GB3: Abbi Pulling produces hard-charging drive, Bianca Bustamante returns to the top-15
- LIAM REDFORD
- Oct 7
- 9 min read
After being forced to start all three races from the rear of the field following an infringement in qualifying, Abbi Pulling displayed her racecraft as she contended for top-10 finishes in the latest round of the GB3 Championship, securing a best finish of seventh position at Donington Park. Bianca Bustamante enjoyed a weekend of improvement, fought hard to recover positions in the trio of races, producing a strong drive in race three to secure her fifth top-15 finish of the season.
Abbi Pulling overcame adversity in the latest round of the GB3 Championship to secure a best finish of seventh position at Donington Park. After being forced to start all three races from the rear of the field following an infringement in qualifying, Pulling displayed her racecraft as she contended for top-10 finishes.
In race one, the Rodin Motorsport driver gained ten positions as she finished in seventh, before she narrowly missed out on a second top-10 finish in race two. A strong comeback drive looked to be on the cards in race three, before she was caught up in an incident not of her own making.
Bianca Bustamante enjoyed an excellent weekend of improvement as the Elite Motorsport driver raced at Donington Park for the first time. Although she was also caught out by the same qualifying infringement, Bustamante fought hard to recover positions in the trio of races. Bustamante battled hard in the midfield during races one and two, before producing a strong drive in race three to secure her fifth top-15 finish of the season with a 14th place result.
The penultimate round of the 2025 GB3 Championship saw the drivers race on British soil for the final time this season. Pulling arrived at Donington Park high on confidence after her most successful weekend last time out at Brands Hatch. The Rodin Motorsport driver achieved her first podium finish of the campaign, while she finished all three races inside the top-10. As a result, Pulling put herself firmly in contention for a top-10 championship finish, while the reigning F1 Academy champion was also targeting a return to the rostrum.
For Bustamante, it was a learning-oriented weekend at Brands Hatch as the Elite Motorsport driver fought hard to make up for her lack of experience at the track. Bustamante showed good improvements in her race pace and she now arrived at a circuit where she had prior testing experience looking to fight for positions within the midfield.
On-track action at Donington Park began on Thursday as the GB3 Championship drivers participated in three short test sessions. Conditions were dry throughout the day and the times were extremely close at the head of the field. Pulling’s quickest lap of a 1:23.143 came in the final session and this placed her in 11th position overall, but just three-quarters of a second away from pacesetter Keanu Al Azhari. Bustamante completed 22 laps in a challenging day for the Elite Motorsport driver which saw her end the first day of testing in 20th position.
On Friday, further test sessions were held and with consistent rain throughout the day, conditions were more challenging. Nonetheless, Pulling showed excellent speed as she ended the day with the fifth fastest time, displaying excellent adaptability despite limited wet running during the season. Bustamante completed 36 laps, among the most of the entire field, as she ended Friday’s running in 20th position with her quickest lap coming in the final session of the day.
The pair of qualifying sessions took place on Saturday morning with dry conditions returning to Donington Park. Ambient and track temperatures remained low and with damp patches off-line, generating tyre performance was challenging. The first session was red flagged with a little under four minutes remaining following an incident for Gianmarco Pradel. The session was unable to be resumed and therefore Pulling qualified in 12th position with a fastest lap of a 1:24.916, while Bustamante set the 19th quickest time of a 1:26.705.
The second session was held directly after and the weather shifted with a rain shower leading to all the drivers fitting the grooved rubber. Therefore, tyre preparation was different as the drivers built up their confidence in the low grip conditions. Pulling’s quickest time came on the penultimate lap of the session and the Rodin Motorsport driver qualified in eighth position. Bustamante continued her progress as she qualified in 18th spot, just over a second away from the top-10.
Following the two sessions, both Pulling and Bustamante, along with a number of other drivers, were disqualified from qualifying as they failed to report for driver weighing-in in the requisite time and they were therefore required to start all three races from the rear of the field.
Race one at Donington Park took place on Saturday afternoon with dry conditions returning, although it was extremely windy which added to the challenge at Donington Park. Pulling lined up from 17th on the grid with Bustamante in 18th position and both drivers initially did well to avoid the stalled car of Kabir Anurag. Pulling continued her forward momentum throughout lap one as she gained three further positions to move into 13th as the Rodin Motorsport driver showed excellent performance on cold tyres.
Although Bustamante dropped to 19th at the conclusion of lap one, she was battling hard and remained in contention with those directly ahead. The Elite Motorsport driver then moved up to 18th position after Liam McNeilly was spun into the gravel at Coppice. This incident also benefited Pulling who overtook the debutant, while also passing Max Taylor as the American driver lost momentum following McNeilly’s spin.
With the Fortec Motorsport machine beached in the gravel, the safety car was deployed which allowed Pulling to close back in on the drivers inside the top-10. When the green flag was displayed, both drivers were on the move as Pulling overtook Kai Daryanani for a spot inside the top-10 with Bustamante also overtaking the delayed JHR Developments machine.
Bustamante then moved into 16th position after passing Rodrigo Gonzalez as the Elite Motorsport driver utilised her DRS to make the move. However, Rodrigo Gonzalez fought back and after Patricio Gonzalez and Anurag overtook the Filipino racer, Bustamante was back in 19th position. Despite losing these positions, Bianca continued to enjoy one of her most competitive showings of the season as her pace and racecraft allowed her to contend for positions within the midfield.
Pulling’s comeback drive continued into the middle portion of the race as she was displaying superb racecraft after starting from the rear of the field. On lap seven, she overtook Jack Sherwood after he ran wide at the Old Hairpin before closing up on Enzo Tarnvanichkul. After drawing level with the VRD driver down the back straight, Pulling made a sensational move around the outside at the Fogarty Esses to claim eighth position.
