Preview – GB3 Round 7 – Donington Park
The penultimate round of this year’s GB3 Championship takes place at the East Midlands circuit of Donington Park this weekend (September, 5-8). Headlining alongside the British GT Championship, the three GB3 races are set to be a nail-biter as the battle for outright honours gets underway.
After an excellent campaign so far, in which he has accrued four wins and a total of eight podium finishes, Tymek Kucharczyk heads to the 2.5-mile Derbyshire venue with a total of 323 points. The Polish ace sits third overall in the Drivers’ standings, just 13 points off the top of the table. With such a close margin between the leading drivers and six races still to run, there will be plenty of twists and turns before this year’s GB3 champion will be crowned.
“It’s important to take each race at a time,” said Tymek. “There has been a long break in which I’ve been able to recharge and now return to racing refreshed. I’m super motivated to perform at my highest level over the final races of the season. It’s very close at the top and just the smallest of fractions will make the difference. I can’t wait to get back on track at one of the best circuits in the UK.”
Just 33 points adrift of Tymek sits his team-mate Will Macintyre who will be keen to get back behind the wheel of his Hitech machine as the series returns from a six-week summer break. The British driver has picked up three victories in this year’s championship and will be looking to add to that tally as GB3 reaches its climax. Meanwhile Gerrard Xie heads to Donington Park eager to build on his consistent season and to add to his points haul achieved so far this year.
The closely-fought nature of this year’s GB3 series is highlighted in the tight battle in the Teams’ Championship. Presently, Hitech enjoy a slender lead — of just 11 points — at the top of the points table thanks to the hard work and excellent results secured by Tymek, Will and Gerard across the 2024 campaign.
As one of the few pre-war racing circuits in the country, Donington Park is steeped in history. The track is renowned for its cascading sweeps and challenging late-apex corners which help create exciting races. The venue hosted two Grands Prix in the late 1930s — and in more recent times — held the European Grand Prix in 1993. Ayrton Senna memorably won on a very wet day. And with the forecast looking less-than-optimal this weekend, could someone produce another skillful performance in the Derbyshire rains?
After two days of testing on the Grand Prix layout — with the additional Melbourne loop — the competitive action begins with qualifying on Saturday morning. Race one takes place later in the day at 3.10pm local time. On Sunday, the grid for race two will be decided by each driver’s second fastest time from qualifying — getting underway at 11.10am. While the final, longer race of the weekend is at 3.20pm on Sunday, with the top 12 from qualifying reversed.
