Photo: Spanish Winter Championship
Heitor Dall’Agnol and Keanu Al Azhari won in Eurocup-3’s season-ending round at Barcelona last weekend.
Rene Lammers was quickest in pre-event testing, pipping the already crowned champion James Egozi by 0.005 seconds. Dall’Agnol trailed by 0.06s in third, with Al Azhari and Ean Eyckmans matched 0.103s off the pace.
Juan Cota was first to the top in qualifying one, with guesting debutant Dayton Coulthard first to lap sub-1m34s. El Feghali was the next pace-setter, then was pipped by Kacper Sztuka before Egozi significantly lowered the pace. Lammers did usurp him, albeit for four seconds, and Egozi took pole by 0.138s over Dall’Agnol. Within 0.2s of him were Lammers and Sztuka, and a second split the top 22 in the 30-car field.
An amazing start by Lammers meant race one began with the top three alongside each other heading to turn one. Dall’Agnol took the lead on the inside, and Sztuka snatched third as Lammers went off at turn two. Sztuka defended at turn four, and Al Azhari overtook Lammers before the safety car appeared as Matteo Giaccardi and Enzo Tarnvanichkul had collided.
Feghali retired in the pits on lap two, and racing resumed on lap four. Lammers lost out to Eyckmans, and further back Maximilian Popov was spun around.
Dall’Agnol built a 1.48s lead, and faced no pressure thereon. Lammers reclaimed fifth on lap six, and on lap seven Sztuka lost out to Al Azhari at the start then pitted at the end.
Al Azhari spent the race’s second half in Egozi’s tow, forcing him into defence several times until finally passing around the outside of turn two on lap 16 of 19 and pulling away. Gaps opened up behind, and a late spin by Alceu Feldmann Netro created a dangerous situation at turn two (with drivers going off to avoid him) but the race was not interrupted.
Coulthard set the first flying lap of qualifying two, and his early benchmark was crushed by Gianmarco Pradel. But the pair ended up 13th and 14th, as Al Azhari lowered the pace by a further 0.774s. His advantage was trimmed to 0.11s by Egozi and Eyckmans, with Dall’Agnol 0.138s off pole. A second covered the top 19.
Al Azhari was quickest in racing conditions once again, and converted pole into victory.
Eyckmans went straight past Egozi at the start, then ran alongside Al Azhari through turn one but went off at turn two. He rejoined in second, as Egozi and Lammers disputed third.
While Al Azhari sprinted away, Egozi had his mirrors filled until the safety car came out on lap seven as Tarnvanichkul spun Cota at turn five.
The lap 11 restart was brief as Bianca Bustamante crashed, and El Feghali took sixth from Strauven.
Having previously been 3.4s clear, Al Azhari built a 5.78s gap in the five laps remaining after the second restart to secure victory and the championship runner-up spot.
Battles in the top eight did not lead to passes, but Sztuka did rise from 12th to 10th.
Results round-up
Race 1 (19 laps)
1 Heitor Dall’Agnol Palou Motorsport 31m56.483s
2 Keanu Al Azhari Hitech GP +0.458s
3 James Egozi Palou Motorsport +3.140s
4 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport +5.518s
5 Ean Eyckmans MP Motorsport +8.659s
6 Daniel Macia Tecnicar Motorsport +13.228s
7 Gino Trappa Hitech GP +13.702s
8 Gianmarco Pradel MP Motorsport +14.503s
9 Thomas Strauven Campos Racing +15.746s
10 Rafael Perard Palou Motorsport +17.991s
Pole: Egozi, 1m32.613s
Fastest lap: Al Azhari, 1m33.939s
Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Al Azhari 32m05.366s
2 Eyckmans +5.780s
3 Egozi +7.447s
4 Lammers +7.974s
5 Dall’Agnol +10.147s
6 Christopher El Feghali Dtivex School +11.329s
7 Strauven +11.743s
8 Maximilian Popov Campos Racing +12.350s
9 Santino Panetta Hitech GP +13.099s
10 Kacper Sztuka Tecnicar Motorsport +13.995s
P: Al Azhari, 1m32.465s
FL: Al Azhari, 1m33.383s
Championship standings
1 Egozi 355 2 Al Azhari 225 3 Dall’Agnol 199 4 Eyckmans 194 5 Lammers 191 6 Sztuka 85 7 Alex Powell 82 8 Perard 73 9 Pradel 69 10 El Feghali 64