Luke battles hard at Silverstone

Luke Browning was left to wonder what might have been as the GB3 Championship presented by the BRDC returned to Silverstone after qualifying on pole position, only for a post-session disqualification to leave him at the back of the grid for all three races.

The Cheshire youngster entered the weekend with a handy lead at the head of the standings following his sensational Spa triumphs a week beforehand.

But the penalties – for scrutineering reasons outside his control – gave title rival Joel Granfors an immediate advantage, with the Swede able to edge ahead in the title race as a result.

Browning put on one heck of a show though, with a combined gain of 36 places across the three races, including a 15-point gain in the final race alone. That meant he limited the damage, and is only 11.5 points behind Granfors heading into the final two events of the season at Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

“We did the best we could do really, obviously starting at the back for every race is really tough,” he said. “We came back stronger and we’ve shown today what we can do. It’s given the team a lot of inspiration. We’ve had to bite our lip and go ‘right, this is it now, we’ll fight back from this.’

“We’ve both got a great chance of winning now, and it could come down to qualifying I think. Whoever qualifies on pole for the last two rounds will probably win the championship and we’ll be going out all guns blazing.”

The British driver is optimistic of his chances next time out at Brands Hatch in September, having shown good pace there in testing.

“We’ve done one test day at the Brands GP circuit, we were fastest there and hopefully when we go back there it will be the same,” he said. “There’s been so much development of the cars through the season though, so everyone has their own philosophy up and down the paddock. Our car suited it quite well last time.

“I think a break is definitely needed, a good mental break to digest what’s happened over the weekend and make sure it never happens again. From my side I’m going to be analysing everything to make sure I’m in top form when we get to Brands in a month’s time.”