Now with a sizeable gap ahead of her, Pulling’s first priority was to protect her position from Tarnvanichkul behind who could now utilise the DRS to fight back. A series of good sectors enabled Abbi to build a small margin, before Tarnvanichkul came under threat from the drivers behind. On lap 10, Pulling set a personal best time and she now had the battling duo of Deagan Fairclough and Lucas Fluxa in her sights.
On lap 11, Keanu Al Azhari lost control on the exit of the Old Hairpin and as a result, he spun off the road and made contact with the barrier. This incident necessitated in a second safety car period with Pulling now up to seventh position with Bustamante in 18th position. Due to the position of Al Azhari’s car, it was a lengthy recovery and this meant that the race ended under the safety car. Pulling gained 10 positions from her starting spot to take the chequered flag in seventh, while Bustamante completed a productive opening contest in 18th position.
The second race at Donington Park was held on Sunday morning with dry conditions remaining on track. The grid was based upon the fastest times set from the second qualifying session and therefore both Pulling and Bustamante were once again looking to make progress. Pulling lined up from 16th position after a penalty was assessed to Max Taylor ahead, while Bustamante started from 18th on the grid.
Prior to race getting underway, damage to the cars of Noah Lisle and Enzo Tarnvanichkul saw the Australian driver fail to take start while the VRD racer took his place in the pit lane. Pulling made a good getaway as she moved up to 15th at the end of the first lap, while Bustamante remained in 18th spot.
Looking to replicate her stunning comeback drive of race one, Pulling quickly moved ahead of Rodrigo Gonzalez on lap two, before shaping for an overtake on Kai Daryanani. The drivers ran in extremely close proximity into the Melbourne Hairpin on lap three and after slight contact, Daryanani was spun around.
As a result, Pulling lost momentum and therefore she remained in 14th spot after teammate Gianmarco Pradel moved ahead, before she was elevated to 13th after Kabir Anurag went off-track. Bustamante benefited from these incidents as she passed the stopped car of Daryanani while she moved into 16th position after Anurag’s error. With Daryanani initially unable to refire his car, the safety car was deployed before the JHR Developments racer was able to rejoin the race one lap in arrears.
When the race resumed, an issue for Flynn Jackes saw Bustamante briefly enter the top-15 before a number of faster cars made their way through. After starting from the pit lane, Tarnvanichkul moved ahead on lap six before Bustamante displayed her defensive racecraft. Pulling was focussing forward and on lap eight she made an excellent move on Bart Harrison at the Fogarty Esses to move into 12th position.
Pulling immediately built a gap behind her and ran a personal best time which was faster than the next three drivers. As she closed in on the group ahead, this delayed her progress and Harrison once again applied the pressure. The battles in the midfield were closely-fought and after Pulling lost out to Harrison, Tarnvanichkul began to cut the deficit.
Meanwhile, Bustamante’s resistance was broken by Anurag on lap 9, however she still had teammate Jackes behind who was looking for a way through. During the middle portion of the race, the Elite Motorsport duo were engaged in a fantastic fight for position and although Jackes made his way ahead on lap 15, Bustamante gained valuable experience in the battle.
Despite Tarnvanichkul overtaking Pulling for 13th position on lap 14, the Rodin Motorsport driver continued her battle with Harrison right to the chequered flag. On the penultimate lap, Pulling reclaimed the spot and took the chequered flag in 13th position, before being promoted to 12th following a false start penalty assessed to Liam McNeilly. Bustamante completed a clean race in 18th position as she enjoyed a number good battles within the midfield.
Race three of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon with the grid positions based upon the combined results from qualifying, with the top-12 drivers reversed. Following the contact with Daryanani in race two, Pulling was given a three-place grid penalty and therefore she started in 20th position with Bustamante one row ahead in 17th spot.
As the lights went out, both drivers did a nice job to avoid the stalled car of Kabir Anurag with Pulling immediately moving up several positions. Approaching the Fogarty esses, contact between Patrick Heuzenroeder and Reza Seewooruthun caused a concertina effect on the apex of the corner and with Pulling not having time to take avoiding action, she hit the rear of Flynn Jackes’ machine. This contact briefly launched Pulling’s car into the air, before she came to rest in the gravel trap and was unfortunately out of the race.
Bustamante was running just behind Pulling and she did a nice job to avoid the incident ahead. As a result, the Elite Motorsport driver completed lap one in 15th position. Following good work from the marshals to retrieve the four stricken cars, the race resumed on lap six. Bustamante fell behind Anurag on the restart as he caught the pack following his stall off the line. However, Bianca was looking forward and after Deagan Fairclough slowed with a technical issue, she was back inside the top-15.
On lap eight, Gianmarco Pradel went into the gravel trap on the entry to Coppice corner and this incident resulted in a second safety car period with Bustamante now into 14th spot. The race restarted with a little over five minutes to go and Bustamante’s pace was competitive as she aimed to make up further positions. Just ahead, Anurag was applying pressure to Rodrigo Gonzalez and Bianca’s speed enabled her to remain in contention if any mistakes were made by her rivals.
On the final lap of the race, Bustamante set a personal best time which was also her quickest lap of the entire event to underline her progress. This time of a 1:24.881 was just over a second away from the overall fastest lap of the race as Bianca ended the event with a 14th place finish, her fifth top-15 result of the season.
It was a positive end to the weekend for Bustamante who enjoyed a competitive showing at a new circuit. She was able to compete confidently for top-15 positions across the event while making excellent lap time improvements. Although it was a challenging event for Pulling, her charge through the field in race one was especially impressive as she displayed superb racecraft to gain ten positions.
The GB3 Championship drivers will now head to Monza for the season final on the weekend of 18th/19th October.