Hitech Pulse-Eight's Gerrard Xie converted pole position to victory in GB3's first ever race at the Hungaroring on Saturday afternoon.
The Chinese driver held off a sustained challenge from teammate Tymek Kucharczyk to take his second win in the series, having won at Donington Park at the end of last year, while the victory was the team's seventh in succession so far this campaign.
JHR's John Bennett completed the podium in third, almost three seconds adrift of the Hitech duo, but nevertheless boosting his own championship charge with his fifth piece of silverware in 2024.
Xie had to withstand pressure from Kucharczyk for much of the race. The Polish driver got into his teammate's slipstream on the run to the first corner, and attempted to challenge for the lead around the outside. Xie rebuffed the challenge and held onto his advantage, as he built a lead of 1.1 seconds on the first tour.
That was as big as it got for Xie, as Kucharczyk remained in his mirrors throughout, generally within half a second to three quarters of a second. But Xie had it under control at the front, and claimed his first win of the year by 0.523s while Kucharczyk extended his championship lead over teammate Will Macintyre, who was fifth, behind Rodin's James Hedley, who moved up to fifth by passing Macintyre on the first lap.
Elite's McKenzy Cresswell took sixth place, half a second ahead of Rodin's championship challenger Louis Sharp, while JHR's Patrick Heuzenroeder converted his best qualifying result into his top race result of the season, taking eighth place ahead of Rodin's Arthur Rogeon and Elite's Jarrod Waberski.
While the order largely remained static throughout the contest, there was notable progress further down the order, as Fortec's Colin Queen carved his way up from 21st and last on the grid to an impressive 14th place, gaining six spots alone on the first lap.
The second GB3 Championship race of the weekend is due to start at 10.10 local time (9.10 UK) on Sunday, with Xie on pole once more.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Hungaroring race one provisional result:
1. Gerrard Xie, Hitech Pulse-Eight, 11 laps
2. Tymek Kucharczyk, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.523s
3. John Bennett, JHR Developments, +3.279s
4. James Hedley, Rodin Motorsport, +4.891s
5. Will Macintyre, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +5.843s
6. McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +6.781s
7. Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport, +7.354s
8. Patrick Heuzenroeder, JHR Developments, +9.160s
9. Arthur Rogeon, Rodin Motorsport, +11.800s
10. Jarrod Waberski, Elite Motorsport, +14.868s
11. Josh Irfan, JHR Developments, +15.289s
12. Hugo Schwarze, Elite Motorsport, +16.599s
13. Noah Ping, VRD Racing by Arden, +18.161s
14. Colin Queen, Fortec Motorsport, +21.432s
15. Shawn Rashid, VRD Racing by Arden, +21.742s
16. Nikita Johnson, VRD Racing by Arden, +22.038s
17. Seb Murray, Chris Dittmann Racing, +22.672s
18. Javier Sagrera, Chris Dittmann Racing, +23.329s
19. Aditya Kulkarni, Hillspeed, +25.896s
20. Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +26.464s
21. Flynn Jackes, Chris Dittmann Racing, +27.547s