Louis Sharp has left the Hungaroring back in control of the GB3 Championship for Rodin Motorsport following a solid debut at the European track. Championship protagonist Sharp used all of the sessions on offer on Thursday and Friday to build momentum and topped off his weekend with victory on Sunday alongside two further strong points finishes. Sunday's winning ways continued in the third race of the weekend when Arthur Rogeon took his debut GB3 Championship race victory by pulling off a great move for the lead and building a fantastic gap. James Hedley, who joined the team for the weekend, was also well on the pace and scored strong points.
For the first time in the championship's history, the Hungaroring was the setting for the fourth round of the GB3 Championship and it didn't disappoint. Qualifying was a tense set up for the team and saw Hedley the highest placed Rodin racer in fifth, Sharp ninth and Rogeon 11th - the second fastest times placed Sharp in fifth, Rogeon ninth and Hedley 12th.
As the lights went out on Saturday for race one, it was a relatively processional affair however Hedley did manage to move up to fourth, just outside of a podium position as the flag fell. Sharp finished seventh and Rogeon ninth to ensure all three Rodin Motorsport drivers finished in the top ten.
A reset for Sunday saw a far more exciting day for the trio. Race two saw the Rodin Cars backed racer launch sensationally off the line and quickly make his way up to second place. From there, he began hustling championship rival Tymek Kucharczyk for the lead of the race - something he brilliantly managed and ran away with until the flag fell to take his second victory of the season. Hedley finished the race in ninth while Rogeon was an unfortunate non-finisher.
The final race of the weekend later in the afternoon saw Rogeon line up on the front row of the grid in second and as the race got underway his speed advantage over Josh Irfan was clear and he was able to capitalise on this and steal the lead as his own; pulling a strong lead in the process. Sharp continued his progression and finished the race in fourth, just on the edge of a podium position, however it was enough for him to take the championship lead back as his own. Hedley meanwhile rounded off his weekend with the team in sixth place.
Rogeon said of his maiden victory, "It's good to be finally on the top step. It was a really hard race but I led from lap one until the end. Pretty good, we have the pace so thank you to the team for all the work they have done today. After race two they had to change all the electronical parts in the car, so they did some good work! I'm really happy.
"We had to make the move on the first lap, I knew I needed a good start and I made one. Josh raced really good in the first corner and managed to stay outside. But then I made the move in the second corner and led all the race."
Back in the championship lead, Sharp said of his victory in race two, "I wasn’t where I wanted to be on the grid and I needed to make positions but was thinking it would be pretty good to get one or two on the first lap… but I ended up passing all four of them! I got a fantastic getaway – passed two of them around turn one, then the third around the outside of turn two before slipping by the leader on way into the chicane.
“I’ve got to give the team a big ‘thank you’. We struggled with the set-up in qualifying but they turned it around and we are back where we should be at the front. Since Oulton Park things haven’t gone completely to plan. I’ve always been fast but we haven’t had the best of luck, so it’s great to get another win and be back into title contention.”
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