2026 GB3 Championship
Motor racing championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 GB3 Championship is a motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across Europe. The 2026 season is the eleventh organised by the British Racing Drivers' Club in the United Kingdom, and the sixth season under the GB3 moniker after rebranding from the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship in mid-2021. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers. The season is scheduled to be run over eight triple-header rounds, starting in April and ending in November.[1]
Teams and drivers
After the introduction of the Tatuus MSV GB3-025 in 2025, 2026 saw another aerodynamic upgrade to the chassis package.[2] The Mountune engine, previously a two-litre unit, was upgraded to a 2.4-litre engine, thereby providing a 25% torque increase. All cars run on Pirelli tyres.[3]
| Team | No. | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
 Rodin Motorsport |
1 |  Maxim Rehm |
1 |
| 2 |  Martin Molnár |
1 | |
| 3 |  Abbi Pulling[4] |
1 | |
| Hitech |
4 |  Jin Nakamura |
1 |
| 5 |  Yuhao Fu |
1 | |
| 6 | Deagen Fairclough[5] |
1 | |
 Xcel Motorsport |
7 |  Lucas Fluxá |
1 |
| 8 | Rowan Campbell-Pilling |
1 | |
| 9 |  Ricardo Baptista |
1 | |
| Hillspeed |
10 |  Dante Vinci |
1 |
| 11 | Peter Bouzinelos |
1 | |
| 12 | Aurelia Nobels |
1 | |
| JHR Developments |
14 |  TBA |
TBC |
| 15 | TBA |
TBC | |
| 16 | TBA |
TBC | |
| Elite Motorsport |
17 |  Kirill Kutskov[a] |
1 |
| 18 |  Flynn Jackes[6] |
1 | |
| 19 |  Kyuho Lee |
1 | |
 VRD Racing |
20 |  Nikita Bedrin |
1 |
| 21 |  Patricio González |
1 | |
| 22 | Rodrigo González |
1 | |
| Fortec Motorsports |
23 | Alexandros Kattoulas |
1 |
| 24 | Jack Taylor |
1 | |
| 25 | TBA |
TBC | |
| Arden Motorsport |
26 | Lewis Gilbert |
1 |
| 27 | Leon Wilson |
1 | |
| 28 | TBA |
TBC | |
| Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing |
29 | TBA |
TBC |
| 30 | TBA |
TBC | |
| 31 | Jason Pribyl |
1 |
Team changes
Arden Motorsport returned to GB3 after a one-year absence, while Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing, a cooperation between British Superbike Championship team Nitrous Competitions and GB4 team ADM Racing, entered GB3, initially running a single car.[7][8]
Chris Dittmann Racing, who had entered every season since 2013, JHR Developments, a series mainstay ever since the 2022 season, and Argenti with Prema, who had joined the series in 2025, all did not announce any drivers ahead of the season.
Despite having 3 cars, both Fortec Motorsports and Arden Motorsport both didn't fulfil all 3 seats, with them both utilising 2 drivers.
Driver changes
Rodin Motorsport signed two new drivers after they promoted reigning champion Alex Ninovic to their newly formed Formula Regional European Championship outfit and Gianmarco Pradel joined MP Motorsport in Eurocup-3.[9][10] Maxim Rehm joined the team for his full-season debut after a race-winning guest drive for Hillspeed in the final round of 2025, together with Martin Molnár, who steps up from British F4 after coming third in 2025 with Virtuosi Racing.[11][12]
Nikita Johnson and Keanu Al Azhari left Hitech as Johnson competed in Indy NXT with Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR and Al Azhari joined Hitech's Eurocup-3 outfit.[13][14] The team signed British F4 graduate Yuhao Fu, who came 25th in 2025 driving for Xcel Motorsport. Noah Lisle was originally signed to be the third driver for Hitech after coming 7th in 2025, but later withdrew for personal reasons.[15][16] His replacement was announced to be Jin Nakamura, who embarks on a part-time campaign alongside his main FIA Formula 3 campaign with the team.[17]
Xcel Motorsport entered 2026 with an all-new driver lineup after 2025 runner-up Patrick Heuzenroeder departed the series to join Campos Racing in Eurocup-3 and neither Jack Sherwood nor any of the team's three part-time drivers returned.[18] Xcel signed Rowan Campbell-Pilling, who steps up from British F4 after coming tenth in 2025 driving for JHR Developments, hired Ricardo Baptista, who graduates to GB3 from Brazilian Formula 4, where he finished the 2025 season in tenth, and saw Lucas Fluxá move over from Hillspeed after finishing the 2025 GB3 season in eighth.[19][20][21]
Hillspeed also have an all-new, all-rookie lineup after none of their eight part-time competitors returned to the team. All three of its drivers stepped up from Formula 4, with Aurelia Nobels departing F1 Academy after coming 13th in 2025 with ART Grand Prix, Dante Vinci graduating from Italian F4 after finishing the 2025 season in 21st driving for Van Amersfoort Racing, and Peter Bouzinelos returning to racing after a year on the sidelines following a bicycling accident.[22][23][24]
Noah Lisle and Kai Daryanani both left JHR Developments, with Lisle initially joining Hitech before leaving due to personal reasons and Daryanani moving to FREC with Trident.[16][25] None of the teams' other part-time drivers returned to GB3.
