A record-equalling grid awaits as the GB3 Championship heads for its maiden visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the 2026 season finale this weekend (6-8 November), with titles set to be decided.
A total of 25 drivers are expected in Spain, including seven newcomers, matching GB3's biggest ever grid, most recently achieved at Silverstone in 2025. There's a new team and a returning squad too, with TJ Speed Motorsports set to make a European racing debut, while 2023 champions JHR Developments are back with two cars.
The title contenders
Four drivers head into the event with a chance of claiming the title. VRD Racing’s Nikita Bedrin has a big advantage going into the weekend, knowing that seventh place or better in the first race on Saturday will guarantee him the title. The Italian driver has enjoyed an almost impeccable season, winning six of the first 10 races of the year to build a massive advantage at the top of the standings.
While he’s not won since the Red Bull Ring in July, four more podium finishes since then, including two third places last time out at Brands Hatch, means he heads to Barcelona only needing to score a total of 14 points throughout the event to put the title out of reach.
Even if Bedrin has one hand on the championship trophy, Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough won’t let him have it easy. The Brit has been scintillating since the middle of the season and is on a run of six wins from the last nine races, and is unbeaten in ‘main races’ across the past three months.
A desperately unfortunate start to the year means the 20-year-old has been playing catch-up ever since, but he now has seven wins, one more than Bedrin. The fact he’s still in title contention is remarkable, given he was 10th in the standings and over 200 points behind at the season’s mid-point.
That run of form has put him a point ahead of Xcel Motorsport’s Lucas Fluxa, who heads into his home race still in with an outside chance of the title. The Spaniard’s charge was aided by a first win of the year at Brands Hatch, adding to six podiums secured earlier in the year, but is 90 points behind Bedrin with 102 up for grabs this weekend.
The final title contender is Rodin’s Martin Molnar. The Hungarian driver is four points further back from Fluxa but has enjoyed an excellent season since graduating from British F4. He has seven podiums to his name and his maiden pole position in front of his home crowd at the Hungaroring was a highlight of the year. A first win is overdue, and needed, if he is to keep his slim title chances alive going into Sunday.
Click here for the current title permutations ahead of the weekend’s action.
Other prizes up for grabs
There’s a much closer fight for the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup, with a single pole between Bedrin and Fairclough at the top of the standings for the £2,000 end of year prize. A single pole in Saturday’s qualifying will give it to Bedrin, while Fairclough has taken five of the last six available, and needs another pole double to steal it away.
There’s a fierce battle for the Teams’ Championship too, with four squads still able to become champions. Rodin Motorsport has won the title for the past two years, and leads it again in 2026, with a 16-point margin to VRD Racing, which has a best finish of third back in its collaborative days with Arden in 2023. The advantage has swung between the two all season, while Hitech and Xcel Motorsport are also still in the fight, with 189 points still available.
Finally, the top-five drivers in GB3 will receive FIA Super Licence Points, of which 40 are required for F1 eligibility. The GB3 champion receives 10 of these points, down to one point for the driver in fifth. Rodin’s Maxim Rehm currently occupies this position, with a 40 point margin to Xcel’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling.
Newcomers aiming to make an impression
The end of year events traditionally attract a cast of series debutants as drivers look towards their next steps in racing, and this weekend’s Barcelona finale is no different. Seven new drivers will make their maiden appearances in GB3, with all of them making the step up from F4-level competition.
The newcomers are headlined by 2025 GB4 champion Ary Bansal, who was a front-runner in Italian F4 this year. He joins a new team for the series in the form of TJ Speed Motorsports, where he is accompanied by fellow Italian F4 graduate Arjen Kräling.
Three of the leading lights in this year’s GB4 Championship also move up this weekend, with runner-up and multiple race winner Fred Green a key addition with Elite Motorsport. Race winner Thomas Ingram Hill joins GB3 with the returning JHR Developments team, while podium finisher Matan Achituv bolsters Arden Motorsport’s line-up.
Two of this year’s British F4 front-runners add further to the exciting crop of newcomers, with runner-up Theo Palmer sticking with Hitech for his GB3 graduation, while Lewis Wherrell, who finished third overall, partners Ingram Hill at JHR.
Last chance for wins and podiums
Bedrin, Fairclough, Fluxa, Campbell-Pilling, Patricio Gonzalez, Abbi Pulling, Flynn Jackes, Jacob Micallef and Jin Nakamura are the nine drivers to have taken wins so far this year, but can anyone join their ranks?
Drivers on the grid this weekend with podiums but no wins so far include Molnar, Rehm, Leon Wilson, Rodrigo Gonzalez, Yuhao Fu and Peter Bouzinelos.
Meanwhile, drivers aiming for a breakthrough podium include Kyuho Lee, Dante Vinci, Ricardo Baptista, Aurelia Nobels and Jason Pribyl. Seeing any of those with a trophy this weekend would be no surprise, given their improving results as the season has gone on.
How to follow
All the action this weekend can be followed via the GB3 website, with a combination of live timing and then live streaming for the three races.
Two days of testing (Thursday/Friday) will start the event ahead of qualifying and the first race on Saturday. The event and the season finishes with Sunday's double header.
Click here for full session times and details on how to follow the weekend.
Entry list
#1. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport
#2. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport
#3. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport
#4. Theo Palmer, 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
#14. Thomas Ingram Hill, JHR Developments*
#15. Lewis Wherrell, JHR Developments*
#17. Fred Green, Elite Motorsport*
#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. Matan Achituv, Arden Motorsport*
#27. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport
#31. Jason Pribyl, Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing
#35. Ary Bansal, TJ Speed Motorsports* **
#36. Arjen Kraling, TJ Speed Motorsports * **
* New driver
** New team