Patrick Heuzenroeder claims maiden win at Imola. Alex Powell returns to the podium
The first Eurocup-3 event held on Italian soil in 2026, which took place last weekend at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, yielded a highly rewarding haul for GriffinCore Campos Racing. Patrick Heuzenroeder secured his maiden victory in the category and could hardly have chosen a more prestigious venue than Imola to achieve the feat. The Australian displayed impressive speed and consistency throughout the third round of the season, providing plenty of reasons for optimism heading into the remainder of the campaign.
Alex Powell, whose fortunes had turned against him in Portugal, returned to the podium after previously finishing among the top three at Le Castellet. He also secured two rookie podium finishes over the course of the weekend. Thomas Strauven continued his steady progression, with the Belgian scoring points in all three races. Enzo Tarnvanichkul also started the weekend in the points, although an incident in the second race brought his participation in the meeting to a premature end.
Following Friday morning’s free practice sessions, the two qualifying sessions took place later that afternoon to determine the starting grids. In Q1, Tarnvanichkul emerged as the fastest GriffinCore Campos Racing driver thanks to a lap of 1m36.634s, which placed him tenth. Two positions behind was Heuzenroeder, whose time of 1m36.772s earned him twelfth place and, more importantly, pole position for the weekend’s second race thanks to the reverse-grid format applied to the top twelve qualifiers. Powell recorded the thirteenth-fastest time with a lap of 1m36.774s, while Strauven’s 1m36.834s left him fifteenth.
Immediately afterwards, Q2 took place and once again Tarnvanichkul, carrying the colours of the Red Bull Junior Team, was the team’s leading representative. His lap of 1m36.420s placed him twelfth. Strauven followed closely behind with a 1m36.440s effort. Powell and Heuzenroeder, with times of 1m36.506s and 1m36.632s respectively, qualified sixteenth and twentieth.
Saturday got underway early with the opening race, scheduled for 30 minutes plus one lap. When the lights went out, a fierce battle unfolded and the GriffinCore Campos Racing drivers were quick to capitalise. After just one lap, Tarnvanichkul was running seventh, followed closely by Heuzenroeder and Powell. Strauven held twelfth position during the opening stages. The safety car was deployed twice within the first six laps, but this did not disrupt the determination of the Alzira-based team’s drivers, who continued their charge through the field while many rivals became embroiled in battles that cost them time or ended their races altogether. By lap eight, Powell had climbed to fourth place, with Heuzenroeder and Tarnvanichkul running sixth and seventh respectively. Strauven had already moved into the top ten by that stage. A further safety car period late in the race bunched up the field once more, and although Powell and Heuzenroeder briefly swapped positions, it was the American who crossed the finish line in second place. Heuzenroeder finished fourth. Completing an excellent comeback drive and underlining the collective strength of the team, Tarnvanichkul and Strauven finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Later that afternoon, the sprint race took place over 20 minutes plus one lap, presenting fresh opportunities. Heuzenroeder started from pole position while Tarnvanichkul lined up third. When the lights went out, Heuzenroeder retained the lead with authority, but Tarnvanichkul suffered immediate misfortune. The Thai driver stalled on the grid and was struck heavily by a rival, causing significant damage to his Dallara 326. Fortunately, Tarnvanichkul emerged unscathed, although the car was left badly damaged. The incident immediately triggered a red flag and it took almost half an hour before the race resumed behind the safety car. The safety car pulled in with thirteen minutes remaining, only to return shortly afterwards following another incident at the Tamburello chicane. It would be deployed once again before green-flag conditions finally resumed with three minutes left on the clock. Heuzenroeder managed every restart flawlessly and kept his rivals at bay throughout. After ten laps, the Australian crossed the finish line to claim his maiden Eurocup-3 victory. Another strong recovery drive enabled Powell to finish seventh, while Strauven took ninth place.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning shortly before 9 a.m. From the very beginning, Strauven emerged as GriffinCore Campos Racing’s leading contender in the race that brought the weekend to a close. Showing great determination and fighting spirit, the Belgian went wheel-to-wheel with Gianmarco Pradel, Nacho Tuñón and Christopher El Feghali before securing seventh place at the chequered flag, capping a weekend in which he scored points in every race. Powell was another driver who gained numerous positions on track, although he narrowly missed out on the points in eleventh place. Heuzenroeder finished eighteenth on this occasion.
In the overall drivers’ standings, Powell sits sixth with 49 points. Heuzenroeder is also inside the top ten with 31 points to his name. Strauven is eleventh, while Tarnvanichkul occupies fourteenth position. In the teams’ standings, GriffinCore Campos Racing holds third place with 108 points.
The next round, remaining in Italy, will take place at Monza on the weekend of 1–2 August.
