The fourth season of Eurocup-3 kicks off this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard for its first of eight rounds in 2026, with drivers taking to a new Dallara-made chassis. Feeder Series tells you everything that you need to know about the series.
By Seb Tirado
Off the back of the second edition of the Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship, the pecking order in the championship has greatly changed. Hitech and Palou Motorsport will be teams to watch out for after Keanu Al Azhari and James Egozi immediately proved themselves as frontrunners, taking the majority of the race wins between them in the winter series.
This being said, the powerhouses of Campos Racing and MP Motorsport still had a major presence in the top 10 of the drivers’ standings. Those two teams and Hitech were closely matched in the teams’ standings, with the Spanish outfit ultimately taking the honours.
The Eurocup-3 SWC also saw the competitive debut of the Dallara 326 chassis, which replaced the modified Tatuus F3 T-318 chassis that the championship previously utilised. The new chassis is structurally identical to the Dallara 324 chassis used in Euroformula Open and Super Formula Lights and is powered by the same Toyota-sourced, TOM’S-developed three-cylinder turbocharged engine. As a result, the championship no longer formally conforms to the Formula Regional technical specifications, though it retains an equivalent position on the single-seater ladder.
The calendar
Eurocup-3 will have several changes in regard to venues for 2026. The championship will not return to the Red Bull Ring, TT Circuit Assen, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Circuito de Jerez, instead adding Imola, Silverstone and the Hungaroring.
The championship will support the European Le Mans Series at Le Castellet, Imola and Silverstone. These weekends will feature a sprint race on their schedules, with an identical format to the sprints featured on the Spanish Winter Championship weekends.
Eurocup-3 will also race at the Madring ahead of F1’s Spanish Grand Prix alongside Spanish F4. The venue was originally announced last July along with many of the preliminary details for the 2026 season. Shortly afterwards, the circuit denied that an agreement had been made with the championship promoters and the Spanish motorsport federation RFEDA to host a round. The current dates of 15–16 August were listed in the federation’s published 2026 circuit calendar.
- Round 1: Circuit Paul Ricard (1–3 May)
- Round 2: Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (5–7 June)
- Round 3: Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (3–5 July)
- Round 4: Autodromo Nazionale Monza (31 July–2 August)
- Round 5: Madring (15–16 August)
- Round 6: Silverstone Circuit (11–13 March)
- Round 7: Hungaroring (23–25 October)
- Round 8: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (6–8 November)
The format
Two 40-minute official tests kick off Eurocup-3’s race weekends. The weekend will have two 20-minute qualifying sessions, the first setting the grid for race one and the second setting the grid for race two. Both races will last 30 minutes plus one lap.
During ELMS-supporting rounds, the sprint race will fall between what are formally called race one and race two on the schedule, as it did during the winter series. It will again reverse the top 12 from qualifying one and last 20 minutes plus one lap.
If the first qualifying session is unable to go ahead, race one’s grid will be formed using the classification of the last official test. The sprint race’s reversed grid will be formed by using the top 12 fastest laps from race one, with the rest of the grid formed in normal descending order. If the second qualifying session is unable to go ahead, the grid will also be formed using the fastest laps from race one.
For sprint races, the winner will receive 10 points, with points decreasing by one down to the 10th-place finisher, who receives one point. Otherwise, points will be awarded through the standard FIA points format, with 25 points for the winner down to one point for the 10th.
The fastest driver in each qualifying session will receive two points, and the driver with the fastest lap in each race will score one point. Any drivers that only compete in the last two rounds will be classed as guest drivers and therefore ineligible to score points.
New for this year is that the top three drivers in the championship will receive prize money. A total of €80,000 will go to the champion, €40,000 to the runner-up and €30,000 to the third-place driver.
Where to watch
Every race will be streamed on the Eurocup-3 YouTube channel. Live timing for all sessions will be available on Al Kamel Systems.
Teams and drivers
As was previously reported, Eurocup-3 has allocated a certain number of entries for each team, with four being the largest allocation that teams have received. A maximum of 30 cars can compete in each race. While no round last year had more than 30 cars, four outfits – Campos, MP, Palou and Drivex – fielded more than four cars each via satellite teams, a setup that will no longer exist this year.
Having not competed in the winter series, Saintéloc Racing and Allay Racing will also not return for the main season after competing last year. Most other line-ups remain the same as those last seen in March at the final Eurocup-3 SWC round.
