Hitech's Deagen Fairclough claimed his second win of the season in the first GB3 Championship race of the weekend at Silverstone.
The Brit led the majority of the contest despite an almighty scrap for the lead, having made a great start from pole to stay at the front on the early laps as the battles went on behind. Rodin's Martin Molnar from second and the Xcel duo of Rowan Campbell-Pilling and Lucas Fluxa went wheel to wheel for third through the opening corners.
Fluxa was demoted to fifth at the end of the first tour after all the squabbles, with Elite's Flynn Jackes the big mover as he climbed from sixth to fourth.
Fairclough's decent lead was wiped out however when the safety car was deployed when the third Xcel of Ricardo Baptista stopped with damage at Becketts on the opening lap.
Racing resumed at the end of lap three, with Fairclough attempting to rebuild his lead to Molnar. The Hungarian kept him in check, got close enough at Village to feign a move, and the pair went wheel to wheel down the Wellington straight, with Molnar snatching the lead up the inside at Brooklands.
The lead lasted less than a lap though, as Fairclough regained the position with a daring move on the brakes at Vale on lap five. Campbell-Pilling then briefly moved into second at Village, only for Molnar to move back into second at Brooklands.
That allowed Fairclough to rebuild a lead of nearly seven tenths starting lap six and he maintained a similar advantage for the rest of the contest, starting the second half of the season in perfect fashion.
Molnar secured second ahead of Campbell-Pilling, with Rodin's Maxim Rehm fourth. However the German made contact with Fluxa when battling for position at Brooklands on lap eight, with Rehm holding position and Fluxa spinning towards the tail of the field.
Jackes was demoted by Rehm just beforehand and took fifth on the road ahead of Rodin's Abbi Pulling.
Arden's Leon Wilson passed VRD's championship leader Nikita Bedrin for seventh in the final five minutes of the contest, with Jacob Micallef (Hitech) and Patricio Gonzalez (VRD) completing the top-10.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Silverstone, provisional race one result:
1. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, 12 laps
2. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport, +0.758s
3. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Xcel Motorsport, +2.191s
4. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, +6.955s
5. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +7.933s
6. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +9.338s
7. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +10.498s
8. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, +12.202s
9. Jacob Micallef, Hitech, +12.648s
10. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +13.487s
11. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, +14.037s
12. Edu Robinson, Elite Motorsport, +14.435s
13. Rodrigo Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +15.267s
14. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed, +16.824s
15. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, +19.212s
16. Jason Pribyl, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, +19.816s
17. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, +21.999s
18. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed, +25.311s
19. Yuhao Fu, Hitech, +25.901s
DNF. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, 8 laps
DNF. Ricardo Batpista, Xcel Motorsport, 0 laps