Dream One-Two For Hillspeed In Spa GB3 Finale Caps Double Winning Weekend With Slater And Le
British superstar-in-the-making Freddie Slater produced the drive of his young career for Hillspeed during round nine of the GB3 Championship partnered by the BRDC at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, 1st June, with an awe-inspiring eight second victory, on a drying track, from the back of the 23-car grid.
As if not magnificent enough for the Markham Vale squad, Slater was followed home by team-mate Kanato Le to make it a dream one-two result – the Japanese driver capping off a remarkable event in the Ardennes which delivered third place in round seven and a maiden GB3 victory in round eight.
The team believed slick Pirelli tyres to be the choice to run with in round nine on a wet-but-drying track, and Slater and Le agreed – which proved a stroke of genius. Fellow Hillspeed racer Hiyu Yamakoshi’s race came undone as the track dried, having opted for treaded rubber, but he had earlier been able to match a season-best top five result in round eight, just over 2.5 seconds shy of a first podium.
Due to complete engine failure early in qualifying on Friday, 30th May, Slater had to begin all three of the Spa races from the back of the grid and he delivered show-stopping performances in each – climbing to ninth in race one on Saturday, 31st May, eighth in race two and the breathtaking win in race three.
Le started race one from seventh and impressed hugely by carving his way through to a third place finish, before then converting a brilliant race two pole position – his first – into a maiden victory, but one he had to fight for after losing a bit of ground at the start. Lining-up 12th on the grid for race three, Le very sensibly took his time with the slick tyres on the damp track and raced superbly to second place.
Compatriot Yamakoshi qualified 11th on the grid for the opening encounter and finished inside the top 10, before then lining-up on row three for the second contest after a great run in qualifying two and battling hard to claim fifth place.
Four victories from six GB3 races so far contested by Hillspeed in 2025
Preparations went well with Slater topping both test sessions on Thursday, 29th May, and then heading two of three outings on Friday. He was pipped to the fastest time on the second day by the very rapid Le, just 0.019 seconds the difference, while Yamakoshi was a top 10 runner throughout both days.
The engine failure early in qualifying one prevented Slater from setting any representative time, so Le was the quickest Hillspeed driver with the seventh fastest lap and Yamakoshi, who was caught-up in a late tangle at the Bus Stop Chicane, was 11th. In Q2, Le delivered a sensational time of 2m13.740 seconds to set a new GB3 qualifying lap record for Spa and Yamakoshi also impressed with fifth fastest.
Race one on Saturday morning produced good starts from all three team-mates, but before the Safety Car was deployed on lap two Le had been edged back to 10th just ahead of Yamakoshi, while Slater had already gained five places into 18th spot. Racing resumed on lap four and Le hit back quickly, moving up to seventh as Slater worked his way closer to the top 10, with Yamakoshi slipping to 11th.
Le was embroiled in a great scrap over seventh, then taking sixth before a second Safety Car on lap seven with Slater and Yamakoshi sitting ninth and 10th. Just one lap remained at the resumption and Le was able to slice through to third in a frantic final tour scramble, with Slater ninth and taking fastest lap just 0.3 seconds ahead of Yamakoshi.
Lining up on pole for round eight later in the afternoon, Le was determined to head the field into La Source but his start was somewhat muted and he slipped to fourth as Yamakoshi moved up into third place from fifth, and then grabbed second midway around the lap. Le mounted a fightback and climbed into third, then on lap two he passed the sister Hillspeed car for second.
Closing the gap at the front, Le grabbed the lead on Kemmel Straight before the right-hander into Les Combes and immediately pulled away. He controlled the action thereafter and took the flag on lap nine 1.2 seconds clear to seal a fabulous maiden win. Yamakoshi was well in the mix throughout and took fifth while Slater starred once more with another fastest lap and an incredible eighth from 23rd.
Rain prior to Sunday morning’s ninth round had left much of the track damp but with enough drying surface to enable slick tyres to be an option for those bold enough to roll the dice. Slater and Le did just that and an unthinkable result followed. Yamakoshi started eighth and ran with wet-weather tyres, climbing into seventh on lap four but then beginning to slip down the order as the track dried more.
Slater and Le were both sensible from the outset, knowing not to take any unnecessary risks as the track would likely come to them. Even so, the former had incredibly risen into the top 10 from the back of the grid by lap four. Le was four positions behind, having started 12th on the grid, as he took a little longer to build confidence with the slick tyres but he soon got fully into his stride.
By the end of lap six Slater had the lead, a mesmerising drive, and he went on to dominate to win by just over eight seconds – truly a performance of the highest standard by the BRDC Superstar. Le was into the podium placings by lap eight and then smartly grabbed second on the final tour, utilising DRS perfectly, to make it three trophies from three races. Yamakoshi had to ultimately settle for 19th spot.
Kanato Le:
“It’s really nice to finish the weekend again on the podium, we’ve stood on all three steps so I’m very happy about it. At the start it was a bit difficult I think, it was damp and I didn’t really have much temperature in the tyres, so I struggled a little bit. But I had confidence that it was going to dry up and I just kept it calm, stayed on track and towards the end it dried up, so I managed to get into second position. So far [in my career] it’s I think probably one of my best weekends, podium in all three races and pole position, so hopefully I can carry this momentum into my next races and do well.”
Freddie Slater:
“It’s a new one for me [winning from the back of the grid], obviously it’s nice to hack through. We’ve had three races from last position and we’ve finished eighth and ninth and now P1, which I never thought would’ve happened going into the three races. So, honestly, an amazing weekend. Hillspeed has given me an amazing car, they’ve done a top job on it, especially with the tricky conditions. Mr A, Paul Anderson my engineer, has done a fantastic job so thank you very much.”
Richard Ollerenshaw – Hillspeed Team Principal:
“It’s been an absolute masterclass, fastest in all five test sessions, four visits to the podium with two wins. It was a very challenging weekend for the team in terms of a lot of late nights and early mornings, so huge credit to everyone for the effort they’ve put in. I don’t think in all the years of GB3 any team has scored what we did across all three races combined, to be third in the team standings having only done six of the nine races so far this year – and to have won four races from those six – is outstanding. Huge congratulations to Fred and Kanato for some incredible driving, and on any other day Hiyu could’ve been on the podium with them. It’s been an exceptional weekend for Hillspeed.”
There is now a five week break ahead of GB3 rounds 10, 11 and 12 at the Hungaroring near Budapest on 5th/6th July. Incredibly, all three Hillspeed cars are available at present with Slater, Le and Yamakoshi having clashing commitments in the FRECA series. Drivers looking to jump into a proven race-winning car should contact Richard Ollerenshaw on +44 (0)7966 650400 or email info@hillspeed.co.uk
GB3 Championship Driver Standings (after Rd9)
4th Freddie Slater, 130pts; 6th Kanato Le, 119pts; 15th Hiyu Yamakoshi, 71pts
GB3 Championship Team Standings (after Rd3)
3rd Hillspeed, 274pts
