Eurocup-3: Bianca Bustamante charges to top-15 finish at Portimao
- LIAM REDFORD
- Jun 8
- 5 min read
Bianca Bustamante scored a season’s best result in the Eurocup-3 Championship at Portimao after a storming drive through the field saw the Palou Motorsport driver finish in 14th after recovering from being spun early in race one.
Bianca Bustamante scored a season’s best result in the Eurocup-3 Championship at Portimao after a storming drive through the field saw the Palou Motorsport driver finish in 14th after recovering from being spun early in race one.
Bustamante enjoyed a productive opening round of the season at Le Castellet where she was unfortunate not to achieve higher finishes. The Palou Motorsport driver left France was a best result of 18th and she was now aiming to push towards the top-10 while continuing to develop her racecraft.
Portimao was not a new venue for Bustamante as she gained valuable knowledge racing at the Algarve International Circuit during the Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship. Finishing 13th in race two, this result marked Bustamante’s best performance in the series to date and therefore she was looking to build upon this experience in the main championship.
Testing ahead of the event began on Tuesday with the drivers participating in a number of short sessions prior to the competitive action taking place. Bustamante’s quickest time came in the second of three sessions with a 1:38.373 placing her in 26th position.
The drivers returned to Portimao on Wednesday with as they hit the track for three further test sessions. In the first session of the day, Bustamante set a new quickest time of the event with a 1:37.896 as the Palou Motorsport driver completed a total of 54 Laps on the second day of action.
Friday’s running began with the first of two free practice sessions and the morning session saw good lap time improvements throughout the field. Setting a quickest time of a 1:38.193, this placed Bustamante in 25th position but just one second away from sixth. In the second session, Bustamante completed a further 21 laps, the most of any driver, on her way to the 30th fastest time.
The first of two qualifying sessions at Portimao was held on Saturday morning with Bustamante targeting a strong starting position. The Palou Motorsport driver was one of the first drivers out of track and Bustamante briefly held the quickest time. As the session progressed, the lap times continued to improve with Bustamante setting her fastest time of the weekend with a 1:37.572. As a result, Bustamante qualified in 25th position but she was just one second away from the top-10 to underline the competitive nature of the Eurocup-3 Championship.
Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Bustamante lining up from 25th on the grid. Following an extra formation lap, Bustamante got a superb start and quickly gained two positions while avoiding the stalled car of Keanu Al Azhari. Following a strong opening lap, the Palou Motorsport driver was into 22nd position and Bustamante was now eyeing a spot inside the top-20.
On lap two, Bustamante was spun by Renzo Barbuy in an incident which also saw Lorenzo Campos and Alceu Feldmann Neto delayed. As a result, she fell to 26th and Bustamante was now targeting a strong recovery drive. Looking to recover lost positions, Bustamante re-passed Barbuy on lap three and after Alex Powell pitted following a high-speed incident on approach to turn one, Bustamante was back up to 24th.
Now quicker than the next three drivers ahead, Bustamante was displaying excellent race pace and she soon overtook Benjamin Beckley. With Ean Eyckmans retiring following a technical issue, Bustamante had climbed back to 22nd. The Palou Motorsport driver was comfortably running top-15 lap times as she caught the next group of drivers while beginning to fend off Feldmann Neto who was following Bustamante through the field.
Bustamante was making quick work of the drivers ahead and after putting a move on GRS driver Jakob Bergmeister on lap eight, she was now on the fringes of the top-20. The following lap saw Tommy Harfield spin into the gravel and with the debutant beached, the race entered its first safety car period with Bustamante now into 20th position.
The restart took place on lap 12 and after contact between the Griffin Core by Campos teammates Thomas Strauven and Patrick Heuzenroeder at turn one, the Belgian driver was out of the race. Bustamante also passed Stylianos Kolovos on the restart and as the safety car was deployed for a second time, the Palou Motorsport driver was up to 18th spot.
Following good work from the marshals, the race resumed with two laps to go and Bustamante was now targeting a season’s best result. Although she lost out to Feldmann Neto, Bustamante had done a nice job to remain within the track limits while other drivers ahead had picked up time penalties.
A great move from Bustamante on Casper Stevenson saw the Palou Motorsport driver take the chequered flag in 18th position, before she was promoted to 16th following track limits penalties assessed to both Rayan Caretti and Filippo Fiorentino. Two further penalties were then assessed post-race and with Bustamante moving ahead of both Heuzenroeder and Enzo Tarnvanichkul, she was classified in 14th to claim a season’s best finish.
The second qualifying session of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Bustamante looking to improve upon her result from the previous day. The session was interrupted at the midway point for an incident involving Fiorentino with nine minutes remaining on the clock.
When the session resumed, Bustamante delivered her best lap of the weekend as the Palou Motorsport driver qualified in 21st position with a fastest time of a 1:37.017. This lap was over half a second quicker than her time from yesterday’s session, while Bustamante was just over one second away from pole position.
Race two at Portimao took place on Saturday afternoon with Bustamante lining up from 21st on the grid courtesy of her earlier qualifying performance. As the lights went out, Bustamante made another good start and she maintained her position as the safety car was deployed following an incident for Luca Viisoreanu.
The race resumed on lap three and Bustamante experienced a challenging restart as she lost three positions, before re-passing Renzo Barbuy prior to the end of the lap. On lap four, Bustamante was again shuffled behind Barbuy while Eduoard Borgna also made his way through. The race was then neutralised for a second time after Christopher El Feghali spun into the gravel with Bustamante now in 24th spot.
Immediately on the restart, contact between Alex Powell and Rafael Perard saw both drivers retire from the race, while Kacper Sztuka pitted his Tecnicar by Amtog machine. Now inside the top-20, Bustamante was keen to make further progress and a good restart saw her move into 19th. After passing Rayan Caretti on lap 12, the Palou Motorsport driver was up to 18th position before Bustamante ran a personal best time.
In her attempt to gain positions, Bustamante exceeded the track limits on one too many occasions and therefore she picked up a five-second time penalty. However, she was not the only driver to make this transgression and therefore she continued fighting hard in the competitive midfield. After losing out to Lorenzo Campos on lap 13, Bustamante enjoyed a strong run to the chequered flag as she crossed the line in 19th position.
After a number of penalties were applied for track limits, Bustamante fell to 20th position before a post-race penalty was assessed to Alceu Feldmann Neto. Therefore, Bustamante was classified in 19th position as she scored a pair of top-20 results at Portimao.
It was a strong weekend in Portugal for Bustamante who displayed excellent racecraft while securing a season’s best result. The next round of the Eurocup-3 Championship takes place at Imola on the weekend of 4th/5th July.
