He confronted stiff competitors from his extra skilled rivals all through, however Louis Sharp sealed the 2024 GB3 Championship in convincing type with extra poles, victories and laps led than anyone else. Remaining with Rodin Motorsport for his commencement from a title-winning British Method 4 marketing campaign, Sharp made the proper begin by profitable from pole within the Oulton Park season-opener to achieve an early factors lead.
The British-born New Zealander needed to wait some time to face on the rostrum’s prime step once more, nonetheless, and a non-finish throughout spherical three at Spa within the season’s first occasion overseas resulted in him relinquishing his place on the head of the standings.
Tymek Kucharczyk led Hitech GP’s early cost after switching from Douglas Motorsport for his sophomore marketing campaign, although a surprising first-lap rise from sixth to 3rd in race two at Oulton was undermined by an optimistic lunge on Sharp that put him out within the closing phases. The favored Pole bounced again by taking a maiden victory at Silverstone and reeled off two extra triumphs throughout a dominant weekend at Spa to seize the championship lead.
Kucharczyk’s team-mate Will Macintyre additionally made a robust begin to his rookie GB3 marketing campaign by taking a victory at every of the primary three rounds to arrange the potential of a rematch of his British F4 title battle with Sharp.
The factors lead modified palms twice extra in the course of the class’s first ever trek to the Hungaroring. Gerrard Xie scored his first success within the opening contest to offer Hitech its seventh win on the bounce, and that run appeared set to proceed with the Silverstone-based outfit locking out the highest three grid spots for the sequel.
However the momentum swung dramatically in that second contest. Sharp produced one of many drives of the 12 months by climbing from fifth to first on lap one earlier than taking his second victory forward of Kucharczyk, who was subsequently disqualified because of a technical infringement, with runner-up Macintyre briefly turning into the third driver to go the standings.
5 wins for Sharp meant he additionally topped that metric throughout an excellent maiden season in GB3
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Sharp regained the ascendancy within the title race throughout that weekend’s remaining contest, solely to lose it as soon as extra on the following Zandvoort occasion after being taken out of race two in a collision with fellow championship contender John Bennett.
“We began off the 12 months nicely at Oulton,” Sharp remembers. “Over the European leg we didn’t maximise every little thing. Clearly we nonetheless gained a race in Hungary, however the different two rounds weren’t fairly nearly as good as what we needed them to be.”
Regardless of scoring his fourth victory to reclaim the factors benefit, Kucharczyk’s hopes then went off the rails within the remaining three rounds because the sequence returned to dwelling soil. An off-form weekend in the course of the second go to to Silverstone was compounded by a race-ending collision with McKenzy Cresswell, one other error adopted at Donington Park, and he ultimately ended up third within the standings.
“The previous couple of rounds have been actually good. The shape late on within the season is basically what obtained us the championship”
Louis Sharp
“We’ve been actually fast for a lot of the season however just a few unfortunate moments at occasions with some non-finishes and disqualifications didn’t assist,” Kucharczyk relates. “The uncooked velocity was adequate to struggle for the championship, however at this stage the margins between drivers are so little that each small mistake can value you.”
Macintyre’s title hopes additionally tailed off within the second half of the season, the place he struggled for tempo and scored only one additional podium. In distinction, Bennett’s problem ignited within the remaining 4 rounds, having moved to JHR Developments for his third GB3 assault following a largely troublesome 2023 marketing campaign.
He made a robust begin at Oulton, the place he swept previous Sharp to attain his first single-seater win in race two, and was better of the remaining behind Kucharczyk at Spa, however inconsistency and incidents left him nicely behind his foremost rivals within the first half of the 12 months. That each one modified with a win at Zandvoort, regardless of his possibilities of doing the double ending amid his conflict with Sharp.
Bennett didn’t have to attend lengthy so as to add his third victory, nonetheless, after prevailing in an exciting three-wide lead tussle with Sharp and Cresswell throughout spherical six at Silverstone to shut to inside 4 factors of Sharp, who headed to the ultimate two rounds main the way in which for a 3rd time.
Kucharczyk threatened at occasions however fell away within the remaining occasions and was overwhelmed to second in factors by Bennett
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However Sharp extinguished any lifelike hope of an in depth title battle within the remaining stretch by producing his strongest efficiency at Donington Park, taking two poles and a double victory. That gave him a commanding 33-point benefit heading to the Manufacturers Hatch decider, the place he delivered his fifth win of the 12 months in race two earlier than cruising to the crown in the partially-reversed-grid finale to turn out to be the primary back-to-back British F4 and GB3 champion.
“The previous couple of rounds have been actually good,” displays Sharp, who will proceed with Rodin in FIA F3 subsequent 12 months. “The shape late on within the season is basically what obtained us the championship. It’s been powerful, simply as laborious as what it was in F4 final 12 months. There have been some factors within the season the place it was wanting prefer it was going to be a problem. It positively wasn’t simple, however I’m so pleased to get the job achieved once more.”
Bennett needed to accept runner-up within the standings regardless of one other sturdy exhibiting on the remaining spherical, and his performances have boosted his hopes of becoming a member of Sharp in F3 subsequent 12 months.
“We got here in to win the championship, there have been a couple of errors alongside the way in which, however vice-champion in GB3 is one thing to be happy with,” says Bennett. “Lots of people counted me out after final 12 months’s outcomes, so to bounce again and struggle for a championship, get wins and podiums, it means so much and it’s actually helped safe my future going forwards.”