Reza Seewooruthun departed Argenti with Prema, as he will compete in FREC with Rodin Motorsport.[26] None of the teams' other part-time drivers returned to GB3.
Bianca Bustamante left Elite Motorsport to join Palou Motorsport in Eurocup-3, while Will Macintyre stepped away from racing to focus on his cancer recovery .[27][28] The team signed Genesis Magma Racing's Trajectory Program driver Kyuho Lee, who finished 22nd with Rodin Motorsport in Spanish F4 in 2025.[29] Kirill Kutskov completed the team's lineup for the first round of the season on his step up from Formula 4.[30]
VRD Racing have an all-new line up, with Hugo Schwarze leaving midway through 2025 to compete in the European Le Mans Series in the LMGT3 class with R-ace GP and Enzo Tarnvanichkul focusing on his Eurocup-3 campaign with Campos Racing.[31][32] After joining the team for the second half of 2025, siblings Patricio and Rodrigo González rejoined the team for the full 2026 season, and former FIA F3 driver Nikita Bedrin joined the team for his GB3 debut after finishing the 2025 FRECA season in eleventh with Saintéloc Racing.[33][34][35]
Fortec Motorsport saw Stefan Bostandjiev join Hitech in Eurocup-3.[36] To replace him, the team signed Alexandros Kattoulas, who graduated from GB4 after finishing the 2025 season fourth driving for Elite Motorsport.[37] The team also promoted Jack Taylor from their GB4 outfit, with whom he came tenth in 2025.[38]
Returning team Arden Motorsport fielded karting champion Lewis Gilbert on his jump up to GB3 and promoted Leon Wilson from their GB4 outfit, with whom he came seventh in 2025.[39][8]
New team Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing promoted Jason Pribyl from their GB4 outfit, with whom he came 17th in 2025.[40]
Race calendar
The provisional calendar was announced on 25 September 2025.[1] The series kept to its strategy of combining four British rounds with four rounds outside the UK, but swapped two overseas venues. The series will not return to Circuit Zandvoort, where it had been racing since 2023, and Monza Circuit will also not return after its debut in 2025. Instead, GB3 will debut at the Red Bull Ring and at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.[41]
| Round | Circuit | Date | Supporting | Map of circuit locations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R1 | Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix Circuit, Northamptonshire) |
25 April | British GT Championship GB4 Championship |
|
| R2 | 26 April | ||||
| R3 | |||||
| 2 | R4 |  Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps(Spa, Belgium) |
30–31 May | Spa Euro Race Formula Regional European Championship Supercar Challenge Britcar Endurance Championship | |
| R5 | |||||
| R6 | |||||
| 3 | R7 | Hungaroring (Mogyoród, Hungary) |
4–5 July | International GT Open Euroformula Open Championship Formula Regional European Championship TCR Europe Touring Car Series | |
| R8 | |||||
| R9 | |||||
| 4 | R10 |  Red Bull Ring(Spielberg, Austria) |
11–12 July | ADAC Racing Weekend Spielberg Porsche Sports Cup Deutschland Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy ADAC Tourenwagen Junior Cup | |
| R11 | |||||
| R12 | |||||
| 5 | R13 | Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix Circuit, Northamptonshire) |
1–2 August | GT Cup Championship GB4 Championship Radical Cup UK | |
| R14 | |||||
| R15 | |||||
| 6 | R16 | Donington Park (Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire) |
5–6 September | British GT Championship GB4 Championship TCR UK Touring Car Championship | |
| R17 | |||||
| R18 | |||||
| 7 | R19 | Brands Hatch (Grand Prix Circuit, Kent) |
26–27 September | British GT Championship GB4 Championship | |
| R20 | |||||
| R21 | |||||
| 8 | R22 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Montmeló, Spain) |
7–8 November | Eurocup-3 F4 Spanish Championship TCR Spain Touring Car Championship | |
| R23 | |||||
| R24 | |||||
Race results
| Round | Circuit | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R1 | Silverstone Circuit |
Nikita Bedrin |
Nikita Bedrin |
Nikita Bedrin |
VRD Racing |
| R2 | Nikita Bedrin |
Deagen Fairclough |
Nikita Bedrin |
