The GB3 Championship enters 2024 running on the high of its most successful season to date. Having promoted Callum Voisin, Alex Dunne, Joseph Loake and Max Esterson to FIA Formula 3, the series welcomes a field of 21 drivers from eight teams who look to emulate their success. Set to battle over eight rounds at some of the UK and mainland Europe’s most prestigious venues, here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 GB3 season.

By George Brabner

GB3’s growing prestige was underlined perfectly over the winter by Voisin, Dunne, Loake and Esterson’s promotion to FIA F3 after impressing throughout 2022 and 2023. They join another two successful ex-GB3 drivers, Luke Browning and Christian Mansell, in the series for 2024, proving GB3’s growing presence on the international single-seater stage as a prime location to scout for budding talent.

Ahead of the new season, GB3 looks to continue that positive momentum. For the first time since the series adopted its current moniker in 2021,  it will award super licence points to the top five in the championship – a significant selling point. In addition, a fourth European Formula One circuit joins the calendar and the series will continue to refine its format, adjusting its reverse grid rules that frequently lead to unrepresentative results in recent years.

GB3’s grid has shrunk to 21 cars despite a capacity of 26 for 2024. But of its full-time lineup, the series packs a punch, boasting the top two finishers in British F4 last year, returning championship hopefuls and promising rookies. It continues to be an attractive, low-cost F3 regional series with a competitive calendar and a grid with an impressive depth of teams and drivers.

The calendar

One of GB3’s headline changes for 2024 is the addition of the Hungaroring to the calendar. It will replace Snetterton, which will not feature on the GB3 schedule for the first time since 2014 when the series began as BRDC F4. 

The Hungaroring is now the third mainland European circuit to join the calendar alongside Zandvoort and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, signifying GB3’s continued expansion away from the UK. It will help to form a new European leg that spans June and July, ending at Zandvoort which has been moved to a position much earlier in the year.

Back on home soil, GB3 will continue to support British GT at four rounds, breaking away for its regular weekend at Silverstone in July where it is the headline series with GB4. Donington Park will also no longer hold the season finale, the honours of which have been given to Brands Hatch. Here is the calendar in full:

• Round 1: Oulton Park International (30 March-1 April)
• Round 2: Silverstone Circuit (27-28 April)
• Round 3: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (1-2 June)
• Round 4: Hungaroring (22-23 June)
• Round 5: Circuit Zandvoort (13-14 July)
• Round 6: Silverstone Circuit (27-28 July)
• Round 7: Donington Park (7-8 September)
• Round 8: Brands Hatch (28-29 September)

The format

GB3 will carry the majority of its race format forward from 2023 to 2024 but with a significant change to race three. 

Every round will begin with a standard two days of official testing before a 20-minute qualifying session kicks off the weekend. Each driver’s fastest lap time will set the grid for race one, whilst their second fastest laps will decide race two’s starting order. Both races will be 20 minutes in length and award 35 points to the winner down to one point for 20th place.

New for 2024 is a variety of changes to race three. Firstly, its grid will be formed by reversing the top 12 – rather than the entire field – from qualifying. A full grid reversal led to curious statistics last season, such as that 22nd-placed Daniel Mavlyutov took double the amount of victories as champion Callum Voisin across the year, all of which came in race threes. The adjustment aims to create a more representative points table in 2024.

Alongside that, drivers can now only earn 12 additional points for every position they climb. Race three will continue to be 25 minutes in length

Where to watch

GB3’s competitive broadcast package will remain in place for 2024. All races will be streamed live on the MSV TV YouTube channel, whilst live timing will be available for every session, including qualifying and testing. 

Lewis McGlade will be the lead commentator alongside Piers Prior, both of whom will be joined on the broadcast predominantly by presenter Jon Jackson. At round one, the host of Feeder Series’ Transfer Weekly series Chris McCarthy will take over that role.

Teams and drivers

JHR Developments

Reigning teams’ champions JHR Developments will field three cars in 2024. They showed a significant upturn in pace last year, storming to the title by almost 100 points with Joseph Loake, Matthew Rees and David Morales and taking a combined five victories and nine podiums between them.

