The Spanish Winter Championship package kicked off its 2026 proceedings at Portimão, while USF Juniors held an unusual mid-week round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Feeder Series reviews the action.

By Feeder Series

The past few weeks of junior single-seater racing have been affected by rescheduling, rain showers and more chaos. This week’s action proceeded calmly by comparison, though the schedule of events was already unusual thanks to USF Juniors’ season opener at Homestead, which ran from Monday – a federal holiday in the United States – to Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Eurocup-3’s and Spanish F4’s winter series got underway this weekend at a much sunnier Portimão than two weeks ago, when the Formula Winter Series visited. Keep reading to find out what happened.

1. USF Juniors: Mokarem wins twice on USF Juniors debut to open the season
2. Eurocup-3 SWC: Al Azhari sweeps podium, steals points lead in Hitech’s debut weekend
3. Eurocup-4 SWC: Tye wins twice to take early championship lead

USF Juniors: Mokarem wins twice on USF Juniors debut to open the season

Zanella Racing’s Max Mokarem started his rookie USF Juniors season in superb fashion by scoring two wins at Homestead in an unusual early-week round. He now holds a seven-point lead over Karol Pasiewicz, who finished second in all three races.

After taking pole on Tuesday morning, Mokarem held off Pasiewicz early in  race one through a safety car deployment for Alex Berg’s retirement on lap two. Even with a late safety car on lap 13 for Victor Couto’s stopped car, Mokarem grew his lead to 1.9022 seconds in five laps to take his maiden series win on debut ahead of Pasiewicz.

Vilho Aatola rounded out the podium after Casper Nissen and Max Cuthbert, originally third and fourth, were both given five-second penalties for blocking, dropping to seventh and 10th respectively.

On Wednesday, Machado Pérez qualified on pole for race two and held the lead until lap five, when Mokarem passed him as they headed into the infield section. Despite falling as low as third while trying to pass the lapped car of Brenden Cooley, the Spaniard quickly caught up with Mokarem and began battling with him for the lead from lap 11.

It quickly became a four-way fight as Nissen and Pasiewicz joined in the fight, but only four laps later, a collision between Nissen and Mokarem dropped the latter down the order and promoted Machado Pérez back to the lead. As the Spaniard grew a 3.5372s lead to take his maiden series win, Pasiewicz held off Nissen, Aatola and Couto to finish second. Post-race, however, both Nissen and Couto were given 10-second penalties for earlier collisions, promoting Aatola to third for the second race in a row.

Machado Pérez was once again on pole for race three and kept Pasiewicz at bay in the first third of the race until the safety car was deployed for debris on track. During this intervention, JW Main stopped on track and retired, delaying the restart. When the race restarted with nine laps to go, the Spaniard fell to sixth. Mokarem jumped three cars on the restart to take the lead, with  Leonardo Serravalle and Cole Medeiros following through to slot in behind the Lebanese driver.

As Machado Pérez began to fight for podium places again, he spun Serravalle with seven laps to go, dropping the Canadian to last. The 24-year-old’s time at the front likewise ended three laps later as a collision between him and Bex Cranston meant he ran wide and lost his front wing while fighting Pasiewicz for fourth.

The Pole then passed Nissen and Olivier Mrak the next lap and began fighting with leader Mokarem on the final lap. Pasiewicz found a way past as they went through the oval, but the Lebanese driver re-passed him at the line to score his second win by just 0.0094s. Behind them, Mrak inherited third after Cranston – who battled food poisoning all weekend – received a 10-second penalty for his earlier collision with Machado Pérez and dropped to 16th.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Max Mokarem, 1:23.3084	Bex Cranston, +0.0637s	Karol Pasiewicz, +0.1519s
Race 1 (20 laps)	Max Mokarem, 33:21.6795	Karol Pasiewicz, +1.9022s	Vilho Aatola, +3.9331s
Qualifying 2	Iván Machado Pérez, 1:22.9097	Vilho Aatola, +0.2543s	Max Mokarem, +0.3754s
Race 2 (20 laps)	Iván Machado Pérez, 28:06.7039	Karol Pasiewicz, +3.5372s	Vilho Aatola, +3.6603s
Race 3 (20 laps)	Max Mokarem, 32:29.3361	Karol Pasiewicz, +0.0094s	Olivier Mrak, +4.1927s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Max Mokarem, 82	Zanella Racing, 87	Max Mokarem, 82
P2	Karol Pasiewicz, 75	Olivia Racing, 63	Karol Pasiewicz, 75
P3	Vilho Aatola, 53	Exclusive Autosport, 52	Olivier Mrak, 53
P4	Olivier Mrak, 53	DEForce Racing, 41	Iván Machado Pérez, 43
P5	Iván Machado Pérez, 43	VRD Racing by Pole Position, 33	Casper Nissen, 41
P6	Casper Nissen, 41	JHDD powered by ECR, 33	Bex Cranston, 38
P7	Bex Cranston, 38	Berg Racing, 15	Cole Medeiros, 37
P8	Cole Medeiros, 37		Victor Couto, 36
P9	Victor Couto, 36		Max Cuthbert, 33
P10	Max Cuthbert, 33		Leonardo Serravalle, 29

Eurocup-3 SWC: Al Azhari sweeps podium, steals points lead in Hitech’s debut weekend

Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari leads the Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship drivers’ standings after finishing on the podium in all three races at Portimao. He currently sits on 55 points, 19 ahead of James Egozi, who won the first two races from fifth and eighth on the grid.

