After a long six-week summer break, Chris Dittmann Racing returned to action at Brands Hatch this weekend (10/11 September) for rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the GB3 Championship. After a season of mostly unrewarded potential, Anglo-Thai racer Branden Oxley brought home his maiden series win, and the team’s first win of the season.
With a brief, extra morning practice session on Saturday to allow drivers to familiarise themselves with the full Grand Prix circuit layout, it was straight into qualifying, where a disruption caused a red flag just five minutes into the session as a driver went off at Westfield corner. There wasn’t time for anyone to get back up to speed, as a second stoppage came a few minutes later, thwarting the team’s run plans further. Going green for 11 minutes, there was only time for one tyre run, and despite finishing 0.7s off the quickest lap, McKenzy Cresswell was 12th, with Zak Taylor 17th, and Branden 18th.
With a spin into the gravel on the opening lap, it wasn’t the start to race one that 16-year-old McKenzy had been hoping for, as he tumbled down to the back of the grid. Despite Brands Hatch GP being notoriously difficult to overtake on, the teenager put on an impressive recovery drive to make up six places to cross the line 16th. It was a better start for new recruit Zak as he jumped one position into 15th, before launching into a race long battle with Roberto Faria as the pair swapped positions back and forth until the chequered flag, where Zak finished 14th. It was frustration for Branden as he struggled to make progression in the dirty air. With two drivers making mistakes sending them off track, the Anglo-Thai racer managed to make his way through to finish in 15th.
Starting down in 19th position for race two, it was another tricky start for Branden, as he dropped three places to the back of the grid on the opening lap and, unable to gain any more ground, the 18-year-old crossed the line in 22nd. After conceding a place on the start, McKenzy was on the hunt as he battled with James Hedley to retake the position. In a good showing of pace, he managed to keep Callum Voisin at bay as Carlin racer piled on the pressure to no avail, with McKenzy holding on to finish in 12th. Close behind was team-mate Zak who started and finished his race in 15th after some close battles as he continued to find his footing in the car.
Taking advantage of the reversed grid race, Branden lined up on the front row alongside pole sitter Marcos Flack. The Douglas Motorsport driver made a jump start and was given a ten second time penalty, which he served on the red flag restart caused by contact between two rival cars. Heading the field on the restart, it was an unchallenged victory for Branden, as he crossed the line to take his maiden championship win. It was a less enthusiastic restart for team-mates Zak and McKenzy as they both dropped one place respectively but, despite that, Zak displayed his growing confidence in the car as he battled for a podium position. He crossed the line in fourth with McKenzy in seventh, to round out a positive final race of the weekend.
With a hat-trick of top ten finishes, and a maiden win for Branden Oxley, the team will head to the last round of the GB3 Championship season at Donington Park over the weekend of October 15/16, with a final push to continue its good form.
McKenzy Cresswell, #8
G1 – 12, R1 – 16
G2 – 13, R2 – 12
G3 – 9, R3 – 7
Championship: 11 (189 points)
“Qualifying was a bit annoying, because we know we have good pace and it looked like a possible top five was on the cards. However, we couldn’t quite get the lap together because of traffic, and I didn’t manage to find the space that I needed to. That really cost us, which was unfortunate, but then we knew that we had good pace going into race one.
“Unfortunately, I got caught up on the first lap and ended up spinning to the back of the grid and that was pretty much my race over from there onwards. I managed to make up a few spots, but it’s quite difficult to overtake around Brands Hatch, so there’s only so much you can do.
“In race two it was more of the same. I managed to keep the car in the right direction on the first lap which is always good. Once you get past lap one, it’s really difficult to make an overtake unless the person in front makes a mistake. The driver in front of me didn’t, he defended really well, so I couldn’t quite find a way past. Overall, it has been quite promising because we know that we have the pace, it’s just annoying that we haven’t got the results. That has been a trend of the season, but we know we have the potential.
“There’s not a whole lot to say about race three. I made up two places on the first lap, then gained one more after James Hedley had issues. Then there was the big crash and the red flag, so we got put back to where we started. I didn’t get as good a restart, and I was on the left side of the grid, which I struggle with a little bit more. I dropped a place, then didn’t have the pace get past again. I’m looking forward to Donington Park, as we’ll come out fighting and see if we can get some better results to finish the season off.”
Branden Oxley, #68
G1 – 18, R1 – 15
G2 – 19, R2 – 22
G3 – 2, R3 – 1
Championship: 13 (162 points)
“I was struggling with pace the whole weekend, so it was been difficult to catch up. It’s hard to follow at Brands Hatch so it was tricky to make up places in race one after the messy qualifying session with all the red flags and I was also carrying a lot of damage because I went off when it started to rain. Going into race two it was a similar story. I made up a few places on the start and then lost it and struggled to make progression from there.
“I’m really happy with how race three went. A win’s a win and I’ve got a P1 trophy which is nice to have. It was a tough race but I’m happy with what I did. I knew the whole race that I was leading after Marcos Flack jumped the start, so I knew whatever happened I was still in the lead, and it would be a hard fight to take it off me. After experiencing how hard it is to pass around here in earlier races, it gave me some confidence when I was out in front, knowing it would be difficult to get past me. Overall, I’m happy with the result, as it was a good end to what started off as a bit of a frustrating weekend.”
Zak Taylor, #21
G1 – 17, R1 – 14
G2 – 16, R2 – 15
G3 – 3, R3 – 4
Championship: 19 (128.5 points)
“My first weekend as part of Chris Dittmann Racing has been good, and I’m definitely seeing improvements. The qualifying pace we had didn’t really reflect where we should have been. I didn’t necessarily get the most out of what the car and the team had given me, so I was quite disappointed with that. I tried to do everything I could around Brands Hatch GP, as it’s not exactly the easiest track to race on.
“For race three, I finished just outside of the podium positions. It’s so difficult to follow or pass around here in the dirty air, so I couldn’t maximise the potential I know we had. The team gave me a good car, so it feels nice to be confident in the car for once this season. It was a weekend of no breakdowns or issues, which is a good thing for me this year. Going into Donington Park, I’m optimistic about where we are as a team, and we’ll hopefully build on what we’ve worked on this weekend.”
