New Zealander Louis Sharp has won the 2024 GB3 Championship title with a 10th placed finish in this morning’s reverse grid race at Brands Hatch.
Entering the finale with a 25-point advantage, having won Sunday’s earlier race, Sharp needed to finish inside the top 11 to guarantee the title
John Bennett needed to finish inside the top two to have any chance of stealing the title in the season-finale, but could only work his way up to ninth.
“I’m super happy,” said Sharp. “I have to give a big thank you to everyone at Rodin Motorsport team; they’ve done a mega job this year. Obviously my rookie season in GB3 and they got me up to speed very quickly and have obviously turned out to be quite a good team.
“I knew that; it’s my third year with the team and I really can’t ask for much better and my success is really down to them, so a huge thank you to them.”
“I grew up in New Zealand and have a lot of family members here in the UK. A big thank you to all of them for coming out to support me this weekend. Big, big thank you to them.”
“I’m so grateful to be in this position. I don’t think very many people go F4 and then the next year win the GB3 championship, so I’m very lucky and very happy. I’ve got to give a big thank you to the whole team, my dad, who’s been over here with me the whole step of the way, and my success is down to him and my family and friends not only in New Zealand but the UK as well. A big, big thank you to everyone involved.
“I think we’ll stick around for a little bit more, but obviously prepared for next year and then over Christmas we will go back and see all the family.”
Sharp will now prepare for an FIA F3 test, his prize for winning the title, but he remained tight-lipped on what the future holds beyond that.
“I can’t give too many secrets away just yet, but we’ll be moving on from GB3 and taking that next step up, so we’ll just have to see what it is.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the 2023 British Formula 4 Champion, however, with some intense Lap 1 battles making for some heart-in-mouth moments along the way.
Sharp was very nearly wiped out of the race by a spinning Hugo Schwarze on the first lap, but slowed and steered clear to avoid making contact, dropping several places as a result.
One of those places was to rival John Bennett, who needed to finish in the top two to have any chance of winning the title. While Bennett did work past Sharp, he was unable to move any higher, and finished one place ahead in ninth.
Polish driver Tymek Kucharczyk was seventh, but was knocked out of title contention in the day’s earlier race.
Nikita Johnson won the final race of the GB3 Championship season at Brands Hatch, ahead of Formula 3 driver Callum Voisin and Arthur Rogeon, both of Rodin Motorsport.
The double podium also secured Rodin Motorsport the Teams’ Championship title.
