James Egozi claimed victory in Race 1 of the 2026 Eurocup-3 Championship season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard. After capitalising on misfortunes from the rival drivers, he moved from P3 to P1 to take the race win for Palou Motorsport.
After dominating the pre-event test sessions, Keanu Al Azhari lined up on the front row after securing pole position in Qualifying 1 with a 1:55.184. René Lammers started alongside him on the front row, while James Egozi and rookie Alex Powell occupied the second row of the grid. With several title contenders starting towards the front while others were scattered further down the order, the stage was set for a chaotic and exciting race at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Eurocup-3 was also sharing the weekend with the European Le Mans Series, which affected grip levels around the circuit due to the different tyre compounds being laid down on track. Strong winds sweeping across Paul Ricard added another challenge for the drivers, with changing conditions and gusts through the high-speed sections making the cars difficult to control on track.
Drama early in the race
Keanu Al Azhari stalled off the start at Paul Ricard, dropping rapidly down the field to P24. René Lammers led the pack away, with James Egozi immediately applying pressure to Alex Powell for P2. Patrick Heuzenroeder was one of the biggest movers on the opening lap, gaining six positions in the early stages.
Drivers continued to struggle for grip around Circuit Paul Ricard, with cars slipping and sliding through multiple corners. A brief yellow flag was brought out after Renzo Barbuy spun on track, although he managed to recover his Tecnicar Motorsport machinery and continue.
Drama struck again on Lap 2 when Genaro Trappa slowed on the main straight following contact, while Bianca Bustamante was left stranded elsewhere in Sector 1, prompting the deployment of the Safety Car.
With 23 minutes on the clock, Lammers led the field ahead of Egozi in P2, Powell in P3, Eyckmans in P4 and Pradel in P5. Further down the order, Heuzenroeder had climbed 10 positions from the start to run P20, with Linus Lundqvist sitting directly behind in P21. Al Azhari had made up positions, with his running at P16 during the Safety Car.
Safety car restart
Lammers led the field away at the restart of Race 1 before the pit straight, managing to hold onto the lead ahead of Egozi. Behind them, Powell began closing in on Egozi for P2, while Egozi himself continued to pressure Lammers for the race lead.
As the leading trio battled intensely at the front, contact further down the order between Heuzenroeder and Bostandjiev forced both drivers back into the pits. Meanwhile, Al Azhari continued his recovery drive after stalling at the start, climbing his way into P11.
On Lap 10, Egozi finally made his move, closing in on Lammers before overtaking him for the race lead. Al Azhari also continued to carve his way through the field, overtaking Tarnvanichkul and Panetta to move into P8, while Panetta began slipping backwards through the order.
Further behind, Caretti and El Feghali engaged in a close intra-team battle for P13 between the two Drivex drivers. Dall’Agnol and Tarnvanichkul also traded positions repeatedly in their fight for P8, but a mistake from the Red Bull Junior ultimately allowed Dall’Agnol to hold onto the spot.
Out front, Egozi gradually built a gap over Lammers to secure victory in Race 1 of the 2026 Eurocup-3 Championship opener. Powell completed the podium in P3, while Al Azhari recovered strongly to finish P7 after his difficult start. Eyckmans and Pradel rounded out the top five, with Panetta and Strauven completing the top 10. Lammers also secured the rookie podium, with Powell in P2 and Eyckmans in P3.
2026 Eurocup-3: Paul Ricard: Saturday: Race 1: Results
- #48 James Egozi – Palou Motorsport
- #99 René Lammers (R) – MP Motorsport
- #41 Alex Powell (R) – Griffin Core
- #4 Ean Eyckmans (R) – MP Motorsport
- #12 Gianmarco Pradel – MP Motorsport
- #33 Rafael Perard (R) – Palou Motorsport
- #14 Keanu Al Azhari – Hitech
- #27 Heitor Dall’Agnol (R) – Palou Motorsport
- #10 Enzo Tarnvanichkul – Griffin Core
- #39 Santino Panetta (R) – Hitech
- #9 Thomas Strauven (R) – Griffin Core
- #2 Kacper Sztuka – Tecnicar
- #44 Rayan Caretti (R) – GRS
- #7 Chistopher El Feghali (R) – Drivex
- #37 Filippo Fiorentino (R) – Drivex
- #77 Bart Harrison (R) – Double R
- #22 Andrej Petrovic (R) – Tecnicar
- #26 Linus Lundqvist – Double R
- #91 Lorenzo Campos (R) – Double R
- #8 Alceu Feldmann – MP Motorsport
- #11 Luca Viisoreanu (R) – TC Racing
- #6 Stylianos Kolovos (R) – Drivex
- #70 Andre Rodriguez (R) – GRS
- #3 Edouard Borgna – Drivex
- #31 Renzo Barbuy (R) – TC Racing
- #20 Benjamin Beckley (R) – Tecnicar
DNF #5 Patrick Heuzenroeder – Griffin Core
DNF #23 Stefan Bostandjiev – Hitech
DNF #84 Genaro Trappa (R) – Hitech
DNF #16 Bianca Bustamante – Palou Motorsport
