Nikita Bedrin credited his consistency after securing his fifth pole position of the GB3 Championship season at the Red Bull Ring.
The championship leader dominated Qualifying 2 with a 1m24.345s, beating Rodin Motorsport’s Martin Molnar by 0.320s. The result extended Bedrin’s perfect run in the Race 2 grid-setting sessions to four consecutive poles.
However, the VRD Racing driver felt that he missed another opportunity during Qualifying 1. Bedrin finished third behind Molnar and Maxim Rehm, giving him a second-row starting position for Saturday afternoon’s opening race.
Bedrin credits consistency for Q2 pole streak
The VRD Racing driver has established himself as the driver to beat during Qualifying 2 this season.
The Italian delivered another decisive lap at the Red Bull Ring, setting the quickest time recorded across the event’s testing and Qualifying sessions. His advantage of more than three tenths also represented a considerable margin in a field that testing had separated by less than one second.
Bedrin believes his ability to combine each part of the lap has allowed him to maintain his impressive Qualifying 2 record.
“I’m just putting everything together,” said Bedrin. “I’m doing really good laps every weekend so far in Q2.”
His latest result secured pole for Sunday morning’s second race. Molnar will start alongside him, while Lucas Fluxá and Rowan Campbell-Pilling will occupy the second row.
Bedrin’s pole also gave him another opportunity to extend his championship advantage. Nevertheless, he first needed to tackle Race 1 from third after falling short of his own expectations during the opening Qualifying session.
Bedrin admits he missed another pole opportunity
Molnar led a Rodin Motorsport one-two during Qualifying 1, beating Rehm by only 0.067s. Bedrin followed another 0.045s behind and ended the session 0.112s away from pole.
Although third still placed him close to the front, Bedrin believed he had enough pace to challenge both Rodin drivers. He instead accepted responsibility for failing to maximise the session.
“I could have had another pole,” he admitted to GB3. “P3 is still okay to start with [but I] wanted a bit more in Q1, especially from myself as I think I could have delivered it a bit better.”
Bedrin had already shown strong pace throughout pre-event testing. He topped three of the six sessions and led Friday’s combined classification with a 1m24.525s.
Therefore, the championship leader entered Qualifying as one of the leading candidates for both pole positions. His third place in Qualifying 1 remained competitive, but it did not reflect the full performance that he felt the car offered.
Track-limits discussion shapes cautious Q1 approach
Bedrin traced his Qualifying 1 deficit to a cautious approach around the circuit’s track limits.
The Red Bull Ring features several corners where drivers can gain time by using the full width of the circuit. However, exceeding the permitted boundaries can result in a deleted lap and leave a driver without a representative time.
Following a detailed discussion during the drivers’ briefing, Bedrin chose to leave a greater margin during the first session. He then changed his approach for Qualifying 2 and attacked more aggressively.
“I was just a bit cautious on track limits,” explained Bedrin. “There was a big conversation in the [driver] briefing about what should be what, so I played it a bit too safe there, but I decided to go for it in Q2 and delivered it.”
That decision produced an immediate result. Bedrin found almost three tenths between the two sessions and finished Qualifying 2 more than half a second ahead of Rehm, his closest championship rival.
His lap also demonstrated the importance of confidence around the short Austrian circuit. With small gaps separating much of the field, drivers needed to use every available section of track without crossing the limits.
Red Bull Ring layout gives Bedrin confidence for Race 1
Despite missing pole in Qualifying 1, Bedrin approached Saturday afternoon’s race with confidence.
The Red Bull Ring offers several opportunities for drivers to use the slipstream and attack under braking. Its long straights lead into Turns 1, 3 and 4, while the short lap can keep the leading group closely matched.
Starting third also placed Bedrin directly behind the Rodin front-row pairing. He expected Molnar and Rehm to defend their positions while also fighting each other, potentially creating an opportunity for him to advance.
“The track is still pretty good to overtake, and we can fight from third,” he said. “You can race almost every straight which is very good. The pace seems to be there so hopefully we can make some progress up.”
Bedrin’s testing and Qualifying pace supported that optimism. Although he could not match Molnar in the first session, his commanding Qualifying 2 lap confirmed that VRD Racing had given him a competitive package for the weekend.