Campos Racing
Campos finished as runners-up in the main Eurocup-3 season in 2025. The team will continue with their winter series line-up of GB3 runner-up Patrick Heuzenroeder (#5), 2025 Spanish F4 champion Thomas Strauven (#9), Red Bull junior Enzo Tarnvanichkul (#10), and Alex Powell (#41).
Heuzenroeder finished ninth in the winter series with two best results of fifth. Driving for Xcel Motorsport in GB3 last year, the 20-year-old Australian driver took a win at Zandvoort and four second places. Earlier this year, he also substituted for Campos driver Ernesto Rivera in the F3 season opener in Melbourne and finished a best of 17th in the feature race.
Strauven, 18, took 10 victories and seven further podiums on his way to the Spanish F4 title last year. In the Eurocup-3 winter series, the Belgian driver finished eighth with two best results of fourth.
Tarnvanichkul took victory in the final race of the winter series and a third place at Jarama on his way to fourth in the standings. Last year, the 17-year-old Thai driver finished eighth in Eurocup-3 with the team after taking victory at Jerez and two third places. He also competed part-time with VRD Racing in GB3, finishing 17th with a victory at Brands Hatch.
Ahead of the SWC, former Mercedes junior Powell took three podiums on his way to fourth in FR Middle East with Pinnacle Motorsport. In the winter series, the 18-year-old American-Jamaican driver finished fifth with two third places. Last year, he took a total of three wins and four further podiums to finish ninth and fifth in Italian F4 and E4 respectively, driving with R-ace GP in both series.
Hitech
In their first Eurocup-3 SWC campaign, Hitech won the drivers’ title with Keanu Al Azhari (#14) and finished second in the teams’ standings. The Emirati driver returns for the main season along with Stefan Bostandjiev (#23), Santino Panetta (#39) and reigning F4 CEZ champion Gino Trappa (#84).
Al Azhari, 18, took two victories and five further podiums on the way to his first ever championship title in cars. Last year, the Alpine junior competed in GB3 with the team and finished sixth with a race win at Silverstone and four further podiums, alongside a handful of LMP3 outings in Prototype Cup Germany.
Bulgarian driver Bostandjiev won the Jarama sprint race and took one other points finish of sixth on his way to 12th in the winter series standings. In 2025, the 21-year-old’s main campaign was in GB4 with Pace Performance, and he won at Silverstone and took two other podiums to finish 12th in the standings there as well. He also competed in the first three rounds of GB3 with Fortec Motorsport and took a best finish of 14th at Zandvoort.
Panetta, 16, finished 18th in the winter series with a best result of seventh. In Spanish F4 with TC Racing last year, the Argentine driver also finished 18th with a best finish of seventh.
Trappa took a best finish of fourth on his way to 13th in the winter series. The 18-year-old Argentine driver won the F4 CEZ title last year after taking six wins and five second places and finished 16th in Spanish F4 with Drivex with a best result of seventh. He missed the final round to compete in the inaugural F4 World Cup in Macau, where he finished ninth after experiencing mechanical issues in the qualifying race. He also competed in Euroformula Open’s Paul Ricard round with Nielsen Racing and took a best finish of fifth.
MP Motorsport
Last year, the Dutch outfit took the teams’ title in the main season and fielded champion Mattia Colnaghi. They finished third in this year’s winter series, behind newcomers Hitech.
The team will continue with their line-up of 2025 Spanish F4 runner-up Ean Eyckmans (#4), Alceu Feldmann Neto (#8), Gianmarco Pradel (#12) and René Lammers (#99).
Eyckmans, 18, took two victories and nine further podiums in Spanish F4 last year, making him the only rookie to score a win. In this year’s winter series, the Belgian driver finished seventh with a second place at Portimão. He also competed in four rounds of FR Europe with RPM and took two best finishes of 10th at Imola and Spielberg.
Before the winter series, in which he finished 19th with a best result of ninth, Feldmann Neto competed in FR Middle East with MP and finished 34th with a best result of 16th. Last year, the Brazilian driver, who turns 18 on Saturday, finished 32nd in Eurocup-3 with a best result of 15th and fifth in Brazilian F4 with two wins and four further podiums.
