After a superb qualifying, Gerrard Xie took a double pole position and converted P1 to victory on GB3’s visit to Hungary last weekend. It was the Chinese racer’s first triumph of the season which netted a remarkable seventh-consecutive win for Hitech GP in the GB3 Championship. It was a great start to the action at the Hungaroring, as Tymek Kucharczyk joined Gerrard on the podium for another 1-2 for the team.
The opening race at the tricky Hungaroring took place in warm, sunny conditions on Saturday afternoon and Gerrard made a great start to lead from Tymek on the run down to Turn 1, with the Polish driver managing to hold on to second place in the opening sequence of corners.
Thereafter the two Hitech GP team-mates traded fastest laps at the front of the field as they dominated the 11-lap encounter. The gap between the pair in qualifying was just 0.006 seconds, but at the flag Gerrard clinched his first race win of 2024 by 0.523s. Just a further five seconds behind was Will Macintyre who added to his points tally with fifth place.
Gerrard was delighted to achieve his first GB3 win since the final race of last year and to give Hitech GP an incredible seventh victory in a row in the series: “Finally a win, and a non reverse grid win,” said the 17-year-old. “It feels amazing and a big thanks to the Hitech GP team and everyone who supports me.
“We’ve been on the pace in qualifying and through testing as well,” he added. “The main thing was just to get it off the line and manage the tyres. I think we did a good job, so I’m very happy with the win.”
Joining him on the podium in Hungary, Tymek said: “The pace has been mega and maybe if I’d made a better start we could have been in the hunt for P1. I was driving just behind Gerrard waiting until he made a mistake – but he didn’t. He did an amazing race and an amazing job in qualifying as well. We were so quick and I’m just super grateful to Hitech GP to give us such a good car.”
Gerrard led away from the start in race two, but sadly a technical issue forced him to pit early and hampered the rest of his afternoon. Tymek inherited second, but unfortunately the fire extinguisher was accidentally released on the formation lap which meant the Polish driver was disqualified from his hard-earned podium in race two on Sunday morning.
After starting in third for race two, Will managed to steer clear of any dramas to pick up another top-three finish. “It’s nice to be back up here,” said Will on the podium. “Obviously it’s not the result we wanted, but points are points when it comes to the championship.”
In a dramatic final race of the weekend, Will picked up a five-second time penalty for track limits, while Tymek suffered contact which broke his front wing and he was forced to pit for repairs. The GB3 series continues its European tour with a visit to Zandvoort on July 13-14th.
