Luke grabs early advantage despite mixed Monday at Oulton Park

Rising star Luke Browning holds the early advantage in the race to secure the 2022 GB3 Championship powered by the BRDC title despite a mixed Monday at Oulton Park.

Luke’s championship campaign started in perfect fashion on Saturday after he grabbed a double pole position in his Hitech GP-run car and then romped to a dominant win in the opening race of the weekend – scoring fastest lap in the process.

The second race of the weekend on Bank Holiday Monday would see Luke once again dominate proceedings from the front as he converted his second pole into a second victory.

Nearly nine seconds clear by the end of the 14 lap encounter at his home circuit, Luke’s pace was evident as he lapped half a second quicker than he had done in race one.

With the final race of the weekend featuring a reverse grid, Luke faced a huge challenge to try and come through the pack from 19th place in his bid to secure a hat-track of race wins.

Working his way up to 16th in the opening laps despite Oulton Park being a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult, Luke’s race would end in unfortunate fashion when a clash with Tom Lebbon – for which Lebbon was later excluded – saw him forced into retirement.

Despite the disappointing end to the weekend, Luke’s double victory means he holds a seven point lead in the early standings ahead of the next round of the campaign at Silverstone in early May.

“It’s amazing to come away with two wins, it’s exactly what we wanted,” he said. “Unfortunately in the last race there was nothing I could do about it, and that was mirrored in the Clerk’s office as well. It is what it is unfortunately but we’re coming away with the championship lead which is good.

“Not every weekend is like this, and it wasn’t easy either as a lot of preparation went into it. It’ll be hard to stay at the top but we’re going to try!”