2026 | GB3 | Hungaroring | Race 2 | Bedrin wins after early fight with Fairclough

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VRD Racing’s Nikita Bedrin claimed his fourth GB3 Championship victory of the season in Race 2 at the Hungaroring, recovering from losing the lead at the start to win in controlled fashion.

The championship leader passed Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough at Turn 2 on the opening lap and managed two Safety Car restarts before pulling clear in the second half of the race. Rodin Motorsport’s Martin Molnar finished second in front of his home crowd, while Xcel Motorsport’s Lucas Fluxa completed the podium.

Bedrin retakes lead after Fairclough launch

Bedrin started from pole after setting the quickest GB3 lap ever seen at the Hungaroring in Qualifying 2. However, Fairclough made another excellent start from second on the grid and drew alongside into Turn 1.

As he had done in Race 1, Fairclough chose the inside line. Bedrin locked up as the pair fought for position, but the VRD Racing driver quickly recovered and reclaimed the lead around the outside at Turn 2.

Behind them, the race immediately came under Safety Car conditions after contact between Rowan Campbell-Pilling and Peter Bouzinelos left both cars stranded at the apex of Turn 1.

Fairclough retires as Safety Car interrupts opening phase

While the field slowed for the Turn 1 incident, Fairclough hit trouble of his own and stopped on the approach to the penultimate corner. That removed the Race 1 winner from the contest only seconds after he had challenged for the lead.

With cars stopped in two separate places, the Safety Car remained out for several minutes. Racing briefly resumed, but officials neutralised the race again almost immediately due to an issue with the circuit’s LED flag system.

When the race restarted properly with 14 minutes remaining, Bedrin controlled the field from the front. Crucially, the battle behind him gave him room to build an advantage.

Rehm attack ends in retirement

Molnar initially held second, but his Rodin Motorsport teammate Maxim Rehm soon placed him under pressure. Rehm had already climbed from fifth to third and looked set for another strong recovery drive after finishing on the podium in Race 1.

With eight minutes remaining, Rehm attacked Molnar into Turn 1 and moved into second. However, his race unravelled soon after, as he lost ground midway through the lap and dropped back behind Molnar and Fluxa.

Moments later, Rehm stopped, ending a promising race and removing one of Bedrin’s closest championship rivals from the points.

Molnar and Fluxa complete podium

Rehm’s retirement promoted Molnar back into second and moved Fluxa into third. Bedrin then continued to extend his lead and crossed the line 2.042s clear, strengthening his championship advantage with another composed win.

Molnar received a strong reaction from the home crowd as he secured his fourth podium of the season. Meanwhile, Fluxa’s third place gave the Xcel Motorsport driver his second podium of the campaign and further consolidated his position near the front of the standings.

Abbi Pulling recovered well from her Race 1 crash to finish fourth for Rodin Motorsport, while Elite Motorsport’s Kyuho Lee followed his sixth place from Saturday with fifth in Race 2.

Dante Vinci claimed his best result of the season in sixth for Hillspeed, ahead of VRD Racing’s Patricio Gonzalez, who charged from 16th to seventh. Aurelia Nobels also secured a GB3-best result in eighth, while Flynn Jackes finished ninth.

Rodrigo Gonzalez crossed the line ninth on the road, but a one-place penalty for overtaking while the Safety Car panels were still lit dropped him to 10th in the final classification.

Race 3, featuring the top-12 reverse grid, is scheduled to start at 18:10 local time.