Photo: Spanish Winter Championship
Keanu Al Azhari, Stefan Bostandjiev and James Egozi were the winners in round two of Eurocup-3’s winter series at Jarama.
MP Motorsport’s Gianmarco Pradel started race one on pole alongside Hitech GP’s Al Azhari, and after a turn two lock-up on lap one had to hold off the points leader for several corners.
Al Azhari attacked again through the first corners of lap two before the safety car was summoned as Thomas Strauven (Campos Racing) and Rafael Perard (Palou Motorsport) had a incident that ended in the turn one gravel while disputing ninth place.
Racing resumed on lap seven, and the slipstream effect meant Pradel ended the lap just 0.099 seconds ahead. Al Azhari set a new fastest lap and tried a move at turn one but could not get past, then again on lap 10 before the safety car returned due to Lorenzo Campos (Double R Racing) crashing out. Gianni Giovanelli (Global Racing Service) also had a big off at turn one but was able to rejoin.
The next restart was on lap 15 of 19, and Al Azhari tried the outside line at turn two. It allowed him to stay alongside to the turn four hairpin where he took the lead, then he instantly pulled away and was 1.7s ahead by the finish.
After MP’s Ean Eyckmans stalled from third on the grid, team-mate Rene Lammers and Campos’s Alex Powell held third and fourth. Fifth place went to Campos’s Enzo Tarnvanichkul, who overtook Drivex School’s Filippo Fiorentino on lap eight and Palou’s Egozi had to fight Drivex’s Christopher Feghali and Campos’s Patrick Heuzenroeder for seventh.
The top 12 from qualifying one were reversed to form the front of race two’s grid, putting Feghali on pole ahead of Hitech’s Bostandjiev, Egozi, Perard, Palou’s Heitor Dall’Agnol and Tarnvanichkul.
Feghali was slow off the line and Bostandjiev took the lead, with Egozi and Tarnvanichkul on his outside. He locked up hard approaching turn two and failed to turn in, going into Egozi and Tarnvanichkul who were sent spinning off. Feghali hit the brakes mid-corner and stopped behind them, casting Perard off as he tried avoiding the melee. He was able to rejoin at the back.
Red flags waved on lap two, then the race restarted with two laps of safety car-led action. Bostandjiev was unchallenged at the restart, as Dall’Agnol had to hold off Powell for second and Lammers did the same against Al Azhari for fourth.
Hitech’s Gino Trappa stopped on track a few laps later, but it did not interrupt racing. However on lap nine an off for Drivex’s Stylianos Kolovos triggered a safety car period that ran to the end, ensuring Bostandjiev won and casting Lammers to 14th due to a five-second penalty.
Feghali got a five-place grid penalty for race three, which he had qualified third for. Al Azhari claimed pole ahead of Lammers by less than 0.1s after they traded fastest laps in qualifying on Sunday morning, with Egozi and Powell filling row two. Dall’Agnol and Perard were next up.
The top two locked up going into turn two for the first time and Al Azhari was intially ahead before flying off and dropping to 25th. Powell nerfed Egozi’s rear, and Feghalo climbed from eighth to sixth ahead of Hitech’s Santino Panetta. On lap two he swept past Feghali in a confident move, then both got past Perard on lap three before the safety car was summoned after Eyckmans went off.
Panetta passed Dall’Agnol when racing resumed on lap six, as Al Azhari got up to 18th. There was drama next time by as contact led to a puncture for Panetta and Trappa had an off rather than profiting. The safety car returned as Tecnicar Motorsport’s Benjamin Beckley had crashed at turn two, while Panetta and Dall’Agnol were pit-bound.
Powell took the lead before reaching turn one on the lap 10 restart, and Perard went around the outside of Egozi for third but he got back past at turn four. Campos crashed at turn two, so the safety car was needed again with Al Azhari now in 11th.
Racing resumed on lap 13, and it was a similar story. This time Feghali clipped Perard’s rear at turn one on lap 14 and bounced across the run-off before flying across turn two and into the gravel. Al Azhari got into ninth, and the safety car returned.
Two laps remained when green flags waved again, and Powell was not challenged up front. Tarnvanichkul had inherited fifth, and Fiorentio’s attempt to get alongside him through turns four and five led to a slight off that dropped him to 10th and brought Al Azhari into seventh. He attacked Trappa through the final lap but could not get past, although was lifted to fifth post-race as Powell and Lammers were penalised.
Egozi inherited victory ahead of Perard, and Powell was demoted to sixth while Lammers dropped out of the top 10.
Results round-up
Race 1 (19 laps)
1 Keanu Al Azhari Hitech GP 32m34.103s
2 Gianmarco Pradel MP Motorsport +1.704s
3 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport +2.990s
4 Alex Powell Campos Racing +4.019s
5 Enzo Tarnvanichkul Campos Racing +4.826s
6 Filippo Fiorentino Drivex School +5.947s
7 James Egozi Palou Motorsport +7.184s
8 Christopher Feghali Drivex School +9.119s
9 Yuanpu Cui Double R Racing +9.444s
10 Heitor Dall’Agnol Palou Motorsport +10.024s
Fastest lap: Al Azhari, 1m25.391s
Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Stefan Bostandjiev Hitech GP 29m54.220s
2 Dall’Agnol +1.053s
3 Powell +1.914s
4 Al Azhari +3.464s
5 Ean Eyckmans MP Motorsport +4.061s
6 Patrick Heuzenroeder Campos Racing +4.433s
7 Thomas Strauven Campos Racing +4.969s
8 Pradel +5.261s
9 Santino Panetta Hitech GP +5.544s
10 Yani Stevenheydens Global Racing Service +5.768s
FL: Bostandjiev, 1m25.597s
Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Egozi 32m02.154s
2 Rafael Perard Palou Motorsport +0.624s
3 Tarnvanichkul +1.464s
4 Gino Trappa Hitech GP +1.816s
5 Al Azhari +1.887s
6 Powell +3.361s
7 Heuzenroeder +5.012s
8 Strauven +4.688s
9 Stevenheydens +5.206s
10 Bostandjiev +5.513s
P: Al Azhari, 1m24.311s
FL: Lammers, 1m26.109s
Championship standings
1 Al Azhari 100 2 Egozi 67 3 Powell 49 4 Lammers 46 5 Tarnvanichkul 39 6 Eyckmans 24 7 Strauven 34 8 Pradel 29 9 Perard 22 10 Heuzenroeder 21