2026 | GB3 | Brands Hatch | Test | Friday | Fairclough leads tight Indy running

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Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough topped Friday’s 2026 GB3 pre-event testing on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, edging championship leader Nikita Bedrin by just 0.016s ahead of the penultimate round of the season.

Fairclough set the day’s benchmark of 41.287s during the opening 25-minute session and remained unbeaten despite three further tests. Bedrin finished second overall for VRD Racing, while Rodin Motorsport’s Abbi Pulling completed the top three, with the leading seven drivers separated by less than two tenths.

The result continued Fairclough’s strong recent form after he won both conventional-grid races at Donington Park and topped all six pre-event test sessions there. The Hitech driver enters Brands Hatch fourth in the championship after taking four victories across the previous two rounds.

Fairclough narrowly beats Bedrin in opening session

The quickest conditions arrived immediately, with most of the leading drivers setting their best times during Session 1.

Fairclough produced the 41.287s that ultimately topped the Friday combined classification, but Bedrin finished only 0.016s behind on a 41.303s. Pulling followed with a 41.387s, leaving her exactly one tenth away from the benchmark.

Rowan Campbell-Pilling continued Xcel Motorsport’s competitive Brands Hatch form in fourth, only 0.019s behind Pulling, while VRD Racing’s Patricio Gonzalez completed the top five another eight thousandths further back.

Hillspeed’s Dante Vinci placed sixth and Flynn Jackes followed for Elite Motorsport, leaving the top seven covered by just 0.182s. The margins were considerably tighter than during the recent Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit test, where Pulling set the fastest-ever GB3 lap around the full layout and led Bedrin by 0.028s.

Bedrin responds in Session 2

Bedrin moved to the top when running resumed for Session 2, setting a 41.376s to become the only driver other than Fairclough and Campbell-Pilling to lead one of Friday’s four tests.

Campbell-Pilling was second with a 41.505s, 0.129s behind the championship leader, while teammate Lucas Fluxá followed in third on a 41.588s. Pulling and Fairclough completed the top five, although neither improved on their opening-session times.

The session provided another encouraging showing for Bedrin before a weekend where he has his first opportunity to secure the championship. The VRD Racing driver enters Brands Hatch 79 points ahead of Martin Molnar, with the championship potentially able to be settled during the penultimate round.

Molnar ended Session 2 sixth-fastest on a 41.683s, while the closely matched order behind again demonstrated the depth of the field before Saturday’s move onto the Grand Prix circuit.

Fairclough returns to the front in Session 3

Fairclough reclaimed first place during the third session and came closest to improving on his overall benchmark.

The Hitech driver recorded a 41.349s, only 0.062s slower than his morning best, while returning teammate Kanato Le produced his strongest session of the day in second. Le’s 41.594s left him 0.245s behind Fairclough as he continued preparations for his GB3 return with Hitech at Brands Hatch.

Pulling took third on a 41.632s, while Rodin teammates Maxim Rehm and Molnar both recorded 41.759s laps to complete the top five. Despite Fairclough again leading, the slower conditions meant the combined order remained largely shaped by Session 1.

Campbell-Pilling tops final test

Campbell-Pilling ended Friday on top by leading the fourth and final session for Xcel Motorsport.

His 41.509s put him only 0.005s ahead of teammate Fluxá, whose 41.514s represented the only top-10 combined time not set during Session 1. The improvement lifted Fluxá to eighth overall for the day.

Le finished third in the session on a 41.677s, with Aurelia Nobels only 0.008s behind for Hillspeed. Her improvement to 41.685s moved her to 12th in the combined classification, immediately behind Molnar.

Jackes completed the final-session top five, while neither Fairclough nor Bedrin completed a representative lap. Their absence from the fight for the final benchmark ensured Fairclough’s morning effort remained unbeaten.

Tight margins behind Fairclough

Although Fairclough finished fastest, the combined classification showed considerably smaller margins than he enjoyed during his dominant Donington test.

At Donington, the Hitech driver ended Friday 0.424s clear of Rehm after completing a six-session testing sweep. At Brands Hatch, the same margin would have covered the leading 13 drivers.

Only 0.127s separated Fairclough from Gonzalez in fifth, while Vinci and Jackes remained within 0.182s. Fluxá, Le and Rehm completed the top 10, with Rehm only 0.386s from first.

Molnar narrowly missed the top 10 in 11th, just 0.003s behind his Rodin teammate. Nobels, Peter Bouzinelos and Rodrigo Gonzalez followed, while Kyuho Lee and Edu Robinson placed 15th and 16th for Elite Motorsport.

Ricardo Baptista and Yuhao Fu were next ahead of Arden Motorsport’s Leon Wilson. VRD Racing testing driver Nadeem Rustombi finished 20th, while Aditya Kulkarni completed the order as AKCEL GP prepares for its first GB3 race weekend.

Attention switches to Grand Prix circuit

Friday’s four sessions took place on the 1.208-mile Indy configuration, meaning the competitive weekend brings a significant change as GB3 switches to the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

The field already has recent experience of the longer layout after testing there earlier in September. Pulling topped that day with a record-breaking 1m16.593s, with Bedrin second and Molnar third as the leading three finished within 0.080s.

Saturday begins with a short Free Practice session at 09:00 before Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2 from 11:00. Race 1 follows at 15:05, beginning a weekend in which Bedrin could potentially secure the 2026 championship before the field travels to Barcelona for November’s finale.