The 2023 GB3 Championship was a motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across Europe. The 2023 season was the eighth organised by the British Racing Drivers' Club in the United Kingdom, and the third season under the GB3 moniker after rebranding from the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship in mid-2021. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers. The season was run over eight triple-header rounds and started on 8 April at Oulton Park.
Rodin Carlin driver Callum Voisin won the Drivers' Championship ahead of Alex Dunne at the final race of the season. JHR Developments, the team of third-placed driver Joseph Loake, won the Teams' Championship.
Loake was named as the winner of the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award in December, and will receive a test drive with the Aston Martin F1 team, £200,000, plus full membership of the BRDC.
Teams and drivers All teams were British-registered. TeamDriverRoundsArden VRD2 Nico ChristodoulouAll3 Noah PingAll4 James HedleyAllJHR Developments5 Matthew ReesAll77 David MoralesAll84 Joseph LoakeAllDouglas Motorsport7 Tymek KucharczykAll11 Lucas Staico1–732 Shawn Rashid1–7Chris Dittmann Racing9 Zak Taylor1–718 Arthur RogeonAll78 Jack Sherwood7Elite Motorsport14 Patrick Heuzenroeder7–815 Ayato Iwasaki1–616 McKenzy CresswellAll17 Oliver StewartAllFortec Motorsports20 Jarrod WaberskiAll41 Edward PearsonAll42 Max EstersonAllHitech Pulse-Eight21 Souta AraoAll22 Alex DunneAll23 Michael Shin1–4, 6–8Rodin Carlin27 John BennettAll35 Callum VoisinAll43 Costa ToparisAllHillspeed39 Gerrard XieAll99 Daniel MavlyutovAllSource:
Race calendar and results The provisional calendar was announced on 15 October 2022. For the first time in series history, two events were held outside the United Kingdom. This also meant that the GB3 Championship became an FIA-certified international series. Round Circuit Date SupportingMap of circuit locations 1 R1 Oulton Park(International Circuit, Cheshire) 8 April British GT Championship R2 10 April R3 2 R4 Silverstone Circuit(Grand Prix Circuit, Northamptonshire) 6 May British GT Championship R57 May R6 3 R7 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps(Spa, Belgium) 3 June Spa Euro Race:Supercar ChallengePrototype Challenge R8 R94 June 4 R10 Snetterton Circuit(300 Circuit, Norfolk) 17 June British GT Championship R1118 June R12 5 R13 Silverstone Circuit(Grand Prix Circuit, Northamptonshire) 29 July Main event R1430 July R15 6 R16 Brands Hatch(Grand Prix Circuit, Kent) 9 September British GT Championship R1710 September R18 7 R19 Circuit Zandvoort(Zandvoort, Netherlands) 14 October GT World Challenge Europe R20 R2115 October 8 R22 Donington Park(Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire) 21 October British GT Championship R2322 October R24
Race results Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Oulton Park(International Circuit, Cheshire) Joseph Loake Joseph Loake Joseph Loake JHR Developments R2 Joseph Loake Callum Voisin James Hedley Arden VRD R3 Oliver Stewart Daniel Mavlyutov Hillspeed 2 R4 Silverstone Circuit(Grand Prix Circuit, Northamptonshire) John Bennett Joseph Loake Joseph Loake JHR Developments R5 John Bennett Matthew Rees Joseph Loake JHR Developments R6 Tymek Kucharczyk Noah Ping Arden VRD 3 R7 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps(Spa, Belgium) Callum Voisin Alex Dunne Alex Dunne Hitech Pulse-Eight R8 Callum Voisin Alex Dunne Alex Dunne Hitech Pulse-Eight R9 Max Esterson Oliver Stewart Elite Motorsport 4 R10 Snetterton Circuit(300 Circuit, Norfolk) Matthew Rees Alex Dunne James Hedley Arden VRD R11 Callum Voisin Alex Dunne Noah Ping Arden VRD R12 Souta Arao Daniel Mavlyutov Hillspeed 5 R13 Silverstone Circuit(Grand Prix Circuit, Northamptonshire) Matthew Rees Matthew Rees Matthew Rees JHR Developments R14 Matthew Rees McKenzy Cresswell McKenzy Cresswell Elite Motorsport R15race cancelled due to adverse weather conditions 6 R16 Brands Hatch(Grand Prix Circuit, Kent) Joseph Loake Joseph Loake Joseph Loake JHR Developments R17 Callum Voisin McKenzy Cresswell Callum Voisin Rodin Carlin R18 Nico Christodoulou Daniel Mavlyutov Hillspeed 7 R19 Circuit Zandvoort(Zandvoort, Netherlands) Alex Dunne Alex Dunne Alex Dunne Hitech Pulse-Eight R20 McKenzy Cresswell Alex Dunne Alex Dunne Hitech Pulse-Eight R21 Tymek Kucharczyk Daniel Mavlyutov Hillspeed 8 R22 Donington Park(Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire) Callum Voisin Alex Dunne Callum Voisin Rodin Carlin R23 Callum Voisin Alex Dunne Alex Dunne Hitech Pulse-Eight R24 Gerrard Xie Gerrard Xie Hillspeed
Season report
First half The 2023 GB3 Championship opened up at Oulton Park with JHR's Joseph Loake taking a pair of pole positions. The first race saw him retain his lead and hold off teammate Matthew Rees. The race was red-flagged and ended two laps before the end after a safety car restart ended in a multi-car crash, handing JHR a 1-2 ahead of Carlin's Callum Voisin. The second race began with a rain shower that delayed proceedings, but Arden's James Hedley was on the move when it started, climbing from fourth to second and pressuring Loake to take the lead. Voisin was also able to move past Loake into second, but was unable to catch up to Hedley. Hillspeed's Daniel Mavlyutov was on reverse-grid pole position for the final race. The race never really got going after a crash right at the start, with only three minutes of running under green flag conditions. Mavlyutov was therefore largely unchallenged by Elite's Ayato Iwasaki and Fortec's Edward Pearson behind him. Loake finished twelfth to take a five-point championship lead ahead of Hedley.
