Browning extends GB3 lead with Snetterton Race 2 win

Luke Browning withstood race-long pressure from title rival Joel Granfors to win the second GB3 Championship race at Snetterton on Sunday morning.

That pair finished where they started, with Matthew Rees, Tom Lebbon and Callum Voisin lining up third through fifth.

Everyone made it through Riches cleanly, despite Tom Lebbon having a huge lock-up into Turn 2.

Javier Sagrera made a great start and ended the second lap in third place, just behind Browning and Granfors.

Browning had to defend into Turn 2 on Lap 2 as Granfors searched for a way into the lead.

Sagrera ran wide on the exit of Williams later on the same lap, coming under pressure from Rees in fourth.

Browning still set the fastest lap on Lap 2 despite the attentions of Granfors behind, and did the same on Lap 3 to open the gap by just under a tenth a lap.

Granfors began to close the gap and had a go around the outside at Riches on Lap 5. Browning lost the rear on the exit and opened the door for the Swedish driver to try again, but he couldn’t get a clear run at the Hitech GP car ahead.

Meanwhile, Sagrera sat patiently waiting to pick up the pieces, but was still on course to take his first podium since joining Carlin.

The Spaniard had made up three spots after a stellar start, but his team-mate, Race 1 winner Callum Voisin ran wide at Riches and and spun into the inside barrier on Lap 6. Thankfully, he got out of the car quickly and seemed physically OK.

The leading trio had gapped the rest of the field, but Matthew Rees had managed to catch Sagrera to challenge for the final podium place.

Granfors had another go into Riches on Lap 8, but Browning defended aggressively and swept towards the inside before crossing back onto the racing line to close the door.

Their squabbling opened the door for Sagrera and Rees to close in further, though the Spaniard was busy defending from the sole JHR Developments entry himself.

Sagrera still managed to set the fastest lap on Lap 8, while Browning began to re-open the gap back to Granfors such that the Fortec Motorsports driver couldn’t stick his nose up the inside into Riches on Lap 9.

The field was fairly segmented further back, with Marcos Flack and McKenzy Cresswell fighting over P15 in the lower reaches of the midfield.

Branden Oxley and Max Esterson were inseparable for the entire race, the American having tried to get past into Brundle earlier in proceedings.

Browning made a mistake at Nelson on the penultimate lap and swept across to defend from Granfors again, but the Fortec driver couldn’t quite find a way through.

Browning came across the line to win from pole and extend his championship lead, with Granfors and Sagrera completing the podium.

Rees just missed out on a podium, ahead of Tom Lebbon, Alex Connor, Roberto Faria, Nico Christodoulou, Oxley and Esterson.

GB3 Snetterton Race 2 Results:

Pos.	No.	Name	Nat.	Team	Laps/Gap
1	5	Luke Browning	GBR	Hitech GP	12 laps
2	50	Joel Granfors	SWE	Fortec Motorsport	+1.235s
3	31	Javier Sagrera	SPA	Carlin	+1.463s
4	53	Matthew Rees	GBR	JHR Developments	+1.946s
5	34	Tom Lebbon	GBR	Elite Motorsport	+6.864s
6	32	Alex Connor	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+7.607s
7	7	Roberto Faria	BRA	Carlin	+7.884s
8	22	Nico Christodoulou	CAN	Arden Motorsport	+8.226s
9	68	Branden Oxley	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	+10.467s
10	42	Max Esterson	USA	Douglas Motorsport	+10.790s
11	27	John Bennett	GBR	Elite Motorsport	+11.232s
12	64	Nick Gilkes	CAN	Hillspeed	+13.928s
13	4	Bryce Aron	USA	Hitech GP	+15.922s
14	67	James Hedley	GBR	Elite Motorsport	+17.492s
15	11	Marcos Flack	AUS	Douglas Motorsport	+22.778s
16	8	McKenzy Cresswell	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	+25.087s
17	21	Zak Taylor	GBR	Fortec Motorsport	+27.850s
18	16	Tommy Smith	AUS	Douglas Motorsport	+28.880s
19	6	Cian Shields	GBR	Hitech GP	+31.803s
20	43	Mikkel Grundtvig	DEN	Fortec Motorsport	+32.815s
21	77	David Morales	USA	Arden Motorsport	+33.508s
22	35	Callum Voisin	GBR	Carlin	DNF (crash)