Chris Dittmann Racing had a positive opening weekend in the GB3 Championship, showing signs of promise and pace with debutants Seb Murray, Flynn Jackes, and Rishab Jain.
Coming into the meeting the team topped the times in practice on Friday morning, Flynn leading Seb in a one-two, with Rishab eighth quickest. In qualifying, it was Seb who led the way, finishing 11th fastest but just 0.7s from pole position, while just behind, Flynn was 17th and Rishab 20th.
Sadly, Seb bogged down off the line in race one, slipping back to 15th, with Flynn right on his tail and Rishab 19th, as the Safety Car was called on the opening lap. As the track went green with ten minutes remaining, forward progress was tricky with the field running in a train, and there were few further changes in the order to the flag.
Conditions were difficult on Monday morning for race two, with persistent rain leading to a wet track and a lack of visibility with the spray. After a Safety Car start, sadly Rishab went off at turn one, requiring another Safety Car intervention, with Seb slipping back to 14th and Flynn 19th, having had to pit due to an issue with the rear safety lights on his car. At the flag, Seb crossed the line 13th, with Flynn 14th.
Lining up on the front row for race three, Seb struggled to get going, falling back to seventh, while Flynn held 17th and Rishab dropped to 21st. Once the race settled down, Seb drove well in eighth, keeping McKenzy Cresswell at bay, before the Safety Car was called. Once racing resumed, Seb ran well in seventh, while Flynn was stuck in a big line of cars from 12th to 16th.
The team and drivers will now focus on finding improvements and working to bring everything they’ve learnt this weekend together, ahead of the next three races of the 2024 GB3 Championship season, which take place at Silverstone at the end of April.
Seb Murray, #91
G1 – 11, R1 – 15
G2 – 9, R2 – 13
G3 – 2, R3 – 7
Championship: 10 (23 points)
“It’s been a good first weekend in GB3. The mixed weather has meant it has been different every time we went out. I’ve been struggling with my starts, especially in the wet conditions which put me back in race three and cost me lots of positions. I need to improve my launch off the line, and overall, I am quite happy with how things went, so I’m looking forward to Silverstone.”
Flynn Jackes, #55
G1 – 17, R1 – 16
G2 – 17, R2 – 14
G3 – 17, R3 – 16
Championship: 16 (13 points)
“Practice was good, and the pace was there, but on Saturday I didn’t qualify as well as I should have. It’s a bit like Monaco around Oulton Park as you can’t really pass as there aren’t many opportunities, so being stuck there was basically my weekend.
“The races on Monday felt more like survival rather than racing. I didn’t feel like I could go wheel to wheel with anyone to test my racing combat and felt like I was trying not to crash. It was a learning experience and Silverstone will be completely different. We’ve done some test sessions there, so it’ll be good to see what the pace is like when we run on the race weekend.”
Rishab Jain, #77
G1 – 20, R1 – 20
G2 – 19, R2 – DNF
G3 – 20, R3 – 17
Championship: 21 (4 points)
“After a crash in free practice, it knocked my confidence a bit as it was a hefty impact and my first off in this car at speed. I was trying to build that confidence back up and my second race in the series was in torrential rain. It was about keeping it on track, which I didn’t do, so in race three I wanted to make sure I finished, which I did, so it’s about taking it one step at a time. We came into the championship late and can see the level I need to be at, so we’ve been able to learn a lot over the weekend.
“I wouldn’t say I am happy, because I am far behind, but the data looks good compared to my teammates. I have been pushing too much and getting things right at different times, so it’s about putting it all together and that’s what testing is for. I would love to come back; it is just about when we can make it happen.”
