Over the past weekend, Abbi Pulling made history by becoming the first female driver to win a GB3 race in the series’ history.
The 23-year-old has made significant progress over the past few years and established herself across the global motorsport scene.
Looking back to where it all started, Pulling first raced Ginettas in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2018 before progressing to single-seaters in the British F4 Championship in 2020.
She competed for JHR Developments and notably finished runner-up at Thruxton. She also secured three third-place finishes to end the season sixth overall. Pulling also made two appearances in the Formula Renault Eurocup Series in 2020.
After a strong debut season, hopes were high for Pulling’s second campaign in the British F4 Championship. However, she was unfortunately forced to withdraw from the championship before the end of the season due to a lack of budget.
On a more positive note, Pulling made appearances in the latter rounds of the W Series Championship in 2021. She qualified on pole for race one at the final round of the season in Austin and achieved her first podium the following day by finishing second.
After finishing seventh in the standings, she earned automatic qualification for the 2022 season, where she finished fourth in the final standings. In 2022, Pulling also joined Alpine as part of its new Alpine Affiliate programme.
Following the formation of F1 Academy for the 2023 season, Pulling became a full-time member of the Alpine Academy and competed with Rodin Carlin (now Rodin Motorsport). She ended the season fifth in the standings with seven podium finishes.
Following a strong opening campaign in the all-new F1 Academy series, Pulling emerged as a potential title contender for the 2024 season.
Not only was she a title contender, but she went on to dominate the championship, claiming nine wins and finishing on the podium in every race.
Following her F1 Academy title victory, Pulling opted to remain with the newly branded Rodin Motorsport team and enter the GB3 Championship with a fully funded seat awarded as part of her 2024 title triumph. She also parted ways with the Alpine Academy.
Pulling ended her first season in the series 10th in the drivers’ standings. She secured a podium at Brands Hatch and, in doing so, became the first female driver in the series to finish in the top three.
This year, after a tough opening round at Silverstone, Pulling arrived at the first European round of the season showing strong pace.
She qualified on pole position for the opening race of the weekend and again made history. It would not be the only piece of history she made that weekend, as she converted pole position into victory to become the first female driver to win a GB3 Championship race.
She finished the weekend with a fifth-place finish in race two following the cancellation of race three and left the second round of the season sixth in the drivers’ standings.
The GB3 Championship and Abbi Pulling will next be in action from 2-5 July when the series heads to the Hungaroring in Hungary for its second European round of the season.
Main image: Jess Coulsell
