PREVIEW: 2022 GB3 Championship – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

The 2022 GB3 Championship enters the second half of the season at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps this weekend (22-24 July), with plenty of stories and an intriguing title battle continuing into the Championship’s annual visit to Belgium.

Last time at Spa

Bart Horsten took his first GB3 pole at Spa in the fourth round of the 2021 season, leading the field for Races 1 and 2 ahead of the Carlin pair of Zak O’Sullivan and Christian Mansell.

Mansell won Race 1 in mixed conditions, with O’Sullivan and Roman Bilinski rounding out the podium.

That trio stayed on the podium for Race 2, with Bilinski taking his first win ahead of O’Sullivan and Mansell, while the reverse-grid Race 3 brought a first GB3 win for Roberto Faria in a triple-podium for Fortec Motorsport, the Brazilian taking top honours ahead of Mikkel Grundtvig and wildcard Hunter Yeany.

Circuit

The 7km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most popular and iconic circuits in the world, and provides a unique challenge for the GB3 grid.

The first sector is fairly straightforward, taking in the La Source hairpin at Turn 1, the plunge down the hill towards Eau Rouge and Raidillon and the Kemmel Straight.

Sector Two is the most technical, and challenges the teams to compromise on setup, being sandwiched between two high-speed blasts through the Ardennes Forest.

The Les Combes chicane marks the point at which the modern circuit departs from the classic layout, leading directly into Malmedy and the downhill right-hand hairpin at Bruxelles.

Jacky Ickx Corner, formerly ‘No-name’, is a tricky left which precedes a short shoot down to the double-apex left at Pouhon.

The Fagnes chicane leads into Campus to end the second sector, with Stavelot starting the flat-out shoot through Blanchimont and into the Bus Stop chicane to end the lap.

What to look out for this weekend

The title fight is closer this season than last, with Luke Browning leading Joel Granfors by 11 points after taking his third win of the season at Snetterton last time out.

Fortec’s Swedish driver led the standings after his first win at Silverstone, but Browning pulled himself back into top spot after outscoring Granfors by two points at Donington Park and by 12 points at Snetterton, finishing ahead of his title rival in all three races.

Roberto Faria and Max Esterson have begun to pull themselves onto the periphery of the title race, the Brazilian sitting 41 points behind Granfors with three podiums as the Championship visits a circuit he won at in 2021.

Callum Voisin has two wins in the last two meetings, and sits fifth in the standings ahead of fellow race-winner Tom Lebbon, who has the benefit of a fourth-place finish at Spa last season.

Around half the grid has raced there before, largely in GB3 last year, though Matthew Rees, John Bennett, Alex Connor and McKenzy Cresswell will experience the circuit for the first time in testing on Friday.

Tommy Smith, Nick Gilkes, Cian Shields, Marcos Flack and David Morales have all taken podiums or wins in the first half of the season.

Smith’s experience of Spa will be a little slower than last season, where he raced there in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine just before joining the GB3 grid.

Schedule

Friday 22 July

4:35pm local time (3:35pm BST) – Qualifying

Saturday 23 July

2:50pm – Race 1

7:50pm – Race 2

Sunday 24 July

11:35am – Race 3

How to follow

The Checkered Flag will be bringing you reports, news and interviews from every session on Saturday and Sunday.

Live timing is provided by TSL Timing throughout the weekend, with official live-streams of all three races on the MSV TV YouTube channel and the GB3 Championship website.