The Polish driver claimed his maiden victory in Eurocup-3, after a thrilling last lap on Sunday, and now leads the standings. Rivera and Macedo also climbed onto the podium during the visit to Paul Ricard. Carrasquedo, Tarnvanichkul, and Caranta scored points
The third round of the 2025 Eurocup-3 season, held at Circuit Paul Ricard this past weekend, delivered excellent results for both Griffin Core by Campos and Campos Racing. Particularly for Kacper Sztuka, as the Polish driver from Griffin Core by Campos became the new leader of Eurocup-3 after taking his maiden win at Le Castellet circuit. His teammate Francisco Macedo also secured his first podium after a flawless race by the Portuguese driver, while Jesse Carrasquedo finished fourth and fifth in the races. As for Campos Racing, Ernesto Rivera scored points in all three races, especially standing out with third and fourth places in the two longer races. Enzo Tarnvanichkul finished sixth twice, while Jules Caranta, in a weekend hampered by several incidents, at least salvaged a tenth place.
The good form of the Campos Racing and Griffin Core by Campos drivers started from Friday’s test sessions, in which Carrasquedo was fastest overall with a lap of 1m59.115s. The Mexican put Griffin Core by Campos at the top, but less than two tenths behind was Caranta, the best of the Campos Racing drivers. Rivera was fourth, Tarnvanichkul sixth, and Sztuka rounded out the top ten. The trend continued in free practice later that day, with Carrasquedo again topping the timesheets with a 2m00.184s lap, just over a tenth and a half ahead of fellow countryman Rivera. Sztuka was fourth, Tarnvanichkul sixth—demonstrating the potential of the six Alzira-based team drivers heading into Saturday.
Saturday began with the first qualifying session, setting the grid for the weekend’s first long race. Rivera lived up to expectations as a pole contender. When his 1m59.076s lap already looked unbeatable, the Red Bull-backed youngster found a few more thousandths to stop the clock at 1m59.037s, earning pole position and two extra points. Sztuka set the third-best time (1m59.219s), Carrasquedo was fifth (1m59.373s), Tarnvanichkul seventh (1m59.457s), and Caranta eighth (1m59.480s). Macedo, with a 1m59.634s lap, was eleventh—placing him on the front row for the second race due to the reversed top-twelve grid. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
In the first 30-minute race, Rivera was caught out at the start by Mattia Colnaghi but managed to tuck in behind him and ahead of Sztuka. In the early stages, which saw the safety car deployed, Carrasquedo, Caranta, and Tarnvanichkul ran in formation from fifth to seventh. When racing resumed on lap 3, Caranta suffered from an incident and dropped out of the top ten. Rivera tried to attack Colnaghi for the lead but was eventually passed by Sztuka. The final two laps were truly intense, but Sztuka held on to take third on the podium, with Rivera finishing fourth after running wide under braking. He did, however, claim the extra point for fastest lap. Carrasquedo finished fifth, Tarnvanichkul sixth, and Caranta recovered to tenth, earning a point. Macedo had crossed the line eighth but dropped to twelfth due to a track limits penalty.
The day’s second race—the sprint race with a reversed grid—had a chaotic start. Caranta damaged his car after running over a kerb and had to pit. Once the safety car withdrew, Macedo, who had retained second place at the start, stayed close to Garrett Berry throughout the race. Although the Briton never pulled away, Macedo settled for second across the line—his first podium in the series. Tarnvanichkul was sixth, Rivera eighth, and Sztuka took the final point in tenth. Caranta, after his early incident, finished 18th, while Carrasquedo retired after five laps.
Sunday brought another nerve-wracking day. In the second qualifying session, Carrasquedo initially took pole position. However, stewards later deleted his two best laps for exceeding track limits, handing pole and two extra points to Sztuka with his 1m59.057s lap. Rivera clocked a 1m59.265s to qualify third, with Caranta starting sixth (1m59.450s), Tarnvanichkul eighth (1m59.655s), and Macedo ninth (1m59.744s). Carrasquedo, after losing his top laps, would start 11th.
At lights out, Valerio Rinicella snatched the lead from Sztuka, but the Pole knew his opportunity would come. With Rivera in fourth, Andrés Cárdenas lost control of his car and collided with Caranta on the outside, ending the French driver’s race on the opening lap. Rinicella pushed hard, but Sztuka remained on his tail, never more than a second behind. Rivera passed Colnaghi for fourth on lap 4, while Carrasquedo charged through the field and was up to sixth by lap 5. He overtook Maciej Gladysz on lap 8 and Colnaghi two laps later. As the race reached its climax, Sztuka started closing the gap on Rinicella. On the final lap, he slipstreamed down Mistral and executed a bold move around the outside into the chicane to take the lead. From there, Rinicella couldn’t respond, and Sztuka secured his first Eurocup-3 victory. Rivera finished third, Carrasquedo fourth after a stunning recovery. Tarnvanichkul was 12th, Caranta 15th after the lap 1 contact.
In the overall standings, as mentioned, Sztuka now leads with 102 points, while Rivera is third—tied on 99 with the second-place driver. Carrasquedo climbs to fifth with 64 points, Caranta is seventh with 48, Tarnvanichkul and Macedo sit 10th and 11th with 29 and 17 points respectively. In the teams’ standings, Griffin Core by Campos is second with 175 points, and Campos Racing is third with 159.
The championship now heads to the Temple of Speed at Monza on July 5–6.
Enesto Rivera (Campos Racing Driver in Eurocup-3): "A solid weekend at Paul Ricard. We had strong pace throughout, but I didn’t always make the right calls. Still, we leave with a pole position, a podium, and valuable points. We’re still in the fight let’s keep pushing!"
Photos: Fotocar13
