Teenager extends series lead

Kiwi single-seater racer Louis Sharp took two big steps towards winning this year’s coveted GB3 Championship title with a near-perfect weekend at Donington Park Circuit. 

The British-born New Zealander dominated the series’ penultimate weekend of September 5-8 with an imposing double victory to extend his championship lead with just the season finale at Brands Hatch left on the 2024 calendar at the end of this month.

Sharp has now stretched his lead over closest rival John Bennett to 33 points with Tymek Kucharczyk a further three points adrift. 

With 35 points awarded for a race win, Sharp still has a battle on his hands if he is to become the first driver in history to win back-to-back British F4 and GB3 titles. 

Indeed, the teenager’s stunning performances are all the more notable because, unlike both his two more experienced adversaries, this is his debut campaign in the GB3 category. 

The Saturday morning’s crucial qualifying and the weekend’s first two races were held in ultra-challenging damp conditions. 

Despite never having driven a GB3 car in the wet at Donington, Sharp set the two fastest laps in qualifying to grab a double pole position. He then controlled both races to score maximum points with a pair of lights-to-flag wins. 

Completing the weekend, the 17-year-old then increased his series lead with another stand-out performance in the concluding reverse-grid race. 

As pole-sitter from race one, Sharp started from 12th on the grid. But on a dry track where overtaking was almost impossible, the Kiwi battled his way up to sixth place.

He says: “In terms of winning the championship, it was a critical weekend. I arrived with four points ahead and left with a 33-point lead, so I was very happy.”