Rain Stops Play For GB3 And Hillspeed At Silverstone
Incredibly heavy rain and copious amounts of standing water brought an early end to the GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC weekend at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 30th July – losing Hillspeed a possible chance of challenging for the squad’s third win of 2023.
Double race winner Daniel Mavlyutov was set to begin round 15 on Sunday afternoon from pole position, but a deluge of rain across Northamptonshire rendered racing in the GB3 single-seaters impossible on the grounds of safety. Hillspeed team-mate Gerrard Xie also lost the chance of battling for his maiden GB3 podium, having been set to start from the third row of the grid.
Attempts were made to begin the third and final contest of the weekend, but Mavlyutov’s hopes already took a hit on the long journey to the assembly area when the car’s clutch failed. While Hillspeed was certain the car could start on pole, organisers MSV ruled it had to start from pitlane.
In the end it mattered not, as after just two full laps behind the Safety Car red flags were flown due to the amount of standing water and spray. Officials delayed a decision on whether the race would begin later in the afternoon, but if proved unworkable.
As a result, Xie departed Silverstone with a tally of two 17th place finishes from rounds 13 and 14, while Mavlyutov took away 21st position in each contest. Hillspeed’s rookies aim to bounce back strongly at the next event, a visit to Brands Hatch in September.
More experience gained for Hillspeed duo at Silverstone
Qualifying on Saturday, 29th July, was very close around the GP Circuit with little more than a second separating Xie, who was 19th quickest, from pole position. Team-mate Mavlyutov ended the session 23rd on the times and so both aimed to make progress in the opening race of the weekend.
Round 13 took place in the early afternoon under overcast skies and Xie and Mavlyutov both started well. Xie worked his way through to 17th place while Mavlyutov did climb into the top 20, before being edged back to 21st before the flag.
Xie’s second fastest time in qualifying was an improved 14th to give a seventh row start for Sunday morning’s race. Mavlyutov again faced a tough challenge with a starting slot of 23rd place for round 14, but he launched well and gained four places on lap one before the Safety Car was deployed.
Racing resumed on lap three with Xie in 15th place and Mavlyutov in 19th position and over the next few laps both lost some ground, slipping to 17th and 21st respectively. During the second half of the 10 lapper the order remained set for the Hillspeed drivers.
Richard Ollerenshaw – Hillspeed Team Principal:
“It’s not been the weekend we wanted, qualifying didn’t play out as we hoped, and while it was frustrating the rain arrived as heavily as it did for race three we do commend the safety stance of MSV. Race three was our chance to take something away from the weekend, so it was frustrating to miss out on challenging for our third win of the season.
“While racing at Silverstone is always a welcome addition, the situation we had with cars having to drive around the paddock to the external assembly area shouldn’t have happened and this is what led to the clutch issue for Daniel. We were sure the car was safe to start from pole, but MSV didn’t allow us to take our place on the grid. In the end the rain intervened anyway, but the situation with the distance to the assembly area isn’t something we should have to endure at this level.”
Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the GB3 Championship season will take place at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in Kent over the weekend 9th/10th September.
GB3 Championship Driver Standings (after Rd15)
17th Gerrard Xie, 88pts; 24th Daniel Mavlyutov, 62pts
GB3 Championship – Team Standings (after Rd15)
9th Hillspeed, 150pts
