After two rounds of the Ethan Turner show, Round 3 of the REMO British GT3 2026 championship produced a different name at the top of the results at Snetterton 300.
Preben Olaissen Hagen took a comfortable win, but the story of the round wasn't really about who finished first... it was about what happened behind him, where a title fight that had looked comfortable after two rounds was blown wide open.
Ross Young completed the podium in P2 having survived two separate coming-togethers with Ethan Turner. Karstein Havdal rounded out the top three while also setting the fastest lap gaining an additional championship point. Ethan Turner himself failed to finish the race at all. A late drive-through penalty went unserved, and the resulting disqualification didn't just cost Turner the round... it flipped the entire championship on its head!
Hagen Ends Turner's Perfect Start
Preben Hagen's evening was, by the standards of this round, a remarkably quiet one. Having taken pole, he converted it into a comfortable 16-second victory, and with Turner failing to finish, this was also the round that finally ended Turner's perfect start to the season.
There isn't much drama to report from the front of the field as Hagen broke away early and extended his gap over the course of the race. While the championship leader was dealing with contact, investigations and a disqualification, Hagen simply got on with the job. It's the second different race winner in three rounds, but Hagen's calm, incident-free run to the flag was as important to his result as any outright pace advantage.
The Turner Flashpoints That Rewrote the Championship
The defining story of Snetterton, belonged to Ethan Turner for all the wrong reasons!
Turner was placed under investigation for a late lunge into Turn 4 that made contact with Ross Young, the kind of aggressive move that had generally gone unpunished for him through the opening rounds of the season. This time, race control took a closer look. Before a review had even been settled, Turner was involved in a second incident with the same driver, rear-ending Young as the pair came into the pits.
Race control's response was a drive-through penalty. Turner never served it. Under iRacing rules, an unserved drive-through results in automatic disqualification after 3 laps and that's exactly what happened. Ethan Turner, the winner of both Round 1 and Round 2 and the man who had arrived at Snetterton with a commanding championship lead, left with nothing.
Young's Survival Act
It would have been easy for Ross Young's race to unravel entirely. Instead, having been hit twice by the same driver, Young held his car together and brought it home in P2. A result that under the circumstances, ranks among the most impressive drives of his season so far.
The pressure didn't let up even once Turner was out of the picture. In the closing stages, Young found himself held up behind Sam Baird under blue flags, and the delay allowed Karstein Havdal to close right up on the back of his car. Young had, quite literally, had everything thrown at him over the course of the hour... contact, an investigation, a second collision, and then a blue-flag hold-up in the closing laps and still came away with second place. It's little surprise he was in serious contention for Driver of the Day.
Havdal Sets the Pace and Keeps Closing
Karstein Havdal set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:45.364. What stood out most, though, was how his race ended . A consistent and incident free race carried him from P6 to P3 at the flag. As Young was delayed behind Baird under blue flags in the final stages, Havdal used the opportunity to close the gap right up to the back of the second-place car. He couldn't quite complete the move, but the closing speed was a reminder that Havdal remains very much in the picture... Currently topping the championship with 92 points at the front. Three rounds into the season, he now has a P4, a P2 and a P3 to his name the kind of consistent, incident-free record that quietly builds a championship challenge and is now the driver under the spotlight!
Baird's Rough Afternoon Shapes the Podium Battle
Sam Baird's day couldn't have looked more different from Havdal's. He lost the rear of his McLaren at Turn 3, sustaining damage to the back of the car, and finished the round with 17x incident points... the most of anyone in the field.
A 10-second post-race penalty followed, for contact and for impeding Ross Young under blue flags resulting in a 10 second time penalty applied after the race putting him behind Mark Bowskill.
That blue-flag moment turned out to matter well beyond Baird's own result. It was the hold-up behind him that allowed Havdal to close in on Young in the closing stages, meaning Baird's difficult afternoon ended up directly shaping the battle for the final podium position, even from well outside the points that mattered most.
Nico Balderrama's Driver of the Day Recovery
If Turner's disqualification was the biggest story of the round, Nico Balderrama's drive was the best of it. Gaining nine positions over the course of the race, Balderrama fought his way into an intense mid-race battle with Charlie O'Kane for P7 — a scrap that ran for several laps before Balderrama eventually came out on top to secure the position.
It was enough to earn him Driver of the Day, though it was about as close as that award gets. With Young's survival drive also very much in the conversation, the vote came down to a genuine toss-up between the two... Balderrama's recovery through the field against Young's resilience under repeated pressure. On this occasion, the nine-place recovery drive got the nod.
O'Kane's Spirited Defence
Charlie O'Kane didn't come away with the position, but his fight with Balderrama for P7 was one of the highlights of the race. O'Kane put up a determined defensive display over several laps before ultimately having to concede, crossing the line in P8. It wasn't the result he wanted, but it was the kind of hard-fought, clean battle that made for one of the better on-track scraps of the afternoon.
Elsewhere at Snetterton
Brad Pickett had a tidy, incident-free round, starting P5 with a P4 finish. Isaac Boys picked up a strong P5 having missing out on the previous round at Brands Hatch, with Matthew Pell just behind in P6.
Further back, Liam Stacey brought his car home P9 and Morten Dale finished P10.
Dean Wragg continued his quietly positive run through the season, finishing P11 matching the P11 he scored at Brands Hatch and extending his run of solid, consistent midfield results since a difficult Round 1. Casey Waldron (P12), Ken Bakken (P13) and Mark Bowskill (P14) rounded out the rest of the confirmed order, after Baird's penalised P14.
Race Control: The Turner Disqualification
Snetterton's post-race review was dominated by one decision. Ethan Turner's drive-through penalty for the second collision with Ross Young went unserved, triggering an automatic disqualification and reducing his round to zero points. The only other confirmed stewarding action was Sam Baird's 10-second penalty for contact with, and impeding, Ross Young under blue flags.
Championship Shake-Up
Turner arrived at Snetterton with a 20-point lead at the top of the championship. He leaves with nothing to show for the round at all, and the effect on the standings is dramatic: Karstein Havdal now leads the REMO British GT3 2026 championship, with Turner down to second, 11 points behind with Ross Young following closely behind.
It's a remarkable reversal after two rounds in which Turner looked close to unassailable. With Havdal continuing to rack up top 5 finishes, this title fight, which looked like a procession after Donington and Brands Hatch, is suddenly wide open heading into the next round.
What We Learned at Snetterton
Turner's aura of invincibility is gone
Two wins from two rounds made him look like the man to beat all season. One disqualification later, he's second in the championship and, for the first time in 2026, has something to prove.
Ross Young is a title contender, not just a nearly-man
Twice hit by the same driver, held up under blue flags in the closing laps, and he still walked away with the a P2 finish following closely behind Turner in the championship by 1 point. That's the kind of round that defines a season.
Havdal's consistency pays off as he leads the championship
P4, P2, P3. Three rounds of clean, composed racing have put him firmly in the title picture.
Nico Balderrama can do more than just qualify well
A nine-place recovery drive and a Driver of the Day award, won in a close vote, mark him out as one of the form drivers of the season so far.
A Championship Turned on Its Head
Three rounds into the 2026 season, the REMO British GT3 championship has produced two different winners. Snetterton didn't just deliver a race winner in Preben Hagen, it fundamentally reshaped the story of the season.
If you thought this championship was heading towards a Turner walkover, Round 3 has firmly put that idea to bed.
Comments
0