Rodin Motorsport ones to beat after Snetterton GB3 test

18 drivers took part across both days of testing | Credit: Jacob Ebrey

Rodin Motorsport were consistently in the top five across both days.  Whilst teams' championship rival VRD Racing were left unable to match the British outfit’s standout pace.

This happened at the recent two-day testing for the GB3 championship, which took place on the 9th and 10th of June at Snetterton Circuit.

It marks the last official testing period the series will carry out before it visits the Hungaroring for round 3. On each day of testing, there were four separate sessions.

Day 1: Rodin dominate, no one else could replicate

Rodin Motorsport were the fastest team on day one | Credit: Connor Botha

It was a top-three lockout of Rodin Motorsport on this day, drivers Maxim Rehm, Martin Molnar and Abbi Pulling were separated by less than half a second collectively. The front row separated by 0.012s, with 2024 F1 Academy champion Pulling just 0.018s behind Hungarian driver Molnar.

Further down the leaderboard, a mystery driver managed to secure the best time - driving for Fortec Motorsports. Not much is known about this anonymous driver, nothing else apart from setting a best time which put them around one second off Rodin’s leading trio.

Outside of this, there were a few GB3 testing debuts across the grid. 18 drivers in total participated on this day, with Leon Hedfors, Jacob Miscallef and GB4 podium finisher Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso all getting their first outings in a GB3 car.

Day 2: Fairclough sets the pace in GB3 testing

Daegan Fairclough set the fastest lap time by three tenths | Credit: GB3

Day two’s results painted a completely different picture from the previous day’s tests. Not dominated by a single team, with the larger gaps between each driver’s best lap times.

2024 British F4 champion Daegan Fairclough dominated the final standings, setting his best time of a 1:38.451 in his final session of the day - three tenths quicker than second-placed finisher, four-time GB3 race winner Joseph Loake.

The Briton’s pace was reminiscent of his dominant 2024 British F4 championship-winning season.

Focusing on the full final results, drivers’ pace was more spread out than day one - no one was closer than three tenths of each other, and it was only  towards the top where the pace was closer. 

Speaking of setting the pace, day one top finisher Rehm secured the third best time - the German championship leader’s best lap time landed him about half a second off first place Fairclough. Rodin’s trio of drivers generally remained very close in their best pace - locking out third, fourth and fifth respectively. 

Elsewhere on the grid, GB3 testing debutants Hedfors and Del Rosso didn’t have second days to write home about, concluding the day 16th and 18th respectively. However Miscallef, the third to debut in testing, managed to set a time strong enough to leave the Maltese driver in sixth place.

What this means going forward

Lewis Gilbert will be hoping for better form come Round 3 | Credit: GB3

Going into the next phase of the season, this confirms the strong form Rodin has shown so far - currently joint-leading the teams’ championship with American outfit VRD Racing. Locking out the top three on day one, and almost replicating that feat the next day demonstrates the consistent advantage they offer compared to their rivals from across the pond.

Continuing with Rodin, Rehm will leave Snetterton knowing he is still in strong contention for the drivers’ championship. The German driver is currently 27 points adrift off championship leader Nikita Bedrin, but given all three Rodin drivers’ consistently high-ranking pace and lap times, the championship promises to heat up going into Round 3.

GB3 returns on the 3rd of July for round 3, at the Hungaroring. 

Edited by Rohan Brown