Bryce Aron: We Won!

Aron’s first GB3 race win, from the pole (Jakob Ebrey photos).

TOWCESTER, England — Hello everybody! It’s Bryce, reporting from a damp day here in England with some exciting news: We won! I couldn’t be happier to bring home my first win in the GB3 Championship.

The weekend started off positive in the first test session on Thursday but unfortunately we suffered from a mechanical failure during the 20-minute qualifying session which severely impacted our pace, slowing us by nearly a second per lap. This meant race one and race two were a battle of recovery, trying to move up the grid in order to maximize our points.

Leaving the pregrid and ready for action.

Race one was chaotic to say the least. The first lap featured a few major scraps between competitors which left me driving through a lot of dust. In fact it was quite hard to see! I kept my right foot pinned on the throttle and came out the other side finding myself coming from 21st to 12th. Our good start, plus a few scraps between competitors gave us a nice recovery. After the initial few laps I found myself on the verge of the top 10 but at a high-speed track like Donington Park it is extremely hard to pass. I still gave it a few goes, trying to dive by my fellow competitors going into the tight Turn 11 Melbourne Hairpin. In the end I had to settle for 12th which was a good recovery all things considered.

The second race on Sunday morning saw me fight through the pack once again. A good start coupled with some heads-up driving allowed me to move forward but once again I found myself stuck. The nature of these high-aero cars makes it extremely difficult to pass but I was trying very hard. In fact, a bit too hard. After being within a half-second of the car in front of me the entire race, my front tires began to degrade heavily from following so closely. This created a lack of front grip, and on the last lap of the race I made a mistake while I was pushing to make one final pass. I understeered a bit wide on the exit of the high speed Turn Eight which caused me to fall back and lose a few positions. Although I made an error I can at least take comfort in the fact that I tried my absolute hardest and didn’t leave anything on the table during race two.

A good start saw Aron clear of the pack on the opening lap.

With race one and two out of the way it was time for our final go of the weekend. This time we started on pole due to the reverse-grid rule, and it was our opportunity to shine despite the misfortune in qualifying. If I’m honest I was a bit nervous and it didn’t help that I had a six-and-a-half-hour gap between race two and three on Sunday. I had to find some new ways to occupy my time. Initially I sifted through old onboards and data with my engineer Paul before strolling through the paddock. Ugh! Even with that complete I still had three hours until lights out, so I set about walking around the pits with my family (luckily they were able to make it over from Chicago) and we watched the British GT race.

Eventually, it was go time. I was ready and as soon as I got into the car I became much less nervous. In fact my confidence grew. I had a job to do, I knew what to do, and I believed I could execute it. As I lined up on pole I looked back in my mirrors watching row by row of cars fill in behind me. Eyes forward. After about a minute, the longest minute in my entire life, the five-second board came out from the marshals’ tower. Twenty-two engines raised in RPM, lights on…….Lights off.

Receiving the winner’s trophy from ex-Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer.

We were away. The start was good. We were away free into Turn One. Now it was time to get my head down and hit my marks. In a way I was only driving at 98 percent but I noticed after lap two we began to increase our gap to second place. It was a bit relieving but I needed to make sure I didn’t make a mistake. Lap after lap clicked by. It wasn’t until I got to the end of the final lap my focus shifted as I realized I was going to win. I came out of the final corner and saw the checkered flag. We won! Yes! As I flew by the pitwall I saw all the Hitech GP boys cheering me on. It was a great feeling. Victory at last.

I hope you enjoyed my weekend recap and as always thank you for reading. Until next time,
Bryce