Beauly racing driver Ollie Stewart secured first race victory in GB Championships at legendary Spa track in Belgium
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Ollie Stewart scored his maiden victory in the GB3 Championship in just the third weekend of the season, as he made his racing debut at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.
The 16-year-old from Scotland finished with an impressive 29 points to his name across all three contests in his Elite Motorsport machine, under hot and sunny conditions in the Ardennes region of Belgium.
In total, 25 drivers lined up for qualifying around the 4.352-mile circuit in a highly competitive grid, but unfortunately a red flag brought the session to an early end which meant Stewart would line up 24th for the first race and 23rd for the second.
Despite his starting positions for the first two races though, that also meant that the young Scot would start from pole for the fully reversed grid race three.
Race one, on Saturday morning, featured a lengthy safety car which remained on track for over half of the nine-lap race, which meant action on track was hard to come by. Despite this, Stewart managed to gain five places to cross the line 19th.
The Beauly-based youngster got a good launch off the line for race two and managed to overtake three cars up to Eau Rouge, and by the end of the opening lap was already up to 19th. Working his way through the pack, he gradually made up a few more places to finish in a respectable 15th at the flag.
Starting from pole position for the final race of the weekend, again he had a good start, fighting off Joseph Loake in second place. Throughout the race, it was a battle between Stewart and Loake for the lead, but after a confidence damaging first two contests he would not crack under pressure this time out.
Holding his own out front, by the final lap Stewart pulled away, having a 2.7s lead over the rest of the field. Coming around the Bus Stop chicane for the final time, Stewart took home his maiden win in only his third weekend in the GB3 Championship, underlining his talent behind the wheel.
Stewart and the Elite Motorsport will now aim to carry the momentum from this weekend into the next round of the GB3 Championship at Snetterton in a few weeks’ time, where both will be aiming for further success.
“Qualifying didn't go very well – we were just completely out on our own and never really got a tow from anyone," Stewart reflected.
"It definitely wasn't up to the standard it needed to be, but I knew that we could come back in the races.
“Race one was okay. It was difficult to get into a rhythm because of the long safety car period, but we managed to make up quite a few places, so it wasn’t too bad.
“Race two was pretty good, I was happy with that. I got a really good launch off the line and was able to get a few into the first corner. After that, I just had to try and work my way through the field, settle down a little bit, and pick them off one by one.
"I made a few good moves on the opening lap and after that I made up a few more places to get into 15th. The pace was definitely better than it had been as we found a few things which we managed to get sorted.
“Race three was brilliant. The start wasn't so good but that was done on purpose because I knew that I would be a sitting duck going up to Eau Rouge and down the Kemmel Straight.
"I decided I was going to wait which I did successfully and was in the lead by the top of Eau Rouge. I'm really, really happy with the result, we drove really well. It was good because we made a few fixes to both myself and the car in the way we wanted.
"It was an amazing race and I can't thank the team enough for the effort they've put it. I'm really looking forward to the next round where we’ll be looking to take that positive momentum from winning forward and hopefully get more wins and podiums."
