Deagen Fairclough continued his dominant GB3 weekend at Brands Hatch with another commanding victory in Race 2, taking his seventh win of the 2026 season and completing a double across the two conventional-grid races.
The Hitech driver controlled the race despite an opening-lap Safety Car and eventually finished 7.432s clear of Xcel Motorsport’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling. Championship leader Nikita Bedrin completed the podium for VRD Racing, while title rival Martin Molnar climbed to fourth.
Fairclough’s victory followed his dominant Race 1 performance, when he converted pole into victory. He again proved untouchable on Sunday morning, with neither the Safety Car nor Campbell-Pilling able to prevent him from completing a perfect record across the opening two races of the Brands Hatch weekend.
Fairclough leads as Nobels triggers early Safety Car
Fairclough started from pole after setting a record-breaking 1m16.090s during Saturday’s second Qualifying session. Campbell-Pilling joined him on the front row, while Bedrin started third ahead of Abbi Pulling.
The start represented one of Campbell-Pilling’s best opportunities to challenge Fairclough, particularly after the pole-sitter had acknowledged the less favourable position of the pole slot on the Brands Hatch grid. However, Fairclough made the start he needed and retained the lead, with Campbell-Pilling settling into second ahead of Bedrin.
The race quickly came under Safety Car conditions after Aurelia Nobels crashed on the opening lap. The Hillspeed driver lost control exiting Surtees and could not continue, bringing out the Safety Car before the field had an opportunity to settle into a rhythm.
Fairclough therefore lost any opportunity to immediately build an advantage at the front. Instead, the Safety Car brought Campbell-Pilling and Bedrin directly back onto the Hitech driver’s rear wing and created another start for the leader to manage.
Fairclough controls restart and escapes
Once racing resumed, Fairclough quickly demonstrated that the Safety Car had merely delayed his progress.
The 20-year-old controlled the restart and immediately began opening a gap over Campbell-Pilling. The Xcel Motorsport driver remained second but could not match the pace at the front, allowing Fairclough to progressively escape.
Fairclough’s advantage continued to grow as the race developed. His 1m17.057s on Lap 9 ultimately stood as the fastest lap of the race, with the Hitech driver averaging 113.68mph around the 2.4332-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
Campbell-Pilling’s best effort on the same lap stood at 1m17.503s, almost half a second slower than Fairclough’s benchmark. The difference allowed the leader to build his advantage without placing the car under unnecessary pressure.
After 17 laps, Fairclough crossed the line in 25m44.984s and 7.432s ahead of Campbell-Pilling. Bedrin followed 14.707s behind the winner in third.
The result gave Fairclough his seventh victory of the season and his second of the Brands Hatch weekend. After a difficult opening portion of the campaign, his recent run has increasingly established him as one of the championship’s strongest performers.
Campbell-Pilling secures second as Bedrin protects championship lead
Campbell-Pilling could not challenge Fairclough for victory, but the Xcel Motorsport driver comfortably secured second.
After starting alongside Fairclough, Campbell-Pilling retained the position through the opening stages and the Safety Car restart. Fairclough gradually moved beyond his reach, but Campbell-Pilling simultaneously established a significant advantage over Bedrin.
He eventually crossed the line 7.275s ahead of the championship leader, securing his first podium of the Brands Hatch weekend.
Bedrin, meanwhile, approached the race with considerably different priorities. The VRD Racing driver entered Brands Hatch holding a sizeable championship advantage and added another third-place finish after also completing the Race 1 podium.
The Italian remained ahead of his closest championship rivals for much of Race 2, although Molnar’s progress through the field brought the Hungarian to within 0.902s by the chequered flag. Bedrin nevertheless held third and collected another valuable points haul as the championship moved closer to its final round in Barcelona.
Molnar fights through to fourth
Molnar produced one of the strongest drives immediately behind the podium after starting sixth for Rodin Motorsport.
The championship contender made progress after the Safety Car restart and worked his way forward into fourth. Once there, Molnar began closing on Bedrin and gradually reduced the gap to the championship leader.
The pair ultimately crossed the line separated by less than a second, with Molnar finishing 15.609s behind Fairclough and only 0.902s behind Bedrin.
The fourth-place result represented an important recovery after Molnar finished seventh in Race 1. However, Bedrin’s podium prevented him from making the substantial championship gain he needed ahead of the final Brands Hatch race.
Maxim Rehm followed his Rodin Motorsport teammate home in fifth. After finishing second in Race 1, the German added another top-five result, crossing the line 3.103s behind Molnar.
Dante Vinci completed the top six for Hillspeed, finishing just 0.431s behind Rehm after another closely contested race.
Fluxá remains in championship contention
Lucas Fluxá finished seventh for Xcel Motorsport as he attempted to keep his championship challenge alive heading into the final race of the weekend.