Up next was the season's first stop at Silverstone. Douglas Motorsport's Tymek Kucharczyk took both pole positions but was disqualified, allowing Carlin's John Bennett to inherit them. In a very wet first race, Loake took the lead at the start, but Bennett repassed him and led until the end. This move was later judged to have happened off track, so Bennett was handed a one-place penalty, gifting the win to Loake, with Rees third. The second race was also decided in the steward's office: Rees came first but had jumped the start, while second-placed man Bennett was penalized for a collision with Hitech's Alex Dunne. This saw Loake inherit another win, ahead of Elite's McKenzy Cresswell and Voisin. Race three saw Arden's Noah Ping take the lead from Iwasaki at the start. He won the race as behind him Voisin and Elite's Oliver Stewart both earned track limit penalties, allowing Arden's Nico Christodoulou and CDR's Arthur Rogeon on the podium. Loake's two off-track wins saw him extend his championship lead to 31 points, with Voisin now second.
The first race abroad followed a month later at Spa with Voisin claiming double pole positions. At the start of race one, Dunne in second fought off Cresswell until the latter spun. At the next restart, Dunne was free to attack Voisin, take the lead and control the race to take his maiden win, while Kucharczyk came third. The same protagonists fought for the second race, with Cresswell initially claiming the lead. Once again though Dunne was the fastest and took the lead, with him and Voisin both moving back past Cresswell as the top three were in a league of their own. Stewart had pole position for the reverse-grid race three. He initially lost the lead to Mavlyutov after a slow start, but the latter ran wide to allow Stewart back through. Loake took second and pressured Stewart all race, but was unable to steal the win, while Fortec's Jarrod Waberski completed the podium. Voisin's pair of second places saw him close the gap to Loake just two points after the latter struggled for pace all weekend.
The first half of the season ended back in Britain at Snetterton, where Rees and Voisin shared pole positions. Hedley started the first race in fourth, but was already leading after turn one. Rees tried all race to get back past, but could not pressure Hedley into a mistake. Voisin and Dunne had a similar battle over third, with the Brit coming out ahead. He was able to hold on to his lead at the start of race three, before colliding with Kucharczyk and retiring. This saw the latter drop to third, allowing Ping and Dunne through. Kucharczyk was eventually disqualified for his collision with Voisin, promoting Hedley onto the podium. The reversed grid race three saw Mavlyutov start in front. The front of the field was rather calm, with the title contenders battling further down the order. This allowed Mavlyutov to manage his lead to win ahead of Rogeon and Douglas Motorsport's Lucas Staico. Voisin's race two retirement and another weekend away from the front of the field for Loake allowed Dunne to take a six-point championship lead.
Second half Round five saw the series return to Silverstone, and Rees took both pole positions. He clearly was the fastest man in race one, pulling away from his pole position and building a gap to the field. He took an unchallenged maiden win four seconds ahead of Cresswell, who had Voisin in his mirrors all race, but the latter did not attempt a move for second place. Cresswell took the lead of the second race on the first lap into Copse. He then had to manage a safety car restart, but did so untroubled to lead away to become the second maiden winner of the weekend. Rees had to be content with second, while Kucharczyk completed the podium. Rain then struck the circuit ahead of the third race. The race was started behind the safety car, but red flags for the conditions were waved after three laps. The race was then abandoned and declared cancelled. Voisin was the only one of the three main championship challengers to appear on the podium all weekend. His reward was a narrow one-point lead over Dunne heading into the summer break.
Brands Hatch came next, with Loake and Voisin on pole position for the two races. The pair began the first race one and two, while championship contender Dunne was spun around by Rees and was forced to retire. Loake led Voisin through two safety car periods and subsequent restarts to win, while Cresswell came home third. The top two were reversed for the start of race two, and Loake challenged Voisin for the lead for half a lap before the latter came out on top. He managed his gap from then on to take his first win of the season, while Cresswell came third again to take his fourth podium in a row. Ping's reverse grid pole position for race three was handed to Mavlyutov after a penalty for the former. The race began with multiple crashes down the order that took out six cars and involved title challenger Loake, who had to pit. Mavlyutov led Christodoulou and Staico home to win. Voisin's win together with Dunne's retirement saw his championship advantage grow to 14 points, with Loake second and Dunne a further 27 points adrift.
The penultimate round of the season saw the championship's debut at Zandvoort and Dunne and Cresswell on pole position. The Irishman converted his pole position into the lead in race one. He dominated the race to finish six seconds clear of Cresswell, with Loake in third closing up to Voisin in the standings. In race two, it was Dunne who started second, but he made quick work of Cresswell to again take the lead. He led until the end to make it two wins out of two and move within six points of Voisin, while this time Christodoulou completed the podium. The reversed-grid third race was once again won by Mavlyutov after Elite's polesitter, debutant Patrick Heuzenroeder, crashed into turn three. The race had almost no running under green flag conditions and also ended under safety car after extensive damage to the barriers. Dunne's double win lifted him right back into championship contention, with the top three separated by only 17 points going into the final weekend.