Jin Nakamura won this Saturday (the 18th) the Sprint that opened the sixth round of the 2026 Formula 3 season, held at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The Japanese driver for Hitech started from fourth on the grid but quickly took the lead on lap four of 12 after overtaking Brando Badoer, and managed to withstand the attacks from his rival to claim victory for the first time in the category.
Nakamura’s victory also ends a five-year drought for Japanese motorsport in the series. The last time a Japanese driver finished a Formula 3 race in first place was in 2021, when Ayumu Ywasa won at the Hungaroring circuit in Hungary.
The second position went to Brando Badoer, Rodin Motorsport driver who kept the lead at the start but was overtaken by Nakamura after the restart. Pedro Clerot, the Brazilian also racing for Rodin, completed the podium in third, adding yet another rostrum to the year. Mattia Colnaghi finished fourth with Van Amersfoort, with Taito Kato of ART Grand Prix fifth.
Theóphie Nael, driving a Campos Racing car, finished sixth, just ahead of Tuukka Taponen in seventh for MP Motorsport. Ernesto Rivera, also with Campos Racing, was eighth, with Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport in ninth. Noah Stromsted of Trident completed the top 10. Fernando Barrichello moved up a few positions to finish 21st with AIX Racing.
The race featured two Safety Car deployments. On the opening lap, Ugo Ugochukwu and Freddie Slater, the two championship leaders, collided, with the Trident driver retiring while the Campos Racing driver spent time in the pits with suspension problems. Later, on lap eight, Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi went off the track and shed debris.
The Formula 3 wraps up its Spa-Francorchamps weekend on Sunday (the 19th) with the main race scheduled for 3:30 PM.
