Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne stormed to his first two GB3 victories in Saturday’s two races at Spa-Francorchamps, battling past Rodin Carlin’s Callum Voisin in both before pulling clear. With Dunne taking a double, Voisin’s two second places means the British-Swiss driver has taken over the lead of the championship standings, following a tough day for previous leader Joseph Loake.
Race one
Voisin started from pole positon, earned by setting the fastest time in qualifying, and he made a good start to lead the first lap, just about holding off Dunne in his slipstream on the run to Les Combes. Behind, a multi-car collision, seconds after McKenzy Cresswell spun at the same corner, necessitated a safety car, and once racing resumed at the end of the third lap, attentions immediately turned to the Voisin/Dunne battle at the front.
After several attempts on the run to Les Combes, both up the inside and around the outside, Dunne finally made the move for the lead stick on lap six. The Irishman got a good run exiting La Source and drew alongside halfway down the Kemmel Straight before completing the move around the outside of the chicane. From there he built a comfortable lead to head home Voisin by 1.1 seconds, with Douglas Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk taking his first podium in third. JHR’s David Morales earned his best result of the season in third, while penalties after the race promoted Gerrard Xie (Hillspeed) and Max Esterson (Fortec) into the top-six.
Race two
With the grid based on each driver’s second quickest qualifying laps, Voisin started on pole again but was beaten off the line by Cresswell, who blasted from third to the lead before the first turn. Voisin fought back immediately, passing the Elite Motorsport driver on the Kemmel Straight, with Dunne following through as well.
This time, there was green flag running throughout, allowing Dunne to begin his attack earlier, and having tried to copy his race one move on the third lap, he pulled it off a lap later and was able to build a bigger lead of 1.9 seconds by the chequered flag. Voisin took second again with Cresswell taking his first podium of the weekend in third, as the lead three built a big gap to the pack behind.
Xie continued his season-best weekend with a strong fourth place from eighth on the grid, which included a determined overtake on Kucharczyk who was fifth from his seventh starting position. Arden VRD’s James Hedley was another to demonstrate the overtaking possibilities at Spa by surging from 14th to sixth.
With former championship leader Loake taking ninth and 10th places so far, Voisin has established a four point lead at the top of the standings, with the reverse grid encounter still to come tomorrow morning at 11.53 local time (10.53 UK).
Double race winner Dunne said: “Ultimately it was the same goal, trying to get a good start and biding my time, and then going for the move when I knew it was going to come off. We made a little change to the car after race one for race two and it definitely improved it again, so I’m really happy.
“I managed to get a little bit closer [to Voisin] earlier on, obviously without the safety car this time it happened a bit quicker, and the change we made to the car made it a bit more comfortable, and I was able to get my head down and pull away.”
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Spa-Francorchamps race one result:
1. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 8 laps
2. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +1.174s
3. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +1.853s
4. David Morales, JHR Developments, +3.751s
5. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +4.650s
6. Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, +7.656s
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Spa-Francorchamps race two result:
1. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 9 laps
2. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +1.995s
3. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +3.027s
4. Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +7.640s
5. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +10.020s
6. James Hedley, Arden VRD, +11.019s
GB3 Championship, driver’s championship standings after race eight of 24:
1. Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, 173pts
2. Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, 169pts
3. Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 153pts
4. Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, 127pts
5. James Hedley, Arden VRD, 124pts
6. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, 110pts
GB3 Championship, team’s championship standings after race eight of 24:
1. JHR Developments, 297pts
2. Rodin Carlin, 291pts
3. Arden VRD, 235pts
4. Hitech Pulse-Eight, 233pts
5. Fortec Motorsport, 194pts
6. Elite Motorsport, 183pts