Arden Motorsport brought down the curtain on its debut campaign in the GB3 Championship with a brace of podium finishes at Donington Park, Leicestershire last weekend (16-17 October).
The Banbury-based outfit made the relatively short trip to the 2.4-mile East Midlands venue keen to end with a final flourish after an otherwise successful start to life in the UK’s premier tier of single-seater racing, including three victories and seven further podium finishes prior to the weekend.
With both Frederick Lubin and Roman Bilinski in fine form, the latter led the Red Arrows’ charge in qualifying to head up the third row, before improving from fifth to the final step of the podium in the opening race.
Despite starting further back after a difficult session on Saturday morning, Lubin demonstrated his overtaking prowess once again, rising seven positions to round out the top eight.
After another double points finish to open Sunday’s action, it would be Lubin’s turn to bring home some silverware, the Brit marking the final race for the championship current generation of cars with third spot. Bilinski made progress further back to ninth, ensuring a clean sweep of points finishes for the team.
The net result of their efforts all season long places Bilinski and Lubin a credible seventh and 11th respectively, despite both contesting part seasons, with Lubin agonisingly close to a top-ten spot, the deficit a mere two points.
Although a top-three spot in the inaugural Teams’ Championship eluded the duo on this occasion, a credible fourth rounds out a promising first campaign for the Red Arrows in the category.
Gary Ward, Arden GB3 Team Manager said:
“We said before the weekend that everything at Donington Park will be a bonus for the team after such a successful first season at this level, and two podium finishes is a fantastic way to round everything off.
“It’s probably fair to say we didn’t maximise qualifying, but both Roman and Frederick did very well to bring that back in race trim.
“It’s been a really competitive field this season, so to have come in against competition that have been running these cars for over half a decade in one guise or another and finish fourth at the first attempt, we have to be really satisfied with that.
“I’m sure these results will only inspire the team to work harder than ever over the winter months to build on this next year.”
Roman Bilinski (#4) said:
“It’s great to round out the campaign with a podium finish, and to bring down the curtain on what has been a very enjoyable half-season in the GB3 Championship.
“We weren’t at our strongest in qualifying, and in a grid this competitive, that can hurt you. But the team put together a really good car for the races, and we were able to make up for it, so that’s really satisfying.
“I’m looking forward to a short break now, then it’s full steam ahead on my plans for the future. Who knows where it will take us!”
Frederick Lubin (#78) said:
“It’s been a tough weekend, but it definitely ended on a high note. I’m really happy to bring home third in the final race of the year.
“On another note, I’d like to say a massive thank you to everybody that helped me this year, it’s been a real pleasure. Onwards and upwards!”