Written by Tom Evans, Edited by Sasha Macmillen
For the past two years, DIVEBOMB Motorsport have had the pleasure of partnering with young British talent John Bennett, as he competed in the GB3 Championship and abroad. If you’ve kept up to date with his progress throughout the year, you’ll know that Bennett found massive success across multiple series, even breaking a record or two along the way. Join us as we run through John’s epic 2024 in one huge review!
2024 started with a bang for Bennett, jumping straight into international racing for the first time. Competing with Evans GP, Bennett had a steep hill to climb, competing with a new car at new tracks against the top young talent across Europe and beyond. A P12 finish on debut set a positive tone for the remainder of the campaign, finishing the final race in 10th place, his highest of the season, and his first in a points scoring position. This progress was evident, and left a thirst for more in the upcoming GB3 season opener at Oulton Park.
This being his third season in the GB3 Championship after a somewhat disappointing 2023 due to factors outside of his control, Bennett was bound to make an impact early on. And with reigning teams’ champion JHR’s developments, all the pieces were coming together to form a serious title challenge. Oulton Park proved exactly this, with a flying start to 2024 for John.
Qualifying on the front row for both non-reverse grid races, Bennett grabbed his opportunity for the win in race two with an audacious overtake on Rodin’s Louis Sharp in treacherous conditions. Hailed as “Unbelievably brave” by commentator Lewis Mcglade, Bennett’s first win in the series couldn’t have been taken with more style. Following a tough round at Silverstone with a postponed race three due to extreme weather, Bennett bounced back at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps with pole position, followed by back to back podiums, putting him right back in the title hunt.
Three top seven finishes at GB3’s first visit to the Hungaroring set the tone nicely for a strong weekend at the last European round of the season, at Zandvoort. But before the round could commence, the Brit would jump back into a familiar Tatuus single seater with KIC Motorsport for a round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at the Dutch track. An 11th place qualifying position(sixth in his group) was a superb effort for Bennett, the team's highest until that point in 2024. Despite climbing into the top ten in race one, a late race restart would ultimately see him finishing 16th. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue prevented him from progressing in the final race of the weekend, but a nevertheless mighty effort from the British driver would receive praise from fans online.
With full focus back on GB3, a dominant win and fastest lap at race one of the following round would set the remainder of the season in motion, with Bennett continuing his fantastic run of form with a win and a podium at Silverstone just two weeks later. The final two rounds of the 2024 GB3 Championship at Donington and Silverstone would see three more podiums from Bennett (As well as a GB3 lap record in race one at Brands GP!), taking the championship down to the wire. Ultimately Bennett would round off the season in the vice champion spot: “We went into the year with the goal being the championship, but Vice Champion is definitely something to be proud of.” said Bennett to DIVEBOMB at the time. “It has been a very strong season and great to compete at the front again after a tough 2023. Now it’s onwards and upwards for next year!”
However, this wouldn’t be the end of Bennett’s 2024, as on November 26th he would be announced by Van Amersfoort Racing as one of their two drivers for the final two rounds of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 World Championship. The first driver ever to move from GB3 to FIA F2 left Bennett with a huge hill to climb in his first weekend, a challenge that didn’t seem to faze the young Brit. In Race two of the weekend, Bennett charged from P19 to P8, taking four points home with him on his debut weekend in the series. An impressive feat to round out an incredible season for John Bennett in 2024!
In December 2024, Bennett announced he would be continuing with VAR in the FIA F2 Championship for 2025, mounting his first full campaign with the Dutch outfit. Whilst DIVEBOMB Motorsport’s time with John has come to an end, the team and I will continue to cheer John from the sidelines in 2025 and throughout the remainder of his career.
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