Written by Archie O’Reilly
DIVEBOMB-partnered driver John Bennett, driving for JHR Developments, achieved two second-place finishes at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in the third round of the GB3 Championship season.
This puts Bennett fifth in the championship after eight races across three rounds, 35 points behind Hitech Pulse-Eight driver Tymek Kucharczyk. The Briton has now picked up three second places as well as victory in the second race at Oulton Park, elevating his pre-season podium tally of two to six.
Qualifying second for the opening race at Spa, and starting on pole for the second race due to the quickest second-best time of qualifying, Bennett bounced back from an “unfortunate” weekend at Silverstone. He started and finished 10th and eighth in the only two races of a rain-curtailed weekend on the British Grand Prix circuit.
“A solid weekend,” Bennett said of his Spa weekend. “Struggled a little with the setup in [pre-weekend] testing but we really made great improvements, coming P2 and pole in quali.”
The opening race saw Bennett fend off threat from Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp at the start in damp conditions before looking to challenge pole-sitter Kucharczyk at the end of the Kemmel Straight. The driver of the No.22 Hitech entry ultimately pulled away in the lead but Bennett was able to resist pressure from Sharp, maintain a gap and finish second.
The weekend’s second race, from which Bennett started on pole, came later on Saturday. He was able to hold Kucharczyk off at the start and defend from the Polish driver after the Lap 1 slipstream. Kucharczyk did eventually pass Bennett on Lap 3 mere corners before a safety car came out and neutralised the race.
Bennett tried to mount a challenge on the restart while defending against Sharp but was unable to make headway. Another safety car came out before the first lap back under green flag conditions was complete and the podium from the earlier opening race was repeated.
“Double P2 in the races is great points,” Bennett said. “[We were] a little unfortunate with the safety car in Race 2.”
The third race, for which Bennett started 11th after the top 12 from the Race 1 grid was reversed, saw Bennett caught up in an unfortunate incident at Les Combes on the second lap. His race ended in the gravel trap - a disappointing end to a strong weekend.
“The DNF in Race 3 was very unlucky,” Bennett said, concluding his weekend. “But still a lot of positives to take away and we have now shown great pace to take with us to Hungary.”
GB3 returns with its maiden visit to the Hungaroring on 22nd and 23rd June.
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