Like Bennett, Cresswell returned for a 3rd marketing campaign with the only intention of preventing for the title. Regardless of the additional advantage of continuity by remaining with Elite Motorsport, he struggled within the first half of the season with simply three podiums. He lastly hit kind together with his first victory in 12 months at Silverstone, nevertheless it was not sufficient to maintain himself in title rivalry, although an additional win at Manufacturers Hatch ensured he leapfrogged Macintyre into fourth within the standings.
Jarrod Waberski made the rostrum 3 times and completed sixth general after shifting to Elite for his second season, however he lacked the outright tempo to struggle for victories. Xie arguably deserved to complete greater than seventh within the remaining reckoning, with a number of reliability points blighting a marketing campaign the place he was totally on the tempo of his Hitech team-mates.
After struggling mechanical gremlins of his personal whereas main race three at Oulton Park, Rodin’s Arthur Rogeon made amends by profitable three of the final 5 partially-reversed-grid races. The opposite two of these contests have been gained by VRD by Arden’s Nikita Johnson, who shall be aiming so as to add extra victories subsequent 12 months after confirming he shall be again for a full marketing campaign with Hitech.
The three-year spell for the profitable MSV-022 chassis got here to an finish in 2024, with a much faster MSV GB3-025 to be introduced next season and, with the addition of Monza to the calendar, the championship appears to be like set to develop additional in 2025.
Autosport’s prime 5 GB3 drivers of 2024
5. Mckenzy Cresswell
Cresswell ended up fourth in factors, which was a barely disappointing return for a 3rd 12 months driver
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One other aiming to win the title on the third try, however struggled for a similar consistency as he confirmed in 2023 and was additionally hampered by incidents, although reminded everybody how briskly he could be on his day in the course of the remaining 4 conferences to sneak into fourth within the factors.
4. Will Macintyre
Regardless of the early-season victories, Macintyre couldn’t fairly reproduce his title-contending kind from British F4 on stepping as much as GB3. Frequently shone in races, however qualifying struggles left him on the again foot far too usually, and his problem unravelled within the later rounds.
3. John Bennett
Preventing for the title in his third season was a should following a troublesome 2023 marketing campaign and, though he finally missed out on the crown, did sufficient to revitalise his single-seater profession with a number of poles, wins and quickest laps, and tied Kucharczyk for the best podium haul.
2. Tymek Kucharczyk
Made an enormous step ahead in his sophomore marketing campaign and at occasions appeared the quickest driver, producing an early run of three straight poles and scoring probably the most quickest laps with 9 throughout the 12 months. However errors and a slight drop off in kind late on proved pricey ultimately.
1. Louis Sharp
The champion produced his finest kind on British soil, the place he scored 4 of his 5 victories, however sensible Hungary triumph and stable outcomes elsewhere in the course of the European leg have been nonetheless necessary. Additionally made no main errors, the 2 non-finishes throughout 2024 arguably not of his making.
Granfors grabs the GB4 glory
Granfors scored six wins en path to taking the GB4 title
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Fortec driver Linus Granfors prevailed in a three-way struggle with Alisha Palmowski and Harry Burgoyne to win the GB4 title. The 17-year-old Swede displayed some eye-catching tempo throughout his sole day of pre-season testing, however he struggled to familiarize yourself with Oulton Park’s twisty structure on the opening spherical. Regardless of that, he nonetheless recorded his maiden victory in that weekend’s remaining race, impressively recovering from final place after being spun round on lap one.
“It was a bit troublesome at first with all the brand new tracks,” Granfors reveals. “Oulton was model new to me. Once I obtained hit within the rear on the primary lap and was nonetheless capable of win, I began to grasp that we really had some fairly good tempo.”
Granfors went on a four-race profitable streak from there earlier than a difficult occasion adopted at Snetterton, the place he didn’t make the rostrum and retired in a final-lap conflict in race three. Two extra wins throughout the following two rounds put his season again on monitor and he sealed the title with a race to spare at Manufacturers Hatch.
“Once I obtained hit within the rear on the primary lap and was nonetheless capable of win, I began to grasp that we really had some fairly good tempo”
Linus Granfors
“It’s actually nice to have one other single-seater title,” he says on profitable the primary championship outdoors of his homeland. “We had the tempo by means of the entire season and I attempted to be as constant as potential.”
Ginetta Junior graduate Palmowski additionally starred in her first single-seater marketing campaign for Elite Motorsport, profitable on debut at Oulton, taking a double pole and two extra victories at Snetterton and accumulating probably the most podium finishes. Some unhealthy luck with incidents and reliability points hampered her bid to win the title however, by ending runner-up and likewise receiving a €30,000 profession contribution for being the highest feminine racer, the longer term appears to be like brilliant for the 18-year-old.
Making the change to KMR Sport for his second GB4 season, Burgoyne’s title problem was constructed round consistency, together with his maiden win solely arriving on the penultimate spherical. Regardless of taking one other triumph in the course of the deciding weekend, the Scot was pipped to second within the standings within the remaining race.
Two different drivers additionally took victories for KMR, which clinched its third straight groups’ title. GB4 scholarship winner Brandon McCaughan gained twice early on earlier than working out of finances, whereas Method 1 Esports champion Lucas Blakeley starred with 4 wins throughout 4 rounds, exhibiting he would have been a critical title contender had he contested the entire 12 months.
Granfors gained a £50,000 contribution in direction of a drive in both British F4 or GB3 for 2025 as his prize from MSV’s Jonathan Palmer
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