Chris Dittmann Racing enjoyed a top-10 finish in the GB3 Championship at the weekend (July 12-14), but it was a case of what might have been for the team as bad luck blighted its results.

After warm and sunny tests on Thursday, conditions turned cool, wet, and breezy for Friday’s practices, with that weather remaining for qualifying early on Saturday morning, making it difficult for drivers Seb Murray and Flynn Jackes.

It was dry ahead of the first race of the weekend that afternoon, though rain fell on the formation lap and throughout, making some corners slippery and difficult as most of the field remained on slick tyres. Both drivers started well and avoided drama, Flynn up to 13th and Seb in 14th, where the pair would run for almost all of the contest. Sadly, Seb took contact and suffered a puncture, sending him off track into retirement, though Flynn took a good finish with 12th place.

Race two had to be restarted, after an incident off the line which both drivers did well to avoid. On the second start, Seb ran 13th with Flynn up to 14th, before he fell down the order after locking his brakes after a Safety Car period. Seb continued to press on however, crossing the line seventh for his best finish in the series to date.

In the final contest, Seb made forward progress in the early laps, but unfortunately took contact from another car which caused him to suffer a second puncture, leading to his retirement, while Flynn battled on, crossing the line 15th.

With another positive step forward in pace and the drivers proving they and the cars are capable of top-10 pace, the team is looking forward to a second visit to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of July 26-28.

Seb Murray #91

G1 – 16, R1 – DNF
G2 – 15, R2 – 7
G3 – 15, R3 – DNF

Championship: 19 (71 points)

“It’s been a weekend of ups and downs, as the pace was there throughout, in both wet and dry conditions, but a couple of mistakes in qualifying started my weekend on the back foot. Race one went really well until it didn’t. I went down the inside of two cars into T1, but unfortunately, I had a puncture on the exit which caused me to DNF. Race two I had really good pace and went from P15 to P7, so I was very happy with that, and race three I had a good launch off the line and made up a good few positions. A mistake from another driver, going off track, made them make contact with my rear, causing another puncture down the main straight and another retirement. There are a lot of positives to take out of the weekend though, and hopefully we can carry that into Silverstone.”

Flynn Jackes #55

G1 – 18, R1 – 12
G2 – 19, R2 – 11
G3 – 18, R3 – 15

Championship: 20 (63 points)

“It has been a weekend of highs and lows. Qualifying wasn’t great, but you’ve got to keep looking forward throughout the weekend. Race one was a race of attrition, as it was raining then drying, raining then drying, so every lap was different, and race two was a tale of what could have been. We started 19th and could have finished in the top 10, but I locked up on the Safety Car restart on cold tyres, so finished 11th, and the third race was just challenging. Zandvoort is a fun track, as we don’t get enough high-speed, banked corners on the calendar, so it was nice to race there.”