Abbi Pulling adds top 6 finish to her tally in GB3 round at Silverstone

Abbi Pulling endured a mixed weekend at Silverstone, salvaging a hard-fought sixth-place finish before mechanical problems at the start and a late suspension failure in Race 3 prevented the Rodin Motorsport driver from converting her pace into stronger results.

Photo credits: JEP

Abbi Pulling endured a frustrating home weekend at Silverstone as a combination of fierce midfield battles and mechanical issues prevented the Rodin Motorsport driver from capitalizing on the pace she had displayed early in the event. Despite securing another top-six finish in the opening race, Pulling was ultimately denied stronger results by setbacks beyond her control, culminating in a retirement from the final race after starting from the pit lane.

Returning with Rodin Motorsport for her second season in the series after claiming the 2024 F1 Academy title, the British driver has consistently demonstrated podium-worthy pace throughout the campaign.

After becoming the first woman to win a race in the modern era of GB3 with a commanding victory at Spa-Francorchamps, Pulling continued to fight at the sharp end despite several races compromised by incidents outside her control, including another competitive but ultimately frustrating weekend at the Red Bull Ring, where she salvaged a top-six finish while missing out on a stronger result after being caught up in contact during the final race.

Returning to Silverstone after a difficult but promising season opener, where strong pace had yielded only an eighth-place finish due to misfortune, Pulling immediately re-established herself among the quickest drivers. She consistently featured inside the top two throughout Friday's practice sessions, ultimately ending the day second fastest.

Qualifying also proved encouraging. In the first session, Pulling steadily improved her pace, lowering her benchmark from a 1:51.1 to a 1:50.7 before producing a 1:50.440 lap that secured fourth on the grid for Race 1.

In the second qualifying session, she initially posted a 1:50.4 before finding another tenth with a 1:50.351, placing eighth for the second race.

Saturday's opening contest saw Pulling line up from fourth on the grid, but she immediately found herself in the middle of an intense battle as the lights went out. A strong launch from Campbell-Pilling dropped Pulling to fifth before Stowe, but battles ahead between Campbell-Pilling and Jackes briefly allowed the Rodin driver to reclaim fourth.

The positions continued to change rapidly through the opening corners as three cars ran side-by-side, with Pulling ultimately shuffled back to seventh after Lucas Fluxa and Maxim Rehm also found a way through during an exceptionally competitive opening lap.

The race was neutralized at the end of lap one when Baptista came to a halt, bringing out the Safety Car.

When racing resumed on lap three, Pulling immediately resumed the fight, sitting directly behind Fluxa while championship leader Bedrin applied pressure from behind. Locked into a tightly packed train that also included Rehm and Jackes, Pulling patiently waited for an opportunity.

That chance finally arrived on lap eight when Rehm and Fluxa made contact while battling for position, sending Fluxa into a spin. Pulling avoided the incident cleanly and climbed to sixth.

With Jackes now directly ahead, Pulling pushed hard in the closing laps but was unable to get close enough to mount a passing attempt, taking the chequered flag in sixth after another composed recovery drive.

Photo credits: JEP

Sunday morning's second race proved considerably more difficult. Starting from seventh, Pulling experienced a small moment through the ultra-fast opening sector, dropping behind Rehm into eighth. As she attempted to recover, Wilson attacked around the outside at Stowe, forcing Pulling down to ninth by the second lap.

The pressure continued to build as Jackes also found a way through on lap four. Now running tenth, Pulling concentrated on maintaining consistent pace, regularly lapping in the 1:52s while ensuring she stayed clear of Micallef behind.

Although unable to recover lost ground, Pulling controlled the gap in the closing stages and secured tenth place at the finish.

The weekend's biggest disappointment however came before the start of Race 3. Scheduled to line up fifth on the grid, Pulling was unable to make the start from the grid after her Rodin machine suffered a starter motor failure on the way to the grid. Mechanics worked frantically to repair the issue, eventually allowing her to join the race from the pit lane.

Facing a daunting recovery from the back of the field, Pulling immediately began making inroads into the deficit. Within three laps she had caught Fu, lapping around one second faster than the Hitech driver.

Although briefly delayed behind Fu, Pulling eventually completed the pass on lap seven before quickly setting her sights on Pribyl. Another clean overtake followed on lap 12 as she continued her charge through the field, with Dante Vinci next in her sights.

However, disaster struck on lap 13 when a rear suspension failure sent Pulling's Rodin car into the gravel at Copse on the penultimate lap, bringing her race to a premature end and ending any hopes of salvaging further championship points.

While the results ultimately failed to reflect the pace shown throughout the weekend, Pulling nevertheless added another top-six finish to her tally.

Following the Silverstone weekend, Abbi Pulling now sits ninth in the GB3 Championship standings with 142 points as the series now heads to Donington Park on 5-6 September for the next round of the 2026 campaign.