Round 1 — Circuit Paul Ricard – May 1–3, 2026
Paul Ricard is the first true test of the main season in the Eurocup-3 Championship. A fast, technical circuit that demands precision on every lap.
Luca Viișoreanu and TC Racing open the 2026 Eurocup-3 main season at Circuit Paul Ricard, the legendary track in southern France hosting the first of the championship’s seven rounds. After a valuable winter series in Spain and Portugal, Luca arrives at Paul Ricard with three rounds of experience in the Dallara 326 and one clear objective: to prove that the progress made over the winter translates into real championship pace.
Circuit Paul Ricard is one of the most versatile and well-equipped motorsport facilities in the world. Built in 1969 at the request of Paul Ricard — founder of the drinks company bearing the same name — the Le Castellet circuit in Var, Provence has hosted Formula 1, Le Mans Series, and numerous European championships over the years. Extensively modernized in 2015, the circuit now features one of the most advanced safety infrastructures in world motorsport.
Located in Le Castellet, Var, Provence, France, 50 km east of Marseille, the circuit measures 5.842 km (Grand Prix configuration) and features 15 corners. Its key characteristics include:
- The Mistral Straight (1.8 km) — the longest straight in the Eurocup-3 calendar
- A highly technical Sector 2 with the Signes–Beausset–Bendor combination, considered the decisive section of a perfect lap
- Clockwise direction
- Top speed and traction on the Mistral Straight — the main overtaking zone
- Late braking and precision through the technical corners of Sector 2
- Lap consistency — Paul Ricard heavily punishes any line mistakes
- Tire management — southern France track temperatures accelerate tire degradation
- The start — the tight grid and first corner can dramatically change the order
Weekend Schedule
Thursday, April 30
- Official Collective Test — 40 minutes
Friday, May 1
- Free Practice
- FP1 — 40 minutes
- FP2 — 40 minutes
Saturday, May 2
- Qualifying + Races
- Q1 — Qualifying (20 minutes) → grid for Race 1
- Race 1 (30 minutes + 1 lap)
- Sprint Race (20 minutes + 1 lap — reverse Top 12 grid)
Sunday, May 3
- Qualifying + Race
- Q2 — Qualifying (20 minutes) → grid for Race 2
- Race 2 (30 minutes + 1 lap)
The first weekend of the main championship comes with the challenge of understanding the real competitive level against a grid of 30 top drivers from around the world. The objectives are clear:
- Breaking into the Top 20 in both qualifying sessions
- Establishing a solid benchmark against the field
- Cleanly finishing all three races, confirming the consistency built over the winter
- Delivering competitive pace against the midfield group (telemetry data will be essential)
- Benchmarking against the front-runners and gathering valuable information for the upcoming rounds
“Ahead of the first Eurocup-3 race at Paul Ricard, we had the collective tests where we tried to gather as much information as possible about the car and the direction we need to work in. We still have things to improve, but that’s the important part right now — we are analyzing all the data, understanding where we can gain time, and trying to get as close as possible to the Top 10.” — Luca Viișoreanu
Live Streaming: eurocup3.org
Social Media: Follow @lucaviisoreanu on Instagram for live paddock updates
ROUND REPORT
“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy race. We started from the middle of the pack, the launch wasn’t bad and we gained a few positions, but by lap three we lost everything back. Then we had a safety car and lost pace… overall, it was quite a difficult race.” — Luca Viișoreanu
The opening round of the 2026 Eurocup-3 main season at Circuit Paul Ricard ended with a mixed weekend: promising qualifying sessions that confirmed the potential, and difficult races that clearly showed the road to the front of the field will require intense work in the months ahead.
The first positive signal of the weekend came during the official collective test, where the car finished P18 with a lap time of 1:56.797 — 1.634 seconds off the fastest time. The progress continued through qualifying day:
- In Qualifying 1, Luca secured P19 with a 1:56.412 (+1.228 from pole)
- In Qualifying 2, he improved to P17 with a 1:56.093 (+1.191 from pole)
It was the best qualifying result of the weekend and reduced the gap to the leader to under 1.2 seconds, showing clear potential to get even closer.
Race 1 proved difficult. Luca finished P19. Race pace did not match the qualifying performance, and managing wheel-to-wheel situations required important adjustments.
Sprint Race
The Sprint Race brought another difficult scenario — a 10-second penalty resulted in a P25 finish. The weekend clearly highlighted that racecraft and on-track battle management are the main development areas for the upcoming period.
Race 2
Race 2, however, delivered the real positive signal of the weekend. Luca finished P15 — his best race result of the weekend — setting a personal fastest lap of 1:57.332 and showing that experience gained throughout the weekend, together with the lessons from team debriefings, were starting to translate into performance.
Final Results — Race 2
- Official Test: P18 — 1:56.797 (+1.634)
- Qualifying 1: P19 — 1:56.412 (+1.228)
- Qualifying 2: P17 — 1:56.093 (+1.191)
- Race 1: P19
- Sprint Race: P25
- Race 2: P15 — best result of the weekend
The first main championship weekend delivered exactly what it was supposed to deliver: a real benchmark against 30 world-class drivers. Qualifying showed that the speed is there. The races showed that converting this speed into consistent and clean results is the next mandatory step. The penalties collected over the weekend are real lessons from which both the team and driver will learn before Portimão.
Luca Viișoreanu remains the only Romanian driver competing in Eurocup-3 2026, continuing to represent Romania at the highest level of European junior single-seater racing.
“The last race wasn’t a bad one; it could have been better, but I think I gave everything I had on track. The start wasn’t ideal. I made a small mistake on the formation lap, but the race itself and the performance throughout the race were quite good.” — Luca Viișoreanu