Rodin Motorsport's Abbi Pulling claimed a faultless victory in the delayed first GB3 Championship race of the weekend at Spa on Saturday afternoon.
The pole sitter made a dream start to lead the race on lap one, and then executed a superb restart after a mid race safety car to claim a landmark victory, becoming the first female driver to win a GB3 race.
The 2024 F1 Academy champion finished clear of VRD Racing's championship leader Nikita Bedrin, who passed Pulling's teammate Maxim Rehm for second on the penultimate lap.
The sun was shining down on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps after thunderous showers led to the abandonment of the start procedure for race one earlier in the day. Some five hours later, the race was finally able to get underway, with the grid order remaining the same with Pulling on pole, secured in the first qualifying session yesterday.
As the lights went out, she made a perfect start, and was unchallenged on the run up to Les Combes, while behind her, a battle between Bedrin and Molnar enabled her to build a cushion of over a second on the first lap.
Just as she looked to extend the lead further, a tangle between Rowan Campbell-Pilling and Patricio Gonzalez, and a beached car of Peter Bouzinelos resulted in a safety car, meaning she had to do it all again.
Despite big pressure from Rehm behind, Pulling left it late to put the hammer down, and accelerated away as the pack headed to the Bus Stop. Once more she was able to build a cushion big enough to deny her challengers a meaningful tow up the Kemmel Straight, and then built another gap of around a second through the twisty middle section.
For lap after lap, Pulling operated at the front, seemingly comfortable and far enough up the road to nullify the threat from behind. Her cause was aided by a gripping tussle for second, as Bedrin attempted to pass Rehm. The championship leader made the move on the penultimate lap at Les Combes, but was unable to reach Pulling, who claimed a famous breakthrough victory by six tenths of a second, with Bedrin and Rehm completing the podium.
The third Rodin of Martin Molnar was fourth ahead of Hitech's Jin Nakamura and Xcel's Lucas Fluxa.
Elite duo Kirill Kutskov and Flynn Jackes claimed seventh and eighth with Hillspeed's Dante Vinci and Arden's Lewis Gilbert completing the top-10.
The final race of the weekend, race two, is due to start at 11.36 tomorrow.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Spa-Francorchamps, provisional race one result:
1. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, 10 laps
2. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, +0.607s
3. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, +2.615s
4. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport, +4.020s
5. Jin Nakamura, Hitech, +6.324s
6. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, +7.228s
7. Kirill Kutskov, Elite Motorsport, +10.347s
8. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +10.957s
9. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed, +11.325s
10. Lewis Gilbert, Arden Motorsport, +12.158s
11. Jack Taylor, Fortec Motorsports, +13.807s
12. Yuhao Fu, Hitech, +16.197s
13. Rodrigo Gonzalez, Xcel Motorsport, +19.462s
14. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed, +22.219s
15. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +1m28.727s
DNF. Ricardo Baptista, Xcel Motorsport, 9 laps
DNF. Jason Pribyl, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, 6 laps
DNF. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, 6 laps
DNF. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, 2 laps
DNF. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, 1 lap
DNF. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Xcel Motorsport, 1 lap
DNF. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, 1 lap