Pace Performance's Josh McLean steered clear of plenty of drama to win GB4's 100th race in the Snetterton event finale on Sunday.
The British driver started from pole position on the top-12 reverse grid, and led every lap, with all sorts of chaos unfolding behind him. In typical GB4 style that's been apparent across the championship's opening century of races, there was early race drama, bold overtaking and a dramatic finish.
McLean made a good start from pole to lead the field away, while Hillspeed's Connor Willis from second was slightly slower off the line. The American came under pressure from the second Pace machine of John O'Donnell, which took second place with a move at Brundle and Nelson, with Willis demoted further by fast-starting teammate Enzo Hallman, who climbed from sixth on the grid.
With two Pace cars flying high, the third car of Torrin Byrne came into trouble at Wilson on the opening lap. He suffered damage after contact while rounding the tight right hander, and on the approach to Palmer, his tyre deflated, spinning him across the pack. In the drama, title contender Fred Green sustained damage, while championship leader Alex O'Grady was amongst several others to take to the runoff area. Byrne retired on the spot, while Green and Fortec's Franciszek Cegielski returned to the pits and never rejoined.
That drama spawned the first safety car, but only after Willis had regained second place with two daring moves in two corners early in the second lap, as he demoted Hallman and O'Donnell back down the order.
McLean made a strong restart with nine minutes remaining, but Willis kept him honest across the first few corners, while Hallman in fourth attempted to move past O'Donnell.
A lap later though, O'Donnell made contact with the rear of Willis while launching a move for second at Agostini, leaving both drivers stranded at the side of the track. O'Donnell received a five place grid penalty at his next race for causing the incident, following post-race investigations.
The race was immediately neutralised under safety car conditions, before the red flags were shown with three minutes remaining, and the race result declared at the end of lap five.
That left McLean as the winner, and because Willis and O'Donnell were not running at the end of the race, Hallman and Elite's Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso completed the podium, with the Venezuelan climbing from fifth on the grid.
Douglas Motorsport's Dayton Coulthard and Fortec's Thomas Ingram Hill both gained five spots on their way to fourth and fifth places respectively, while Coulthard's teammate Conor Grant was sixth from eighth on the grid.
Elite's Matan Achituv gained seven spots on his way to seventh, and Scorpio's Romuald Bocquet took eighth after blasting up from 21st on the grid.
KMR Sport's Lily-May Watkins ended her strongest GB4 race weekend with a superb charge from 16th to a maiden top-10 result, with Fox Motorsport's Jasser Iskander another to star, as he completed the top-10 on the road with a 13 place gain. Arden's Michael Koh finished just behind, having also gained 13 spots, but Iskander was handed a one place penalty post-race for crowding Koh, promoting the American-Singaporean into 10th.
KMR's Alex O'Grady extended his championship lead to 70 points, recovering from his lap one avoiding action to take 12th ahead of Enzo Rujugiro, who was another to gain 13 places in his Fox Motorsport car.
Fortec's Jordyn Martin was another to receive a post-race penalty, with five seconds added to her race time for overtaking Holly Miall before the safety car restart line. The penalty drops Martin below Miall into 19th place in the amended result.
GB4 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Snetterton, race three result:
1. Josh McLean, Pace Performance, 5 laps
2. Enzo Hallman, Hillspeed, +1.116s
3. Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso, Elite Motorsport, +1.841s
4. Dayton Coulthard, Douglas Motorsport, +2.190s
5. Thomas Ingram Hill, Fortec Motorsports, +2.571s
6. Conor Grant, Douglas Motorsport, +3.307s
7. Matan Achituv, Elite Motorsport, +4.143s
8. Romuald Bocquet, Scorpio Motorsport, +5.072s
9. Lily-May Watkins, KMR Sport, +5.959s
10. Michael Koh, Arden Motorsport, +6.449s
11. Jasser Iskander, Fox Motorsport, +6.186s*
12. Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport, +6.844s
13. Enzo Rujugiro, Fox Motorsport, +7.256s
14. Demitri Nolan, Hillspeed, +8.720s
15. Jamie Leverton, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +10.482s
16. Archie Bullard, Fox Motorsport, +10.618s
17. Archie Davies, Scorpio Motorsport, +11.190s
18. Holly Miall, KMR Sport, +13.807s
19. Jordyn Martin, Fortec Motorsports, +17.555s**
20. Caitlyn McDaniel, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +59.440s
21. Faris Organji, Scorpio Motorsport, +1m17.878s
DNF. Solenn Amrouche, Arden Motorsport, 4 laps
DNF. Connor Willis, Hillspeed, 5 laps
DNF. John O'Donnell, Pace Performance, 5 laps
DNF. Franciszek Cegielski, Fortec Motorsports, 0 laps
DNF. Fred Green, Elite Motorsport, 0 laps
DNF. Torrin Byrne, Pace Performance, 0 laps
* one place position penalty for crowding
** five second time penalty for overtaking before safety car restart line
