Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough set the fastest ever GB3 lap around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Saturday’s practice session.
The 20-year-old set four laps good enough to top the leaderboard during the 15-minute session, with his best effort of 1m16.332s eclipsing Abbi Pulling’s previous benchmark from the in-season test earlier this month by 0.261 seconds.
Rodin Motorsport’s Maxim Rehm had set the early pace, topping the times with each of his first four timed laps. However, his 1m17.243s effort was comfortably beaten by Fairclough at the halfway point as the Briton became the first driver into the 1m16s'.
Fairclough then set a 1m16.536s to set a new fastest lap on the Grand Prix circuit for a GB3 car, before beating that time twice more before the flag.
Xcel Motorsport’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling was second-fastest, 0.265s away from Fairclough and half a tenth ahead of Rodin’s Pulling in third.
Having set the early pace, Rehm ended the session fourth, with championship leader Nikita Bedrin fifth for VRD Racing.
Returning driver Kanato Le was sixth for Hitech, 0.470s off of team-mate Fairclough’s time, with VRD's sibling duo of Patricio and Rodrigo Gonzalez seventh and eighth respectively.
Hillspeed’s Dante Vinci and Arden Motorsport’s Leon Wilson completed the top-10, which was covered by less than nine tenths of a second.
The GB3 field return to action with qualifying at 11.00.
GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, Practice result:
1. Deagen Fairclough, Hitech, 1m16.332s
2. Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Xcel Motorsport, +0.265s
3. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +0.314s
4. Maxim Rehm, Rodin Motorsport, +0.335s
5. Nikita Bedrin, VRD Racing, +0.463s
6. Kanato Le, Hitech, +0.470s
7. Patricio Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +0.632s
8. Rodrigo Gonzalez, VRD Racing, +0.660s
9. Dante Vinci, Hillspeed, +0.774s
10. Leon Wilson, Arden Motorsport, +0.893s
11. Aurelia Nobels, Hillspeed, +0.914s
12. Yuhao Fu, Hitech, +1.147s
13. Kyuho Lee, Elite Motorsport, +1.161s
14. Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport, +1.297s
15. Lucas Fluxa, Xcel Motorsport, +1.486s
16. Edu Robinson, Elite Motorsport, +1.730s
17. Ricardo Baptista, Xcel Motorsport, +2.248s
18. Aditya Kulkarni, AKCEL GP, +2.644s
19. Martin Molnar, Rodin Motorsport, +6.341s
20. Peter Bouzinelos, Hillspeed, no time set