James Egozi completed a perfect 2026 Eurocup-3 weekend at Portimão as he converted pole position into victory in Race 2, leading home Palou Motorsport teammate Heitor Dall’Agnol after a heavily disrupted contest.
The American, who had already claimed victory in Saturday’s Race 1, controlled three Safety Car restarts and kept his composure through repeated interruptions. Dall’Agnol completed a Palou Motorsport one-two, while Hitech’s Keanu Al Azhari recovered strongly to take the final podium place.
Ean Eyckmans finished fourth for MP Motorsport after starting from the front row, while Gianmarco Pradel completed the top five. However, a post-race penalty for Alceu Feldmann altered the lower points positions after the Brazilian received a drive-through penalty converted into a 30-second time penalty for overtaking Genaro Trappa under Safety Car conditions.
Egozi starts from pole after 2026 Eurocup-3 Race 1 triumph in Portimão
After claiming victory in Saturday’s opening race, Egozi lined up on pole for Race 2, having taken top honours in Qualifying by just over two-tenths of a second. Alongside him, MP Motorsport’s Ean Eyckmans started from second, looking to bounce back after a technical issue forced him out of Race 1.
Behind them, Palou Motorsport locked out the second row with Dall’Agnol and Rafaël Pérard. As a result, Egozi faced immediate pressure not only from Eyckmans, but also from his own teammates.
However, the race did not begin on schedule. An incident in the earlier Spanish F4 race delayed the start, although the Eurocup-3 field completed an uneventful formation lap once proceedings resumed.
Egozi leads as Powell storms into third
When the lights went out, Egozi launched cleanly from pole and surged into the lead. Eyckmans made a slower start but still held second, while the pack fanned out behind the leading pair.
Alex Powell made one of the strongest starts in the field. The Griffin Core by Campos driver swept around the outside at Turn 1 and passed both Dall’Agnol and Pérard to claim third. He immediately set off after Eyckmans, while Pérard moved ahead of Dall’Agnol to take fourth.
Further back, Thomas Strauven and Chistopher El Feghali placed Dall’Agnol under pressure as the order continued to shuffle. However, the opening phase did not last long, as Luca Viisoreanu beached his TC Racing car in the gravel at Turn 2 and triggered the first Safety Car.
Dall’Agnol fights back after the restart of 2026 Eurocup-3 Race 2 in Portimão
Marshals recovered Viisoreanu’s car quickly, and the Safety Car returned to the pit lane with just under 26 minutes left on the clock. Egozi controlled the restart in familiar fashion, waiting until late before accelerating over the blind crest and across the start-finish line.
Eyckmans could not challenge the leader, but the field erupted behind him. Dall’Agnol immediately reclaimed position from Pérard, while Keanu Al Azhari used the slipstream to pass Gianmarco Pradel and El Feghali.
Soon after, Dall’Agnol continued his charge and passed Powell for third. Al Azhari also moved forward, overtaking Strauven for sixth as Egozi stretched his lead beyond one second at the front.
Behind the leaders, Pradel attacked Strauven for seventh. That battle then opened the door for El Feghali, who moved past the Australian and briefly joined the fight. However, his race soon unravelled when an apparent puncture sent him wide and forced him to stop. Race Control first deployed yellow flags at Turn 8 before sending out the second Safety Car.
Powell retires after contact with Pérard
The race resumed with just over 15 minutes remaining, and Egozi again delayed his launch before pulling clear. Behind him, Al Azhari defended well from Strauven, while Dall’Agnol moved ahead of Eyckmans to claim second.
Powell then looked ready to attack for the podium places, but contact with Pérard ended his race. The incident forced Race Control to deploy the third Safety Car and once again neutralised the contest.
The collision promoted Al Azhari to fourth and Pradel to fifth. Meanwhile, Pérard returned to the pit lane and retired, while Kacper Sztuka also brought his race to an early end.
Egozi resists final restart pressure
Egozi led the field back to racing speed with around nine minutes remaining. This time, Dall’Agnol sat close enough to apply pressure, but Egozi still kept the lead as the pack charged back into Turn 1.
Behind the Palou Motorsport pair, Al Azhari produced another decisive move and passed Eyckmans to take third. A mistake from Pradel then brought Strauven and Patrick Heuzenroeder into the fight for fifth, and Heuzenroeder took advantage of the three-way battle to gain two places.
Pradel initially lost out to both rivals, but he soon fought back and reclaimed fifth from Strauven and Heuzenroeder. Further back, Enzo Tarnvanichkul chased Santino Panetta in the fight for the final points-paying position.
Egozi completes the double
On the final lap, Egozi maintained control at the front and kept Dall’Agnol out of reach. Although Al Azhari remained close enough to keep the pressure on the Brazilian, Dall’Agnol held firm to secure second place.
Egozi crossed the line to claim his second victory of the weekend, sealing a dominant Portimão double for Palou Motorsport. Dall’Agnol followed him home in second, while Al Azhari completed the podium.
According to the provisional classification, Egozi completed 17 laps in 33:04.523 and also set the fastest lap with a 1:36.895 on Lap 14. The same classification listed Dall’Agnol second, 1.667 seconds behind, with Al Azhari third and Eyckmans fourth.
2026 Eurocup-3: Portimão: Sunday: Race 2: Results: Amended Provisional Classification
- #48 James Egozi – Palou Motorsport
- #27 Heitor Dall’Agnol (R) – Palou Motorsport
- #14 Keanu Al Azhari – Hitech
- #4 Ean Eyckmans (R) – MP Motorsport
- #9 Thomas Strauven (R) – Griffin Core by Campos
- #5 Patrick Heuzenroeder – Griffin Core by Campos
- #12 Gianmarco Pradel – MP Motorsport
- #39 Santino Panetta (R) – Hitech
- #99 René Lammers (R) – MP Motorsport
- #10 Enzo Tarnvanichkul – Griffin Core by Campos
- #84 Genaro Trappa (R) – Hitech
- #37 Filippo Fiorentino (R) – Drivex
- #22 Casper Stevenson – Tecnicar by Amtog
- #6 Stylianos Kolovos (R) – Drivex
- #77 Bart Harrison (R) – Double R
- #20 Benjamin Beckley (R) – Tecnicar by Amtog
- #23 Stefan Bostandjiev – Hitech
- #3 Edouard Borgna – Drivex
- #16 Bianca Bustamante – Palou Motorsport
- #91 Lorenzo Campos (R) – Double R
- #26 Tommy Harfield (R) – Double R
- #8 Alceu Feldmann – MP Motorsport
- #31 Renzo Barbuy (R) – TC Racing
- #44 Rayan Caretti (R) – GRS
Not classified
- #33 Rafaël Pérard (R) – Palou Motorsport
- #2 Kacper Sztuka – Tecnicar by Amtog
- #41 Alex Powell (R) – Griffin Core by Campos
- #7 Chistopher El Feghali (R) – Drivex
- #70 Jakob Bergmeister – GRS
- #11 Luca Viisoreanu (R) – TC Racing
Notes
- Alceu Feldmann received a drive-through penalty converted into a 30-second time penalty for overtaking Genaro Trappa under Safety Car conditions. The penalty dropped him from eighth to 22nd.
- Cars #3, #16, #23, #77 and #84 received five-second time penalties for track limits, while #26 Tommy Harfield received a five-second plus 10-second time penalty for track limits.
