Alex Ninovic secured his maiden GB3 Championship victory in the second race of the weekend at Zandvoort, bringing glory to Rodin Motorsport. Starting from pole, the Australian made a clean getaway and immediately came under pressure from compatriot and race one winner Patrick Heuzenroeder, who surged into second place off the line.
Behind them, Deagen Fairclough again made a strong launch for Hitech TGR, but bogged down in the second phase, allowing Heuzenroeder and Reza Seewooruthun to slip past. Fairclough recovered quickly, dispatching Seewooruthun before the opening lap was completed to reclaim third.
From there, the leading trio broke away from the rest of the field and ran nose-to-tail for much of the race. Fairclough briefly threatened Heuzenroeder with a move on lap five, but as his pace faded, the fight for victory became a straight duel between Ninovic and Heuzenroeder. Despite relentless pressure, Ninovic absorbed every attack and crossed the line half a second clear.
Ninovic reflects on first GB3 win
After finally converting his front-running pace into a win, Ninovic described the satisfaction of keeping his rival at bay and the significance of his first victory:
“It’s definitely a weekend of Aussies at the front! I’m quite happy with the result, to come away with the win in race two is really good and shows all the work we’ve been putting in has paid off. It was a tough race keeping Pat off our back but I managed to do the best I could and come away with the win. I can’t ask for much more.”
“The start was really good, from there I was just managing the gap and really try not to make any mistakes and take pressure off myself. The gap stayed the same throughout the whole race so it was a close race but I managed to keep ahead. Hopefully this is the first of many, we will see what happens this afternoon and going forward, and I’m looking forward to Spa. We’ll see what we can do [in race three] and get a good start, keep out of trouble and see where it takes us.”
Heuzenroeder happy with pace despite second
Having won race one, Heuzenroeder narrowly missed out on doubling up in race two. The Xcel Motorsport driver pushed Ninovic throughout, at times looking the quicker of the two, but he ultimately had to settle for second.
Heuzenroeder praised his pace but admitted that overtaking opportunities were scarce at Zandvoort.
“I had so much more pace than Alex but couldn’t do anything with it unfortunately. I was really happy with my pace and how I was able to follow, and I think that will bode well for this afternoon’s race.“
He continued, “I got it off the line, which I was really happy with, yesterday’s start wasn’t great but to be second at turn one was a good way to set up the rest of the race.”
“I won’t be focusing on the championship until the last round or two. I’m just getting as many points as I can regardless of whether I’m leading the championship or not so I’m just looking to maximise points and have a bit of fun with the midfield in this next one.”
“Maybe really early on there was a chance to make a move as he just made a mistake at turn three but then you have to follow through sector two which is quite difficult. We had really strong pace in sector one, sector two is hard to follow and then you catch them back in sector three. But overall I was just applying pressure and waiting for him to make a mistake.”
Fairclough maintains podium run
For the second time this weekend, Deagen Fairclough stood on the podium, this time in third. The Hitech driver admitted his start once again cost him a better result, but he remained upbeat about the points haul and optimistic for the final race of the weekend.
Fairclough reflected on the launch phase, his struggles with grip, and his focus on bouncing back.
“It’s good points, I was struggling a little bit but the guys there have been doing well and are quick. I had such a quick qualifying car and it was a mistake on my behalf for not putting the car at the front. I had a poor second phase to my launch which set us back and I lost a few positions.”
He continued, “I was able to fight back up to third and that was it, done. I just need to look at what I’ve done so differently compared to yesterday. There was just a bit more grip on this inside and I didn’t really realise that. When I did my first start I was wheelspinning too much, so I felt I needed to modulate the clutch a little bit slower and it just bit too quickly. So it’s good to now go into race three, we can improve and collect as many points as possible this weekend.”
“I’m looking forward to making some moves in race three. I tried a move on Pat in that one but I was so far behind and didn’t really commit fully so I couldn’t get the move done. He held it off well. I’m really looking forward to the race later on and hopefully we can go up the grid.”
Classification: Zandvoort: Race 2
- Alex Ninovic – Rodin Motorsport
- Patrick Heuzenroeder – Xcel Motorsport
- Deagen Fairclough – Hitech TGR
- Reza Seewooruthun – Argenti with Prema
- Nikita Johnson – Hitech TGR
- Yuanpu Cui – Argenti with Prema
- Gianmarco Pradel – Rodin Motorsport
- Noah Lisle – JHR Developments
- Will Macintyre – Elite Motorsport
- Keanu Al Azhari – Hitech TGR
- Hugo Schwarze – VRD Racing
- Lucas Fluxa – Argenti with Prema*
- Abbi Pulling – Rodin Motorsport
- Kai Daryanani – JHR Developments
- Stefan Bostandjiev – Fortec Motorsports
- Jack Sherwood – Xcel Motorsport
- Divy Nandan – JHR Developments
- Flynn Jackes – Elite Motorsport
- Bianca Bustamante – Elite Motorsport
*Fluxa received a three-place penalty
With Ninovic joining Heuzenroeder as a winner this weekend and Fairclough collecting back-to-back podiums, the championship picture continues to tighten. The final race of the weekend, a top-12 reverse grid contest, is set to begin at 16:15 local time (15:15 UK), promising even more drama on the dunes of Zandvoort.
