VRD Racing’s Nikita Bedrin remains the driver to beat, as the GB3 Championship gears up for its first ever races at Austria’s Red Bull Ring this weekend.
The 20-year-old championship leader claimed his fourth win of the season at the Hungaroring last weekend, taking full advantage of trouble for his main title rivals to extend his championship lead to 68 points after just eight races.
His nearest competition will need to mount a strong fightback from this weekend onwards, and the Red Bull Ring’s layout of quick straights and tight hairpins should make for superb racing.
Rodin’s Maxim Rehm remains Bedrin’s nearest challenger, the German driver is still looking for his first win of the season, but multiple podiums have kept him in the mix.
The biggest mover in recent races has been Xcel’s Lucas Fluxa, who twice surged from the back end of the top-10 on the grid to the podium at the Hungaroring. A first win of the season for both team and driver beckons.
Rodin’s Martin Molnar heads to Austria off the back of a confidence-boosting round at his home circuit, where buoyed by a vocal home crowd, he secured a breakthrough GB3 pole position and a fourth podium of the year.
Elite’s Flynn Jackes is another heading to the Red Bull Ring in confident mood. The Australian-Filipino secured his first GB3 win at the 52nd time of asking last weekend, and has climbed into the championship top-six as a result.
In his first full GB3 season, Mexican Patricio Gonzalez has strengthened VRD’s push towards the front of the field, and is edging closer to a maiden podium.
Rodin’s Abbi Pulling meanwhile had plenty of ups and downs in Hungary, with retirements in races one and three mixed with a strong run to fourth in race two. The Spa winner has shown the pace for regular podiums this year, and just needs a change of fortune to make it happen again.
Xcel’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling was awarded a first GB3 podium in the final race at the Hungaroring, after possibly his strongest event of the season so far on pure pace.
Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough claimed his first win of the season in the Hungary opener, after a speedy start from second on the grid. He could well have banked more big points in races two and three, but like Pulling, has been plagued by misfortune. He heads to the Red Bull Ring already knowing he faces a three place grid drop for race one for causing a collision in the Hungaroring finale.
Elite’s Kyuho Lee showed great pace once more last time out, but lost valuable points with a crash in the final race, so the South Korean will be looking to bounce back this weekend.
Hillspeed’s trio of Peter Bouzinelos, Dante Vinci and Aurelia Nobels enjoyed their strongest weekends of the season so far in Hungary. Each earned GB3-best qualifying results, and also took breakthrough top-10s in the races. Expect more of the same this weekend.
Hitech’s Yuhao Fu and Jacob Micallef showed promise too. Fu continues to make progress in his debut GB3 campaign, while Micallef stepped into the car vacated by race winner Jin Nakamura, and established himself as a top-10 challenger immediately.
Xcel’s Brazilian Ricardo Baptista also enjoyed a positive weekend at the Hungaroring, and continues to make steps up the grid, and VRD’s Rodrigo Gonzalez is another to have shown good pace throughout the year.
Arden Motorsport duo Lewis Gilbert and Leon Wilson complete this weekend’s 19-car grid, with the British contenders looking to move on from a challenging trio of races at the Hungarian Grand Prix venue.
As ever, the field will contend with three races in the Styrian mountains this weekend. Qualifying on Saturday morning will determine the grids for races one and two, with the opening contest taking place at 14.25 local time on Saturday afternoon. Races two and three take place on Sunday at 09.55 and 14.15 local time respectively.
All the racing action will be streamed live once more, with full pre and post-race coverage, and the race shows commencing approximately 20 minutes before the lights go out. Click here to visit the live timing page, where session timings and live streams can be found.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Red Bull Ring entry list:
#1. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport
#2. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport
#3. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport
#4. Jacob Micallef, Hitech
#5. Yuhao Fu, Hitech
#6. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech
#7. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport
#8. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Xcel Motorsport
#9. Ricardo Baptista, Xcel Motorsport
#10. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed
#11. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed
#12. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed
#18. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport
#19. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport
#20. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing
#21. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing
#22. Rodrigo Gonzalez, VRD Racing
#26. Lewis Gilbert, Arden Motorsport
#27. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport