Abbi Pulling claims historic GB3 Championship victory at Spa-Francorchamps
- LIAM REDFORD
- 4 hours ago
- 8 min read
After claiming a stunning pole position in the first qualifying session, Pulling drove superbly to lead every lap of race one, becoming the first woman to claim victory in the current-iteration of the GB3 Championship as she took a dominant lights-to-flag victory for Rodin Motorsport at Spa-Francorchamps.
Abbi Pulling became the first woman to claim victory in the current-iteration of the GB3 Championship as she took a dominant lights-to-flag victory for Rodin Motorsport at Spa-Francorchamps.
After claiming a stunning pole position in the first qualifying session, Pulling drove superbly to lead every lap of race one as she resisted the challenge from championship leader Nikita Bedrin. Securing a top-5 finish in race two, Pulling left Belgium with a large haul of championship points as she climbed to sixth in the overall standings.
Brazilian racer Aurelia Nobels enjoyed a productive weekend of racing as she secured her a top-15 result while consistently fighting in the competitive midfield. Nobels drove smartly in race one to finish in 14th, before enjoying a number of battles in race two on her way to a 20th place result.
Pulling and Nobels arrived at Spa-Francorchamps after promising starts to their respective seasons. Returning to the series with Rodin Motorsport, Pulling showed excellent speed in the opening round at Silverstone and the British driver was unfortunate to be caught up in incidents not of her own making. After achieving a best result of eighth, Pulling was now looking to push towards the podium positions while leaning on her experience of Spa-Francorchamps from last season.
Despite Nobels’ extensive experience in single seater machinery, this was just her second visit to the iconic Belgian circuit having only raced at Spa-Francorchamps in the F4 Spanish Championship back in 2022. Therefore, Nobels was looking to adapt quickly with the Brazilian racer hitting the ground running in her debut GB3 Championship event. The Hillspeed racer twice finished inside the top-15 at Silverstone with Nobels completing every lap of the trio of races while she consistently battled within the midfield.
On-track action at Spa-Francorchamps began on Thursday as the drivers participated in three short test sessions. It was an extremely positive day for Pulling who topped the times in the final session of the day. Her quickest lap of a 2:12.197 placed her in third position in the combined daily times with the Rodin Motorsport driver beginning the event on the front foot. It was a more challenging day for Nobels with the Brazilian racer completing Thursday’s running in 21st position with a fastest time of a 2:13.586.
Friday’s running began with three further practice sessions before qualifying was held later in the afternoon. In the first free practice session, Pulling set the fifth fastest time while Nobels was 20th overall after a number of her quickest times were deleted for track limits infringements.
Session two was held shortly after and featured some of the fastest times of the event so far. Pulling set the overall fastest final sector on her way to the third quickest lap of a 2:11.579. Nobels banked valuable experience on her way to the 19th fastest time as she continued to gain confidence in the car. In the final session prior to qualifying, Pulling continued her excellent form by setting the second fastest time, while Nobels set her quickest lap of the day to place her Hillspeed machine in 20th position.
The first of two back-to-back qualifying sessions was held on Friday afternoon. Pulling made a fast start to the session as she immediately began challenging for top-5 positions in her Rodin Motorsport machine. Nobels also found good speed as she remained within the track limits and began improving her lap times.
Following a fantastic final lap, Pulling jumped to the top of the timing sheets just before the red flag was displayed for an incident involving Flynn Jackes. With less than two minutes remaining on the clock, the session was unable to be resumed with Pulling taking a landmark pole position by just two hundredths of a second with a fastest time of a 2:12.566. Nobels ended the session in 19th position with the Brazilian racer setting a quickest lap of a 2:14.023.
The second session was held directly after with Pulling targeting a second pole position. However, it was Nobels who made an impressive start to the session as the Hillspeed driver began challenging for a top-10 position.
As the times continued to improve, Pulling once again contended for the fastest time. Improving by just over one tenth of a second from the first session, the Rodin Motorsport set the third fastest time with a 2:12.400. Continuing to learn with each new tyre run, Nobels took a significant step forward in performance as she improved by almost half a second to qualify in 17th position on a 2:13.510.
Race one was set to take place on Saturday morning with Pulling lining up from pole position and Nobels starting from 19th on the grid. Persistent heavy rain throughout the morning meant the race started behind the safety car, before the red flag was displayed prior to a lap being completed. As a result, this session did not restart due to adverse weather conditions with the organisers choosing to cancel the reverse grid race from the schedule.
Weather conditions improved on Saturday afternoon which allowed race one to take place under clearing skies. The track was now predominantly dry, albeit with some damp patches away from the racing line, with all drivers fitting the slick tyres. The grid positions were formed using the results of the first qualifying session with Pulling retaining her pole position with Nobels lining up from 19th.
