Bustamante scores personal best in GB3 with significant step forward in Zandvoort
- RACERS
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
"This championship is so competitive, but this is exactly where I want to be to raise my standard" - Bianca Bustamante made a significant step forward in the second round of the GB3 Championship at Zandvoort, Netherlands, where the Filipina topped her personal best finish with a solid P13 in the final race of the weekend, showcasing clear progress on a very demanding circuit.
Bianca Bustamante made a significant step forward in the second round of the GB3 Championship at Zandvoort, Netherlands, where the Filipina topped her personal best finish with a solid P13 in the final race of the weekend, showcasing clear progress on a very demanding circuit.
The rising talent from the Philippines has stepped up to the GB3 Championship in 2025 with Elite Motorsport, marking a major transition after two seasons in the all-female F1 Academy. During her time in the series, Bustamante claimed two race wins and secured seventh place in the final standings in both 2023 and 2024. Her move to GB3 represents a key step in her career as she adapts to a new generation of machinery and a more competitive, mixed-gender field.
With the introduction of the Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car—featuring increased power and a DRS system similar to that used in FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3—GB3 offers an advanced development platform for young drivers. Alongside adapting to the new car, Bustamante now faces the challenge of learning a wide range of circuits, including iconic venues such as Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, as the calendar expands across the UK and continental Europe.
Her debut at Silverstone proved to be a character-building experience after a crash in qualifying forced her to miss the opening race of the weekend. However, she recovered well on Sunday, showing strong determination to secure two top-20 finishes, with a best result of 19th in race three.
Heading to Zandvoort, Bustamante returned to a circuit where she had previously raced in F1 Academy—but now in a significantly more physically demanding machine, with lap times much faster than those in FRECA. She made encouraging progress during testing and the official practice sessions, looking increasingly competitive and redicing the gaps—especially in the third practice, where she set a 1:31.559, just 1.5 seconds off the overall pace-setter Deagan Fairclough.
In Q1 on Saturday morning under sunny skies, Bustamante’s first timed lap of 1:41.0 initially placed her inside the top 10. As lap times rapidly improved, she continued to find pace, improving to a 1:32.460 to climb to eighth place. She then shaved off more time with a 1:32.372 before a red flag interrupted the session with five minutes remaining due to Jack Sherwood going off. After the restart, Bustamante continued to improve, setting a 1:32.245 and finally breaking into the 1:31s with a 1:31.946, ending the session P17—in a solid improvement.
Q2 followed shortly after. Bustamante quickly set a 1:32.131 before further improving to a best time of 1:31.302, over half a second quicker than her Q1 effort. She ended the session P16, continuing her upward trajectory.
"I’ve been focusing on gaining confidence and getting closer to the limits every single time I get in the car", Bustamante commented on Saturday. "Qualy we took a step forward in my driving and set my best lap of the weekend! Still lots of room to improve but happy with the progress, qualifying P16, 1.4 sec from pole", she added. "Next target is to close the gap further and get under 1 sec from the front runners which isn’t always the most linear journey especially with such little experience in these type of high downforce cars."
Starting from P17 for the first race on Saturday afternoon, the initial start was aborted due to congestion in the pit lane. Once underway, all drivers got through the first lap cleanly. Bustamante dropped to P18 but stayed with the pack, setting early lap times in the 1:34s. She closed in on Stefan Bostandjiev with a 1:33.3, showing consistent pace.
When Nikita Johnson was stranded in the gravel on lap five, the race remained green, and Bustamante moved up to P17. She continued to run strong, not far off teammate Flynn, and maintained a steady rhythm in the 1:33s, holding position with a good gap to cars ahead and behind. She finished P17, improving on her best result from Silverstone and securing a new personal best.
"In race 1, maintained the same position finishing P17, and learned alot with it being my first time doing a lights to flag race without any safety car interruptions", Bianca recalled. "Felt good physically which is such a step knowing how much I had to improve my fitness just to handle a way faster and bigger car! We found some areas where we can improve for tomorrow’s two races."
In race two on Sunday morning, Bustamante lined up P16 on a cool but sunny grid. Chaos unfolded at the start when Daryanani stalled, and there was heavy midfield action and contact on the opening lap.
Bustamante avoided the worst of the chaos but fell to P18, staying close to Elite Motorsport teammate Jack Flynn. She began to improve her sector times, running in the 1:34.5 range and then setting a personal best of 1:34.250 on lap five. As Daryanani recovered, he passed both Elite cars, but Bustamante responded by putting pressure on Flynn.
Despite her pace and consistency, overtaking proved difficult on the tight Dutch circuit. Bustamante followed Flynn closely for much of the race but ultimately crossed the line P19. Her pace remained steady and consistent throughout, gaining valuable experience and scoring points once again.
The final race of the weekend—the reverse-grid race—saw Bustamante start from P16. Kai Daryanani started from pole, but it was Macintyre in the #37 Elite car who launched into the lead. Bustamante dropped to P18 in the early laps, battling with Sherwood, Fluxa, and Flynn in a tightly packed group.
The Safety Car was deployed for the first time that weekend after Flynn went off on lap three, promoting Bustamante to P17. Following a brief neutralization, the race resumed at the end of lap five, only for a dramatic three-car crash at the banked turn three to trigger a second Safety Car. Bustamante navigated the incident cleanly and emerged in P14.
The lengthy recovery meant the race would go to time instead of full distance. With just two laps remaining after the restart, the green flag waved and leader Schwarze accelerated away. At the restart, Bostandjiev went off at Turn 1, allowing Bustamante to climb to P13. She held position through the final laps, completing her strongest performance of the season to date with a P13 finish—comfortably her personal best in GB3.
"It was such a positive weekend for me making another step forward from the first race weekend in Silverstone", Bustamante said. "I really have been enjoying this challenge to push my limits but mostly enjoying all the butterflies because everything feels like a new experience all over again."
"There’s so much more to learn and develop especially in my driving in this new and faster car and it’s been soo heartwarming progressing with my team. Still lots of room to improve on my pace and race craft. But this weekend we finished P13 in race 3 which is my best finish so far."
"This championship is so competitive, but this is exactly where I want to be to raise my standard, speed, and compete against the quickest single seater drivers"
The next round will take place at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Belgian Ardennes on 30 May–1 June, where Bustamante will aim to continue building on the positive momentum in this learning-focused season.