Sunday, July 31 2022

Elite Motorsport's Tom Lebbon claimed his second Silverstone win of the year in a dramatic GB3 race two on the Grand Prix circuit this morning (Sunday).

The Elite Motorsport driver started from second on the grid, but fought his way into the lead on the first lap, and then withstood pressure from a charging Callum Voisin to take his second GB3 victory.

Voisin started from pole, but dropped to fourth on the first lap, before launching a strong fightback drive with passes on his Carlin teammates. Then on the last lap, he tried to make a move on Lebbon, only to lose his front wing against Lebbon's rear tyre at The Loop, but still held on to take second in a photo finish with Fortec's Joel Granfors.

In that drama, Lebbon sustained a puncture, but was close enough to the finish to avoid losing his victory, but did trundle round the circuit on three wheels after the race!

Behind Granfors, who has now reclaimed the championship lead, was Carlin's Javier Sagrera, who was in the middle of several on track battles with his teammates, with the third Carlin of Roberto Faria taking fifth.

JHR's Matthew Rees claimed sixth ahead of Arden's Nico Christodoulou, with John Bennett eighth for Elite ahead of Christodoulou's teammate Alex Connor and Douglas Mototrsport's Max Esterson. Luke Browning fought his way from 21st on the grid to take 11th as he almost mirrored his race one drive, but still lost the championship lead to Granfors.

At the start, it was Lebbon who got the better start from the front row to take the lead at Copse, while Voisin was passed for second place by Granfors at Becketts. There was drama further back though as McKenzy Cresswell's Chris Dittmann Racing car was pitched into a roll at Village, bringing out the safety car, while there was also drama for his teammate Branden Oxley and JHR's James Hedley.

The race resumed at the end of lap three, and Lebbon had a good restart to lead the pack away. Voisin though began his recovery immediately with a move around the outside of teammate Sagrera at Stowe and then took Granfors for second a lap later at Becketts.

From there Voisin looked the quicker driver and set fastest lap in the process, but wasn't quite close enough to make the move until the last lap, owing to a couple of yellow flag zones around the circuit with Zak Taylor and Bryce Aron off the road at Brooklands and Village respectively.

Starting the final lap, just three tenths of a second separated the lead duo, and Voisin was able to get a decent exit from Club corner to get into the slipstream through the high speed Abbey and Farm sweepers. He tried to make a move around the outside of Village, was squeezed off and tried to fight back at The Loop, but made contact with Lebbon's rear tyre and lost his front wing.

Despite the lack of front downforce, Voisin still looked to challenge at Brooklands, but also brought Granfors in to play, with Lebbon also suffering the consequences of his puncture with his car bobbing around through Brooklands and Luffield.

Somehow, the front two maintained their positions, with Lebbon winning by 0.448s while Voisin finished just a tenth clear of Granfors.

The third race of the weekend is due to commence at 15.00, with full live streaming available again on the GB3 website.

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone race two provisional result:
1. Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, 10 laps
2. Callum Voisin, Carlin, +0.448s
3. Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +0.571s
4. Javier Sagrera, Carlin, +1.306s
5. Roberto Faria, Carlin, +1.747s
6. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +2.229s
7. Nico Christodoulou, +3.743s
8. John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +3.881s
9. Alex Connor, Arden Motorsport, +5.778s
10. Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, +6.543s
11. Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +6.843s
12. Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed, +8.691s
13. Marcos Flack, Douglas Motorsport, +10.691s
14. David Morales, Arden Motorsport, +10.843s
15. Cian Shields, Hitech GP, +13.028s
16. Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +14.175s
17. Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsport, +14.988s
18. James Hedley, Elite Motorsport, +15.601s
19. Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, +28.148s
20. Ayrton Ori, Chris Dittmann Racing, +28.746s
DNF. Bryce Aron, Hitech GP, 7 laps
DNF. Zak Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, 5 laps
DNF. McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 laps