VRD Racing | ||
| R3 | Jin Nakamura |
Jin Nakamura |
 Hitech | |||
| 2 | R4 | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
||||
| R5 | ||||||
| R6 | ||||||
| 3 | R7 | Hungaroring |
||||
| R8 | ||||||
| R9 | ||||||
| 4 | R10 | Red Bull Ring |
||||
| R11 | ||||||
| R12 | ||||||
| 5 | R13 | Silverstone Circuit |
||||
| R14 | ||||||
| R15 | ||||||
| 6 | R16 | Donington Park |
||||
| R17 | ||||||
| R18 | ||||||
| 7 | R19 | Brands Hatch |
||||
| R20 | ||||||
| R21 | ||||||
| 8 | R22 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya |
||||
| R23 | ||||||
| R24 | ||||||
Season report
Silverstone hosted the opening round of the 2026 GB3 Championship, which began with a double pole position for VRD Racing's Nikita Bedrin in qualifying.[42] He dropped behind the Rodin pair of Martin Molnár and Maxim Rehm after a slow start to the opening race, but quickly regained second place, closed up to Molnár and retook the lead on lap five. He led throughout a late-race safety car to secure victory.[43] Bedrin's start to the second race was suboptimal again as he dropped behind Hitech's Deagen Fairclough, but he moved back in front a few corners later. Fairclough kept close to Bedrin before retiring with a car issue. That left Bedrin to fend off Rehm before winning again, with Xcel's Lucas Fluxá taking third.[44] Elite's Flynn Jackes had reversed-grid pole position and led throughout the race, before a last-lap battle saw Hitech's Jin Nakamura snatch victory at the final corner. Elite's Kyuho Lee took second in the same battle, before a penalty dropped him off the podium. Fluxá inherited third as Bedrin assumed the top of the points standings.[45]
Championship standings
- Scoring system
Points are awarded to the top 20 classified finishers in races one and two, with the third race awarding points to only the top 15. Race three, which has its grid formed by reversing the top twelve from the qualifying order, awards extra points, up until a maximum of twelve, for positions gained from the drivers' respective starting positions.[46]
| Races | Position, points per race | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | |
| Races 1 & 2 | 35 | 29 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Race 3 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
Drivers' championship
|
Italics – Fastest Lap 1 2 ... 12 – points earned for positions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams' championship
Each team counts its two best results of every race.
| Pos | Driver | SIL1 |
SPA |
HUN |
RBR |
SIL2 |
DON |
BRH |
CAT |
Pts | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | R16 | R17 | R18 | R19 | R20 | R21 | R22 | R23 | R24 | |||
| 1 | VRD Racing |
1 | 1 | 4 | 128 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 7 | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Rodin Motorsport |
2 | 2 | 64 | 105 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 20 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Xcel Motorsport |
5 | 3 | 32 | 94 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Hitech |
4 | 4 | 13 | 92 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | 14 | 142 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Elite Motorsport |
7 | 6 | 2 | 67 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | 12 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Fortec Motorsports |
9 | 9 | 103 | 51 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | 17 | 166 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Arden Motorsport |
10 | 8 | 176 | 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | 16 | Ret | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Hillspeed |
15 | 15 | 132 | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | 19 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Nitrous Competitions ADM Racing |
20 | 18 | 183 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | R16 | R17 | R18 | R19 | R20 | R21 | R22 | R23 | R24 | Pts |
| SIL1 |
SPA |
HUN |
RBR |
SIL2 |
DON |
BRH |
CAT | |||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- Kutskov is Russian, but competes under a Kazakh licence as Russian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.