The Spaniard started eighth and gained one position, eventually finishing 22.151s behind Fairclough. Bedrin’s third-place finish, however, continued to strengthen the championship leader’s position before the final round in Barcelona.
Patricio Gonzalez followed in eighth, but the VRD Racing driver spent much of the race under considerable pressure from a tightly packed group behind.
While the leading seven became increasingly spread out, the fight from Gonzalez backwards developed into one of the closest battles on the circuit. Eight cars eventually formed a tightly packed queue, leaving little room for error as they fought over the remaining top-10 positions.
Gonzalez resisted the pressure and held eighth, crossing the line 38.903s behind the winner.
Le and Lee make progress in top-10 battle
Kanato Le emerged near the front of the tightly packed midfield battle after starting 11th for Hitech.
The Japanese driver worked his way forward to ninth and eventually finished only 0.774s behind Gonzalez. His progress earned him two positions from his starting spot and another top-10 finish.
Kyuho Lee produced an even larger recovery for Elite Motorsport. Starting 16th, he climbed six places to complete the top 10 and crossed the line only 0.276s behind Le.
Yuhao Fu followed in 11th, just 0.391s behind Lee, while Peter Bouzinelos took 12th for Hillspeed.
Flynn Jackes matched Lee’s six-place gain by recovering from 19th to 13th for Elite Motorsport. Rodrigo Gonzalez followed in 14th, with Leon Wilson, Ricardo Baptista and Edu Robinson completing the closely matched group through to 17th.
Only 3.857s separated Patricio Gonzalez in eighth from Robinson in 17th at the chequered flag, highlighting how closely contested the midfield remained even as Fairclough controlled proceedings at the front.
Pulling retires after starting fourth
Abbi Pulling endured a difficult Race 2 after starting fourth for Rodin Motorsport.
The British driver had qualified directly behind Bedrin and appeared positioned to fight near the front, but she failed to reach the finish. Pulling completed eight laps before retiring, recording a best lap of 1m18.322s.
Her retirement made her one of only two drivers not to reach the chequered flag, alongside Nobels following the Hillspeed driver’s opening-lap accident.
Aditya Kulkarni completed the classified finishers in 18th for AKCEL GP. He crossed the line 55.212s behind Fairclough after starting 20th, with a 10-second penalty for a false start contributing to his final deficit.
Fairclough completes dominant Brands Hatch double
Fairclough’s second victory completed an emphatic opening two races at his home circuit.
The Hitech driver claimed a double pole on Saturday before converting the first into victory in Race 1. Although the early Safety Car prevented him from immediately escaping in Race 2, his pace after the restart again left the rest of the field unable to respond.
His 7.432s advantage over Campbell-Pilling gave him a second comfortable victory of the weekend and his seventh of the season. Fairclough’s continued run of victories has further underlined the turnaround that followed a difficult start to his 2026 campaign.
Bedrin, meanwhile, continued to approach Brands Hatch from a championship perspective. Consecutive third-place finishes have allowed the VRD Racing driver to keep adding points while his closest rivals attempt to reduce his advantage.
The final contest of the weekend introduces a very different challenge. GB3’s reverse-grid Race 3 places the leading Qualifiers deeper into the field and creates another opportunity for the championship picture to change before the series heads to Barcelona for its final round.
For Fairclough, however, the first two Brands Hatch races could hardly have gone better. Two poles have become two victories, and another commanding performance reinforced his position as the driver to beat at his home circuit.
2026 GB3 Brands Hatch Race 2 results
- Deagen Fairclough — Hitech — 17 laps — 25m44.984s
- Rowan Campbell-Pilling — Xcel Motorsport — +7.432s
- Nikita Bedrin — VRD Racing — +14.707s
- Martin Molnar — Rodin Motorsport — +15.609s
- Maxim Rehm — Rodin Motorsport — +18.712s
- Dante Vinci — Hillspeed — +19.143s
- Lucas Fluxá — Xcel Motorsport — +22.151s
- Patricio Gonzalez — VRD Racing — +38.903s
- Kanato Le — Hitech — +39.677s
- Kyuho Lee — Elite Motorsport — +39.953s
- Yuhao Fu — Hitech — +40.344s
- Peter Bouzinelos — Hillspeed — +40.858s
- Flynn Jackes — Elite Motorsport — +41.306s
- Rodrigo Gonzalez — VRD Racing — +41.731s
- Leon Wilson — Arden Motorsport — +42.086s
- Ricardo Baptista — Xcel Motorsport — +42.600s
- Edu Robinson — Elite Motorsport — +42.760s
- Aditya Kulkarni — AKCEL GP — +55.212s*
DNF. Abbi Pulling — Rodin Motorsport — 8 laps
DNF. Aurelia Nobels — Hillspeed — 0 laps
Fastest lap: Deagen Fairclough — Hitech — 1m17.057s — Lap 9
Kulkarni received a 10-second time penalty for a false start.
