Chris Dittmann Racing was rewarded with a well-earned podium finish in the GB3 Championship at the weekend (June 17/18), after hard work by the team and consistent performances by the drivers at Snetterton.

Once again Zak Taylor and Arthur Rogeon climbed behind the wheel of the team’s machines, aiming to banish memories of a tough trip to Spa-Francorchamps last time out and get their seasons back on track.

Zak was quick in pre-weekend testing, and carried that over to qualifying on Saturday, just 0.5s from pole position but 12th fastest such was the closely fought session, while Arthur was a little further back in 22nd, though giving him a good chance of success in the reverse grid contest.

Both drivers had a clean start to race one that afternoon, with Zak dropping back a spot but Arthur climbing up to 17th on lap one and running 16th by lap three. From there further positions were tough to come by, though Zak moved into 11th with a move on Michael Shin on lap seven of the scheduled 12, while Arthur was in a big battle for 12th position but couldn’t gain any further positions before the flag.

Zak slipped back one spot at the start of race two on Sunday morning, while Arthur again made up a host of early places, running 17th and battling with David Morales. The Safety Car was called halfway through the 20-minute contest, with both drivers gaining a place as the leader retired. The race restarted with two laps to run, with Zak crossing the line eighth but Arthur falling back to 22nd after being forced wide and off track.

The young French racer started the final contest well from the front row, holding second and pushing Daniel Mavlyutov for the lead on the opening lap, while Zak was up two places to 11th, battling with Oliver Stewart and Nico Christodoulou for ninth, which became a fight for seventh when two cars ahead came together. He almost took eighth with an opportunistic move as the two drivers ahead battled, but couldn’t quite get It completed, crossing the line ninth, with Arthur claiming an excellent second podium of the season.

The team and drivers will aim now to carry that positive form and good run of pace to the next three races of the 2023 GB3 Championship season, which take place at the home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone, over the weekend of July 29/30.

Zak Taylor, #9

G1 – 12, R1 – 11
G2 – 9, R2 – 8
G3 – 13, R3 – 9

Championship: 20 (71 points)

“It’s been a good weekend, bouncing back from Spa and the team has done a really good job to get the car sorted and fixed off the back of that trip. It was good to come to Snetterton and have a consistent, point scoring weekend. It’s what the team and I needed with a good run of results, and I’m happy that Arthur got a podium in the reverse grid race. The pace has been good and hopefully we can carry this momentum forward into Silverstone.

“We had the pace on most of the people in front of us in the last race and even in the first few races of the weekend. We were always getting held up a little bit, but it’s such a hard track to overtake around with so many medium and high-speed corners, it’s just processional in the GB3 car. We made the most of what we could, and the car was great, so I’m really happy. All eyes forward for Silverstone now.”

Arthur Rogeon, #18

G1 – 22, R1 – 16
G2 – 22, R2 – 22
G3 – 2, R3 – 2

Championship: 24 (58 points)

“Qualifying was a bit disappointing, but we showed great pace on the first lap of each race. In races one and two we made up five or six places on the first lap, which is really good. I made sure I warmed up my tyres properly, which meant we could make the most of the pace that we had.

“The second race didn’t finish the way we wanted, but that’s racing. After the Safety Car, on the restart, I made a little mistake and lost a position. Someone then went up the inside and didn’t leave me any space on the exit, which pushed me off the track. We were happy with the speed in race three. The first few laps I tried to make [Daniel] Mavlyutov make a mistake, but he was really solid. That meant I couldn’t overtake him, so we stayed in a good position.”