The Australian claimed his eighth win of the year in the first race of the day, overcoming a 10-second jump start penalty to put one hand on the title. Then, needing to finish ahead of his title rivals in the final race of the weekend, his task was made simple as the only other drivers in contention retired from the contest, and he finished seventh.
As a result, Ninovic becomes the first driver in the GB3 era to win the title with a full event remaining, and can now look forward to a pressure-free season finale at Monza in two weeks’ time. Hillspeed’s Lucas Fluxa claimed his first GB3 win on his debut weekend with the team in the same contest.
Race two
Ninovic started second, but moved a fraction before the lights went out. He held the lead from pole sitter Reza Seewooruthun at turn one, but the penalty notice didn’t take long to come. From that point, Ninovic essentially entered time trial mode, as he aimed to extend his lead at the front to in excess of 10 seconds.
He reached the magic 10 second point on the penultimate lap and stretched it in excess of 11 seconds by the chequered flag, meaning he took the win by 1.1s from Seewooruthun, while Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough completed the podium. Xcel’s title hopeful Patrick Heuzenroeder conceded more ground in the title battle with fourth place ahead of Fluxa and VRD’s Patricio Gonzalez.
Race three
Entering the reverse grid contest with a 99-point buffer to Heuzenroeder, Ninovic simply needed to extend his championship lead by three points to guarantee himself the title before Monza.
In simple terms, if he finished inside the top-10 and ahead of Heuzenroeder and teammate Gianmarco Pradel, the title was his. With Heuzenroeder caught up in a first-lap multi-car shunt and Pradel being fired into the gravel later on, Ninovic’s task was even simpler, just needing to finish 13th or higher. In the end, he battled from 12th on the grid to seventh after a controlled drive.
At the front, pole-sitter Fluxa led every lap as he claimed his first GB3 win on his maiden weekend for Hillspeed, with two weekend debutants, Bart Harrison (JHR) and Liam McNeilly (Fortec), completing the podium.
Xcel’s Jack Sherwood, Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari and JHR’s Noah Lisle completed the top-six ahead of the new champion. With three races still to come at Monza, Ninovic now holds an unassailable 113 point lead in the standings.
Race three winner Fluxa said: “I’m really happy, I mean, we showed good pace in practice, but we couldn’t show it in qualifying. Across the races, we’ve made up some places and made some good moves. We knew we had the pace coming into this one, so it was just putting my head down, getting a good start and holding first by turn one and just try and manage it from there, and focus on going forward.”
New champion Alex Ninovic: “I’m obviously super happy. To come away with the championship one round early is extremely nice. It’s been an amazing weekend, an amazing year to be honest, and the team has done an amazing job to get me there. I can’t be thankful enough to everyone that’s made it all happen. It takes a bit of pressure off to Monza, and now we can go there and have some fun!”
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Race two result:
1. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport
2. Reza Seewooruthun, Argenti with Prema, +1.131s
3. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech TGR, +1.504s
4. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport, +3.828s
5. Lucas Fluxa, Hillspeed, +7.943s
6. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD, +9.531s
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GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Race three result:
1. Lucas Fluxa, Hillspeed, 14 laps
2. Bart Harrison, JHR Developments, +0.641s
3. Liam McNeilly, Fortec Motorsport, +1.082s
4. Jack Sherwood, Xcel Motorsport, +1.546s
5. Keanu Al Azhari, Hitech TGR, +3.393s
6. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +3.571s
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GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, provisional driver standings after race 21 of 24:
1. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, 446pts - PROVISIONAL CHAMPION
2. Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport, 333pts
3. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport, 300pts
4. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech TGR, 293pts
5. Reza Seewooruthun, Argenti with Prema, 288pts
6. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, 267pts
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GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, provisional team standings after race 21 of 24:
1. Rodin Motorsport, 772pts
2. Hitech TGR, 640pts
3. Hillspeed, 528pts
4. Xcel Motorsport, 528pts
5. Argenti with Prema, 498pts
6. JHR Developments, 494pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information, visit www.gb-3.net.