VRD Racing's Nikita Bedrin made it two wins from the first two GB3 Championship races of the year, with another exemplary display in a dramatic contest at Silverstone on Sunday morning.
Bedrin had lost the lead off the line as Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough got a great launch to take the lead through the first turn at Copse. Bedrin fought back just a couple of corners later though, retaking the lead through Becketts and defending the position into Stowe.
Fairclough stuck with Bedrin for the opening laps until a safety car intervention on lap three caused by the retirement of Peter Bouzinelos (Hillspeed) neutralised the race. Upon the restart, Bedrin put the power down early and caught out Fairclough, opening up a 0.788s gap by the time they reached the line to return to green flag running.
The majority of the battles came from midfield, with an attempted overtake by Rowan Campbell-Pilling on his Xcel Motorsport teammate Lucas Fluxa sparking a five-way battle behind for ninth place. Kyuho Lee held on to the position for Elite Motorsport, with Alex Kattoulas (Fortec Motorsports) losing the nose cap of his front wing after contact with the South Korean on the Wellington Straight.
Arden Motorsport’s Leon Wilson was the biggest beneficiary of the battle, however, as the Briton carved through the group to climb from 13th to 10th, culminating in an audacious move down the inside of Rodrigo Gonzalez (VRD) at Maggots.
The race was neutralised again on lap eight as Fairclough retired from second, with the safety car deployed for a second time, promoting the Rodin Motorsport cars of Maxim Rehm and Abbi Pulling into second and third respectively.
Racing action resumed for a one-lap sprint to the finish on lap 11, with Bedrin holding his restart much later than before, launching his VRD car through the penultimate corner at Luffield. Rehm stuck with him but was unable to make a challenge for the lead, allowing Bedrin to take the chequered flag for his second win of the season and weekend.
Behind them, there was an incident between Pulling and Patricio Gonzalez (VRD) in the battle for third. The Mexican had claimed the position at Becketts initially, but Pulling fought back with a brave move around the outside at Stowe, with Nakamura also trying to get his Hitech involved.
On the run to the next corner at Vale, Pulling looked to defend her position, squeezing Gonzalez to the inside as he looked to regain the position. The VRD driver hit the inside kerb, sending him airborne and over the top of Pulling’s car, sending both into the gravel where Pulling retired. Gonzalez was able to continue, but dropped to 11th.
This promoted Fluxa to the final spot on the podium, with Nakamura fourth and Rowan Campbell-Pilling fifth for a second race in a row. Lee was sixth, with Rodrigo Gonzalez seventh, Wilson eighth, Kattoulas ninth and Ricardo Baptista completing the top-10 for Xcel Motorsport.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone, provisional race two result:
1. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, 11 laps
2. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, +0.777s
3. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, +4.296s
4. Jin Nakamura, Hitech, +4.697s
5. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, +4.992s
6. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, +5.088s
7. Rodrigo Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +5.782s
8. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +6.029s
9. Alex Kattoulas, Fortec Motorsports, +6.238s
10. Ricardo Baptista, Xcel Motorsport, +6.778s
11. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +7.719s
12. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +7.974s
13. Kirill Kutskov, Elite Motorsport, +8.059s
14. Yuhao Fu, Hitech, +8.266s
15. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed, +8.423s
16. Lewis Gilbert, Arden Motorsport, +9.060s
17. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, +9.245s
18. Jason Pribyl, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +9.679s
19. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed, +10.420s
DNF. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, 10 laps
DNF. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, 4 laps
DNF. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, 1 lap