Colin Queen Finalizes First Season in GB3 Championship at Brands Hatch
Upcoming American racing driver Colin Queen had a formidable showing throughout the final round of the 2024 GB3 Championship at Brands Hatch in West Kingsdown last weekend (September 28-30).
Coming off of a successful outing with two top-ten race finishes at Donington Park Circuit earlier in September, the 19-year-old driver from Florida showed his ability to stay poised and unfazed throughout a weekend of ups and downs at Britain’s Most-Loved Motor Racing Circuit consisting of eight testing sessions, one qualifying, two 15-lap races, and a final 25-lap race.
Piloting the red, white, and black livery Fortec Motorsport #62 car, Queen began his campaign on a very positive note in Wednesday’s three testing sessions, in which he was classified P5, P1, and P4 respectively while testing systems and working with the team to optimize the car for the rest of the weekend.
Then in Friday’s rainy practice sessions, the Fortec team opted to have Colin drive only in sessions two and three out of the four total, in which he finished out of the top-10, having not pushed the limits of the car on a flying lap in the wet conditions.
Queen qualified P14 Saturday outside the top-10 by just 0.767 seconds because he was held up by heavy traffic on track and was unable to complete a full fast lap and show his true pace on the timesheet.
“It was a tough weekend for us at Brands Hatch. We were looking very strong going into qualifying after a highly productive test earlier in the week,” said Queen. “However, things didn’t go our way with traffic on several of my push laps.”
On Saturday’s 15-lap Race 1, Queen started with strong pace, but fell two places due to a pair of minor racing incidents forcing Colin into the grass momentarily, but he quickly capitalized on other drivers’ mistakes and issues, jumping up to P13 in the first two laps. Throughout the middle stages of the race, Queen applied consistent pressure to the driver ahead, Jarrod Waberski, by staying within a one-second gap for much of the race around Brands Hatch where overtaking opportunities are few, even in GB3 cars. Following Gerrard Xie’s hard impact with the barrier in the final lap, Queen took the chequered flag in P12.
Colin stated, “We weren’t able to make up much ground in the races due to the nature of the circuit being almost impossible to overtake.”
Next, Queen began Race 2 in P18 on Sunday. As the grid formed up before the start, the GB3 broadcast commentators called him the driver to watch coming up through the field. Unfortunately, an issue in the first lap left him in last place to fight back from behind the field, following a safety car that was due to an unrelated incident. This created an opportunity for Colin to display his race craft, completing two overtakes in the late stages and ultimately coming in P16.
The commentary team said he has been known to be “… the master of overtaking, the master of working his way through the field,” and for having incredible speed.
Furthermore, Colin showed consistency in the final Race 3 of the season starting and ending in P14 after a battle with Sebastian Murray of Chris Dittmann Racing in which he pushed ahead for a few moments into P13 before ultimately ceding the position.
With conviction, Colin reassured his team saying, “Although it wasn’t the way any of us wanted the season to end, I can’t thank my family, the entire Fortec team, and my partners for their support with making this year possible. It’s onwards and upwards for next season!”
Colin looks to the exciting future of GB3 with the new upgraded car to be introduced in 2025, and plans to utilize the offseason to continue sharpening his skills so he can fight for wins in his quest for continued success.
