Bedrin seals GB3 title after dream Barcelona finale

VRD Racing driver takes two wins and a third to end his impressive season in style, while Fairclough pips Fluxa to runner-up spot in the standings

VRD Racing’s Nikita Bedrin claimed the GB3 title in fine style at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last weekend, with two victories and a run to third in the season finale.

The Italian-based driver entered the weekend with a considerable advantage at the top of the standings, and simply needed to finish seventh or higher in the opening race to guarantee the title.

It looked even more likely after qualifying, in which Bedrin took pole for race one. He was only sixth in an extraordinarily close second session for race two, though, with the top-10 runners covered by less than a quarter of a second, with series debutant Lewis Wherrell fastest for the returning JHR Developments team.

Well placed ahead of the event opener on Saturday afternoon, Bedrin was beaten to Turn 1 after a rocketship start from Rowan Campbell-Pilling. The Xcel Motorsport driver blasted into the lead from fifth on the grid and remained out front for much of the contest.

Bedrin could have settled for a place on the podium, but was determined to take the title with victory and he did just that after replicating Campbell-Pilling’s lap-one move around the outside of the first corner on lap 10 of 15.

Campbell-Pilling made do with second ahead of team-mate Lucas Fluxa, who entered the weekend with a faint hope of the crown, though third place strengthened his chase for runner-up spot in the standings, especially with Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough only taking ninth.

With the title won, Bedrin entered the final day in full attack mode, and took his second triumph after his most spectacular drive of the year. Starting sixth, he moved up to fourth on the first lap, battled his way past GB4 graduate Fred Green after a safety car restart and then dispatched Rodin’s Abbi Pulling for second with three laps to go.

British F4 title contender Wherrell starred on GB3 debut but was unable to keep Bedrin at bay

Photo by: JEP

Debutant Wherrell was next, having led every lap from pole. He lost a 2s lead before the safety car, before rebuilding his margin to over a second afterwards, but Bedrin was rampant. Having closed rapidly, the pair were together at the start of the final tour and Bedrin went around the outside of Turn 12 to snatch the win, his eighth of 2026, with just three corners remaining.

Wherrell was still pleased with second on his debut weekend, ahead of Pulling who claimed a fourth podium of the season. Green was fourth ahead of Fluxa, who moved into second in the drivers’ standings at the expense of 10th-placed Fairclough.

Campbell-Pilling won the final race of the season from reversed-grid pole, withstanding a lap-one challenge from Hillspeed’s Aurelia Nobels and then a late safety car restart to secure his second victory of the year. Elite’s Flynn Jackes was second while Bedrin steadily climbed the order again from seventh on the grid and passed Nobels for third, which was more than enough to earn VRD its first GB3 teams’ title.

Nobels still took her best result of the season with fourth ahead of team-mate Peter Bouzinelos. Fairclough ended his challenging weekend with a miraculous climb to sixth place from 18th on the grid and snatched the standings runner-up spot back from Fluxa with a final twist of drama. The Spaniard was ahead of Fairclough and on course for second in the championship as the safety car was called, only to ground to a halt moments later. While he was able to restart, he finished way down in 20th, missing the runner-up spot by just three points.

But the weekend, and the season, belonged to Bedrin. “If you’d told me in December last year that I would be champion and we’d be team champions, I would probably not believe it,” he said. “It’s unbelievable honestly, I’m super grateful for how this season went, we dominated the first half of the season, we had a bit of a lull in the middle, but we have been playing it a bit safe.

“We bounced back really strongly this weekend and we’ve shown everyone what we can deliver. This year couldn’t have been any better, honestly, and I’m super thankful for the team, everybody that has put the work in, the car and the season has just been fantastic.”