Viewpoint: Louis Sharp claims GB3 title at Brands Hatch in final race of the season, sharing record with Ayrton Senna
- Danny Davies
- Oct 6, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 4, 2024
Almost exactly one year on from his ROKiT British Formula 4 triumph in 2023, Anglo -New Zealander and Rodin Motorsport driver Louis Sharp has secured a historic championship win in GB3, beating out close rivals Tymek Kucharczyk and John Bennet to the title – making him the first driver in over 30 years to win two British junior championships back-to-back. The last driver to do it? Well, let’s just say that his first name was Ayrton.
Going into the cold, autumnal weekend at Brands Hatch that would act as host for the final three rounds of the 2024 GB3 championship, Sharp (17) was fresh off the bat of two convincing wins at the previous weekend at Donnington Park earlier in September, which gave him a comfortable 33-point cushion to his nearest championship rival, John Bennet. However, he still had a lot of work to do if he wanted to keep Bennet, as well as third-placed Tymek Kucharczyk, behind him in the standings.
The final race week of the year started off positively for Sharp, who topped Wednesday practise and was only bettered by Hitech’s Gerrard Xie and a 0.066s deficit during the Friday session to finish second in the timings. Then, come qualifying on Saturday, his pace in practise translated to a P3 start in race one, starting in between Bennet and Kucharczyk, pole position in race two and a P8 start in race three. His strong qualifying positions, combined with the 33-point margin he had developed at Donnington three weeks before, meant that Sharp could claim the title simply by holding position in all three races.
(For those who don’t know - how does a GB3 race weekend work? Well, after practise, a GB3 weekend consists of a qualifying session and three separate races, resulting in the completion of three rounds during every race weekend. Qualifying for race 1 is determined by the fastest laps set by the drivers, like in Formula 1. Qualifying for race 2 is more complicated, and is determined by a driver’s second fastest lap time after the one that qualified them in the first race. Therefore, if a time of 1:12.3 was only enough for third on the grid in race one, then a second fastest lap of 1:12.4 may be enough for pole in race two. And finally, race three is a repeat of the order for race one, only with the top 12 drivers having their places on the grid inverted; a P1 start in race one would mean a P12 start in race three, for example).
However, race one didn’t exactly go to plan for Sharp; a good start was compromised by a poor one from pole sitter Mckenzie Cresswell, allowing title challenger Kucharczyk to make up ground on the run up to Druids. Sharp took to the inside in defence, which subsequently put him on the outside of Kucharczyk at Graham Hill; with nowhere to go, Sharp took to the grass and dropped down to eighth, recovering to P7 before taking the chequered flag. Bennet finished P2 for JHR Developments, and Kucharczyk P3 for Hitech; the two drivers therefore making inroads in the championship.
However, Sharp still had a nice points buffer over his rivals despite the result, and going into the final two races of the championship on Sunday, he refused to let the pressure get to him. Starting from pole in race two, he completed a lights-to-flag victory, bringing his total number of wins for the season to five – more than any other driver on the grid. Bennet finished half-a-second behind in P2, with Kucharczyk – who was now out of championship contention following the result – rounding out the top 3. The final race of the season was all set, then, to determine who would be crowned champion; and the battle was to be between Sharp and Bennet.
To claim the GB3 Title, after extending his lead once again in race two to 25 points, Sharp had to finish inside the top 11 on the grid, regardless of where Bennet finished, to win the championship – or alternatively, Bennet had to finish second or higher to win if Sharp failed to finish. Well, that second scenario was close to becoming a possibility on lap one of the reverse grid race, as Sharp was almost taken out by a locked-up and spinning Hugo Schwarze at Paddock Hill, but he did well to avoid any contact. However, Bennet was unable to make any progress during the race anyway, finishing in P9, one place above Sharp in P10, which was more than enough to hand Sharp an unprecedented second championship title in as many years. And, to top the season off, Rodin Motorsport clinched the Constructor's Championship in addition, beating out Hitech Pulse-Eight by 25 points.
Speaking in his post-race interview, Sharp said “I’m super happy. I have to give a big thank you to everyone at Rodin Motorsport team; they’ve done a mega job this year…I really can’t ask for much better and my success is really down to them, so a huge thank you to them.”
“I’m so grateful to be in this position. I don’t think very many people go F4 and then the next year win the GB3 championship, so I’m very lucky and very happy. I’ve got to give a big thank you to the whole team, my dad, who’s been over here with me the whole step of the way, and my success is down to him and my family and friends not only in New Zealand but the UK as well. A big, big thank you to everyone involved.” (via GB3 Championship)
After his historic championship double, Sharp has just been confirmed to be stepping up into FIA F3 for the 2025 season, staying with the Rodin Motorsport team he has enjoyed such success with. The 2025 FIA F3 calendar will support 10 of the 24 Formula 1 races in the year, including rounds at Monza, Silverstone, Melbourne, Imola, Spa -Francorchamps and Monte Carlo – granting Sharp the exposure of racing in front of the media outlets who follow Formula 1, as well as gaining the experience of racing on 10 full-length Formula 1 circuits.
Especially after his call up to F3, Sharp will now have the full attention of the motorsport world, given the fact that he is the first ever driver to win the ROKiT British F4 and GB3 Championships back-to-back, with the aforementioned Senna being the last driver to win two British junior championships in such a short space of time – something that will not go unnoticed. Not only that, though, but the way in which he has done so will also be turning heads; two championship wins in only three seasons since his Formula 4 debut, consistently performing against drivers with years of extra experience only makes the achievement even more impressive.
And, in the meantime until his F3 debut in March, Sharp has his recent nomination as a finalist in this year’s BRDC (British Racing Driver’s Club) Young Driver of the Year to focus on. Dubbed ‘the most prestigious award in junior motorsport’, the competition will see him and three other junior drivers test an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 car, an LMP3 prototype and an F2 car around Silverstone, with the winner of the four finalists receiving a test with the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, a cheque of £200,000, and a lifetime BRDC membership – which would only top off what has been an immense twelve months for the Anglo-Kiwi driver. The winner is set to be announced in January at the Autosport awards.
Therefore, I think it’s safe to say that, after such a successful few years in open-wheeled junior racing, Louis Sharp is firmly on the map of exciting new talents in motorsport. Emulating the past achievements of the driver many consider to be the greatest driver of all time, and now receiving a landmark call-up to the FIA F3 championship, well and truly placing him within the Formula 1 spotlight, Sharp has an immensely exciting future ahead of him in the sport. I cannot wait to see where that future takes him.
Louis Sharp; look out for the name.
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