Abbi Pulling created another bit of history at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps, becoming the first woman to secure Pole Position and take Victory in the GB3 Championship.

Round 2 of the GB3 Championship headed for a Spa weekend at one of the most legendary circuits in motorsport.

Rodin Cars Ambassador and Rodin Motorsport driver Abbi Pulling hit the ground running strong in testing – topping Free Practice 3 and consistently being in the sharp end of all sessions in the build up to Qualifying on Friday afternoon.

Q1 started and Abbi immediately got onto the pace and established the leading benchmark time heading into the final minutes. Into the dying stages of the session, a late red-flag prevented Abbi and the entire grid from improving further.
However with only 1 minute 40 seconds remaining, there was not enough time to run any more laps around the 7.004km circuit.
Abbi therefore made history at the first woman to secure an outright Pole Position in the GB3 Championship and would start Race 1 from the head of the pack!

Q2 started shortly after and once again, the Rodin Motorsport driver was in the battle for Pole.
She set the 3rd fastest time, just 0.017s from the front row, despite not being able to latch onto a slipstream from any rival infront.
However ultimately tyre wear for all drivers meant there were no further improvements late in the session – so Abbi would start Race 2 from P3 on the grid.

Race 1 scheduled for Saturday morning first started behind the Safety Car due to torrential rain.
The conditions were deemed to dangerous to race – so the opening race was pushed back to the time of Race 2. With Race 2, now being moved to Sunday – with Race 3 no longer taking place.

Saturday afternoon saw conditions improve dramatically, with slick tyres and Abbi starting from Pole Position.
She made a great start to lead into Turn 1 and immediately break out of the DRS range from her rivals behind.
Abbi continued to lead the early stages, before the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 4 – bunching the field up.
The race restarted with 10 minutes to go, Abbi aced her restarted to continue leading and once again pulled out a lead on the chasing pack.
Into the Final lap, Abbi held a 0.7s lead but kept it clean, nailed the middle sector and crossed the line to take a landmark victory – as she became the First Woman to win a race in GB3 history!

Race 2 saw Abbi make a great launch as they battled for P2, banging wheels into Turn 1 and she made a move up the inside.
This however pinched her and left her vulnerable on the back-straight, where she ultimately got slipstreamed past from P3 to P5.
She kept in the fight for the podium, hovering around the DRS zone from the battle ahead in the early stages.
Abbi maintained P5 throughout the race, not quite having the pace to get back into the fight for the podium after a big vibration had developed since the start of the race.
She came under pressure on the penultimate lap, but defended brilliantly to retain her P5 into the final lap – holding onto her position to the chequered flag and capped off a super Spa weekend.
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Abbi Pulling:

"I'm just absolutely over the moon - I've always wanted to achieve results on merit, no matter what the competition and I've achieved that today.
It's been a whirlwind of a weekend...keeping composed dealing with the rescheduled races and the weather, but WE DID IT!

Race 2 I got a great launch but had a bit of a contact. I managed to stay in P3 but ultimately I got a bit swamped and Les Combes from the tow and ended up P5.
I had this strange vibration the whole race from this set of tyres. I really wanted another podium but still managed to score some strong points and it was a great weekend.
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I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me at Rodin Cars, Rodin Motorsport, all my sponsors, all the fans - everyone who's helped me.
There is so many people to thank and I could NOT have done this without you!"

A history-defining weekend at Spa has vaulted Abbi up to P6 in the championship standings after her desperately unlucky Silverstone opening round.

Achieving one of her main goals for the season so early-on, by achieving a race win on merit sets her up perfectly for the next round of the championship – which takes place at the Hungaroring on the 4-5 July.

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Photos by Jakob Ebrey Photography.