Ean Eyckmans took pole for race one but stalled at the start, giving Thomas Strauven a clear path to take the lead into Turn 1 ahead of Egozi and René Lammers. Egozi then overtook Strauven just before the first of three safety car deployments for Gino Trappa’s stricken car at Turn 5.

The race restarted at the end of lap three, and Egozi held the lead into Turn 1. He did the same on the next two restarts at the end of laps six and 10, with  Al Azhari diving down the inside of Lammers at Turn 1 for third on the last restart. The Alpine junior then dispatched Strauven with a late switchback two laps later at Turn 5, with Lammers quickly catching up to the Belgian driver himself on lap 14 and getting past as the pair started the next lap.

In the end, Egozi took victory ahead of Al Azhari and Lammers. Polesitter Eyckmans recovered to 10th after his stall.

For the sprint race, Luca Viişoreanu started on pole along Heitor Dall’Agnol. Trappa overtook the polesitter into Turn 1 whilst Egozi overtook Dall’Agnol for third two turns later around the outside. Egozi overtook Viişoreanu through Turn 10 just before the safety car was called for a collision between Gianni Giovanelli and Stylianos Kolovos at Turn 8.

The race resumed at the end of lap four, and Trappa held off Egozi through the first two turns whilst Pradel overtook both Viişoreanu and Dall’Agnol for third. As the field bunched up approaching Turn 5, Al Azhari also overtook the pair to move into fourth.

A second safety car was deployed on lap seven after Heuzenroeder stopped on the inside of Turn 1 with a mechanical failure. This lasted a single lap, and Egozi almost immediately overtook Trappa at the restart. Gianmarco Pradel then made contact with the Argentine driver’s rear-right tyre at Turn 3 and gave him a puncture, which moved the MP Motorsport driver and Al Azhari into the top three. 

Behind them, a concertina effect caused Lammers to hit the back of Dall’Agnol and break his front-left suspension, stranding him at the entry to Turn 14 and necessitating a third safety car as the timer hit zero. Before it was deployed, Al Azhari overtook Pradel – whose front wing was dislodged from the earlier contact – into Turn 1 for second, where he finished. Pradel was later given a 10-second penalty for the collision with Trappa, promoting Powell to third.

Eyckmans from second overtook polesitter Al Azhari off the line in race three whilst Lammers behind immediately passed a stalled Egozi and beat Powell to the apex of Turn 1 to take third. The Emirati driver retook the lead on the following lap with a move into the first corner.

The race’s only safety car was deployed that same lap as Trappa and his teammate Stefan Bostandjiev took each other out of the race at Turn 5. The Bulgarian driver was found at fault and given a three-place grid penalty. 

Al Azhari led the field to green at the end of lap five, Third-placed Lammers was quickly under threat by Powell, who eventually settled for fourth. After 18 laps, the Emirati driver came out victorious ahead of Eyckmans and Lammers, who bookended his weekend with third-place finishes.

Report by Seb Tirado

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Ean Eyckmans, 1:35.656	Thomas Strauven, +0.057s	Alex Powell, +0.219s
Race 1 (16 laps)	James Egozi, 31:55.808	Keanu Al Azhari, +2.269s	René Lammers, +5.758s
Sprint race (11 laps)	James Egozi, 23:45.880	Keanu Al Azhari, +0.397s	Alex Powell, +2.464s
Qualifying 2	Keanu Al Azhari, 1:35.452	Ean Eyckmans, +0.092s	Alex Powell, +0.120s
Race 2 (18 laps)	Keanu Al Azhari, 32:30.341	Ean Eyckmans, +0.869s	René Lammers, +6.840s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Keanu Al Azhari, 55	MP Motorsport, 59	René Lammers, 30
P2	James Egozi, 36	Hitech, 58	Ean Eyckmans, 28
P3	René Lammers, 30	Campos Racing, 57	Thomas Strauven, 26
P4	Ean Eyckmans, 28	Palou Motorsport, 41	Alex Powell, 21
P5	Thomas Strauven, 26	Drivex, 13	Christopher El Feghali, 11
P6	Alex Powell, 21	GRS Team, 12	Stefan Bostandjiev, 5
P7	Enzo Tarnvanichkul, 14	Double R Racing, 0	Rafaël Pérard, 4
P8	Yani Stevenheydens, 12	Tecnicar, 0	Filippo Fiorentino, 2
P9	Christopher El Feghali, 11	TC Racing, 0	Heitor Dall’Agnol, 1
P10	Patrick Heuzenroeder, 10		Lorenzo Campos, 0

Eurocup-4 SWC: Tye wins twice to take early championship lead

Two victories for Drivex’s Nathan Tye at Portimão put him atop the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship standings by 25 points over Noah Monteiro, who is in turn only one point ahead of Griffin Core by Campos teammate Vivek Kanthan.

