Newcomers won all three races in GB3 last weekend as VRD’s Nikita Bedrin won twice from pole position and Hitech’s Jin Nakamura swiped victory on the last lap of the final race. In GB4, Elite’s Fred Green similarly won from double poles and Scorpio’s Romuald Bocquet was denied victory shortly after taking the chequered flag.
What happened in GB3:
A rapid launch for Deagen Fairclough in race one almost allowed him to snatch the lead from Martin Molnár on the run to Copse, who had capitalised on a slow getaway for Bedrin. The Hitech driver slotted behind Maxim Rehm through Maggots and Becketts and was overtaken by Bedrin around the outside of Stowe.
Bedrin slowly but surely continued his charge for the lead, eventually getting past Molnár with a feint and a dive into Vale with just under 15 minutes to go. Seven minutes later, Dante Vinci stopped on the Hamilton straight, bringing out the safety car.
The race was reduced to a two-lap shootout, but nothing could stop Bedrin taking victory ahead of Molnár and Rehm.
Molnár retired before race two even began after he had to be pushed into the pit lane with mechanical issues. Fairclough took the lead from Bedrin down the inside of Copse but quickly lost it again into Chapel after the pair ran side by side through Maggots and Becketts.
Two safety car deployments interrupted the race. The first came with just over 20 minutes left when Peter Bouzinelos came to a stop on the outside of Village. The second came 11 minutes later when Fairclough ground to a halt down the Hangar straight.
The race became a one lap shootout once the safety car period ended. With a third-place finish on the line, Rodin’s Abbi Pulling was forced to defend from Patricio Gonzalez and Nakamura into Stowe. She managed to fend off the Japanese driver, but came to blows with Gonzalez at Vale and got beached in the gravel as the Mexican driver’s car mounted over hers.
In the end, Bedrin took his second win of the weekend ahead of Rehm in second. Lucas Fluxá initially finished third ahead of Nakamura but was later given a one-place post-race penalty for pushing him off track at Vale.
Flynn Jackes started on reverse-grid pole ahead of Rodrigo Gonzalez, who suffered a poor start and was swiftly overtaken by teammate Kyuho Lee, who was in turn overtaken by a fast-starting Nakamura. Jackes out front kept a good gap to Nakamura, up until Bouzinelos came to a stop on the Hamilton straight with 14 minutes to go. Fairclough simultaneously also stopped on track at the entry to Maggots.
The race restarted with five minutes to go and Jackes kept a small but solid gap to Nakamura up until the F3 driver made a move at Village on the final lap, briefly going side by side. With the aid of DRS heading into Brooklands, Nakamura swept around Jackes’ outside and Lee darted down his inside, dropping him to third at the chequered flag. This later became second post-race after Lee received a penalty for a jump start, which also promoted Fluxá to third.
The top 15 in the drivers’ standings
- Nikita Bedrin (VRD), 76
- Maxim Rehm (Rodin), 67
- Jin Nakamura (Hitech), 60
- Lucas Fluxá (Xcel), 47
- Rowan Campbell-Pilling (Xcel), 47
- Patricio Gonzalez (VRD), 40
- Kyuho Lee (Elite), 39
- Rodrigo Gonzalez (VRD), 38
- Martin Molnár (Rodin), 33
- Alexandros Kattoulas (Fortec), 33
- Flynn Jackes (Elite), 26
- Leon Wilson (Arden), 24
- Deagen Fairclough (Hitech), 21
- Ricardo Baptista (Xcel), 18
- Jack Taylor (Fortec), 18
The teams’ standings
- VRD Racing, 128
- Rodin Motorsport, 105
- Xcel Motorsport, 94
- Hitech, 92
- Elite Motorsport, 67
- Fortec Motorsports, 51
- Arden Motorsport, 38
- Hillspeed, 24
- Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 7
What happened in GB4:
Luke Hilton initially qualified on pole for both races, but was later disqualified after being found to have not slowed for double yellow flags during the session.
Green’s first win was a mostly unchallenged affair, his only challenge coming early in the race from Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso. Charlie Myers caused the only safety car deployment when he spun into the outside gravel at Farm with just over 12 minutes remaining. Green gradually pulled away in the remaining laps to take victory ahead of Del Grosso, whilst third-place finisher Alex O’Grady successfully fended off Thomas Ingram Hill in the final stages.
Much like in GB3, the second-place finisher from race one was unable to start race two because of mechanical issues. Del Grosso’s formation lap only lasted a few minutes before he had to be pushed into the pit lane and ultimately retire.
A chaotic start saw Archie Davies go straight on at Copse, Dayton Coulthard spin to the back of the pack following contact with Ingram Hill at Maggots and Torrin Byrne spinning into the grass at the same corner, necessitating a safety car.
Racing lasted only two laps before a second safety car was called for the beached cars of Enzo Rujugiro and Holly Miall at Luffield. With both cars needing to be recovered, the race was red flagged and called early, with Green finishing ahead of Hallman and Jason Smyth.
Bocquet pulled away from Myers at the start, who was swiftly overtaken by Matan Achituv through Maggotts and then Coulthard at Copse on the next lap. The safety car was deployed that same lap when Miall got beached in the gravel at Club, which then brought out the red flag.
Racing only lasted a single lap after the red flag when Ingram Hill stopped on the inside of Vale with a broken rear wing, bringing out another safety car. A one lap shootout followed, which saw Coulthard overtake Achituv for second at Stowe. This ultimately became the race-winning move for Coulthard as Bocquet was given a 10-second penalty for a jump start after the red flag, which promoted Davies to third.
The top 15 in the drivers’ standings
- Fred Green (Elite), 70
- Enzo Hallman (Hillspeed), 60
- Jason Smyth (Douglas), 59
- Alex O’Grady (KMR), 56
- Dayton Coulthard (Douglas), 45
- Matan Achituv (Elite), 42
- Thomas Ingram Hill (Fortec), 42
- Josh McLean (Pace), 34
- Connor Willis (Hillspeed), 32
- Luke Hilton (ADM), 31
- Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso (Elite), 29
- Romuald Bocquet (Scorpio), 26
- Archie Davies (Scorpio), 25
- Torrin Byrne (Pace), 23
- John O’Donnell (Pace), 22
The teams’ standings
- Elite Motorsport, 134
- Douglas Motorsport, 112
- Hillspeed, 92
- Fortec Motorsports, 69
- KMR Sport, 67
- Pace Performance, 65
- Scorpio Motorsport, 51
- Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 41
- Arden Motorsport, 35
- Fox Motorsport, 13
- Idola Motorsport, 0
Main Image Credit: GB3 Championship
