium on his first attempt.
Mansell was fifth, three tenths ahead of Lubin, while Branden Lee Oxley completed a good day for Chris Dittmann Racing by climbing from 10th on the grid to sixth.
Simmons commented: “I’m really happy, we executed that race perfectly. The plan was to try and get Ollie (Bearman) off the line and try and pull out a gap after and we did just that. I’m very happy with the way things went, after that, the balance was amazing, so a big thank you to the team and I’m very happy with my driving as well.
“My start wasn’t brilliant but it was still good enough to go alongside him into turn one, and after that, next time I checked my mirrors I was so far ahead, so I was a bit devastated when the safety car came out! But it is what it is, and it was called for the right reasons.
“There’s still a long way to go in the season and we’ve bounced back well since Brands and our dip in form. I think we’ve got our mojo back, which is good!"
The second GB3 Championship race of the weekend is due to commence at 11.35, with live timing available on the official championship website.
GB3 Championship, Silverstone GP, Qualifying top-six (race one grid):
1. Oliver Bearman, Fortec Motorsports, 2m07.074s
2. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.159s
3. Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +0.666s
4. Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed, +0.940s
5. Christian Mansell, Carlin, +1.064s
6. Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, +1.088s
Click here for full result
GB3 Championship, Silverstone GP, Race one result:
1. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 9 laps (starting position 2nd)
2. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +1.105s (SP 9th)
3. Jonathan Browne, Hillspeed, +5.034s (SP 4th)
4. Christian Mansell, Carlin, +6.000s (SP 5th)
5. Frederick Lubin, Arden Motorsport, +6.379s (SP 3rd)
6. Branden Lee Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +7.770s (SP 10th)
Click here for full result
GB3 Championship, Championship standings after race 16 of 24
1. Zak O'Sullivan, Carlin, 353pts
2. Christian Mansell. Carlin, 269pts
3. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, 259pts
4. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, 239pts
5. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 234pts
6. Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, 221pts
Click here for full standings