Fortec's Mikkel Grundtvig held off a race long challenge to claim his second win of the year in the reverse grid contest at Snetterton this afternoon.
From pole, Grundtvig led every lap but was never able to shake off the attentions of the cars behind, with Douglas Motorsport's Marcos Flack finishing just a quarter of a second away in second, his first GB3 podium. Elite's James Hedley was third, and just half a second further back, with the top-three covered by less than eight tenths of a second.
Flack's teammate Tommy Smith finished less than a second away from a podium in fourth, and just two tenths of a second ahead of Chris Dittmann Racing's McKenzy Cresswell who shot from ninth on the grid to fifth.
Bryce Aron moved up to sixth for Hitech GP, while Fortec's Zak Taylor ran as high as second early on, but an off at Hamilton after a brief safety car period dropped him down to seventh.
Max Esterson climbed from 12th on the grid to eighth for Douglas Motorsport, ahead of Arden's David Morales who finished just 0.163s behind his fellow American.
Javier Sagrera rose from 14th on the grid to complete the top-10 for Carlin.
For the drivers starting further down the grid, title challengers Luke Browning (Hitech) and Joel Granfors (Fortec) climbed from 20th and 21st on the grid respectively up to 15th and 16th, while Matthew Rees (JHR) gained six places as he finished 13th.
Grundtvig made a decent start from pole to lead the pack down to Riches on lap one, while fellow front row starter Cian Shields was very slow away and dropped out of the race at the end of the lap. In the midfield, Branden Oxley was a first lap retirement at the Wilson hairpin as he avoided a car ahead but spun to the outside of the corner, bringing out a safety car.
After two laps, racing resumed and Grundtvig made a decent restart to head teammate Taylor. But the British driver's spill on lap five promoted Flack and Hedley to the podium positions and they applied constant pressure without forcing a way through.
On the final lap, Hedley challenged Flack at Wilson, allowing Grundtvig to create the biggest gap of the race, but within half a lap the top three were nose to tail again, with the Danish driver taking his fourth reverse grid win in GB3 by just 0.253s.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Snetterton race three
result:
1. Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsport, 10 laps
2. Marcos Flack, Douglas Motorsport, +0.253s
3. James Hedley, Elite Motorsport, +0.786s
4. Tommy Smith, Douglas Motorsport, +1.753s
5. McKenzy Cresswell, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.997s
6. Bryce Aron, Hitech GP, +3.161s
7. Zak Taylor, Fortec Motorsport, +4.335s
8. Max Esterson, Douglas Motorsport, +5.883s
9. David Morales, Arden Motorsport, +6.046s
10. Javier Sagrera, Carlin, +6.416s
11. Nico Christodoulou, Arden Motorsport, +7.042s
12. Alex Connor, Arden Motorsport, +7.902s
13. Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +8.779s
14. Roberto Faria, Carlin, +9.901s
15. Luke Browning, Hitech GP, +10.597s
16. Joel Granfors, Fortec Motorsport, +10.948s
17. John Bennett, Elite Motorsport, +11.596s
18. Callum Voisin, Carlin, +11.880s
19. Nick Gilkes, Hillspeed, +12.199s
20. Tom Lebbon, Elite Motorsport, +12.885s
DNF. Cian Shields, Hitech GP, 0 laps
DNF. Branden Oxley, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 laps