2026 | GB3 | Red Bull Ring | Race 1 | Bedrin takes fifth win after bold Turn 6 pass

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Nikita Bedrin completed a determined late move on Maxim Rehm to claim his fifth GB3 Championship victory of the 2026 season in Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring.

The VRD Racing driver started third and moved into second on the opening lap before spending much of the contest pressuring Rehm. Bedrin eventually swept around the outside at Turn 6 with one minute remaining and pulled clear on the final lap.

Lucas Fluxá finished second for Xcel Motorsport, while post-race penalties promoted pole-sitter Martin Molnar to third. Deagen Fairclough dropped to fourth in the amended classification after initially celebrating a podium finish.

Rehm takes the lead as Bedrin passes Molnar

Molnar started from pole after leading a Rodin Motorsport front-row lockout during Saturday morning’s Qualifying session. However, Rehm immediately challenged his team-mate as the field accelerated towards Turn 1.

Rehm drew alongside Molnar before gaining the inside line for the tight Turn 3 right-hander. The German completed the move and emerged in the lead, while Bedrin took advantage of their battle.

The championship leader attacked Molnar at Turn 4 and moved into second. Rehm therefore led Bedrin and Molnar at the end of an eventful opening lap.

Fairclough also made rapid progress from eighth on the grid. The Hitech driver had qualified fifth but served a three-place penalty carried over from the final race at the Hungaroring. Nevertheless, he gained two positions during the opening lap and immediately joined the battle behind the leaders.

Early collision brings out first Safety Car

The race lasted only one further lap under green-flag conditions before an incident at Turn 3 brought out the Safety Car.

Peter Bouzinelos and Lewis Gilbert collided at the uphill right-hander and both cars became stranded in the gravel. Aurelia Nobels also retired during the opening stages, leaving the field with three fewer competitors before the race had developed a settled rhythm.

Officials neutralised the contest while marshals recovered the cars. As a result, Rehm lost any opportunity to build an early advantage over Bedrin.

The Safety Car returned to the pits at the end of lap four. Rehm controlled the restart, but Bedrin immediately placed him under pressure on the approach to Turn 3. The pair attacked the braking zone together, although Rehm held the inside line and retained first place.

Bedrin remains within striking distance

Rehm could not break away after the restart as Bedrin remained close behind the Rodin driver.

Barely more than half a second separated the leading pair across the following laps. Bedrin repeatedly used Rehm’s slipstream along the uphill sections but could not draw far enough alongside to complete a move into Turn 3.

Meanwhile, Molnar remained close in third as Fairclough, Fluxá and Rowan Campbell-Pilling formed part of an increasingly competitive battle for the remaining podium place.

Rehm absorbed the pressure at the front and continued to place his car effectively through the major overtaking zones. However, Bedrin refused to allow the German any breathing space and remained ready to attack if Rehm made a mistake.

Second Safety Car sets up late sprint

The race changed again with approximately 10 minutes remaining when Rodrigo Gonzalez spun on the exit of Turn 3.

Gonzalez’s stranded car triggered the second Safety Car period and erased the small gaps throughout the leading group. The intervention also affected Kyuho Lee, who lost ground during the incident but continued in the race.

Officials restarted the contest with five minutes remaining. Rehm and Bedrin both accelerated cleanly, while the drivers behind them launched into a four-wide fight on the run towards Turn 3.

Fluxá, Fairclough, Campbell-Pilling and Molnar all contested the same section of track as they fought for third. Fluxá emerged from the battle in control of the final provisional podium place, while Fairclough continued his recovery through the order.

Bedrin sweeps around Rehm at Turn 6

Bedrin continued to pursue Rehm after the restart, even as officials handed the race leader a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

Although that penalty already placed Rehm’s result under threat, Bedrin chose to settle the contest on the circuit. With one minute remaining, the championship leader attacked around the outside at Turn 6.

Bedrin maintained his momentum alongside Rehm and completed the decisive move through the fast left-hander. He then created a small advantage over the final lap and crossed the line first to secure another victory.

The result gave Bedrin his fifth win of the campaign and strengthened his position at the head of the championship. Rehm crossed the line second, but his track-limits penalty initially dropped him to sixth in the provisional classification.

Penalties promote Molnar to the podium

Fluxá inherited second after Rehm’s five-second penalty and completed another strong race for Xcel Motorsport. The Spaniard controlled the late fight behind the leaders and finished 3.817s behind Bedrin.

Fairclough initially moved into third after charging from eighth on the grid. He crossed the line fourth on the road and appeared to have secured his second podium of the season when officials applied Rehm’s time penalty.

However, stewards later handed Fairclough, Rehm and Campbell-Pilling one-position penalties for weaving beyond the point where the Race Director had instructed drivers to stop warming their tyres at a Safety Car restart.

The additional sanction demoted Fairclough to fourth and promoted Molnar to third. Rehm dropped from sixth to seventh, while Campbell-Pilling moved from 13th to 14th.

Patricio Gonzalez completes top five

Patricio Gonzalez climbed from seventh on the grid to finish fifth for VRD Racing, adding another solid result alongside Bedrin’s victory.

Lee moved into sixth after the post-race amendments, while Rehm eventually took seventh despite leading almost the entire contest. Abbi Pulling completed a double points finish for Rodin Motorsport in eighth.

Leon Wilson produced one of the race’s strongest recovery drives for Arden Motorsport. The British driver started 14th and climbed five positions to claim ninth.

Ricardo Baptista also benefited from the incidents and penalties as he moved from 17th to complete the top 10. Jacob Micallef followed in 11th ahead of Dante Vinci, Flynn Jackes, Campbell-Pilling and Yuhao Fu.

Stewards also handed Gilbert and Vinci three-place grid penalties for the next race after holding them responsible for separate collisions.

Race 2 will begin at 09:55 local time on Sunday, with Bedrin starting from pole position.