Deagen Fairclough completed a perfect pair of conventional-grid races at Donington Park by taking his fifth victory of the 2026 GB3 season in Race 2, while championship leader Nikita Bedrin suffered his first retirement of the campaign.
After defeating Bedrin by only 0.317s following a prolonged fight in Race 1, Fairclough faced considerably less pressure on Sunday morning once his closest rival crashed out on the opening lap. The Hitech driver subsequently controlled two Safety Car restarts and completed 15 laps in 25m24.556s to extend an increasingly impressive run of form.
Leon Wilson converted a career-best fourth-place starting position into second for Arden Motorsport, while Martin Molnar completed the podium for Rodin Motorsport. Bedrin’s retirement simultaneously opened the door for his championship rivals to reduce his advantage, adding further significance to a race that Fairclough controlled from the front.
Fairclough leads as Wilson pressures Bedrin
Fairclough started Race 2 from pole after beating Bedrin by 0.069s during the second Qualifying session. Molnar occupied third, while Wilson lined up fourth after producing his strongest GB3 Qualifying result to date. Maxim Rehm had originally qualified fifth but served a three-place grid penalty for causing his Race 1 collision with Rodin Motorsport teammate Abbi Pulling.
Fairclough converted pole into the lead when the lights went out and immediately began opening a small advantage. Behind him, Wilson made the stronger start from the second row and moved past Molnar into third, placing himself directly behind Bedrin and ensuring the championship leader had to concentrate on defending rather than immediately attacking Fairclough.
That early battle gave the Hitech driver valuable breathing room at the front. Wilson remained close enough to challenge Bedrin while Molnar stayed within range of both drivers, creating a tightly packed group behind the leader as they approached the end of the opening lap.
Bedrin crashes at Fogarty Esses
Bedrin’s race then ended abruptly before he had another opportunity to challenge Fairclough. The VRD Racing driver lost control at the Fogarty Esses late on Lap 1 and hit the barriers, bringing his first retirement of the 2026 campaign and immediately changing the complexion of both the race and championship battle.
Until Donington, Bedrin had combined four victories with remarkable consistency, which allowed him to establish a substantial advantage at the top of the Drivers’ standings. His first non-score therefore offered Molnar, Lucas Fluxa and Fairclough an important opportunity to reduce the deficit during a weekend when the Hitech driver had already shown exceptional pace.
Race Control deployed the Safety Car to recover the damaged car, which erased Fairclough’s early advantage. Wilson inherited second ahead of Molnar, while Fluxa moved into fourth and Patricio Gonzalez ran fifth, leaving the race leader facing another start with the field compressed behind him.
Fairclough controls first Safety Car restart
The Safety Car returned to the pits with approximately 17 minutes remaining, giving Fairclough his first restart of the contest. He managed it cleanly and immediately re-established his advantage over Wilson, while Molnar remained close behind the Arden Motorsport driver and searched for a way into second.
Wilson now faced the kind of pressure Bedrin had applied to Fairclough throughout Saturday’s Race 1. However, he resisted Molnar’s challenge and prevented the Rodin driver from finding a clear route through, allowing Fairclough to steadily increase his margin while the battle for second remained unresolved.
Fluxa remained fourth for Xcel Motorsport and stayed close enough to capitalise on any mistake ahead. Behind him, Gonzalez held fifth while Rehm recovered from eighth on the grid following his penalty and moved into sixth, keeping the middle of the top 10 tightly contested.
Baptista and Taylor crash triggers second Safety Car
Fairclough continued to stretch his lead until a major incident on Lap 8 interrupted proceedings. Xcel Motorsport’s Ricardo Baptista and Fortec Motorsports’ Jack Taylor collided at Hollywood, leaving both cars out of contention and forcing Race Control to deploy the Safety Car for the second time.
The neutralisation again removed the margin Fairclough had carefully constructed and gave Wilson and Molnar another chance to challenge once racing resumed. Officials cleared the incident with around five minutes remaining, creating a short final sprint in which any mistake from the leader could have immediately reopened the fight for victory.
Fairclough nevertheless executed another strong restart and quickly placed himself out of immediate danger. Wilson retained second despite Molnar continuing to apply pressure, while Fluxa stayed close behind the podium battle and waited for an opportunity that ultimately never arrived.
Fairclough completes Donington Park double
Neither Wilson nor Molnar could match Fairclough during the closing laps, allowing the Hitech driver to control the final phase and cross the line after 15 laps in 25m24.556s. His winning margin stood at 2.120s, completing a Donington double after he had also prevailed in Saturday’s opening race.
The result gave Fairclough his fifth victory of 2026 and completed his second double-win weekend of the season. More significantly, he had now won four of the previous five GB3 races, converting the pace that saw him top all six pre-event test sessions into a major championship haul.
Fairclough also recorded the fastest lap with a 1m21.197s on Lap 13. Bedrin’s retirement further strengthened the significance of the win, as Fairclough collected maximum points while one of the championship’s dominant drivers left Race 2 empty-handed.
Wilson holds off Molnar for second
Wilson completed his strongest GB3 result by finishing 2.120s behind Fairclough. After qualifying fourth, the Arden Motorsport driver gained one position at the start and inherited another when Bedrin retired, but he still had to withstand sustained pressure from Molnar for much of the remaining race.
Molnar eventually finished only 0.460s behind Wilson, with his third-place result carrying particular championship importance because Bedrin failed to score. Fluxa followed another 0.749s behind in fourth, maintaining his own place among the leading championship contenders while continuing a consistent Donington weekend.
Gonzalez defeated Rehm by just 0.204s for fifth, while Rowan Campbell-Pilling took seventh at his home circuit. Peter Bouzinelos finished eighth ahead of Pulling, and Kyuho Lee completed the top 10 after Yuhao Fu received a one-position penalty for causing a collision.
2026 GB3 Donington Park Race 2 results
- #6 Deagen Fairclough — Hitech — 15 laps — 25m24.556s
- #27 Leon Wilson — Arden Motorsport — +2.120s
- #2 Martin Molnar — Rodin Motorsport — +2.580s
- #7 Lucas Fluxa — Xcel Motorsport — +3.329s
- #21 Patricio Gonzalez — VRD Racing — +5.614s
- #1 Maxim Rehm — Rodin Motorsport — +5.818s
- #8 Rowan Campbell-Pilling — Xcel Motorsport — +7.993s
- #11 Peter Bouzinelos — Hillspeed — +8.637s
- #3 Abbi Pulling — Rodin Motorsport — +9.052s
- #19 Kyuho Lee — Elite Motorsport — +10.433s
- #5 Yuhao Fu — Hitech
- #4 Jacob Micallef — Hitech — +10.607s
- #10 Dante Vinci — Hillspeed — +10.660s
- #22 Rodrigo Gonzalez — VRD Racing — +11.825s
- #12 Aurelia Nobels — Hillspeed — +12.280s
Not classified: #18 Flynn Jackes — Elite Motorsport — 12 laps; #9 Ricardo Baptista — Xcel Motorsport — 7 laps; #24 Jack Taylor — Fortec Motorsports — 7 laps; #20 Nikita Bedrin — VRD Racing — 0 laps.
Fastest lap: #6 Deagen Fairclough — Hitech — 1m21.197s, Lap 13.
Fu received a one-position penalty for causing a collision. The Donington Park weekend then moved to its reverse-grid finale, where Elite Motorsport teammates Kyuho Lee and Flynn Jackes shared the front row while Bedrin and Fairclough faced a recovery challenge from 11th and 12th respectively.
