The GB3 Championship season kicks off at Silverstone this weekend (25/26 April), with another highly talented crop of F1 hopefuls set to do battle on the Grand Prix circuit.
A crop of 23 drivers are represented on this weekend’s grid, with five British contenders joined by drivers from 13 other nationalities in a truly cosmopolitan line-up.
Pre-season testing has suggested that Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough plus Rodin duo Maxim Rehm and Martin Molnar could be the drivers to beat at the head of the field. Silverstone Autosport BRDC Award winner Fairclough is the top returning contender from last year, and staying with the team based opposite the circuit entrance, has topped three of the five test days so far this year, including two right here at Silverstone. Fresh from a breakthrough win at the end of last year, he could take some beating now.
German driver Rehm, who won at Monza during his GB3 debut at the end of last year has also shown plenty of promise, setting the fastest lap in 15 years at Snetterton last month, while his Hungarian teammate Molnar steps up from British F4, and like Fairclough, has topped three test days, including both at Donington Park.
The Rodin line-up is completed by 2024 F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling, who looks set to build on her top-10 championship finish last year, and has been a firm fixture inside the top-five through the winter.
Chinese talent Yuhao “Felix” Fu joins Fairclough at Hitech, and like Molnar, is an F4 graduate, while a late addition to the team’s line up is exciting Japanese contender Jin Nakamura, who is also racing alongside F1 in FIA F3 this year.
Xcel Motorsport made an instant impact during its GB3 debut in 2025, finishing third overall in the standings, and is well placed to replicate that performance by recruiting returning Spanish race-winner Lucas Fluxa to partner Brit Rowan Campbell-Pilling and Brazilian Ricardo Baptista, yet more graduates from the F4 scene.
Hillspeed enjoyed its strongest GB3 season last year with multiple victories, and for 2026 fields Australians Dante Vinci and Peter Bouzinelos, plus F1 Academy graduate Aurelia Nobels. Vinci raced in Italian F4 last year, while Bouzinelos makes a racing return following a year’s recovery after being knocked off his bicycle.
Elite’s Flynn Jackes has been a revelation in pre-season, frequently in and around the top-eight having finished 20th overall last year as he recovered from a road accident. South Korean Kyuho Lee, who is a member of the Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme, joins him. Could a future in a WEC Hypercar beckon? Promising Kyrgyz contender Kirill Kutskov, the first driver to represent Kyrgyzstan in GB3, completes the team’s three-car line-up.
VRD Racing has recruited Nikita Bedrin to its line-up to partner Mexican brothers Patricio and Rodrigo Gonzalez. Bedrin has raced just about every type of single-seater below F2 level, as well as participating in several Formula E tests, and should be a title contender, while the siblings made good progress in a half season in 2025.
Fortec is back to strength in GB3 with Japanese-Greek GB4 race winner Alex Kattoulas making the step up with the team alongside Jack Taylor. The Aussie was a double Silverstone winner in GB4 last year.
Arden Motorsport makes a GB3 return this year, promoting promising karter Lewis Gilbert to single-seaters for the first time, while protégé Leon Wilson steps up from a race-winning couple of seasons in GB4.
Finally, the Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing team makes the leap into GB3 for the first time, with the team’s GB4 representative Jason Pribyl. The American has stood on the podium here before and will doubtless improve as the season goes on.
All drivers are at the wheel of the further upgraded Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car, which has blasted to new record-breaking lap times in pre-season. A new high torque 2.4 litre normally aspirated Mountune engine replaces the outgoing two litre units, with extra punch provided under acceleration and when exiting corners.
A number of aerodynamic tweaks, chassis improvements and other detail changes has led to times being well over two seconds a lap quicker than those seen last year. Indeed Fairclough’s best time in testing here last month was 2.449s better than the fastest GB3 lap at Silverstone in 2025, despite snow and icy cold conditions. These are very much the quickest contemporary single-seaters set to feature at the circuit this year, outside of the British Grand Prix weekend!
Events at Spa-Francorchamps, the Hungaroring, and Red Bull Ring follow in the weeks after the season opener. British fans will have the chance to see GB3 again when the series returns to Silverstone in August, Brands Hatch and Donington Park in September, before the season comes to an end at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in November.
All races can be watched live on the MSV TV YouTube channel, while the open paddock allows fans to meet all the drivers throughout the event. Don’t miss your chance to meet drivers from a championship that George Russell, Lando Norris and Ollie Bearman have emerged from over the past decade or so.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone entry list:
1. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, German
2. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport, Hungarian
3. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, British
4. Jin Nakamura, Hitech, Japanese
5. Yuhao Fu, Hitech, Chinese
6. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, British
7. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, Spanish
8. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Xcel Motorsport, British
9. Ricardo Baptista, Xcel Motorsport, Brazilian
10. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed, Australian
11. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, Australian
12. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed, Brazilian
17. Kirill Kutskov, Elite Motorsport, Kyrgyz
18. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, Filipino
19. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, South Korean
20. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, Italian
21. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, Mexican
22. Rodrigo Gonzalez, VRD Racing, Mexican
23. Alex Kattoulas, Fortec Motorsports, Japanese-Greek
24. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, Australian
26. Lewis Gilbert, Arden Motorsport, British
27. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, British
31. Jason Pribyl, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, American