The new era of Eurocup-3 begins this weekend at Portimão with the second edition of the Spanish Winter Championship package’s premier series. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about this year’s Eurocup-3 winter series. 

By Seb Tirado

The winter series will feature the competitive debut of the Dallara 326 chassis and the arrival of four new teams, including the competitive return of Double R Racing and the full-time debut of Tecnicar, who joined the grid in the final two rounds of the 2025 Eurocup-3 season. By leaving behind the Tatuus F3-T318 used since the series’ inception in 2023, Eurocup-3 formally moves away from Formula Regional specifications. Both the winter and the main championship’s machinery now shares a technical basis with Euroformula Open – once called Spanish F3 – and Super Formula Lights in Japan.

Maciej Gładysz won the inaugural edition with MP Motorsport last year after a close season-long battle with teammate and eventual main season champion Mattia Colnaghi. The pair will compete in Formula 3 this year with ART Grand Prix and MP respectively. 

The calendar

This year, Eurocup-3 will share all its rounds with its F4-equivalent winter series. Portimão now acts as the season opener, while the Circuito del Jarama replaces the Circuito de Jerez. MotorLand Aragón will again serve as the season finale. 

• Round 1: Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (20–22 February)
• Round 2: Circuito del Jarama (27 February–1 March)
• Round 3: MotorLand Aragón (13–15 March)

The format 

The championship will introduce a new format this year, featuring a revamped reverse-grid sprint race and shorter test sessions. Unlike last year, when the final round ran with a different format, the same one will be used in all three rounds.

Two 40-minute official tests will kick off the weekend on Friday, down from two hours per session for the majority of last year’s season but akin to the format of the final round. 

Saturday will start with a single 20-minute qualifying session to set the grid for race one, which lasts 30 minutes plus one lap. If the first qualifying session is unable to go ahead, the grid will be formed using the classification of the final free practice session.

The sprint race then follows on the same day, again lasting 20 minutes plus one lap, but will now reverse the top 12 from qualifying instead of the top eight as in the 2025 season. If the first qualifying session is unable to go ahead, the top 12 will be formed by reversing the top 12 fastest laps from race one, with the rest of the grid formed in descending order.

A second 20-minute qualifying session on Sunday will set the grid for the final race of the weekend, which will last 30 minutes plus one lap. If the second qualifying session is unable to go ahead, the grid will be formed using the fastest laps from race one.

The first and final races of the weekend will award points through the standard FIA points format, with 25 points for the winner down to one point for the 10th-place finisher. The sprint race will award 10 points for the winner down to one point for 10th.

The fastest driver in each qualifying session will once again earn two points. For all three races, the driver with the fastest lap will score one point. Drivers who join the championship after the first round will be classed as guest drivers and therefore ineligible to score points.

Where to watch 

Every race will be streamed on the Spanish Winter Championship YouTube channel. Live timing for all sessions will be available on Al Kamel Systems.

Teams and drivers 

The championship has introduced a hard limit on entries per team this year for a total of 30 cars on the grid, with four cars being the largest allocation that teams have received for this season. As such, the satellite teams of KCL by MP, Griffin Core by Campos, Sparco Palou MS and DX Racing Team will not return this year. 

After competing in both the 2025 winter series and the main season, Saintéloc Racing and Allay Racing will also not return this year.

MP Motorsport 

Last year, MP Motorsport took the teams’ title in both the winter series and the main season and fielded both series’ drivers’ champions. With an allocation of four cars, the Dutch squad will field 2025 Spanish F4 runner-up Ean Eyckmans (#4), Gianmarco Pradel (#12), Alceu Feldmann Neto (#17) and René Lammers (#99).

By virtue of winning the 2024 Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout, Eyckmans, 18, earned a 2025 Spanish F4 seat with the Dutch outfit. He finished sixth in the Eurocup-4 winter series, taking two podiums and his only pole position of 2025, before going on to take a total of 11 podiums in the main season. Two of those podiums were victories, making him the only rookie to score a win in the series in 2025. The Belgian driver also competed in four rounds of FR Europe with RPM, with his best finishes being two 10th places at Imola and Spielberg.

Pradel is MP’s only 2026 driver not to come from Spanish F4. The 19-year-old Australian driver competed in GB3 with Rodin Motorsport last year, finishing fourth in the standings with two wins and seven further podiums, including a hat-trick of third-place finishes in the final round at Monza. 

Feldmann Neto recently competed with the team in FR Middle East, in which he finished 34th in the standings with a best result of 16th in the opening round. Last year, the Brazilian driver competed in Eurocup-3’s winter series and the main season with Sparco Palou MS, finishing 29th and 32nd in the respective standings. In Brazilian F4 with Cavaleiro Sports, he took two wins and four further podiums on his way to fifth.

