Pole sitter Louis Sharp led from start to finish to claim his third GB3 Championship race win of the season in race one at Donington Park.
The British-born New Zealander made a great start from pole, making the most of the dry line after morning rain to head the field down to Redgate. He built an immediate lead of over a second to Hitech Pulse-Eight title rival Tymek Kucharczyk, who started alongside him on the front row, and held a comfortable gap until Kucharczyk sliced the lead down by six tenths on the sixth lap.
Despite the pressure, and with damp patches off line, Sharp held firm to lead the entire contest, claiming his first win since Hungary in the process, as he stretched his championship lead.
Kucharczyk closed up again late on, and was just seven tenths of a second behind starting the final lap. But as he turned into the Old Hairpin with just a few corners left in the contest, Kucharczyk lost the rear end and skated into the gravel, losing places to teammate Gerrard Xie and JHR's title battler John Bennett.
Rejoining ahead of VRD Racing by Arden's Noah Ping, the Pole then faced being demoted further at the Fogarty Esses, as the American driver looked to challenge, but lost it himself and ran through the gravel. That allowed Rodin newcomer Freddie Slater to get a run on them, but he also had a drama exiting the Melbourne Hairpin.
While Sharp took the flag four seconds clear at the front from Xie and Bennett, Kucharczyk somehow held fourth ahead of Ping and Slater, the F4 dominator earning a top-six on his GB3 debut.
Behind the drama, Hitech's Will Macintyre battled his way past Elite's Hugo Schwarze to claim seventh, with Schwarze's teammates Jarrod Waberski and McKenzy Cresswell completing the top-10.
Series newcomer Max Taylor was 11th for Arden Motorsport, while Fortec's debutant Alex Kattoulas claimed the final point on offer in 20th.
Sharp now holds a 15 point lead in the championship to Bennett, with Kucharczyk 12 points further back.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Donington Park race one provisional result:
1. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, 14 laps
2. Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +4.619s
3. John Bennett, JHR Developments, +5.430s
4. Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +10.696s
5. Noah Ping, VRD Racing by Arden, +12.140s
6. Freddie Slater, Rodin Motorsport, +12.675s
7. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +15.240s
8. Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport, +16.159s
9. Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +17.221s
10.McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +17.815s
11. Max Taylor, Arden Motorsport, +18.232s
12. Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, +19.604s
13. Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing, +28.898s
14. Nikita Johnson, VDR Racing by Arden, +30.085s
15. Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +31.273s
16. Aditya Kulkarni, Hillspeed, +33.263s
17. Jacob Douglas, Chris Dittmann Racing, +35.005s
18. Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +36.544s
19. Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsport, +51.830s
20. Alex Kattoulas, Fortec Motorsport, +52.783s
21. Shawn Rashid, VRD Racing by Arden, +1 lap