Hello everybody! It’s Bryce. Last weekend was round two of the GB3 championship at the iconic Silverstone Circuit. The track itself is only an arms reach away from Towcester, a small town, where I’m living during the 2022 season. After my small commute to the track, which is just under ten minutes, I arrived for our first day of testing Thursday morning, marking the start of our race weekend. We began extremely strong as I was within the top 3 in the first test session. As our two days of practice progressed it was evident the team and myself had some more work to do in order to be as competitive as possible.
On Saturday morning we qualified and I missed the mark a bit meaning we had to start further down the field than ideal. Qualifying this year has proved to be a greater challenge as our tires have a much shorter life span and peak of performance. This means that in general, in order to gain the best maximum performance, you only have about two laps to put your lap together, sometimes, depending on track conditions you may only get one shot.
For race one on Saturday afternoon we tried a big change that we believed would help me with passing other cars but ultimately hurt us a lot more than it helped. Although we were a bit frustrated, we kept trying new things and changed our approach once again for race two on Sunday morning. This time our idea worked and I was able to make some good moves, allowing us to score valuable points.
Race two began with a relatively good start instantly gaining us a few positions and in the opening lap I jumped on an opportunity in Abbey corner as I dove to the inside in the fully flatout right hander. On the next lap I managed to pick off another position as I dove to the inside at the last minute in the Loop corner, a slow speed left hander leading onto the Wellington straight. Although I got the move mostly done in the Loop I had to defend going into Brooklands corner as I lost a bit of minimum due to my last minute lunge. This meant a quick game of chicken at 140 mph going into the next braking zone with my fellow competitor as we both tried to see who could outbreak the other. Luckily this time it was me and with that, I grabbed the position and a twelfth place result.
The final race of the weekend saw us starting 6th on the grid and I was extremely hungry for a podium result. As it was the last race of the weekend many competitors were on different strategies, some opting for a full set of new tires while others, including myself, only had a half set of scuffed tires left. Our start in race 3 was good once again but a fellow competitor in front of me didn’t have quite as good of a launch meaning I could only make it to fifth on the first lap. Due to GB3 cars heavily relying on aerodynamics with their big wings and specially designed floors passing is extremely hard in dirty air, which is caused by the air coming off the cars in front of you.. The only way to get by usually is through a last second divebomb catching other competitors by surprise. After a few laps into the race I still found myself in fifth position but right on the gearbox of fourth place who in turn was right on the third placed car's gearbox as well. Heading out of the Loop down the Wellington straight my two fellow competitors went two wide approaching Brooklands corner. Little did they know that I had a good run on both of them as well and at the last minute into the braking zone I darted to their inside making it three wide and broke as late as absolutely possible. We made it and with that pass of two cars in one corner I secured a solid third place podium result! The result also contributed to my team, Hitech GP, once again leading the team’s championship. So overall a good weekend in my eyes but as always I’m hungry for more, much more.
Our focus going into round three at Donington Park later this month is a very strong qualifying leaving us with less work to do in the races. In the meantime I’ll be training as usual in the gym staying physically fit and driving on the team’s simulator perfecting my techniques. The hard work continues and I can’t wait until next race. I hope you enjoyed this race recap and to stay up to date on my latest progress please check in on my website, https://www.brycearon.com/ , or select subscribe to receive newsletters.