Dutch driver Lammers finished third in the Eurocup-4 winter series last year with a win at Jerez and two further podiums. In Spanish F4, the 17-year-old finished fourth in the standings with four wins and five further podiums and narrowly missed out on a higher championship result after misfortune struck him in the finale at Barcelona.

Campos Racing 

Campos finished runner-up in both the winter series and main season’s teams’ standings last year and have also been allocated four cars. For the winter series, the team will field 2025 GB3 runner-up Patrick Heuzenroeder (#5), reigning Spanish F4 champion Thomas Strauven (#9), returning driver Enzo Tarnvanichkul (#10), and 2025 F4 Middle East runner-up Alex Powell (#41).

Like his countryman Pradel, Heuzenroeder is another Australian driver moving over from GB3. The 20-year-old finished runner-up in the 2025 championship with Xcel Motorsport, having taken a win at Zandvoort and four second places. He also competed in FR Oceania at the beginning of the year, scoring three third places and a win at Highlands.

Along with winning the Spanish F4 title, 17-year-old Strauven also came out on top in the winter series, with two victories and four further podiums. In the main season, the Belgian driver took 10 victories and seven further podiums on his way to the championship, including a hat-trick of wins at Portimão and hat-tricks of podiums at Navarra, Paul Ricard and Valencia. 

Red Bull junior Tarnvanichkul is Campos’ only returning driver, having finished eighth in Eurocup-3 with a win at and two further podiums last year. The Thai driver, who turns 17 this Sunday, participated in the final two rounds of last year’s winter series and finished 13th in the standings with two best finishes of sixth. He also competed in the opening round and final four rounds of GB3 last year with VRD Racing, finishing 17th in the standings with a win at Brands Hatch.

Powell, 18, recently finished fourth in FR Middle East with Pinnacle Motorsport with three podiums to his name. Racing with R-ace GP in 2025, the American-Jamaican driver took five wins and four further podiums on his way to finish runner-up in F4 Middle East and took a total of three wins and four further podiums in his main programme, consisting of Italian F4 and E4. He was released from the Mercedes Junior Team at the end of last year after a nearly seven-year period of affiliation.

Palou Motorsport 

The team co-owned by four-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou finished fourth in the teams’ standings in both the winter series and the main season. In last year’s winter series, returning driver James Egozi (#48) notably scored the team’s first-ever victory at the Portimão sprint race. 

The team will go into 2026 with a new technical partnership with Prema Racing and four allocated cars. Along with Egozi, the team will field Bianca Bustamante (#16), 2025 Brazilian F4 champion Heitor Dall’Agnol (#27) and Rafaël Pérard (#33).

After competing in GB3 last year, Bustamante will move over to Eurocup-3 for her second year at the FR level. Driving for Elite Motorsport, the 21-year-old Filipina driver finished 22nd in the championship with a best finish of 13th scored three times. 

Brazilian driver Dall’Agnol took four wins and seven further podiums on his way to winning his domestic F4 championship with TMG Racing. The 16-year-old was previously entered for Eurocup-3’s Jerez round last September with the team in place of Luciano Morano, but he was withdrawn ahead of the weekend. 

Pérard competed in French F4 last year and finished seventh in the standings. During his campaign, the 17-year-old French driver took podiums in the first races of the Nogaro, Magny-Cours and Le Mans rounds.

Egozi finished ninth in Eurocup-3 last year with a win at Portimão. On his way to third in the winter series, the 18-year-old American driver took a second victory at Aragón as well as a second place at Jerez. 

Drivex

In the winter series, Drivex finished sixth in the teams’ standings with one podium with Juan Cota at Jerez. They went on to finish eighth in the main season, their best result being Michael Belov’s fifth place in the final race of the season. 

With four allocated cars, the team will field Stylianos Kolovos (#6), Christopher Feghali (#7) and Filippo Fiorentino (#37) as well as Daniel Nogales (#13) for only the first round. 

Kolovos made his single-seater debut last year with Nielsen Racing in Euroformula Open’s final round at Monza, with a best finish of ninth in race two. The 16-year-old Greek driver began his 2025 in the IAME Winter Cup in the X30 Senior category before competing in the OK category of the WSK Super Master Series, FIA Karting European Championship, Champions of the Future Euro Series and FIA Karting World Championship.