From his first career pole, Kanthan moved to cover off Tye on the run to Turn 1 whilst Coronel, capitalising on a stall for Kasper Schormans, attacked Francot for fourth. Coronel made contact with Francot heading into Turn 3, breaking the former’s front wing and giving the latter a puncture. 

Ty Fisher overtook Coronel into Turn 1, and the Dutch driver went wide on the outside to regain the position but went airborne and fell to ninth. A lap later, contact between Coronel and Phillipe Armand Karras into Turn 15 dislodged the Greek driver’s front wing.

The Red Bull junior pulled off at Turn 9 to retire just before a safety car deployment for a collision at Turn 11 involving Karras, Beau Lowette and Dante Cima. Once the race restarted going into lap nine, Kanthan immediately tried to break Tye’s slipstream into Turn 1, but the British driver prevailed in the subsequent battle and eventually won the race. 

Petrović, running third after having capitalised on Coronel and Francot’s incident, locked up entering Turn 8 on lap 11, and teammate Nacho Tuñón overtook him and completed the podium. A multi-car battle raged behind, and Monteiro, who started 31st after suffering technical issues in qualifying, won out to rise to fourth, with Schormans and Francot climbing to fifth and ninth respectively after their opening-lap misfortunes.

After a slight delay due to cars that were in the wrong grid slots, Luna Fluxá led the field from pole for the sprint race. Simón Bulbarella in second had a slow getaway and fell behind Petrović, Coronel and Daniel Kelleher, who then took third from Coronel with a switchback at Turn 2. Fluxá fended off Petrović on her outside at Turn 5 just before the safety car was deployed for a stopped Aleix Piñera at Turn 3. The Tecnicar driver got going again before pulling off at Turn 7.

Under the safety car, Felipe Reijs also crashed into Lowette into Turn 1, taking both drivers out of the race. Reijs was given a 10-place grid penalty for the final race for causing the collision. 

The race restarted at the end of lap five and Petrović used the slipstream to pass Fluxá to take the lead into Turn 1 – and eventually win. At the same corner a lap later, Coronel retook third from Kelleher, who in turn was overtaken by Francot for fourth on lap nine after a battle through the first sector.

Tye had a smooth start from pole for the final race ahead of Monteiro. Behind, Francot immediately put pressure on Kanthan for third whilst Coronel overtook three cars on the run to Turn 1 to rise to fifth.

Green-flag running continued until lap eight, when Schormans stopped between Turns 4 and 5 to bring out the first of two safety cars. The second deployment came half a lap after the restart at the end of lap 11 when Kelleher slid into Fisher at Turn 5 and spun him around and Philippe Armand Karras mounted the Irish driver’s car.

Racing resumed at the end of lap 14, and Tye and Monteiro remained unchallenged until the chequered flag on lap 16. In the battle for third, a late switchback move at Turn 5 on the final lap by Francot caused him and Kanthan to run wide and make contact. Coronel slipped through to take third as Kanthan dropped to seventh.

Report by Seb Tirado

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Vivek Kanthan, 1:44.675	Nathan Tye, +0.013s	Reno Francot, +0.124s
Race 1 (17 laps)	Nathan Tye, 33:27.425	Vivek Kanthan, +0.571s	Nacho Tuñón, +6.644s
Sprint race (11 laps)	Andrej Petrović, 23:13.549	Luna Fluxá, +0.865s	Rocco Coronel, +1.771s
Qualifying 2	Nathan Tye, 1:44.796	Noah Monteiro, +0.041s	Vivek Kanthan, +0.183s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Nathan Tye, 33:25.892	Noah Monteiro, +0.361s	Rocco Coronel, +1.860s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Nathan Tye, 56	Griffin Core by Campos, 59	Rocco Coronel, 23
P2	Noah Monteiro, 31	Drivex, 58	Kasper Schormans, 15
P3	Vivek Kanthan, 30	T-Code, 54	Luna Fluxá, 13
P4	Andrej Petrović, 28	MP Motorsport, 38	Daniel Kelleher, 12
P5	Nacho Tuñón, 26	Campos Racing, 25	Jensen Burnett, 4
P6	Rocco Coronel, 23	KCL by MP, 22	Simon Bulbarella, 1
P7	Reno Francot, 22	G4 Racing, 3	Miki Blascos, 0
P8	Kasper Schormans, 15	Monlau Motorsport, 0	Borys Łyżeń, 0
P9	Luna Fluxá, 13	TC Racing, 0	Maria Germano Neto, 0
P10	Daniel Kelleher, 12	Tecnicar, 0	Jacob Micallef, 0

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool