Race Report – Round 8 – Brands Hatch
The final round of the GB3 Championship took place at Brands Hatch at the weekend with Hitech taking the runners-up spot in the Teams’ Standings to become the 2024 Vice-Champions. After a hard-fought year, across 24 races, Tymek Kucharczyk finished third in the points. Will Macintyre was fifth, while Gerrard Xie secured seventh overall.
Both Tymek and Will went to the West Kingsdown venue with an outside chance of taking the title, but it was always going to be an uphill challenge. After a damp day of testing on Friday, the opening race of the weekend took place in dry and sunny conditions on Saturday afternoon.
Tymek made a great start to launch from fourth to third on the opening lap and maintained his position to score his tenth podium finish of 2024. Two places further back was Will, who netted fifth place at the flag. Unfortunately an issue with Gerrard’s right-rear wheel led to his retirement when he headed off across the gravel at Stirling’s Bend.
The second race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning and once again, Tymek made a superb start, getting a great run from fourth on the grid to seize third. It was another spirited performance from the Polish driver – cheered on by his many loyal fans – to achieve his 11th podium of the year. Despite his strong drive, other results didn’t go his way and his personal championship charge was over.
“I gave my all and did everything I could. I jumped one driver at the start and then it was more about counting on mistakes from drivers ahead but they did a good job,” said Tymek. “Our pace was much better today than it was yesterday, so it was a good race from us but not enough.
“I think this season has been strong, really quick throughout the year, but it’s the case that not always the fastest drivers win the championship. It didn’t happen this time out – it was a strong season, but should have been better.
“The support I’ve had all year has been special, a big thank you, it’s been amazing. P3 in the championship is not what we want – but it’s another podium,” he said as he collected his trophy for third overall. I’m happy with the job I’ve done this year with Hitech – we were one of the quickest, but just a few mistakes have cost us the championship.”
Behind Tymek in race two, unfortunately there was an incident between Will and Gerrard as the pair approached another car heading towards Druids. With all three cars in close quarters racing, sadly there was contact and Gerrard was pitched into a spin and retired.
Will enjoyed a thrilling battle in the final race in an exciting duel for fifth place. The British driver had started seventh, but managed to make a place up after a brief Safety Car period and ran wheel-to-wheel for half a lap in his attempt to make a move stick for fourth. In the event, he took fifth at the flag, with Gerrard in seventh, one place ahead of Tymek. In the final reckoning in the Teams’ Championship we finished second 25 points off the top.
