GB3: Abbi Pulling back in top-10 with strong final race in Silverstone
- RACERS
- Aug 5
- 4 min read
Abbi Pulling bounced back at Silverstone with her strongest GB3 weekend since the season opener, showing top pace in practice and recovering from a tough qualifying to finish seventh in Race 3.
Abbi Pulling returned to the top ten in the GB3 Championship with a positive showing at Silverstone — her best result since the opening round at the same circuit.
The reigning F1 Academy champion graduated to the high-performance and highly competitive GB3 Championship in 2025 and made an early impression with a top-five finish on debut, followed by sixth in Race 2. However, in the following three rounds, misfortune and a few technical issues prevented the British driver from showing the same performance at Zandvoort, Spa, and the Hungaroring.
Nevertheless, the Budapest round marked a step in the right direction as the Rodin Motorsport driver returned to the top ten in all three races, following the discovery of a lingering car issue caused by a crash in the final Silverstone race earlier in the season.
Returning to the home of British motorsport for Round 5, Pulling entered with high hopes — and Thursday’s testing performance confirmed her pace. She set the second-fastest time in the second session with a 1:53.752, and was fourth fastest in session three with a 1:54.064, ending the day third overall on combined times.
On Friday, her competitive form continued with a 1:54.253 that placed her fifth in the opening session and remained the fifth-fastest time of the day.
However, Saturday morning’s qualifying session was more challenging. Pulling couldn’t capitalize on her pace in Q1, and her 1:53.791 put her P12 on the Race 1 grid. She found more time in Q2 with a 1:53.438 — but it was only good enough for P14, less than nine-tenths from pole in a tightly packed session. Despite a strong start to the weekend, she faced an uphill task in the races.
Silverstone hosted the first race of the weekend later that day. There was drama on the grid as Yevan David encountered issues and was pushed into the pit lane, leaving an empty spot. Noah Lisle also had problems, with the #11 car eventually pushed off the grid and the start delayed.
Starting P12, Pulling gained one position off the line and slotted into P11. She was immediately in the thick of the action on the opening lap, defending hard from Schwarze — who went on the grass down the Hangar Straight — and held her position. On lap two, chaos unfolded as four cars went side-by-side into Copse. Pulling boldly took the inside line and jumped up to tenth in a spectacular move.
She then closed in on Tarnvanichkul, who had front wing damage, while Shin locked up ahead, nearly causing contact. Despite the tight racing, Pulling held her line and maintained P10.
She began to pull away slightly from Daryanani behind and applied consistent pressure on Tarnvanichkul. Ahead, Seewooruthun collided with the rear of Fairclough and lost his front wing. Although he initially stayed out, he was eventually forced to pit — promoting Pulling to P9. She continued to shadow Tarnvanichkul but was caught off guard on lap 5 by a late move from Daryanani at Club.
With her tyres slightly worn from the early laps, Pulling now had Fluxá closing in. The Spanish driver found a way past on lap 10, pushing the Rodin Motorsport driver back to P11. On the final lap, Pulling tried to fight back on the Hangar Straight but had to slot back behind, only for Shin to also slip through. Pulling ultimately crossed the finish line in P12.
Sunday morning’s second race — based on Q2 qualifying times — saw Deagan Fairclough and Alex Ninovic line up on the front row. Pulling started from P14.
At lights out, the field made it through the fast first sector cleanly. Pulling was boxed in and squeezed toward the pit wall on the Hamilton Straight; forced to defend, she dropped back to P18.
Her race however would end prematurely when she was hit by another car into Village corner at the end of the first lap. The contact caused rear suspension damage, forcing her to retire.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon. Although there had been some rain earlier, the track was dry for the start of Race 3 — as Pulling aimed to bounce back from her Race 2 disappointment. Gianmarco Pradel lined up alongside Jack Sherwood for the reverse grid race, with Pulling again starting from P14.
At the start, Pulling kept her foot in through the outside of Copse and defended well from teammate Alex Ninovic. She made a great start and moved up to P10 amid chaos in the opening sector, where several cars went off but managed to rejoin.
She soon overtook Cui and climbed to P9, setting the purple first sector in the process — showing impressive pace with lap times in the 1:55.7s, on par with Ninovic.
As Ninovic passed Shin, Pulling looked for an opportunity to follow through — but had to be wary of Cui just behind. Meanwhile, Daryanani and Lisle fought for P4 and both lost positions into Club. Pulling capitalized, moving up to P7 in a stellar sequence that also saw her get ahead of Tarnvanichkul and Shin.
Still setting competitive sector times, Pulling closed in on Daryanani. The two went side-by-side into Abbey, but she couldn’t complete the move.
At the front, Pradel took the win ahead of Seewooruthun. Abbi Pulling crossed the line in seventh — her best finish of the season since the opening round at Silverstone. It was a strong end to the weekend, demonstrating her potential when given a clean race. She gained seven positions and now sits 13th in the drivers' standings with 122 points.
"Felt good going into the weekend with strong pace in testing, but qualifying didn’t go to plan and it set us back", Pulling commented. "Got taken out in Race 2 which was frustrating, but I came back fired up. Pushed through from P14 to P7 in Race 3 and finally showed a bit of what I can do", she summarized.
"It’s been a mixed season, so I just want to say a proper thank you to everyone for your support, it really means a lot."
The next GB3 round takes place on 23–24 August at Brands Hatch — again on British soil — where Pulling made history last year with her maiden British F4 win.