This season, they look to continue their success with John Bennett (#11), who headlines their lineup. The Briton is embarking on his third full-time campaign in GB3 with championship glory firmly in mind, swapping from Rodin Carlin with whom he finished 10th last year. He topped one day of official pre-season testing at Oulton Park, ahead of what is a make-or-break year. 

Joining Bennett will be two British F4 graduates, Josh Irfan (#12) and Patrick Heuzenroeder (#10). 

Irfan finished 12th in the category last season, having picked up two race victories. He also made three sporadic appearances in GB4, the first of which facilitated his car racing debut, where he scored a podium finish. Irfan’s results are impressive, but he only has one year of single-seater experience on his resumé, which could make the beginning of 2024 difficult in the faster GB3 car.

Heuzenroeder, meanwhile, finished 19th in British F4 in 2023 with Phinsys by Argenti, scoring one podium during round three at Snetterton. That came before two appearances in GB3 with Elite Motorsport where he scored a best finish of third in the final race of the season. The Australian only started karting four years ago, but after moving across the world to the UK last year, he is expected to progress quickly, especially with the support of David Brabham, son of the legendary Sir Jack Brabham.

Rodin Motorsport

Entering a new era in 2024, the newly rebranded Rodin Motorsport team will take on three drivers for the opening round of the year.

Reigning British F4 champion Louis Sharp (#7) is its most exciting full-time prospect. The Kiwi pipped fellow 2024 GB3 driver Will Macintyre to the British F4 title by 13 points in his sophomore campaign, taking four wins and eight podiums across the year. In pre-season testing, he has already proven that he is one to watch as the only driver to overhaul third-year entrants Bennett and McKenzy Cresswell to top a combined classification.

Alongside Sharp for the full season is Frenchman Arthur Rogeon (#18). Whilst he initially struck a two-year deal with Chris Dittmann Racing, the two parties were unable to reach an agreement for 2024, leading Rogeon to Rodin. As a sophomore driver, higher expectations are on his shoulders, especially given Sharp’s early speed.

Rounding out Rodin’s lineup at Oulton Park and other select rounds across 2024 is Ugo Ugochukwu (#31). The McLaren junior driver needs little introduction: he is the reigning Euro 4 champion, 2023 Italian F4 runner-up and 2022 British F4 rookie champion. His primary focus this season will be FRECA with Prema Racing but will combine that with a partial GB3 assault. He has already shown his speed in testing, finishing second on day two at Oulton Park.

VRD Racing by Arden

With a combination of the successful American outfit VRD Racing and the renowned British team Arden Motorsport’s expertise, VRD Racing by Arden will be looking for more race victories in 2024 after scoring four wins last year.

Noah Ping (#3) is likely to lead the squad this season as he enters his sophomore campaign in GB3. Having moved across the pond twelve months ago and handled the steep learning curve, the American is expected to be a regular top-five finisher in 2024 as he progresses.

Alongside him for the full season will be Shawn Rashid (#32). The 27-year-old only made his slicks and wings debut in GB3 last year and had a tough campaign with Douglas Motorsport, finishing 25th. He didn’t enter the season finale having opted to drop out after round seven similar to his teammate Lucas Staico, who decided to leave Douglas following round six. Looking to turn the tides on his debut results in a new environment, expect Rashid to move forward with VRD Racing by Arden.

The Anglo-American outfit’s third seat will be shared by James Hedley (#2) and Nikita Johnson (#17) across the season. Hedley will race at Oulton Park – where he won his first GB3 race last year – and Silverstone in April before American driver Johnson jumps in for the remaining six rounds.

Hitech GP

Having taken Dunne to second in the driver’s championship in 2023, Hitech boasts an impressive three-car lineup in 2024 as they hope to improve on fourth in the teams’ standings.

Tymek Kucharczyk (#22) will enter his second GB3 campaign as a championship favourite off the back of scoring an impressive two podiums in 2023 with Douglas. His results peaked and troughed as a rookie – often due to on-track incidents – but he arguably performed better than what seventh in the standings suggested, executing relentless comeback drives at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, for example. With the support of Hitech, he is expected to challenge for the GB3 title in 2024.