Former Red Bull Junior Team member Feghali competed with Drivex in Eurocup-4 and Spanish F4 last year. The 16-year-old from Lebanon finished 10th and 13th in the standings respectively, with two podiums in the winter series and a single podium at Portimão in the main season. He also competed in Eurocup-3’s Spa round with the team and in Saudi Arabian F4’s final round, with best results of 12th in the former and third in the latter. 

Nogales last competed in Eurocup-3 in 2024 and has since competed with Team Virage in the Prototype Winter Series’ Barcelona round and the European Le Mans Series’ LMP3 class. The 22-year-old Spanish driver took a best finish of fourth in the former and finished runner-up in the latter with a win at Spa and a second place at Portimão. He was also entered into last year’s Spanish F4 Barcelona round with Drivex to deputise for Rafaela Ferreira, who Feeder Series learned was withdrawn for medical reasons, before being withdrawn himself before qualifying.

Fiorentino, 17, competed with the team in Spanish F4 and its winter series last year, finishing 20th in the former and 14th in the latter with best results of fifth and 10th, respectively. The Brazilian driver also finished fourth in Brazilian F4 with TMG Racing with two wins and three podiums after joining from the second round onwards. He also competed in Eurocup-3’s Assen and Spa rounds with Drivex, taking a best finish of 20th.

GRS Team

GRS Team fielded a single car for the vast majority of 2025. In the winter series, Cristian Cantú and later Yani Stevenheydens (#74), who returns for this year’s edition of the championship, piloted the Valencian team’s single entry, with the Belgian driver scoring their best result of 11th in the final race. The team competed in the main season’s first, second and seventh round with Stevenheydens and brought on Maximilian Popov in a second car for the Barcelona finale. Their combined effort netted the team 16 points, enough for ninth in the main season standings.

Stevenheydens, who turns 20 this Sunday, began his 2025 by competing in the Eurocup-4 winter series with MP Motorsport, in which he finished 13th overall with a win at Navarra. In Eurocup-3, he finished 16th in the standings with a best result of seventh in the opening race at Spielberg.

Gianni Giovanelli (#29) will partner Stevenheydens for the winter series. He tested the team’s Tatuus-built Eurocup-3 machinery multiple times last year as well as the Dallara 326 at MotorLand Aragón last month. He competed in Fórmula 3 Metropolitana in his native Argentina last year. 

Hitech

Hitech are the first of four additions to the Eurocup-3 grid for 2026 and one of two British entries. At the FR level, the team finished as the runner-up in the two most recent seasons of GB3 and recently finished third in the FR Oceania standings. Keanu Al Azhari (#14), Stefan Bostandjiev (#23), Santino Panetta (#39) and reigning F4 CEZ champion Gino Trappa (#84) will compete for the team in their four allocated cars.

Al Azhari, 18, moves over to Eurocup-3 from Hitech’s GB3 squad, with whom he finished sixth in the standings with a race win at Silverstone and four further podiums. The Emirati driver also competed with SSR Performance at the GT Winter Series’ GT3 class at Portimão, where he won the first two races of the weekend, and with Mühlner Motorsport in the Prototype Cup Germany’s Spa and Spielberg rounds of Prototype Cup Germany with Mühlner Motorsport, with a best result of eighth.

In his first year of single-seaters after competing in GT cars, Bulgarian driver Bostandjiev competed full-time in GB4 with Pace Performance as well as in the first three rounds of GB3 with Fortec Motorsport. The 21-year-old finished 12th in the former’s standings with a race win at Silverstone and two further podiums and scored a best finish of 14th in the latter at Zandvoort.

Last year, Panetta competed in Spanish F4 and its winter series. The 16-year-old Argentine driver finished 18th in the former with a best finish of seventh and 21st in the latter with a best finish of 11th.

Driving for Jenzer Motorsport in F4 CEZ, Trappa took six wins and five second places on his way to the title. The 17-year-old Argentine driver also competed in Spanish F4 and its winter series with Drivex, finishing 16th with a best result of seventh and 18th with a best result of eighth respectively. He missed Spanish F4’s final round to compete in the inaugural F4 World Cup in Macau, where he finished ninth after crashing out of the qualifying race. He also competed in two rounds of the Formula Winter Series with Van Amersfoort Racing and in Euroformula Open’s Le Castellet round with Nielsen Racing, driving iin the latter the Dallara 324 chassis that serves as the technical and structural foundation forEurocup-3’s 326.

Tecnicar

Valencian team Tecnicar joined the grid ahead of last year’s Jerez round, first as a single entry with Ariel Elkin. The USF Pro 2000 runner-up was later joined for the final round by Dani Maciá, who finished seventh in the first race of the weekend.

