Photo: Mat Acton
Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough came from behind to score his second win of the season in GB3’s opening contest of the weekend at Silverstone.
Fairclough held off Rodin Motorsport’s Martin Molnar to triumph by 0.485 seconds, the pair having locked horns in a thrilling early battle, and Rowan Campbell-Pilling completed the podium.
Starting from pole for the first time, Fairclough gained a clear lead over Molnar into Copse while a three-way scrap raged behind them between Xcel Motorsport duo Campbell-Pilling and Lucas Fluxa and Elite Motorsport’s Flynn Jackes.
Jackes slightly edged ahead into Vale on lap one but ran wide, allowing his two rivals to sweep past on the exit, and Campbell-Pilling then fended off Fluxa into Abbey to maintain third. Meanwhile, Xcel’s other driver Ricardo Baptista had already retired in a collision at Becketts, necessitating an early safety car period.
Green-flag running resumed at the beginning of lap four, and Fairclough initially remained ahead before facing pressure from Molnar a few corners later at Village. Molnar made the better exit onto the Wellingham Straight, where he sailed past to take the lead before the pair reached Brooklands.
Fairclough quickly fought back, however, forcing his rival to go slightly defensive into Stowe on the next lap before diving up the inside into Vale to reclaim the advantage. Molnar briefly lost a further place to Campbell-Pilling into Village, but then drew back alongside on the Wellington Straight and took back second under braking for Brooklands.
Campbell-Pilling slightly lost touch with the front two in the race’s second half, while Molnar kept pace with Fairclough but was not able to create an overtaking opportunity before the finish.
Fluxa lost out Jackes and Rodin’s Maxim Rehm during the early exchanges, and his race unravelled when he tried to fight back later in the race. The Spaniard initially wrestled back fifth from Rehm before the pair moved either side of Jackes on the run to Brooklands. But there, Rehm and Fluxa tangled, with the latter spinning to the rear of the field.
Rehm avoided damage and held off Jackes by 0.5s to finish fourth, while his team-mate Abbi Pulling lost ground at the start and came home sixth.
Championship leader Nikita Bedrin made up three places to take eighth behind Arden’s Leon Wilson, while Hitech’s Jacob Micalleff took ninth ahead of Patricio Gonzalez.