Patrick Heuzenroeder delivered a landmark victory in the opening race of the 2025 GB3 weekend at Zandvoort, claiming both his maiden triumph in the championship and the first for the Xcel Motorsport team. The Australian got away from pole, absorbed pressure into the opening corners, and then managed the race with authority.
Heuzenroeder resisted the advances of Deagen Fairclough into turn one, and after surviving that challenge, he steadily pulled away. By the midpoint, Fairclough briefly reduced the gap, but the Xcel driver had everything under control. By the chequered flag, he had stretched his lead to six seconds, a dominant margin that underlined both his pace and composure.
A commanding drive to victory
Reflecting on a breakthrough moment for himself and his team, Heuzenroeder praised the car, his preparation, and the importance of the result.
“It was pretty handy, I got off the line just about. Not the best start but I managed to get into turn one ahead and I was able to manage from there. The pace was really strong, the car was mega. I saw Deagen was dropping off with about nine laps to go and I managed the last five. I’m really happy with that, happy with the car and a great job from the team, it’s Xcel’s first win in GB3.”
“I was fine [with the delayed start]. As soon as the engine is on the nerves go away. I just had my goals in my head, get off the line, take it step by step, did what I had to do and came across the line first.”
“It was alright [on lap one with Fairclough], I think we got away relatively equally. I had to be late on the brakes and get a good run through turn three because he dived in, but as soon as I saw him in my mirrors I knew I had control. I was just waiting for a safety car if that came, but it didn’t so I just came home to win.”
“It means a lot [to earn Xcel’s first win]. We’ve worked hard in pre-season and credit to them, they’ve come in with a new car, a new championship for them and they’ve delivered. So I’m really happy with that.”
Fairclough holds on for second
Behind the winner, Deagen Fairclough secured second place for Hitech TGR, but it was far from straightforward. The British driver initially made an excellent launch, only for excessive wheelspin to cost him momentum on the dusty inside line. From there, he had to defend fiercely against the Rodin Motorsport duo of Gianmarco Pradel and Alex Ninovic, who closed rapidly in the latter stages.
Fairclough explained where his start slipped away, and why overtaking proved so difficult around the Dutch circuit:
“It’s a nice bounce back and a good load of points. I just had too much wheelspin on the inside, because it’s so dusty it wasn’t biting as much as I was expecting. I got a really good launch initially but then too much wheelspin. Patrick was able to cover the inside line off and that was pretty much the race. I was kind of settling late in the race, but with the dirty air around such a high-speed circuit, it was quite difficult to follow. There’s really only two overtaking opportunities and I was too far away from any overtaking. Hopefully I can go for the win tomorrow, we’ll have a look at what we’ve done wrong today and come back stronger tomorrow.”
Pradel back on the podium
Gianmarco Pradel continued his consistent start to life in GB3 with another podium for Rodin Motorsport. The Australian-born driver shadowed Fairclough closely in the closing laps, getting within DRS range on the final tour. Despite applying pressure, he couldn’t quite find a way past, but he did enough to secure third place and a strong points haul.
After the race, Pradel described how he balanced tyre management with late-race pressure and looked ahead to building on his podium:
“A bit of deja-vu but not in a bad way. It’s alright and hopefully in the next two races we can make a bit more progress than at Silverstone. The start was alright and through the race it was a bit of a management game. I could see the car ahead, I was sliding quite a bit on the first few laps so I thought ‘alright, let’s just settle into this, try to apply some pressure in the last few laps.’ I did so but unfortunately couldn’t get past. But live and learn, on to the next one, it’s good to be coming away with a trophy from this one, so all eyes to race two.”
“I was thinking when Deagen was sliding around a lot and his pace was dropping off, I was thinking a move could be on. But I was just trying to apply the pressure where I could, but it’s really difficult to overtake here. So I did all I could, did the best race I could. The pace was there but unfortunately I couldn’t end up in second. I’ve got more of a feel for the track off line now, so we’re just going to send it a bit more tomorrow and hope for the best.”
Classification: Zandvoort: Race 1
- Patrick Heuzenroeder – Xcel Motorsport
- Deagen Fairclough – Hitech TGR
- Gianmarco Pradel – Rodin Motorsport
- Alex Ninovic – Rodin Motorsport
- Reza Seewooruthun – Argenti with Prema
- Yuanpu Cui – Argenti with Prema
- Noah Lisle – JHR Developments
- Keanu Al Azhari – Hitech TGR
- Kai Daryanani – JHR Developments
- Will Macintyre – Elite Motorsport
- Hugo Schwarze – VRD Racing
- Lucas Fluxa – Argenti with Prema
- Abbi Pulling – Rodin Motorsport
- Stefan Bostandjiev – Fortec Motorsports
- Jack Sherwood – Xcel Motorsport (after penalty)
- Flynn Jackes – Elite Motorsport
- Bianca Bustamante – Elite Motorsport
- Divy Nandan – JHR Developments
- Nikita Johnson – Hitech TGR
Heuzenroeder’s victory gives Xcel Motorsport a new place in the GB3 history books, while Fairclough and Pradel added more crucial points to their campaigns. With Alex Ninovic set to start race two from pole, the competition is set to intensify when the lights go out again on Sunday morning.
