Browning takes double GB3 pole at Oulton Park

Luke Browning took pole for the first GB3 Championship race of the season at Oulton Park on Saturday, with his second-fastest time also putting him at the front for Race 2.

The Carlin trio of Callum Voisin, Roberto Faria and Javier Sagrera completed the first representative laps, before Zak Taylor and Browning showed their hands.

McKenzy Cresswell moved towards the top before Browning fired in a 1:29.570 to go almost four seconds clear of the pack, who began to move towards the pace they showed in midweek testing.

Faria and Joel Granfors shot up the order after a few minutes, while Nick Gilkes also improved.

Only 14 of the 21 drivers had set a time in the first three minutes of the session, the lower order setting unrepresentative lap times initially before moving closer to the leaders.

Douglas Motorsport‘s Marcos Flack moved up significantly just before the halfway stage, while his compatriot and team-mate Tommy Smith also improved.

Meanwhile, John Bennett (Elite Motorsport) closed up by moving up to 17th, but there was a field spread of 4.7 seconds halfway through the session.

Voisin then set exactly the same time as Browning, but Browning remained top of the table, having set the lap earlier on a ‘slower’ track.

Alex Connor (Arden Motorsport) then pulled into the pits with an issue, before Browning improved again and Joel Granfors separated the Hitech GP driver from Voisin.

British F4 champion Matthew Rees finally set a representative time to go fourth with four minutes remaining, as several drivers including Tommy Smith and Sagrera saw lap times deleted for track limits infringements.

Granfors momentarily went quickest late on, before Browning retook pole by 0.041s, six tenths ahead of Voisin.

Faria and Tom Lebbon improved entering the last minute of qualifying, going fourth and fifth respectively.

David Morales moved ahead of Nick Gilkes at the end, as Zak Taylor saw a lap time deleted.

Browning ended the session on pole for Race 1, ahead of Granfors, Faria and Rees.

Voisin and Lebbon will start fifth and sixth, with Cresswell, Sagrera, Bennett and James Hedley rounding out the top ten.

2022 Oulton Park Qualifying Results: