Josh McLean claimed his fourth GB4 victory of the 2026 season after controlling the reverse-grid Race 3 at Donington Park from pole position.
The Pace Performance driver retained the lead at the start before an opening-lap incident brought out the Safety Car. Conor Grant surged from fourth to second behind him, while John O’Donnell gave Pace Performance two cars on the podium after finishing third. A second Safety Car ultimately brought the race to a premature conclusion after nine laps, leaving McLean 2.083s clear of Grant.
Behind the podium, Dayton Coulthard finished fourth ahead of Connor Willis, while Race 2 winner Yani Stevenheydens charged from 12th to sixth and recorded the fastest lap. Championship contenders Fred Green and Alex O’Grady completed the top 10, with O’Grady leaving Donington with a 49-point championship advantage ahead of the Brands Hatch finale.
McLean leads as Grant launches into second
The top-12 reversal of the fastest Qualifying times placed McLean on pole alongside Pace Performance teammate O’Donnell. Willis started third for Hillspeed, with Douglas Motorsport’s Grant completing the second row. Franciszek Cegielski and Coulthard shared Row 3, while Byrne, Thomas Ingram Hill, Enzo Hallman, O’Grady, Green and Stevenheydens completed the reversed section of the grid.
McLean made the start he needed and retained first place, but Grant produced the biggest move among the leaders. The Douglas Motorsport rookie launched from fourth into second during the opening lap, immediately placing himself between the two Pace Performance cars and giving McLean a different challenger than he had expected from the front row.
However, the field barely had time to settle before officials neutralised the race. Archie Bullard’s Fox Motorsport car began dropping fluid during the opening lap and eventually stopped at Coppice, prompting the first Safety Car. McLean therefore led Grant and O’Donnell into the interruption, while Willis and Coulthard occupied fourth and fifth.
Stevenheydens charges through after restart
Officials withdrew the Safety Car at the end of Lap 4, leaving approximately nine and a half minutes of racing. McLean controlled the restart and kept Grant behind, while the leading seven initially maintained their positions as the race returned to green.
Further back, Stevenheydens began making rapid progress after starting 12th following the reverse-grid procedure. The Elite Motorsport driver had dominated Qualifying and started both of the weekend’s opening races from pole, but the reversed order placed him on the sixth row for the finale. He soon moved forward, passing Ingram Hill and Cegielski on successive laps as he worked his way towards the leading group.
Stevenheydens eventually reached sixth and also demonstrated his outright pace with the fastest lap of the race. His 1m31.258s effort on Lap 5 proved 0.158s quicker than McLean’s best and completed an impressive GB4 debut weekend that had already included two poles, a podium and a victory.
Second Safety Car ends Byrne and Iskander races
The green-flag period again proved brief. Jasser Iskander collided with fellow Saudi Arabian driver Faris Organji on the start-finish straight and spun into retirement, forcing officials to deploy the Safety Car for the second time on Lap 6. At almost the same moment, Byrne dropped out of sixth position on the approach to McLeans, ending Pace Performance’s hopes of placing three cars among the leading group.
Organji managed to continue for another lap but also failed to reach the finish, joining Byrne, Iskander and Bullard on the retirement list. With little time remaining on the 20-minute race clock, officials could not clear the incidents quickly enough to produce another restart.
The field therefore remained behind the Safety Car through the final laps, denying Grant and O’Donnell an opportunity to attack McLean and freezing the battle throughout the top 10.
McLean converts pole into fourth victory
McLean completed nine laps in 18m39.003s to claim another reverse-grid victory and his fourth GB4 win of the season. The result continued his particularly strong record in Race 3 contests after previous successes at Oulton Park and Snetterton.
Grant crossed the line 2.083s behind after gaining two positions from fourth, adding another strong result to Douglas Motorsport’s weekend. O’Donnell completed the podium only 0.550s further back, securing his maiden GB4 podium and giving Pace Performance first and third in the final race.
Coulthard gained two positions from sixth to finish fourth, continuing another productive weekend for Douglas Motorsport, while Willis slipped from third to fifth. Stevenheydens followed only 0.253s behind in sixth after gaining six positions from 12th and completing one of the strongest recovery drives among the front-runners.
Green beats O’Grady as title fight heads to Brands Hatch
Cegielski finished seventh ahead of Fortec Motorsport teammate Ingram Hill, while Green and O’Grady continued their championship battle immediately behind.
Green had started 11th and moved forward to ninth, finishing 0.604s ahead of O’Grady. The KMR Sport driver retained 10th after starting from the same position, limiting the amount of ground Green could recover during the lower-scoring reverse-grid contest.
Matan Achituv narrowly missed the top 10 in 11th, only 0.439s behind O’Grady, while Hallman dropped three places from ninth to 12th. Demitri Nolan followed in 13th ahead of Archie Davies, Michael Koh and Romuald Bocquet.
Jordyn Martin finished 17th, with Jamie Leverton, Lily-May Watkins and Solenn Amrouche completing the top 20. Enzo Rujugiro and Caitlyn McDaniel gained three and four positions respectively to finish 21st and 22nd, while Holly Miall and Yana Kapoor completed the classified runners.
O’Grady carries 49-point advantage into finale
Although Green finished ahead in Race 3, O’Grady leaves Donington Park with a 49-point championship advantage. With 102 points still available across the final three races at Brands Hatch, the title remains mathematically open.
Five drivers retain a mathematical chance of winning the championship when GB4 concludes its 2026 season at Brands Hatch on September 26-27. The Donington weekend therefore reduced O’Grady’s margin but stopped short of settling the title, leaving the final round to decide the championship.
2026 GB4 Donington Park Race 3 results — provisional
- Josh McLean — Pace Performance — 9 laps
- Conor Grant — Douglas Motorsport — +2.083s
- John O’Donnell — Pace Performance — +2.633s
- Dayton Coulthard — Douglas Motorsport — +3.866s
- Connor Willis — Hillspeed — +4.981s
- Yani Stevenheydens — Elite Motorsport — +5.234s
- Franciszek Cegielski — Fortec Motorsports — +6.360s
- Thomas Ingram Hill — Fortec Motorsports — +6.835s
- Fred Green — Elite Motorsport — +8.553s
- Alex O’Grady — KMR Sport — +9.157s
- Matan Achituv — Elite Motorsport — +9.596s
- Enzo Hallman — Hillspeed — +11.318s
- Demitri Nolan — Hillspeed — +12.469s
- Archie Davies — Scorpio Motorsport — +13.497s
- Michael Koh — Arden Motorsport — +14.262s
- Romuald Bocquet — Scorpio Motorsport — +15.339s
- Jordyn Martin — Fortec Motorsports — +15.964s
- Jamie Leverton — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +17.322s
- Lily-May Watkins — KMR Sport — +17.956s
- Solenn Amrouche — Arden Motorsport — +18.388s
- Enzo Rujugiro — Fox Motorsport — +19.749s
- Caitlyn McDaniel — Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing — +20.482s
- Holly Miall — KMR Sport — +21.229s
- Yana Kapoor — Arden Motorsport — +22.953s
DNF: Faris Organji — Scorpio Motorsport — 6 laps
DNF: Torrin Byrne — Pace Performance — 5 laps
DNF: Jasser Iskander — Fox Motorsport — 5 laps
DNF: Archie Bullard — Fox Motorsport — 0 laps
Fastest lap: Yani Stevenheydens — Elite Motorsport — 1m31.258s on Lap 5.
GB4 now heads to Brands Hatch for the season finale on September 26-27, with O’Grady holding the advantage but Green and four other drivers still mathematically capable of challenging for the championship.
