John Bennett scored his second GB3 Championship race victory alongside a double pole position with a brilliant performance at Zandvoort this past weekend (13/14 July).
The Salisbury-based rising star has enjoyed a purple patch of summer form as GB3 toured Europe, with podium finishes at both Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungaroring springing him up the championship table.
The JHR Developments driver hoped to continue that positive surge with a visit to Zandvoort in the Netherlands, which marked the fifth meeting of the current GB3 Championship campaign, and the final part of its European leg.
Bennett, a race-winner in the 2024 curtain-raiser at Oulton Park back in April, started strongly in testing with consistent front-running pace in a mixture of differing weather conditions, but he saved his best performance for the crucial qualifying session on Saturday morning.
The youngster went six hundredths of a second quicker than his nearest rival, and a mighty second-best time would be enough to seal a double pole position for the first two races of three in the Netherlands.
The J5C Management Limited, StreetSharp Ltd, The Accounting Centre Ltd, Khan Thornton Ltd, Lonetree Limited, Lewco Holdings Limited and Project Divebomb backed driver again faced tricky conditions in the opening 11-lap salvo later that afternoon, with half the circuit bone dry and the other far more treacherous underfoot.
Bennett armed his #11 car with slick tyres and braved it out around the banked opening turn to hold off Tymek Kucharczyk, maintaining a lead he would ultimately never surrender. Despite a safety car interruption wiping out his early three-second lead, Bennett controlled the restart to perfection to beat his Polish rival to the chequered flag for win number two of his campaign.
The single-seater talent had the chance to double up from pole position once again the following morning. What followed was a chaotic encounter, firstly red-flagged after a shunt further down the order. Bennett lost places with wheelspin at the restart and fell to third place, but his podium chances were dashed when contact with Louis Sharp forced a pitstop for a front wing change, leaving him 15th at the finish.
The partially-reversed race three grid set Bennett up from a starting spot of 17th, with points-scoring the priority to follow up his strong start to the weekend. He subsequently charged forward to an eventual 10th place finish, picking off rivals as they fell by the wayside.
The points scored at Zandvoort cement Bennett's position in the championship title fight heading into the final three rounds of the season, as he sits just 30 points from the head of the table in what's shaping up to be a four-man scrap for the crown.
John Bennett: “It was a mixed weekend in the end but it showed just how fast we are. I'm delighted to have come away with a double pole and a race win - my second of the season - and it keeps us in the title fight.
"The car has been mega all weekend and it came to us in qualifying. The final few minutes were crucial, and we got it right in what were pretty tricky conditions. The first race was also a mix of a wet and dry track, so it was important to manage the pace up front.
"It felt great to get back to winning ways after collecting a lot of podiums in recent rounds. It gives us confidence that we can compete for the title which was our aim at the start of the year, and we'll keep pushing for more at Silverstone.”
The 2024 GB3 Championship season returns to the UK for the first of its final three events, beginning with a second outing on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of 27/28 July.
Images from Jakob Ebrey Photography.
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