GB3: Bianca Bustamante overcomes adversity at Silverstone

Driving for Elite Motorsport, Bianca Bustamante had a character-building debut in GB3 Championship which saw her miss the opening race of the season following a qualifying crash - however she bounced back well to secure two top-20 finishes on Sunday despite some underlying issues from the accident.

Photo credits: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Driving for Elite Motorsport, Bianca Bustamante had a character-building weekend which saw her miss the opening race of the season following a crash in qualifying. Bustamante bounced back well to secure two top-20 finishes on Sunday with a best result of 19th coming in race three.

The GB3 Championship moved into a new era for the 2025 season with an all-new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car, along with a calendar incorporating more Grand Prix venues. Filipina Bianca Bustamante stepped up from F1 Academy where she had raced in the all-female single seater series for the previous two seasons.

Bustamante represented McLaren during her second season in F1 Academy and finished the year seventh in the overall standings. In 2023, the driver from the Philippines secured two historic victories as she also finished the campaign in seventh position overall.

Now moving up to the GB3 Championship with Elite Motorsport, Bustamante was aiming to take the next step in her career while learning a range of new circuits both in Britain and across Europe. The 2025 GB3 Championship begins at Silverstone before trips to Zandvoort, Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungaroring. The drivers then return to Britain for a second round at Silverstone in August, before tackling Brands Hatch and Donington Park. The season concludes at Monza in support of International GT Open in October.

In addition to the calendar changes, the new car also features a number of improvements. While the Tatuus MSV GB3-025 boasts improved power output to its predecessor, the drivers will also utilise a DRS system which compares to that used in FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. As a result, the GB3 Championship provides a perfect platform for racers looking progress up the single seater ladder.

Ahead of the Silverstone season opener, the drivers were given a series of test sessions on both Thursday and Friday to gain further experience. Bustamante’s fastest time of a 1:55.021 was set in the first session of the day and placed her 26th overall. Two further sessions were held on Friday and both drivers enjoyed a positive day of running. Bustamante improved her best time by over a second and her fastest lap of a 1:53.877 saw her set the 25th quickest time.

Qualifying was held on Saturday morning with both sessions held back-to-back. The majority of the drivers struggled to match their best times from testing in the first session. Bustamante had a positive session as she set her quickest time on her final lap. The Elite Motorsport driver qualified in 22nd position on her debut qualifying session in the GB3 Championship.

The second qualifying session followed directly after with the drivers looking to use the knowledge gained from the first fifteen-minutes. Bustamante improved her times from the first session and again ended in 22nd position.

Photo credits: CBR Media

The opening race of the season took place on Saturday afternoon and unfortunate Bustamante was unable to take the start due to her car receiving damage at the end of qualifying.

"Unfortunately, on the last lap of qualifying, I touched the exit curb just slightly in the wrong angle and it was enough to give an unsavable oversteer snap in a very highspeed turn 1", Bustamante explained. "I had a heavy hit in the barrier, damaging the car. Besides a bruised hand and arm, I was fortunately ok."

The Elite Motorsport team were working hard to repair the car in order for Bianca to take the start in the two races held on Sunday. Following a fantastic job from the Elite Motorsport team, Bustamante lined up from 21st on the grid for the second race of the weekend. Bustamante’s first start in the GB3 Championship was a clean one as the Elite Motorsport driver held her position and was challenging a number of more experienced drivers. The safety car was then deployed at the end of the first lap after two cars had stalled on the grid.

The race was neutralised for only one lap; Bustamante lost out to South African racer Mika Abrahams on the restart, however she remained in a competitive train of cars who were fighting for points scoring positions. Bustamante was also displaying good defensive skills as she kept Stefan Bostanjiev behind her with Bianca briefly pulling out a gap of over one second.

On lap eight, Bustamante lost out to Bostandjiev, however with drivers all searching for a way past newcomer Divy Nandan, there was still a chance to move forward. Two laps later, an incident between Keanu Al Azhari and Dion Gowda resulted in the safety car being deployed with Bustamante moving into 21st position. The race ended at a reduced speed with Bustamante completing a clean race in 21st.

Following post-race penalties awarded to two drivers, Bustamante was classified in 20th position.

"Unfortunately I had to miss race 1, and also my team Elite Motorsport had to work overtime", Bianca summarized. "Thanks to them, the car was repaired and ready for race 2 and 3, but at no fault of the team, the car still had some underlying issues that was not fixable in both races so we didn’t have the pace to fight on track."

For the final race of the weekend, the grid was formed by the fastest times from qualifying with a partial reverse grid. As a result, Bustamante òlined up 21st on the grid. It was an extremely busy opening lapand a contact between Abbi Pulling and Dion Gowda turned both cars into the pit wall. As a result, the safety car was deployed with Bustamante moving up to 20th position.

When the racing resumed, Bustamante was in amongst some great midfield battles as she looked to make up positions. Although Bostanjiev moved ahead, the Elite Motorsport driver remained in 20th position after Alex Ninovic pitted with an issue. Divy Nandan then found a way through as Bustamante then settled down into a good rhythm.

On lap eight, contact inside the top-10 between Nikita Johnson and Freddie Slater led to race-ending damage for Gianmarco Pradel as he tried to avoid the spinning cars. This promoted Bustamante to 20th and she was soon into 19th position after Bostanjiev dropped back.

Bustamante also set a personal best time on lap nine and following another improvement on lap 10, she was closing the margin to Nandan. A strong end to the race saw Bianca close the margin to the next four drivers ahead as she took the chequered flag in 19th position.

Bustamante ended a challenging opening weekend on a high with a clean drive to secure her second top-20 finish in as many races. The Filipina will now be looking forward to a trip to Zandvoort in the Netherlands which hosts the next round of the GB3 Championship on the weekend of 17th/18th May.

"Really disappointed knowing a small mistake on my side led to a big crash on the track, essentially ruining our race weekend", Bianca said. "Tough lesson to learn but nonetheless, there truly was so many positives to take from my first weekend in GB3 and I really can’t wait to get back in the car in Zandvoort."