The opening weekend of the 2025 GB3 Championship concluded in thrilling fashion as Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre claimed victory in a chaotic reverse-grid Race 3 at Silverstone. After Freddie Slater had dominated the first two races, the final contest produced fresh winners and plenty of drama, with Keanu Al Azhari and Patrick Heuzenroeder completing the podium.
How the race unfolded
The grid for Race 3 was set by a reversal of the top 12 combined qualifying times, placing Hitech’s Al Azhari on pole alongside Macintyre. At the start, however, Al Azhari bogged down, dropping to fourth as Macintyre seized the lead. The front group reshuffled quickly, with Al Azhari recovering to second by the end of the opening lap while Heuzenroeder slotted into third.
The midfield produced fireworks almost immediately. JHR’s Noah Lisle was sent into the barriers at Copse as several cars attempted to run four-wide. Moments later, Abbi Pulling and Dion Gowda collided on the Hamilton Straight, eliminating both and forcing the safety car to be deployed.
On the restart, Macintyre timed his launch perfectly and controlled the race from the front. Al Azhari, keen to make amends after a difficult weekend, applied pressure but was unable to find a way past. Behind them, Heuzenroeder defended strongly and kept the leaders in sight.
Further back, Kai Daryanani ran solidly in fourth ahead of Hillspeed’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, who enjoyed his best finish of the weekend in fifth. Drama struck again when Slater, charging from 11th, clashed with Nikita Johnson at Brooklands. The contact also collected Gianmarco Pradel, ending the Rodin driver’s race. Slater recovered but could only manage 13th at the flag.
That opened the door for Argenti with Prema’s Lucas Fluxa to take sixth, while Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough capped a storming drive from last on the grid to seventh. Hillspeed’s Kanato Le, Xcel’s Jack Sherwood, and Argenti’s Yuanpu Cui completed the top ten.
Post-race penalties reshaped the final order, with Al Azhari given a five-second penalty for track limits and Alex Ninovic penalised for an out-of-position start.
First GB3 victory for Will Macintyre
Macintyre turned a difficult start to the weekend into a high point with victory in Race 3. After stalling at the start of Race 2, he put his frustrations behind him, making the most of his front-row start to secure Elite Motorsport’s first win of the season. He described how he managed the opening lap chaos, controlled the restart, and kept his focus despite the pressure behind.
“I made up positions in race one. An issue in race two meant we stalled on the grid, but we knew we’d have the pace in this one. We’ll take the win, we’ll take the points and move on to round two. After the first lap I definitely was like ‘woah, okay,’ but after that I had a really good safety car restart and just from then on I went at it. It was an interesting first lap.”
Keanu Al Azhari: Learning from setbacks
For Al Azhari, Race 3 was an opportunity to bounce back from a difficult Saturday and a DNF in Race 2. Though his start cost him track position, he recovered quickly and ran strongly in second for most of the contest. Despite the penalty that dropped him to sixth in the final classification, he highlighted the positives of his recovery, praised his team for repairing the car overnight, and stressed that lessons had been learned ahead of Zandvoort.
“Not the start I wanted, I just misjudged the new cars and we haven’t got much experience but I definitely learned from that. Some good moves back up to P2, almost P1 but a good job to Will. Obviously it hasn’t been the weekend we wanted. DNF in race two but I’m working really well with the team. I want to say a quick thank you to all the boys, they’ve done such a hard job last night and today to get my car ready for this race, the reverse grid, so I’ll take a P2. Just something positive to take into Zandvoort.”
“I was more focused, but I just wanted to bring something back for the team, at least make them happy as it’s not been an easy weekend for us. I’m really looking forward to the next rounds and it’s just going to get better.”
Patrick Heuzenroeder: A deserved podium for Xcel
Xcel Motorsport’s Patrick Heuzenroeder was one of the most consistent performers of the weekend, and his podium in Race 3 rewarded both his persistence and his team’s hard work. He recalled the chaos of the opening lap, praised the racing characteristics of the new car, and reflected on how he used DRS to stay competitive in the fight with Al Azhari. For the young driver, it was a podium that validated his team’s progress over the three days at Silverstone.
“It was a pretty hectic first lap, with the four of us going for P1. It got a bit tight in the chicanes there but overall these cars are great to race on lap one, after that it’s a bit hard to follow. I was pretty happy with the tyres, I think we were on the older set so to be able to race on those was nice. It was a good battle with Keanu and DRS was good to use.”
“It’s good to see it [drama] in the mirrors, I saw some smoke but it was all eyes forward as soon as I was gaining spots and it was just eyes forward and try and get past the next one. I’m very happy, we’ve worked hard to get the cars into the window this weekend. We weren’t quite there in qualifying so to give the boys a podium was really good and I forgot to thank the boys in New Zealand so that goes out to them.”
Race 3 Results
- Will Macintyre, Elite Motorsport
- Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport
- Kai Daryanani, JHR Developments
- Hiyu Yamakoshi, Hillspeed
- Lucas Fluxa, Argenti with Prema
- Keanu Al Azhari, Hitech TGR
- Deagen Fairclough, Hitech TGR
- Kanato Le, Hillspeed
- Jack Sherwood, Xcel Motorsport
- Yuanpu Cui, Argenti with Prema
- Nikita Johnson, Hitech TGR
- Enzo Tarnvanichkul, VRD Racing
- Freddie Slater, Hillspeed
- Reza Seewooruthun, Argenti with Prema
- Hugo Schwarze, VRD Racing
- Mika Abrahams, Fortec Motorsports
- Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport
- Divy Nandan, Chris Dittmann Racing
- Bianca Bustamante, Elite Motorsport
DNF. Stefan Bostandjiev, Fortec Motorsports; Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport
Not Classified: Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport; Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport; Dion Gowda, Xcel Motorsport; Noah Lisle, JHR Developments
The final race at Silverstone provided a shake-up to the established order. While Slater leaves as the early championship leader thanks to his double victory, Macintyre, Al Azhari, and Heuzenroeder demonstrated that the battle at the front will be unpredictable. With Zandvoort next on the calendar, the stage is set for more twists in GB3’s new era.
