Bennett commands at Silverstone taking a third win of 2024

Written by Tom Evans

Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

DIVEBOMB partnered driver John Bennett flew to his third win and eighth podium at Silverstone, followed by a strong fourth place in the reverse grid race, to close  the gap in the championship hunt. 

After a strong European leg, Bennett looked to keep the momentum strong as the GB3 Championship returned to Silverstone for round 6 of the year. Such strong results have closed the gap in the championship title hunt to just four points, as he sits just behind kiwi Louis Sharp in P2 overall. Bennett also continues to be JHR Developments highest points scorer, as the team closed in on Elite Motorsport for P3 in the teams standings. 

As has become customary Bennett started the weekend in fine fashion, placing third in the final practice session before qualifying on Saturday. When qualifying came around Bennett continued this pace, placing fourth for race 1 and third for race 2. This would also put him in a competitive position for race 3, starting from P8 overall. 

John Bennett during practice

Race 1 was not without itt’s drama, as Bennett took advantage of an early battle between Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp and Elite Motorsports Mckenzy Cresswell to fly around the outside at Stove on lap one, taking the lead of the race. Following a safety car period Bennett would cross the line a comfortable 1.2 seconds clear of P2, solidifying his third win of the season. This would close the championship gap, gaining points on both Sharp (P2) and Tymek Kucharczyk (DNF). “I was confident, as long as I got a clean safety car restart I'd be able to lead and pull a gap, so it was a mega race.”: said Bennett speaking to GB3 post race. 

Credit: Jakob Ebrey

In race two of the weekend Bennett would cross the line in third place, withstanding constant pressure from the Elite Motorsports car of Jarrod Waberski. Race three was more action packed for the British driver, as he gained four places to finish just shy of the podium in fifth place, however this was amended to fourth after post race penalties.

“It was an awesome weekend at Silverstone, picking up the most points of anyone, going from 4th to 2nd in the championship and only 4 points off the lead”: commented Bennett to DIVEBOMB after the weekend. “My best personal performance of the year with a win, a p3 and p9 to p4 in the reverse grid, despite struggles with the car in testing. A great way to go into the summer break and looking forward to carrying this momentum into the end of the season!”

For now the GB3 championship enters its summer break, as the championship battle will continue at Donington park on the 7th of September.