Deagen Fairclough converted his record-breaking Qualifying pace into victory in the opening GB3 race at Brands Hatch, controlling the contest from pole to continue his remarkable second-half resurgence.
The Hitech driver resisted Maxim Rehm at the start before establishing control at the front, eventually taking the chequered flag 3.298s clear of the Rodin Motorsport driver. Championship leader Nikita Bedrin completed the podium for VRD Racing, while title rival Martin Molnar finished seventh.
Fairclough’s victory continued a weekend in which he has remained the driver to beat. After leading Friday Testing, setting the pace in Practice and then claiming a record-breaking double pole, the Briton completed the next stage by converting his first starting advantage into victory.
Fairclough holds Rehm at the start
Fairclough started from pole after setting a 1m16.451s during the opening Qualifying session. Rowan Campbell-Pilling had qualified alongside him but carried a three-place grid penalty from Donington Park, promoting Rehm onto the front row.
That left Fairclough facing one of the most difficult aspects of starting from pole at Brands Hatch. After Qualifying, the Hitech driver highlighted the incline beneath the pole-position grid slot and suggested second place could potentially offer a stronger launch.
Rehm therefore represented an immediate threat when the lights went out, but Fairclough made the start he needed and retained the lead into Paddock Hill Bend.
Bedrin also held third, while Kanato Le occupied fourth after Campbell-Pilling’s penalty dropped the Xcel Motorsport driver into the middle of the leading group.
Fairclough quickly began working to escape Rehm’s reach. The Hitech driver established enough breathing room to prevent the Rodin Motorsport driver from mounting an immediate challenge, allowing him to settle into the rhythm that had already produced the fastest times throughout Saturday.
Fairclough controls the lead
Once Fairclough established himself at the front, Rehm could not get close enough to make a serious move.
The Briton gradually extended his advantage as the race developed, putting together the consistent pace that had underpinned his five poles from the previous six Qualifying sessions.
His advantage ultimately reached more than three seconds before the chequered flag, giving Fairclough another victory during an exceptional run of late-season form.
The result marked his fifth victory across the past seven races and strengthened a recovery that has transformed his campaign after a difficult opening phase. Fairclough entered Brands Hatch fourth in the Drivers’ Championship after four victories across the previous two rounds, and his latest success continued to reduce the deficit to the drivers ahead.
Rehm had no answer to Fairclough’s pace but maintained a secure second position. The Rodin Motorsport driver finished 3.298s behind the winner while keeping Bedrin at bay throughout the contest.
Bedrin strengthens championship position with podium
Bedrin’s third-place finish carried considerable significance for the championship.
The VRD Racing driver entered Brands Hatch with a 79-point advantage over Molnar and his first opportunity to secure the Drivers’ Championship before the Barcelona finale.
Qualifying had already placed Bedrin in a favourable position relative to his closest challenger. He started third after Campbell-Pilling’s penalty, while Molnar lined up seventh following a more difficult opening Qualifying session.
Bedrin converted that starting position into another podium. Although he could not challenge Rehm for second, the championship leader remained comfortably inside the top three and collected another strong points haul.
Molnar, meanwhile, could not make the progress he needed from seventh. The Rodin Motorsport driver crossed the line in the same position, meaning Bedrin increased his advantage over his closest championship rival.
With two races still remaining at Brands Hatch, Bedrin moved another step towards putting the championship beyond Molnar’s reach before the final round.
Le takes fourth ahead of Campbell-Pilling
Behind the podium, Le completed a strong result for Hitech with fourth.
The Japanese driver had returned to GB3 for the Brands Hatch weekend and immediately demonstrated competitive pace, taking sixth in Practice before qualifying fifth. Campbell-Pilling’s penalty elevated him to fourth on the Race 1 grid, and he retained the position through the contest.
Campbell-Pilling followed in fifth after starting from the same position. The Xcel Motorsport driver had demonstrated enough pace to qualify second, but his carried-over penalty left him with considerably more work to do once the race began.
With Brands Hatch offering limited straightforward overtaking opportunities, Campbell-Pilling could not reproduce the track position his Qualifying pace would ordinarily have earned.
Abbi Pulling took sixth for Rodin Motorsport, finishing ahead of teammate Molnar. Her result gave Rodin three cars inside the top seven through Rehm, Pulling and Molnar.
The team nevertheless could not challenge Fairclough at the front, with the Hitech driver maintaining the advantage he had demonstrated throughout the weekend.
Molnar unable to recover ground
Molnar’s seventh place proved particularly costly because of Bedrin’s podium.
The Hungarian arrived at Brands Hatch as Bedrin’s closest mathematical championship challenger after reducing the deficit during the previous round at Donington Park. However, his title prospects depended on continuing to take points out of the VRD Racing driver.
Race 1 instead moved the championship in the opposite direction.
Molnar remained behind Pulling and could not make sufficient progress towards Bedrin, leaving the championship leader with an even greater cushion heading into Sunday.
Bedrin will also start ahead of Molnar in Race 2. The VRD Racing driver secured third in the second Qualifying session, while Molnar qualified sixth, leaving Pulling and Rehm between the two title contenders on the grid.
That gives Bedrin another opportunity to extend his advantage before the reverse-grid finale concludes the Brands Hatch weekend.
Gonzalez and Vinci complete top 10
Patricio Gonzalez took eighth for VRD Racing, giving the team two cars inside the top eight alongside Bedrin.
Dante Vinci followed in ninth for Hillspeed, while Lucas Fluxá completed the top 10 for Xcel Motorsport.
Fluxá entered Brands Hatch third in the championship and only eight points behind Molnar, but his Race 1 result limited his opportunity to make significant ground on Bedrin. His 10th place nevertheless kept him inside the points as the championship moved towards its final five races.
Behind Fluxá, the remainder of the field fought for position around a circuit where the narrow Grand Prix layout places a premium on Qualifying and track position.
Fairclough had already maximised both aspects before Race 1. After controlling Practice and Qualifying, he completed the job in the race to continue an increasingly impressive conclusion to his 2026 campaign.
2026 GB3 Brands Hatch Race 1 results
- Deagen Fairclough — Hitech
- Maxim Rehm — Rodin Motorsport — +3.298s
- Nikita Bedrin — VRD Racing
- Kanato Le — Hitech
- Rowan Campbell-Pilling — Xcel Motorsport
- Abbi Pulling — Rodin Motorsport
- Martin Molnar — Rodin Motorsport
- Patricio Gonzalez — VRD Racing
- Dante Vinci — Hillspeed
- Lucas Fluxá — Xcel Motorsport
- Yuhao Fu — Hitech
- Peter Bouzinelos — Hillspeed
- Rodrigo Gonzalez — VRD Racing
- Aurelia Nobels — Hillspeed
- Kyuho Lee — Elite Motorsport
- Leon Wilson — Arden Motorsport
- Edu Robinson — Elite Motorsport
- Flynn Jackes — Elite Motorsport
- Ricardo Baptista — Xcel Motorsport
- Aditya Kulkarni — AKCEL GP
Fairclough’s victory completed an almost perfect Saturday to this point. He arrived at Brands Hatch carrying some of the strongest form on the grid, then led Practice, secured both pole positions and converted the first into his fifth victory across seven races.
The Hitech driver has another opportunity to extend that run from pole in Race 2, when Campbell-Pilling will start alongside him without the grid penalty that compromised his opening race.
Behind them, the championship remains the central focus. Bedrin starts third with Molnar sixth, giving the VRD Racing driver another opportunity to strengthen the advantage that placed the title within reach at Brands Hatch.
