Superb Third Victory Of GB3 Season For Hillspeed And Mavlyutov
Daniel Mavlyutov chalked-up his and Hillspeed’s third race win of the GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 10th September, with a near faultless lights-to-flag drive in the final encounter of a scorching hot weekend at the Kent track.
As he did during the season-opening event at Oulton Park back in April, and again at Snetterton 300 in June, the Turkish racer starred in the ‘reverse grid’ contest from pole position to largely dominate, before responding impressively to late race pressure over the final couple of laps.
Hillspeed team-mate Gerrard Xie looked set to also battle for a strong finish in the weekend finale, but contact to the rear of his car out of Paddock Hill Bend on the opening lap resulted in a highly frustrating retirement. His best finish of the event was 15th in round 16 on Saturday, 9th September.
Mavlyutov saves best for last again to secure win number three
Following a full day of testing on Friday, 8th September, around the short 1.2-mile Indy Circuit layout at Brands, where Xie was sixth quickest overall, the competitors had their first taste of the weekend of the full Grand Prix configuration during a final practice run on Saturday ahead of qualifying.
Round 16 had quite a chaotic start with Alex Dunne fired off the circuit backwards into the gravel at the exit of Paddock. Xie and Mavlyutov, qualifying 17th and 23rd, made the most of the first few corners and climbed into 15th and 17th respectively before the Safety Car was deployed for lap two.
After another Safety Car between laps seven and nine, they were 15th and 20th and each fought hard in tight battles to the finish on lap 12. At one stage Xie was edged onto the grass on the approach to Hawthorn, but he dealt with it impressively and ended the sweltering race 16th – but was promoted to 15th due to a post-race penalty for a rival – with Mavlyutov taking 20th.
Xie began round 17 on Sunday afternoon from 20th on the grid but lost a couple of places at Druids on the opening lap after being put wide at the exit, so Mavlyutov moved up from 22nd to 21st ahead of the sister car.
Xie managed to get back ahead on lap two, prior to the emergence of the Safety Car for a couple of laps, and when racing resumed the Hillspeed cars stayed line astern. Gaining positions as others encountered trouble, the team-mates edged into the top 20 but with Mavlyutov ahead after passing Xie on lap seven. At the flag on lap 14, Mavlyutov finished 19th and Xie 20th.
Due to a grid penalty for a rival Mavlyutov started the round 18 ‘reverse grid’ race from pole and after covering the line well, he led fairly comfortably to Paddock Hill Bend. Behind, though, the cars in second and third place tangled as they reached the apex of the first turn and it triggered more contact in the pack.
Xie, who had also started well from eighth on the grid, was tagged from behind as he headed down the dip from Paddock, causing his car to snatch sideways. Pitching him into another car, retirement was instantaneous with broken suspension, damaged wheels and a smashed front wing.
With several cars stranded, the Safety Car was deployed immediately and racing eventually resumed at the beginning of lap six. Mavlyutov judged to the re-start to perfection, pulling almost a second clear by the time he reached the start-finish line.
Increasing his advantage to 1.6 seconds by the start of lap seven with the fastest lap, the Hillspeed driver bettered it the next time around – but second placed Nico Christodoulou matched it to the thousandth so the gap remained identical. Mavlyutov responded and extended the advantage to 1.8 seconds by lap 10, eventually claiming the win by 0.5 seconds and only missing fastest lap by 0.040s.
Daniel Mavlyutov – Rd18 Race Winner:
“To start they sort of crashed behind me! The Safety Car was too long [I think], I got a good re-start and led away from there. I didn’t really have to fight, just drive away. We were nearly a second faster in this race than in quali, so we need to work on that!”
Richard Ollerenshaw – Hillspeed Team Principal:
“Daniel did an excellent job in race three, his re-start was faultless and just one small mistake at Paddock with a couple of laps to go allowed Christodoulou to get close to him. He responded very well on the last lap and took another very well deserved victory. We’re all absolutely delighted to come away from Brands GP with Hillspeed’s third win of the GB3 season.
“It’s been a largely luckless weekend for Gerrard. He showed good pace on the test day and, like Daniel, his best chance to shine was race three. He started well and we knew he could challenge strongly, but it looks as though he was tagged from behind and that’s what caused the contact with another car and the DNF. It’s a great shame as it had the makings of a strong race for him.”
Next for the GB3 Championship competitors and teams is the second overseas event of the 2023 season, an eagerly awaited visit to Zandvoort GP Circuit in The Netherlands on 14th/15th October for rounds 19, 20 and 21. The category will run as support to the GT World Challenge Sprint Cup.
GB3 Championship Driver Standings (after Rd18)
20th Gerrard Xie, 95pts; 22nd Daniel Mavlyutov, 85pts
GB3 Championship – Team Standings (after Rd18)
9th Hillspeed, 180pts
