Deagen Fairclough described securing a double pole position at his home circuit as a “phenomenal feeling” after continuing his remarkable late-season resurgence at Brands Hatch.
The Hitech driver controlled both Qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, taking pole with a 1m16.451s in the opening session before finding another significant improvement in Qualifying 2. His 1m16.090s secured another pole and established a new GB3 Qualifying record around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
The double continued the 20-year-old’s transformation after a challenging start to his maiden GB3 campaign. Fairclough has now secured five of the last six pole positions available and entered the Brands Hatch weekend having won four of the previous six races, a run that has carried him firmly into the leading group in the Drivers’ Championship.
Fairclough pleased with recent GB3 turnaround
Fairclough’s recent results contrast sharply with the opening stages of his season, when strong underlying pace did not always translate into the results he expected.
However, the Hitech driver has increasingly put the pieces together as the campaign has progressed. His Qualifying performances have become particularly impressive, and his Brands Hatch double pole extended a run in which he has claimed five poles from six opportunities.
Fairclough also demonstrated his pace throughout the Brands Hatch weekend before Qualifying. He topped Friday Testing on the shorter Indy circuit before leading Saturday morning Practice on the Grand Prix layout, where he established a new overall GB3 circuit benchmark.
His next challenge comes in converting another strong Qualifying performance into points across the weekend’s three races, before carrying his improved form into the season finale at Barcelona.
“It’s going well so far and I’m just hoping we can carry this into the races now and then obviously into Barcelona. There’s a massive wait until Barcelona, but it’s been going well so far and I’m really pleased.”
The recent turnaround has pushed Fairclough into fourth in the standings after he entered Brands Hatch with four victories from the previous six races. Although championship leader Nikita Bedrin retains a substantial advantage at the top, Fairclough’s recent form has demonstrated the progress Hitech and its driver have made through the second half of the campaign.
Home double pole brings added significance
Fairclough’s latest Qualifying success also carried additional significance because of where he achieved it.
The 20-year-old is one of four British drivers competing on the 2026 GB3 grid, and Brands Hatch serves as his local circuit. Its combination of elevation changes and high-commitment corners has also made it one of his favourite venues on the calendar.
Fairclough highlighted both the atmosphere around the circuit and the rhythm of its Grand Prix layout when reflecting on what made his latest poles particularly satisfying.
“With Brands Hatch being my local circuit, this is just a phenomenal feeling. The atmosphere for one and then the flow state you reach, especially in the back section.
“I’m confident, but the good position for pole position is a bit of a pain because it’s on an incline compared to P2, where you’re at the top of the hill and can get a bit of a better start, there’s a historic trend there.
“But hopefully we can keep our race starts as well as they have been so far this year. A lot of people say Brands is the Monaco of GB3 so we’ll see how it goes!”
That challenge adds an unusual complication to Fairclough’s reward for securing pole. The Brands Hatch starting grid sits on an incline, and Fairclough believes the second-place grid slot can offer an advantage at the launch because it sits closer to the crest.
Fairclough wary of Brands Hatch starting challenge
Fairclough will therefore need to execute his start despite having dominated the fight for pole.
Rowan Campbell-Pilling qualified second in both sessions and initially earned the opportunity to start alongside Fairclough in Race 1. However, a three-place grid penalty carried over from Donington Park drops the Xcel Motorsport driver to fifth for the opener, promoting Maxim Rehm onto the front row.
Championship leader Bedrin will start third, while Fairclough’s Hitech teammate Kanato Le moves into fourth. Campbell-Pilling will then line up alongside Fairclough without a penalty for Race 2.
Fairclough can nevertheless draw confidence from his starts throughout the season. His ability to convert recent front-row positions into four victories across six races has played a major role in his climb through the standings, and maintaining that execution will become particularly important at Brands Hatch.
The circuit’s narrow Grand Prix layout can make overtaking difficult, placing additional importance on track position. Fairclough has already secured the strongest possible starting position for the weekend’s opening two races, but he knows the advantage will only matter if he converts it when the lights go out.
Five poles from six underline Fairclough’s progress
Whatever follows in the races, Fairclough’s latest Qualifying performance provides another clear measure of his improvement during the second half of 2026.
His record-breaking pace during Saturday Practice established him as the driver to beat before Qualifying. He then delivered when the grids were decided, topping both sessions and lowering the Qualifying benchmark to 1m16.090s.
Five poles from the past six sessions now underline the outright speed behind his resurgence. After a difficult beginning to the campaign, Fairclough has increasingly converted that pace into victories and moved towards the front of the championship order.
Brands Hatch gives him another opportunity to continue that progression. With two pole positions at his home circuit and Barcelona still to come, Fairclough wants to ensure his impressive late-season Qualifying form translates into an equally strong conclusion to his 2026 campaign.
