GB3

Mansell fastest in British F3 Practice at Brands Hatch GP

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Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

It was an Aussie 1-2 in Practice at Brands Hatch GP before the 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship begins in the afternoon, as Christian Mansell (Carlin) topped the times ahead of Bart Horsten (Hitech GP).

Mansell also ended Session 3 of Friday testing on the Indy circuit fastest, with Carlin topping three of the four sessions (Zak O’Sullivan 2, Mansell 1).

Arden Motorsport‘s Frederick Lubin took Session 4 as rain slowed times by as much as nine seconds.

Ayrton Simmons (Chris Dittmann Racing) set the fastest lap ahead of the Carlin pair of Mansell and Zak O’Sullivan in the opening minutes.

O’Sullivan and Mansell overtook the five-time British F3 race winner with 12 minutes remaining, with the top four separated by less than three tenths.

Reece Ushijima (Hitech GP) shot to the front for the first time this season with a 1:34.611 heading into the second half of the session, a time quickly bested by O’Sullivan and Simmons, who set identical fastest times in the first testing session on the Indy layout on Friday.

Indeed, the pair set the fastest time in Practice no less than six times between them.

Ushijima’s Hitech team-mate Bart Horsten then went quickest, with Bryce Aron (Carlin) jumping eight places to sixth with a 1:34.682 before the session was red-flagged with eight minutes remaining, seemingly for an issue with Hitech’s Mexican driver, Sebastian Alvarez.

The entire field headed back out of the pits for the final four minutes, with Mansell getting straight back to business with a time over half a second quicker than the rest of the field, with Oliver Bearman (Fortec) and Ushijima split by hundredths in second and third.

At the end of the session, Mansell topped the timesheets as he did in Session 3 on Friday, ahead of his compatriot Horsten, with Bearman just ahead of Javier Sagrera putting the Elite Motorsport car higher than we saw it throughout testing.

Simmons led Ushijima by less than a tenth in fifth and sixth, with a gap back to O’Sullivan in seventh, before Lubin, Roberto Faria (Fortec) and Alex Connor (Arden) were split by 0.025s to round out the top ten.

2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship Brands Hatch Practice Results:

PosNo.NameNat.TeamTimeGapLaps
121Christian MansellAUSCarlin1:32.23511
250Bart HorstenAUSHitech GP1:32.695+0.41010
387Oliver BearmanGBRFortec Motorsports1:32.941+0.70611
43Javier SagreraESPElite Motorsport1:32.994+0.75911
518Ayrton SimmonsGBRChris Dittmann Racing1:33.174+0.93911
613Reece UshijimaJPNHitech GP1:33.228+0.99310
751Zak O’SullivanGBRCarlin1:33.443+1.20811
878Frederick LubinGBRArden Motorsport1:33.861+1.62610
97Roberto FariaBRAFortec Motorsports1:33.883+1.6489
1027Alex ConnorGBRArden Motorsport1:33.886+1.65110
1190Alex ForesGBRChris Dittmann Racing1:33.904+1.66911
1223Bryce AronUSACarlin1:33.940+1.70511
1355Dexter PattersonGBRDouglas Motorsport1:34.208+1.97310
1412Sebastian AlvarezMEXHitech GP1:34.781+2.5466
1534Tom LebbonGBRElite Motorsport1:34.806+2.57110
1681Max MarzoratiGBRChris Dittmann Racing1:34.977+2.74211
1799Jose GarfiasMEXElite Motorsport1:35.167+2.9329
1843Mikkel GrundtvigDENFortec Motorsports1:35.926+3.69110
1910Reema JuffaliSAUDouglas Motorsport1:37.511+5.27610

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Stickler for track limits, covering the GB3 Championship and the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Twitter: @MCallanderMedia
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