2026 | GB3 | Silverstone Pre-Season Testing | Day 1 | Fairclough shatters Silverstone benchmark on Day 1

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Deagen Fairclough delivered a standout performance on the opening day of 2026 GB3 Championship pre-season testing at Silverstone, setting an unofficial lap record that underlined both his pace and the speed of the new machinery.

Driving for Hitech, the British racer topped the timesheets with a remarkable lap during Tuesday’s running on the Grand Prix circuit.

Fairclough puts in record-breaking performance at Silverstone as close competition define Day 1 of 2026 pre-season testing

Fairclough produced his best effort in the second of three sessions, clocking a 1m49.198s. Not only did this eclipse the official GB3 lap record by nearly 3.6 seconds, but it also bettered last year’s pole position time by 2.449 seconds. As a result, he averaged speeds of over 120mph across the lap, highlighting the impressive performance gains delivered by the updated Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car.

Despite Fairclough’s dominance, the battle for the remaining positions proved competitive. Maxim Rehm secured second place for Rodin Motorsport, finishing just 0.194 seconds adrift of the benchmark time.

Meanwhile, Nikita Bedrin marked his first official pre-season appearance with an impressive third for VRD Racing. Rodin’s Martin Molnar followed in fourth, continuing his strong pre-season form after topping the times at Donington Park.

Further down the order, Kyuho Lee led the charge for Elite Motorsport in fifth, edging ahead of Lucas Fluxa, who placed sixth for Xcel Motorsport.

Peter Bouzinelos ensured Hillspeed representation inside the top seven, while Flynn Jackes continued his promising pre-season with the eighth fastest time. Hitech’s Noah Lisle and VRD Racing’s Patricio Gonzalez rounded out the top ten.

Notably, all top-10 drivers set their best laps during the second session, as changing conditions later in the day limited improvements. Persistent drizzle in the final session disrupted running and prevented further challenges to Fairclough’s benchmark.

New car delivers significant gains

Importantly, the upgraded Tatuus MSV GB3-025 has already demonstrated a clear step forward in performance. This was further emphasised by the fact that the top 22 drivers all lapped faster than last year’s pole position time, previously set by Freddie Slater.

Pre-season testing at Silverstone continues with three additional sessions scheduled for the following day. Teams and drivers will look to build on early data as they prepare for the upcoming campaign.