Competing with Rodin Motorsport in GB3 last year, Pradel finished fourth in the standings with two wins and seven further podiums. In this year’s winter series, the 20-year-old Australian driver took victory at Aragón and two other second places on his way to sixth.
Lammers, 17, finished fourth in the Spanish F4 standings with four wins and five further podiums. In this year’s winter series, the Dutch driver took five podiums on his way to third.
Palou Motorsport
The eponymous team of four-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou finished fourth in both last year’s main season and this year’s winter series. The team, who have a technical partnership with Prema Racing, will continue with their line-up of Bianca Bustamante (#16), 2025 Brazilian F4 champion Heitor Dall’Agnol (#27), Rafaël Pérard (#33) and SWC runner-up James Egozi (#48).
Bustamante, 21, finished 25th in the winter series with a best result of 13th. The Filipina driver finished 22nd in GB3 last year with Elite Motorsport, scoring a best result of 13th on three occasions.
Dall’Agnol took four wins and seven further podiums on the way to his championship title with TMG Racing. The 16-year-old Brazilian driver finished 15th in the winter series, his best result being second in the Jarama sprint race.
Pérard finished seventh in French F4 last year with three podiums. In the winter series, the 17-year-old French driver finished 10th in the standings with a second place at Jarama.
Despite taking four victories in the winter series, Egozi only scored one other points finish, a seventh at Jarama. In Eurocup-3 last year, the 18-year-old American driver won the Portimão sprint race and finished ninth in the standings. He missed the final round to compete in the FR World Cup, in which he finished eighth in the qualifying race and 14th in the main race.
Drivex
Drivex finished eighth in the standings in Eurocup-3 last year and improved to fifth in this year’s winter series. For the 2026 season, the team will add Édouard Borgna (#3) to their existing line-up of Stylianos Kolovos (#6), Christopher Feghali (#7) and Filippo Fiorentino (#37).
Borgna, 21, competed in FR Europe last year with G4 Racing. The French driver finished 30th in the standings with a best result of 17th.
Kolovos finished 26th in the winter series, his first full single-seater campaign, with a best result of 13th. After graduating from senior karting, the 16-year-old Greek driver made his single-seater debut last year with Nielsen Racing in Euroformula Open’s final round at Monza and took a best finish of ninth in race two.
Former Red Bull junior Feghali finished 11th in the winter series with a best result of sixth. Competing with the team in Spanish F4 last year, the 16-year-old Lebanese driver finished 13th in the standings and took a best result of third at Portimão. He also competed in Eurocup-3’s Spa round with the team, taking a best finish of 12th, and in Saudi Arabian F4’s final round at Jeddah, where he took a third place in his only classified finish.
Fiorentino, 17, competed with the team in Spanish F4 last year, finishing 20th with a best result of 10th, as well as in Eurocup-3’s Assen and Spa rounds, from which his best finish was 20th. The Brazilian driver also competed in his domestic F4 championship with TMG Racing from the second round onwards, finishing fourth in the standings with two wins and three podiums in addition to two wins and a second place in the non-championship São Paulo Grand Prix round. In this year’s winter series, he finished 16th with a best result of sixth.
GRS Team
GRS Team finished ninth in Eurocup-3 last year in a part-time campaign and finished sixth in the winter series. The Valencian squad will have an entirely new line-up of Rayan Caretti (#44) and Andre Rodriguez (#70) for the main season.
Caretti, 18, finished fourth in French F4 last year and took two victories and three further podiums. The French driver also competed in the F4 World Cup, finishing third from 15th on the grid in the qualifying race but crashing out of the main race at Turn 11 whilst running second.
Alongside his Eurocup-3 campaign, Rodriguez will also be competing in Italian F4 with Cram Motorsport. He finished 25th with the team in this year’s Formula Winter Series, taking a best result of eighth. Last year, the 17-year-old American driver competed in Italian F4’s Monza, Barcelona and Misano rounds with Cram; Spanish F4’s Portimão round with Monlau Motorsport as a guest driver; and E4 with Van Amersfoort Racing, in which he finished 35th with a best finish of 16th across all three rounds. He also competed with Winfield Racing in the final round of the Ultimate Cup Series’ Formula Cup at Le Castellet, where he scored a podium in the final race.
