Eurocup-3’s inaugural season came to a close a few weeks ago with the triumph of Campos Racing’s Esteban Masson. However, in the last race of the season, another driver shined once again, finishing on a high note: José Garfias. The Mexican driver spoke to Feeder Series about his breathtaking comeback in 2023.

By Grégoire Devaux

Coming back to November 2022, there’s no doubt that José Garfias’ future was in huge doubt after not having raced the whole year. One year later, the MP Motorsport driver claimed his fifth podium of the inaugural and highly competitive Eurocup-3 season in the very last race at the world-known Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing fourth in the drivers championship. A phenomenal comeback from a driver who never stopped working and believing in himself, being undoubtedly one of the names to remember from this Eurocup-3 season.

Trying to find a way back

There are some careers that need a little break to rise from the ashes. José Garfias is one of the best examples in recent years. Sidelined for the whole of the 2022 season, the Mexican driver feared that his chance to make it in single-seater racing was forever gone.

“There was a gut feeling. I was at home, just trying to find a way to get back. To be honest, there were many moments where I thought that I wasn’t coming back to Europe. Things weren’t looking so great,” he told Feeder Series.

After being sidelined for the first part of the 2022 season, Garfias still had hopes to find a seat for the second part of the season. 

“When we knew we weren’t going to be able to do the full 2022 season, we were hoping to go back to FRECA or a similar championship from mid-season until the end. But in the end, we didn’t get the sponsorship. I did have the feeling that I was never coming back.”

Unfortunately, the end of the Mexican driver’s 2021 season didn’t help him get more funds. Competing in the GB3 Championship with Elite Motorsport and the second part of the FRECA season with Monolite Racing, Garfias finished 17th and 36th respectively, failing to get any more sponsorships for the 2022 season. But the native of San Luis Potosí earned what looked like a final shot, getting help from a sponsor to take part in a couple of 2022 postseason tests.

“At the end, we found a sponsor that wanted to help me. With that and a good family effort, It gave us the opportunity to do a couple of tests at the end of 2022. When we came back, I really didn’t know what to expect. After a full year off, it’s tough. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

The least we can say is that José Garfias did his part of the job, combining high pace and maturity to rank among the highest in the postseason tests. A result that will change the course of his career.

“The couple of tests I did in FRECA turned out to be good, so I knew we had the pace to be up there. Since I did so well during those tests, we made a really big financial effort to compete this season”, Garfias explained to Feeder Series.

From the moment his return to European racing was made official, the MP Motorsport driver set very high expectations for himself. After retiring from the very first race of the season in Spa and finishing sixth in the second race of round one, he was disappointed with his performance.

“At the start of the season, the first couple of races were a bit disappointing, to be honest. Especially the one at Spa, we weren’t really strong, and I was hoping to be a bit higher.” 

Little did he know that it would be one of his worst results of the season.

As if he’d never stopped

One thing’s for sure: driving under testing conditions is nothing like driving with a whole field of cars during a race. However, the automatism went back very quickly for José Garfias.

“In terms of driving for qualifying and free practice, with one lap pace, I got back to it almost immediately. It was as if I had never stopped. I went back in the car first in November 2022 at Spa, and I felt like I had been driving for the whole year. Where I struggled the most was for the races, with the race pace, etc. That wasn’t so easy.”

If he struggled in race conditions at first, the 19-year-old driver quickly found his automatism back, as he managed to claim his maiden Eurocup-3 podium as soon as the third race of the season in Aragon. From this moment until the end of the season, except for the penultimate race of the season, Garfias never finished lower than sixth, claiming four more podiums along the way.

“I always knew that I had it in me. We had high hopes. As the season started to get going, we worked out a couple of things, and we improved a lot. The last couple of rounds, especially after the summer break, we were a lot stronger,” he told Feeder Series.

For the seventh round of the season, the Eurocup-3 grid headed to Valencia for a race weekend in which all eyes were on Campos Racing’s Esteban Masson, who could already be crowned as the first-ever Eurocup-3 driver champion. However, José Garfias caught all the attention as he had his best performance of the season, finishing second and third in both races at the Circuito Ricardo-Tormo. 

“Valencia was our strongest weekend by far. We had a good pace in the first practice session. I was very close to getting the pole position, but we still ended up on the podium, so it was all good,” the Mexican reflected on Feeder Series. 

If Valencia was by far his best performance of the season, José Garfias picked round six at Estoril as his best memory of the season. In Portugal, on a challenging track in which he had never raced before, Garfias made a significant comeback to claim yet another podium. 

“All podiums have been significant. The first one at Aragon was quite a surprise. After the round at Spa, we weren’t expecting to be so up front, but we were. But the most exciting one has been the podium in Estoril. I started in eighth place due to an engine issue in qualifying, and I never expected to end up on the podium. It wasn’t easy, but I did seven overtakes during that race, so I would say it was the best one.”

A key part of Garfias’ amazing season was undoubtedly his team. With teammates Mari Boya and Sebastian Ogaard sitting in front of the Mexican in the drivers’ standings, MP Motorsport is recognised to be one of the best pathways to Formula 1 in recent years. José Garfias acknowledges that team spirit played a big part in his success throughout the season.

 “It’s just a matter of finding a good group of people, which I have found with MP this year. A group that wants to work with me, and we’re happy to move forward together. I’m very happy to work with MP. I think the team did really well, they did a really good job. As long as I have a good working group with me, I think that I can be really fast and up there.”

Surprise performance

Competing in a brand-new championship is always tough, as no one can look back on the previous season. However, with the self-affirmed tag of ‘keeping the cost low’ combined with world-renowned tracks, Eurocup-3‘s inaugural season is a tremendous success. 

“For an inaugural season, I think it was quite impressive. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good. There were many excellent drivers, it was really good. From what I heard, it’s going to be even better next season. Apparently, there will be a couple of new teams, more cars, etc. It would be great to see a 20–25-car grid. My respect for the Spanish Federation, I think they did great.”

If Versa Evans GP has already announced their arrival in Eurocup-3 in 2024, there is no doubt that more teams will come in the next few weeks and months, at the same time as the first driver announcements. José Garfias could be one of the drivers to repeat Eurocup-3, as it indeed seems to be the perfect bridge before Formula 3.

“It’s still to be considered in the course of the next few weeks. We’re still looking at and evaluating the possibilities. Formula 3 seems out of the question as it’s a bit too late, but we have the opportunity to repeat Eurocup-3 or go to FRECA, but I think it will be Eurocup-3 again,” he told Feeder Series.

Header photo credit: MP Motorsport