As the lights went out, Pulling got a superb launch and comfortably held the lead through La Source and onto the Kemmel Straight. As Nikita Bedrin and Maxim Rehm battled behind, this allowed Pulling to briefly pull out of DRS range before the rear wings opened for the first time on lap two. Nobels enjoyed a clean start from the tenth row of the grid as she completed lap one in 20th position, before the Hillspeed driver began her charge forward.
At La Source, Nobels passed Rodrigo Gonzalez with contact further around the lap between Rowan Campbell-Pilling and Patricio Gonzalez seeing both cars retire from the race. Meanwhile, VRD Racing driver Bedrin was beginning to cut into Pulling’s lead and after the former FIA Formula 3 driver set the fastest lap of the race on the second tour, Pulling’s lead margin was down to three-quarters of a second.
The racing in the midfield remained extremely close and after contact was made between Peter Bouzinelos and Ricardo Baptista. Due to the number of stricken cars now around the circuit, the safety car was deployed. Nobels was now into 15th position with the Brazilian racer doing a nice job to make progress while avoiding the incidents around her.
The race resumed with ten minutes remaining and Pulling controlled the restart confidently with the pressure further relieved after teammate Rehm overtook Bedrin down the Kemmel Straight. A superb restart was also made by Nobels as she passed Kyuho Lee while also overtaking Jason Pribyl for 13th position. On the following lap, Nobels was faster than the next two drivers ahead as she targeted a top-10 result after starting from 19th on the grid.
Meanwhile, Pulling was managing the race well as the Rodin Motorsport driver grew her margin through the middle sector. This was key to extending the margin by over a second and ensuring Rehm remained outside of DRS range. With two laps remaining, Bedrin overtook Rehm and the championship leader immediately began pulling clear of the German racer in pursuit of Pulling.
After an excellent drive through the field, Nobels was assessed a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits as she began battling with Rodrigo Gonzalez. On the final lap of the race, Gonzalez briefly passed Nobels at La Source before the Brazilian racer fought back down the Kemmel Straight. Taking the chequered flag in 13th position, Nobels was classified in 14th position following the application of the track limits penalty.
At the head of the field, Bedrin set the overall fastest lap of the race as the drivers began the final tour. Pulling kept her composure superbly to resist the challenge of Bedrin as she crossed the line in first position to claim a historic victory while setting a personal best time on the final lap. It was phenomenal drive from the former F1 Academy champion who secured a lights-to-flag victory by a margin of six tenths of a second.
The second and final race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with the grid based upon the results from qualifying two. Therefore, Pulling lined up from third on the grid with Nobels taking the start from 16th position after a grid penalty was awarded to Bouzinelos. As the lights went out, Pulling got an excellent initial launch as she challenged for second position on the run down to La Source. Just unable to squeeze through on the inside, Pulling settled into third position as the drivers approached Eau Rouge.
Despite DRS not yet being enabled, the slipstream effect remained powerful down the Kemmel Straight and Pulling was shuffled back to fifth position. Meanwhile, Nobels briefly moved inside the top-15 after another fast start before the Brazilian racer lost out on approach to Les Combes with the Hillspeed driver completing the first lap in 19th position.
Pulling was working hard to remain within DRS range of Martin Molnar with the pace at the head of the field remaining extremely fast. Despite falling over one second behind the Hungarian racer on lap three, her gap to the drivers behind was remaining stable as Pulling consolidated her top-5 position.
Nobels was now enjoying a good battle with Jack Taylor and after the Australian racer passed Nobels into La Source, the Hillspeed driver fought back and reclaimed the spot with the use of DRS. This battle allowed Kyuho Lee to close in and on lap five, Nobels and Lee exchanged positions. After re-passing the Korean driver at the Bus Stop chicane, Nobels moved back into 19th position on lap six after Taylor spun ahead.
Pulling remained in fifth position as the race passed the halfway mark with her speed in the middle sector enabling her to pull clear of Gonzalez. Using the slipstream to good effect, Gonzalez closed to within DRS range as five minutes remained on the clock. On lap 11, superb defensive driving saw Pulling hold the inside line into Les Combe as Gonzalez almost drew level into the corner.
Gonzalez continued to apply pressure to Pulling, however the Rodin Motorsport driver held on after a drag race to the line. Securing a fifth-place result to close out the weekend, Pulling banked valuable championship points with a hard-fought defensive performance.
Nobels continued her battle with Lee in the closing stages and although she fell behind the Elite Motorsport racer, Aurelia set a series of personal best times to end the weekend. Crossing the line in 20th position, it was a learning-oriented race for Nobels who enjoyed a number of close battles throughout the race.
Pulling made history at Spa-Francorchamps by being the first women to claim victory in the GB3 Championship. The Rodin Motorsport driver displayed race-winning pace during the course of the event and she will now be targeting regular trips to the top step of the podium.
Nobels continued her development while she maintained her 100% finishing record, a crucial achievement as she learns the characteristics of the Tatuus MSV GB3-025 machine. The next round of the GB3 Championship takes place at the Hungaroring on the weekend of 4th/5th July.