Double R Racing
This winter, Double R Racing returned to FR-level competition for the first time since 2022, when the team operated the cars used in the W Series field. The Woking-based outfit finished seventh in the winter series standings, with their best result being a seventh-place finish for Yuanpu Cui at Aragon.
The Chinese driver will not be present for the Paul Ricard season opener. Instead, the team have unexpectedly brought on former IndyCar driver Linus Lundqvist (#26) as a last-minute substitute. The 27-year-old Swedish driver last raced in the 2024 IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing, taking two third places and a pole position en route to 16th place overall. The last time he competed in junior single-seaters was in 2022, when he took five wins and four further podiums on his way to the Indy Lights drivers’ title with HMD Motorsports. He last competed with Double R in 2018, when he won the British F3 title with seven wins and six further podiums.
Alongside Lundqvist, Double R will continue to field Bart Harrison (#77) and Lorenzo Campos (#91).
Harrison, 18, finished 27th in the winter series with a best result of 15th. Last year, the British driver’s main campaign was in Italian F4 with Jenzer Motorsport, and he finished 14th in the standings with a third place at Monza. He also competed in the F4 CEZ season opener with Jenzer at Spielberg, where he took two wins and a third place, and in the final two rounds of GB3 with JHR Developments, where he took a second place at Donington Park.
In Spanish F4 last year, Angolan driver Campos finished 27th in the standings with Monlau Motorsport with a best result of 13th. The 16-year-old made his Eurocup-3 debut last year in Barcelona as a guest driver with MP Motorsport and finished 21st in this year’s winter series with a sole points finish of 10th.
TC Racing
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ TC Racing team finished eighth in their first Eurocup-3 SWC campaign. The team will continue with Luca Viişoreanu (#11) and Renzo Barbuy (#31) for their maiden season in the main series.
Viişoreanu, 17, took a single points finish of 10th on his way to 20th in the winter series standings. Last year, the Romanian driver competed in the first five rounds of Italian F4 with Real Racing before competing in Euroformula Open’s Spielberg round with Motopark. He raced in Italian F4’s Barcelona round with R-ace GP and then returned to Euroformula Open with Nielsen Racing for its Monza finale. He was classified 24th in Italian F4, while he took a best result of sixth in his six Euroformula Open races.
Barbuy finished 24th in the winter series standings with two best results of 13th. In 2025, the 17-year-old Argentine finished 14th in the Brazilian F4 standings with Bassani Racing, with a best result of seventh.
Tecnicar
In the winter series, Tecnicar were the only team to not score points. The Valencian team will continue with their line-up of Kacper Sztuka (#2) and Benjamin Beckley (#20) and will also add Andrej Petrović (#22) for the first round.
Former F3 driver Sztuka finished third in Eurocup-3 last year with Campos Racing with two victories and five further podiums. In the winter series, however, the 20-year-old Polish driver finished only 23rd with a best result of 12th.
Beckley, 16, made his single-seater debut in the winter series after testing F4 and Eurocup-3 machinery with the team. The Costa Rican driver finished 29th in the standings and took a best result of 20th.
Petrović makes his Eurocup-3 debut this weekend after taking two wins and two further podiums en route to third in this year’s Eurocup-4 SWC with satellite team T-Code. Driving for the same team in Spanish F4 last year, the 20-year-old Serbian driver finished 12th with two best results of fourth.
The grid at a glance
| Team | # | Driver |
| Tecnicar | 2 | Kacper Sztuka |
| 20 | Benjamin Beckley (R) | |
| 22 | Andrej Petrović (R) | |
| Drivex | 3 | Édouard Borgna |
| 6 | Stylianos Kolovos (R) | |
| 7 | Christopher Feghali (R) | |
| 37 | Filippo Fiorentino (R) | |
| MP Motorsport | 4 | Ean Eyckmans (R) |
| 8 | Alceu Feldmann Neto | |
| 12 | Gianmarco Pradel | |
| 99 | René Lammers (R) | |
| Campos Racing | 5 | Patrick Heuzenroeder |
| 9 | Thomas Strauven (R) | |
| 10 | Enzo Tarnvanichkul | |
| 41 | Alex Powell (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 | Linus Lundqvist |
| 77 | Bart Harrison (R) | |
| 91 | Lorenzo Campos (R) | |
| GRS Team | 44 | Rayan Caretti (R) |
| 70 | Andre Rodriguez (R) |
Header photo credit: Fotocar13
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