Similarly, Sharp’s closest F4 competitor, 2023 British F4 runner-up Will Macintyre (#21),is predicted to take strong results this year. Continuing to climb the single-seater ladder with Hitech, he has shown promise in pre-season testing despite his rookie status, consistently matching the pace of his more experienced teammates. 

Gerrard Xie (#23) is a dark horse within Hitech’s lineup. He dominated the 2022 Chinese F4 series but his move to Europe in GB3 last year was nowhere as fruitful, finishing 20th with Hillspeed whom he competed with through the Hitech Academy. With a promotion to the ‘works’ team, the Chinese man has shown strong progress over the winter compared to where he left off in 2023.

Elite Motorsport

Elite Motorsport has one of the strongest lineups of the 2024 field.

The man with a target on his back in GB3 this year is certainly McKenzy Cresswell (#16), who returns to Elite for his third series campaign. The Briton had multiple offers on the table to graduate to FIA F3 after making a one-off appearance with PHM Racing late in 2023, but budget restrictions left him unable to make the jump. He has already shown his speed in pre-season testing, topping a mighty four days of the official six. Undoubtedly, he is the one to watch.

Also set to perform at Elite is South African Jarrod Waberski (#20). He enters 2024 after finishing ninth as a rookie with Fortec Motorsport last year, an impressive result given the technical issues that plagued him and the team. He has already taken a step forward in testing with Elite having also run with JHR multiple times following the 2023 season finale.

Rounding out the team’s 2024 lineup is Hugo Schwarze (#33). The German driver finished second in the Ginetta Junior Championship last year and has opted to make the early jump to GB3, skipping the F4-level competition. Whilst a daunting step, it’s a move that was pulled off successfully by Voisin in 2022, who finished fourth in the standings that year.

Fortec Motorsport

Fortec Motorsport will only field two full-time drivers this year as they look to improve upon a rocky 2023.

Ed Pearson (#41) will continue with the team after graduating from British F4 to GB3 in 2023. He took a best finish of second in reversed-grid race three at Donington Park last year, rounding out his rookie campaign on a high. The Briton will be looking to make progress on 19th in the standings, and he has already looked to have done so over the winter, finishing within the top ten in combined classifications at Oulton Park and Donington Park.

Joining Pearson will be Colin Queen (#62), one of two drivers to move up to GB3 from GB4. The American finished fourth in the series last year, going without a race win but scoring a healthy haul of ten podiums. Having challenged the dominant champion Tom Mills early in the year, Queen is a driver to keep your eye on.

Chris Dittmann Racing

Chris Dittmann Racing are taking on three Hitech Academy drivers in 2024 as they grow close ties to the Silverstone-based squad.

Scotsman Sebastian Murray (#91) will make the jump to GB3 with Chris Dittmann Racing after joining Hitech for the first time in F4 UAE earlier this year. Whilst he didn’t initially plan to graduate to the F3 level this season, having only competed on and off in Italian F4, Spanish F4 and GB4 in 2023, he showed a clear improvement during the Middle Eastern season, likely to now follow a similar path to Xie in GB3.

Alongside Murray for the season will be Flynn Jackes (#55). Jackes debuted in GB3 when made a one-off appearance with Hillspeed at the 2021 season finale, but he has a tough learning curve ahead of him with no other single-seater experience.

Chris Dittmann Racing’s third car will be filled by Rishab Jain (#77) at Oulton Park. The Singaporean racer made his single-seater debut in Italian F4 in 2022, where he finished 46th overall. He also competed in Indian F4 last year, where he finished seventh with Chennai Turbo Riders out of nine full-time drivers.

Hillspeed

Hillspeed will only field one driver in 2024, Aditya Kulkarni (#15). The young Indian driver made his single-seater debut in GB4 last year, finishing fifth with three podiums under his belt. He has only had a minimal testing programme since the 2023 season’s conclusion, initially with Fortec before one day of official running with Hillspeed at Donington Park, which will leave him with a lot of work to do as his GB3 campaign begins.

Header photo credit: JEP