Elite Motorsport's Flynn Jackes finally claimed a maiden GB3 victory in the Hungaroring event finale on Sunday afternoon.
In his 52nd GB3 race start, he controlled the race despite multiple safety car periods, finishing ahead of Lucas Fluxa and Maxim Rehm.
Jackes made an ideal start from pole position, and while fellow front row starter Dante Vinci was hovering with intent, Jackes covered him off with an important bit of defending at turn one.
As Jackes led the field through the first turn, there was a drama behind as Hitech's race one winner Deagen Fairclough completed a trying day by colliding with the rear of Rehm's car before ricocheting into Rehm's teammate Abbi Pulling. The drama eliminated Fairclough on the spot, while Pulling ground to a halt moments later, with the third Rodin of local man Martin Molnar also delayed. Fairclough picked up a three place grid penalty for his next GB3 race as a result.
That necessitated the first appearance of the safety car, halting Jackes' initial attempt to drive away from the field. Racing resumed at the end of lap two, and Jackes made an excellent restart to build an immediate lead of several car lengths, putting him out of reach of Vinci who was still in second.
Another combative first lap had moved Fluxa up to third from seventh on the grid, but that soon became second as he dispatched Vinci around the outside of turn one at the restart. But he had no match for Jackes' pace, who built a lead of 3.5 seconds, only to see that wiped out when his teammate Kyuho Lee crashed out of seventh place at turn 11 on lap six.
Having made a superb restart at the first time of asking, Jackes did it again with seven minutes remaining on the clock, with Fluxa unable to stay with him. Meanwhile, Vinci was shuffled down to sixth on the restart lap as Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Rehm and championship leader Nikita Bedrin forced their way by.
But within seconds, the safety car was called for again with Peter Bouzinelos spun around at turn one by teammate Aurelia Nobels, and then left stranded. Nobels was another to pick up a three place grid drop for Silverstone.
With five minutes to go, Jackes had to face the rear of the safety car for another extended period of time. The lights went out with little over a minute of the race still to go, and Jackes could have opted to slow the pack to a crawling speed to guarantee the win. But he crossed the line at full speed with just four seconds left on the clock.
Unfazed, and with knowledge that his previous restarts had been perfect, Jackes accelerated away exiting the last corner, and while the gap he built wasn't quite as big as his previous attempts, it was just enough to avoid any attack from Fluxa.
While Jackes was untroubled on the final lap to collect an emotional first win by 1.6 seconds from Fluxa, Campbell-Pilling's grip on third ended at turn one as Rehm completed his charge through the pack from eighth to snatch the final podium spot.
That demoted the Brit to fourth, still his best result of the year so far, ahead of the combative Bedrin, who ended another superb weekend with fifth place from 12th on the grid.
Vinci had to settle for sixth ahead of Hitech's debutant Jacob Micallef, with Molnar eighth in front of his home crowd despite his delay on the opening lap.
Yuhao Fu and Xcel's Ricardo Baptista completed the top-10.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Hungaroring Race Three provisional result:
1. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, 13 laps
2. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, +1.615s
3. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, +2.152s
4. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Xcel Motorsport, +2.837s
5. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, +3.326s
6. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed, +3.976s
7. Jacob Micallef, Hitech, +4.504s
8. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport, +4.871s
9. Yuhao Fu, Hitech, +5.483s
10. Ricardo Baptista, Xcel Motorsport, +5.882s
11. Rodrigo Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +6.391s
12. Lewis Gilbert, Arden Motorsport, +6.827s
13. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +7.539s
14. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +7.738s
15. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed, +8.904s
DNF. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, 9 laps
DNF. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, 6 laps
DNF. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, 0 laps
DNF. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, 0 laps