After the rain comes sunshine...

Abbi Pulling wins the GB3 Championship!

As expected, the second day of the 2026 Spa Euro Race was heavily affected by the weather, with torrential rain disrupting the morning schedule. But, as so often in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes, sunshine eventually returned, allowing the afternoon programme to run as planned and culminating in British driver Abbi Pulling’s maiden GB3 Championship victory.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain, forecast for the early hours, swept over Spa-Francorchamps during the morning. While free practice sessions for the Supercar Challenge, Britcar and the combined P9 Challenge went ahead as scheduled despite torrential rain on the track, Race 1 of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) was postponed and moved to the afternoon, replacing Race 2.

Meanwhile, the opening GB3 Championship race was cancelled altogether, as track conditions made it impossible for the cars to run.

It was not until the feature race of the European GT Lite Challenge that competitive action finally got underway. Starting from pole position, German driver Rainer Börgens (Lotus Exige V6 Cup R) briefly relinquished the lead to Paul Maréchal (Lotus Exige V6 Cup R) before reclaiming it. Two Safety Car periods later, following accidents involving Petr Krejci (Lotus Evora GT4) and Victor Ipsen (Lotus Exige V6 Cup R), Paul Maréchal emerged victorious, ensuring the Luxembourg national anthem echoed across the Belgian Ardennes after overtaking Bence Balogh and Rainer Börgens. Fourth overall was Belgian driver Thierry Verhiest (Lotus Exige V6 Cup R), who also secured a podium finish in his class.

With more than fifty Caterhams lining up for the opening 20-minute sprint race for the Roadsport and 270R categories, and rain still falling over Spa-Francorchamps, a spectacular contest was expected early in the afternoon. In this all-British battle, Paul Ogglesby quickly built a three-second advantage over Oliver White and cruised to victory in the 270R class. The deployment of the Safety Car after more than fifteen minutes brought the race to an early conclusion, with Ogglesby taking the win ahead of Helme and White. In the Roadsport category, the outcome remained uncertain until the very end, with Oliver Smith, Mitchell Fasanya and John Bond running wheel-to-wheel before finishing in that order under Safety Car conditions.

The track was still soaking wet when the starting procedure began for what had become Race 1 of the FRECA weekend. After a lengthy wait on the grid, the skies finally cleared and Frenchman Alexandre Munoz (ART Grand Prix) took the lead ahead of Rashid Al-Dhaheri (R-ace GP) and Kean Nakamura-Berta (Prema Racing). Twice, the race was neutralised by the Safety Car, forcing Munoz to defend his position on each restart. Al-Dhaheri briefly snatched the lead into Les Combes, but Munoz fought back and, after perfectly managing a one-lap sprint to the finish, secured victory ahead of Al-Dhaheri and Nakamura-Berta. Championship leader Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport) was overtaken by Yuki Sano (R-ace GP) in the closing stages and ultimately finished fifth. Young Belgian driver Thomas Strauven (CL Motorsport) had to settle for 23rd place.

Under bright sunshine, the Caterham Seven 310R and CSCUK competitors took to the track for their first 20-minute sprint race. Harry Senior, Taylor O’Flanagan and Matt Armstrong fought fiercely at the front until Armstrong outbraked himself at the Bus Stop chicane and collided with his rivals. Senior eventually claimed victory ahead of O’Flanagan, while Charlie Lower completed the podium. In the 310R category, William Harris took victory by a mere 0.094 seconds over Ryan Wilby.

The track was completely dry when the GB3 Championship drivers returned to action. Pole-sitter Abbi Pulling (Rodin Motorsport) made a perfect start, keeping championship leader Nikita Bedrin (VRD Racing) and German driver Maxim Rehm (Rodin Motorsport) behind her. As expected, several incidents resulted in Safety Car periods, but Pulling maintained her advantage throughout. Bedrin’s final challenge proved unsuccessful, and the British driver, a former F1 Academy champion, secured her maiden victory at Spa-Francorchamps. She received the coveted winner’s trophy from Dr Jonathan Palmer. Bedrin, Rehm, Molnar and Nakamura completed the top five.

The final race of the day was the combined Supercar Challenge, Britcar and P9 Challenge event, which got underway with German driver Jürgen Alzen taking the lead in his BMW M4 GT3. It was not long before the Safety Car was called into action once again.