Deagen’s double podium delight at Brands Hatch
Round 6 - Brands Hatch - Report
Hitech TGR’s Deagen Fairclough claimed two top-three finishes at Brands Hatch over the weekend, elevating him from seventh to fourth in the GB3 Championship standings. He came close to completing a hat-trick of podiums, but while battling hard for third in the final race, he ran wide and spun to the tail of the field.
In Race 3, his Hitech team-mate Nikita Johnson produced an impressive drive to secure a top-ten finish after a mechanical issue in qualifying left him starting all three races from the rear of the grid. While Keanu Al Azhari crossed the line just one place behind Nikita after being forced to retire from Race 2 earlier in the day.
Round 6 of the GB3 Championship started strongly for Deagen, as he secured third on the grid for the opening two races. Both times, he made an early bid to move up a place in the opening corners but ultimately settled for third in each.
Deagen Fairclough after Race 1:
“It feels great to be back on the podium after such a long time away. It’s been a while and it’s nice to get back up there. Brands Hatch is such an abrasive circuit – that’s part of the thrill of racing here. We had the pace, but I made a few mistakes in qualifying that cost us a shot at P2 or even P1. The race was pretty much over after Turn 2. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and a big thanks to the Hitech team – they’ve been doing an awesome job.”
Due to an incident in one of the support races, Sunday’s races were delayed until later in the afternoon. For Deagen the second race was a similar story to Saturday – he challenged for second off the line but ultimately had to settle for third.
Commenting after Race 2, Deagen added:
“Another podium – I’m really happy with that. The pace from everyone in the top three was epic, just like yesterday. I was hoping one of them would make a mistake, but it’s so close out there. We’re trading thousandths of a second and the dirty air is tough around here.”
The Safety Car was deployed on the opening lap of Race 2 after Keanu, who had started 14th, was racing wheel-to-wheel on the exit of Surtees. He was tapped into a spin on the back straight and hit the barriers — though he quickly gave a thumbs up to confirm he was OK.
The Hitech crew worked hard to prepare his car for Race 3. Despite making a strong start, he was pushed wide at Druids on lap four and ultimately finished 11th. With plenty of incidents in the close-contact racing, it was Nikita who kept a cool head to climb from 19th on the grid to tenth at the flag.
The American racer said:
“I made a few moves early on and then picked up a couple more after the Safety Car when some drivers made contact, so overall it was a solid result. I passed two cars off the start and another into Turn 2 on the first lap. After the restart about four cars ran wide and I ended up making several passes on that lap. All in all, I think I gained five or six places after the restart, so that was good.”
Deagen also made a strong start in the reverse-grid finale, brilliantly gaining several positions off the line and taking a wide line through Paddock Hill Bend to climb five places from his tenth-place starting spot. He was challenging for third in the closing stages when he ran wide while battling another two cars into Hawthorns, half-spun, and dropped to 18th.
There’s a short break now before the championship resumes at Donington Park at the beginning of October.
