SPRINT RACE: Nakamura earns maiden F3 win after title rivals Ugochukwu and Slater collide

Jin Nakamura claimed his maiden win in the Championship and Hitech's first of the 2026 campaign, winning the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race.

The Japanese driver started from the second row but made a great start to take P2, before going on to make one final pass en route to the top step. Rodin Motorsport teammates Brando Badoer and Pedro Clerot completed the podium in second and third.

AS IT HAPPENED

Badoer got a great start from pole while teammate Clerot covered off Mattia Colnaghi into Turn 1, allowing Nakamura to sneak through into third place. The Hitech driver was alongside Clerot down the Kemmel Straight and made a move around the outside for second into Les Combes.

Just behind them, title rivals Ugo Ugochukwu and Freddie Slater locked horns. The pair then made contact and ran into the gravel at Turn 6, leaving the Briton out on the race. His Campos Racing rival returned to the pitlane with suspension damage, before rejoining the race one lap down with their collision having brought out the Safety Car.

Racing resumed entering Lap 4, with Badoer getting a good launch. But going up into Eau Rouge and Les Combes, Nakamura rounded the Rodin driver to take the lead.

Lap 5 and Clerot was on the attack into the final chicane, but Badoer held firm and retained second position ahead of his teammate.

With his title rivals out of the points, Nael set about making progress up the order. He cleared Taito Kato for P5 on Lap 7 along the Kemmel Straight.

On to Lap 8 and Tuukka Taponen seized on an opportunity to steal seventh from Ernesto Rivera at La Source, but the Mexican driver fought back through into Les Combes with DRS.

The Safety Car was back out on Lap 8 after DAMS Lucas Oil's Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi got wide out of Turn 1 and collected a polystyrene board, dispatching debris across the racing line that needed clearing away.

With two laps to go, the Safety Car was back in, and before racing resumed, Nakamura almost spun off the road as he opted to go back to full speed at the final chicane.

Behind the leaders, Kato battled back through on Nael to retake P5 around the outside on entry to Les Combes.

The Frenchman returned the favour though before the end of the lap, making a bold move down the inside into the final chicane. But the ART rookie rejoined ahead of the Campos driver on corner exit

Up ahead though, Nakamura held onto the lead and claimed his maiden victory in F3 ahead of the Rodin teammates Badoer and Clerot.

Colnaghi crossed the line in fourth ahead of Kato in P5. Nael wound up sixth in front of Taponen and Rivera. Alessandro Giusti and Noah Stromsted completed the points down to 10th.

KEY QUOTE – Jin Nakamura, Hitech

"First win in Formula 3 for me, I'm super happy about that. We had really good pace so let's hope for another one tomorrow!"

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Ugo Ugochukwu retains the lead of the Championship on 104 points with Freddie Slater in P2 on 86. Théophile Nael remains third, going onto 65 points. Noah Stromsted is fourth on 58, with Brando Badoer fifth on 50 points.

In the Teams' Standings, Campos Racing remains at the top with 200 points, with TRIDENT second on 151 and Van Amersfoort Racing third on 113. Rodin Motorsport and ART Grand Prix round out the top five spots on 98 and 91 points respectively.

UP NEXT

The FIA Formula 3 Feature Race is set to get underway at 08:30 local time on Sunday morning, with Freddie Slater going from pole position and aiming for his maiden F3 victory.