10 September 2024 – Press release Arthur Rogeon
GB3 Championship, round 7, Donington Park, 7 – 8 September 2024
Arthur Rogeon was at the top of his game when the GB3 Championship resumed at the Donington Park circuit. In the Midlands, the driver from Laval scored his third victory of the season setting the fastest lap of the weekend in the process! But he also fought hard to secure a Top 5 finish in Race 2, indicative of the qualities he’s displaying more and more regularly at the wheel of his single-seater: great starts, controlled pace in the race, fighting spirit and inspiration in the pack.
Arthur arrived at Donington with an impressive record, that of the driver who has led for the greatest number of laps since the start of the season! It’s worth remembering that he led from start to finish at the Hungaroring and at Silverstone, and looked on course to score an unchallenged victory at Oulton Park before being slowed by a technical problem on the final lap.
It rained during qualifying and Arthur clinched 12th and 10th place on the grid for races 1 and 2. With a minor regret because he was not able to complete a pedal-to-the-metal final lap due to a red flag, on a track that was conducive to a cracking performance. Race 1? A hectic drive from 12th to 12th! “I made a great start and approaching the first corner I was on the outside on the dry part of the track. I was half-a-car’s length ahead of a driver who braked on the wet part and banged wheels with me which he repeated a second time a little further on, making me lose four places. Fortunately, my car wasn’t damaged and I was able to save a few points.”
End of the curate’s egg part of this press release! Race 2 on a soggy track, resulted in a superb comeback. First of all, Arthur made an excellent start gaining three places from the get-go! Then he got the better of the driver currently in second place in the championship under braking for the Melbourne Hairpin. Finally, he took advantage of the penalty imposed on another rival who was convicted of having abused track’s limits. From the Top 10 to the Top 5 – great job!
Race 3 arrived and the young Frenchman made another perfect start from pole position. “As we used rain tyres for race 2, everyone started on new slicks for the last race of the weekend. Up until halfway through the race, my lead was no more than 7 or 8 tenths. After that, I increased the gap tenth by tenth and in the final laps I pushed much harder to open up my lead to 2.3 seconds at the finish. I set the fastest lap of the meeting on the 14th of the 17 laps!” Thus, Arthur received the Sunoco Prize (the championship’s fuel partner, Editor’s note) on the highest step of the podium where the winner’s cup was presented to him by former Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer, owner of seven circuits in Great Britain and of the GB3 Championship!
At Donington, the Frenchman undoubtedly had his best meeting since his first steps in motorsport in the ex-British F3 Championship at the start of 2023. Arthur has climbed up to 8th place in the championship ratings and, incidentally, he still holds the record for the most laps in the lead tied with his teammate, Louis Sharp. Forza Rodin Motorsport! See you for the grand finale at Brands Hatch on September 28 and 29!
Photo by JEP