Tecnicar have been allotted three cars in 2026 but are expected to field only two at Portimão, occupied by 2025 Eurocup-3 driver Kacper Sztuka (#2) and single-seater debutant Benjamin Beckley (#20).

Driving for Griffin Core by Campos, Sztuka finished 11th in the winter series and took a third-place finish in his final appearance with Campos Racing at Portimão. The 20-year-old Polish driver then went on to finish third in Eurocup-3, taking two wins and five further podiums.

Beckley tested F4 machinery with Tecnicar across 2025 as well as the team’s 326 chassis earlier this year. The 16-year-old has also tested Formula Renault 2.0 machinery in his native Costa Rica.

TC Racing

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ team joined the Spanish F4 grid in 2024 and now makes the step up to FR-level competition with a two-car lineup. For their debut season, the team will field Luca Viişoreanu (#11) and Renzo Barbuy (#31).

Viişoreanu competed with Real Racing in the first five rounds of Italian F4 last year – where he scored a best finish of fourth at Monza – as well as in the first rounds of F4 CEZ and E4 with the team, taking a race win and a best finish of 12th respectively. After driving for R-ace GP in Italian F4’s Barcelona round, he then moved up to Euroformula Open. He competed with Motopark for the series’ Spielberg round before moving to Nielsen Racing for the final round at Monza, where he took his best finish of fifth. 

Barbuy, 15, made his single-seater debut last year with Starrett Bassani in Brazilian F4. The Argentinian driver finished 14th in the standings with a best finish of seventh in the final race of the season at Interlagos.

Double R Racing 

Double R Racing are a surprise addition to the grid, having last competed at the FR level when they operated the W Series cars in the all-female series’ final two seasons. The Woking-based outfit last had experience with a Dallara chassis when they competed in Euroformula Open between 2019 and 2021. Having been allocated three cars, Double R will field Yuanpu Cui (#26), Bart Harrison (#77) and Lorenzo Campos (#91).

Cui finished ninth in FR Oceania with Mtec Motorsport earlier this year with a best finish of fourth. The Chinese driver, who turns 18 today, competed in two rounds each of FR Middle East and FR Europe with Pinnacle Motorsport and Prema Racing respectively last year, taking best results of 15th in the former and 13th in the latter. The former Mercedes junior’s main campaign was in GB3, and he competed for Argenti with Prema in the first four rounds before moving to Hillspeed for the second Silverstone weekend. His best finishes were two sixth places.

Harrison, 18, competed in the Formula Winter Series and Italian F4 with Jenzer Motorsport, finishing seventh in the former with two third places at Barcelona and 14th in the latter with a third place at Monza. The British driver also raced in the opening rounds of E4 and F4 CEZ, taking two wins and a third-place finish at Spielberg in the Czech-based series. He then stepped up to GB3 with JHR Developments for its final two rounds, scoring his lone podium with a second place at Donington Park.

Angolan driver Campos competed in Eurocup-4 and Spanish F4 last year with Monlau Motorsport and finished 29th and 27th in the standings respectively with best results of 14th and 13th. The 16-year-old also competed as a guest driver in Eurocup-3’s final round with MP Motorsport at Barcelona, where he finished a best of 21st, and will compete with the Dutch outfit in the main season in 2026.

The grid at a glance

Team	#	Driver
Tecnicar	2	Kacper Sztuka
	20	Benjamin Beckley (R)
MP Motorsport	4	Ean Eyckmans (R)
	12	Gianmarco Pradel
	17	Alceu Feldmann Neto
	99	René Lammers (R)
Campos Racing	5	Patrick Heuzenroeder
	9	Thomas Strauven (R)
	10	Enzo Tarnvanichkul
	41	Alex Powell
Drivex	6	Stylianos Kolovos (R)
	7	Christopher Feghali (R)
	13	Daniel Nogales
	37	Filippo Fiorentino (R)
TC Racing	11	Luca Viişoreanu (R)
	31	Renzo Barbuy (R)
Hitech	14	Keanu Al Azhari
	23	Stefan Bostandjiev (R)
	39	Santino Panetta (R)
	84	Gino Trappa (R)
Palou Motorsport	16	Bianca Bustamante
	27	Heitor Dall’Agnol (R)
	33	Rafaël Pérard (R)
	48	James Egozi
Double R Racing	26	Yuanpu Cui
	77	Bart Harrison (R)
	91	Lorenzo Campos (R)
GRS Team	29	Gianni Giovanelli (R)
	74	Yani Stevenheydens (R)

Header photo credit: Spanish Winter Championship