2026 | GB3 | Hungaroring | Race 3 | Jackes takes maiden win in eventful finale

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Elite Motorsport’s Flynn Jackes claimed his maiden GB3 Championship victory in 2026 in Race 3 at the Hungaroring, controlling the reverse-grid finale despite repeated Safety Car interruptions.

The pole-sitter held off early pressure from Hillspeed’s Dante Vinci before managing several restarts to take his first win on his 52nd GB3 start. Xcel Motorsport’s Lucas Fluxá finished second, while Rodin Motorsport’s Maxim Rehm snatched the final podium place on the last lap.

Jackes defends lead as first-lap drama strikes

Jackes made the start he needed from pole, but Vinci immediately placed him under pressure from the front row. The Elite Motorsport driver covered the inside into Turn 1 and kept the lead as the pack streamed through the opening corner.

However, the race quickly descended into chaos behind him. Deagen Fairclough’s difficult Sunday continued when the Hitech driver hit the rear of Rehm’s Rodin Motorsport car before ricocheting into Abbi Pulling.

Fairclough retired on the spot, while Pulling stopped moments later. Local favourite Martin Molnar also lost ground in the opening-lap drama. As a result, the Safety Car came out before Jackes could build an early advantage.

Fluxá climbs as Jackes nails restart

Racing resumed at the end of lap two, and Jackes handled the restart perfectly. He accelerated cleanly out of the final corner and immediately pulled several car lengths clear of Vinci.

Behind him, Fluxá continued his strong opening phase. The Xcel Motorsport driver had already climbed from seventh to third, and he then moved into second with a bold move around the outside of Vinci at Turn 1.

Although Fluxá moved into clean air, he could not match Jackes’ pace. The leader stretched his advantage to 3.5 seconds before another Safety Car erased his lead when team-mate Kyuho Lee crashed out of seventh at Turn 11 on lap six.

More Safety Car trouble disrupts the midfield

Jackes again judged the restart well with seven minutes remaining, while Fluxá could not stay close enough to launch an attack. Further back, Vinci came under heavy pressure and slipped from third to sixth as Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Rehm and championship leader Nikita Bedrin all found a way past.

Yet the race soon returned to Safety Car conditions. Peter Bouzinelos spun at Turn 1 after contact with Hillspeed team-mate Aurelia Nobels and remained stranded, forcing another neutralisation.

Nobels later received a three-place grid penalty for the next round at Silverstone, while Fairclough also picked up a three-place penalty for his opening-lap incident.

Jackes keeps control as Rehm grabs late podium

The Safety Car lights went out with just over a minute remaining, giving Jackes one final restart to manage. Rather than slowing the pack dramatically, he crossed the line at speed with only four seconds left on the clock.

That decision created one final racing lap, but Jackes again launched cleanly from the final corner. Fluxá stayed closer than he had at previous restarts, but he never got within range to challenge for the lead.

Jackes crossed the line 1.615s clear to secure an emotional maiden GB3 victory. Fluxá completed another strong race in second, while Campbell-Pilling lost third at Turn 1 on the final lap as Rehm charged through from eighth to take the final podium spot.

Campbell-Pilling still secured his best result of the season in fourth, ahead of Bedrin, who recovered from 12th to fifth to end a strong championship weekend. Vinci finished sixth ahead of Hitech debutant Jacob Micallef, while Molnar recovered to eighth in front of his home crowd.

Yuhao Fu and Ricardo Baptista completed the top 10.