Eurocup-3: Bianca Bustamante back in top-15 at Imola with convincing recovery drives
- RACERS
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Bianca Bustamante enjoyed a highly encouraging weekend at Imola, third round of the EuroCup-3 Championship, completing three smart recovery drives, consistently fighting near the top 15, and securing back-to-back-to-back top-20 finishes at one of series' most demanding circuits.
Bianca Bustamante enjoyed a highly encouraging weekend at Imola, third round of the EuroCup-3 Championship, completing three smart recovery drives, consistently fighting near the top 15, and securing back-to-back-to-back top-20 finishes at one of the series' most demanding circuits.
After stepping up to the competitive Eurocup-3 Championship with Palou Motorsport in 2026, Bustamante continued her adaptation to one of Europe’s strongest Formula Regional-level single-seater categories, focusing on developing her racecraft and consistency against an international field and with the fast new Dallara 326 machinery.
The Filipina driver had already shown encouraging pace during the opening rounds of the season, scoring her first top-20 finish at Paul Ricard before taking a significant step forward at Portimão. Returning to a circuit where she had previously raced during the Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship, Bustamante in fact produced a strong weekend that included a personal-best 14th-place finish and increasingly confident performances in wheel-to-wheel battles in Portugal. With that momentum, she arrived at Imola aiming to continue closing the gap to the top ten on a circuit she had never raced at before.
The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari represented a fresh challenge for Bustamante, with its unforgiving gravel traps and demanding sequence of corners making it one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar for a rookie. The collective test sessions were therefore especially important, allowing her to familiarize herself with the circuit and gradually build confidence. Across the official practice sessions, Bustamante made steady gains and consistently reduced the gap to the midfield.
In the first qualifying session, Bustamante opened with a 1:41.3 lap before an early red flag interrupted the running when Lammers became stranded in the gravel. Once the session resumed, she quickly improved to 1:37.9 and then lowered her benchmark further to 1:37.6. Electing to pit during the final minute, she secured 24th on the grid for Race 1 while remaining within striking distance of the top 20 in the tightly packed field.
Q2 brought another step forward. Bustamante initially posted a 1:37.9 that placed her inside the top 20 with 11 minutes remaining, before improving sectors two and three to record a 1:37.2, her best lap of the weekend to that point. Although tyre performance faded during the second half of the session and prevented a further improvement, the lap was enough to again place her 24th on the grid for the second race.
Saturday morning’s opening race took place under sunny, warm conditions, with Bustamante lining up 24th on the grid. When the lights went out, another competitor stalled on the grid but was fortunately avoided by the pack, while Feldmann went off following contact at Tamburello. Amid the chaos, Bustamante produced a superb getaway, slicing through the field and climbing from 24th to 17th before the Safety Car was deployed, gaining seven positions on the opening lap alone.
Racing resumed at the end of lap two, with leader James Egozi delaying his acceleration to avoid giving a slipstream down the straight. Bustamante defended strongly from Campos while remaining alert to the incidents unfolding around her. On lap three, Harrison and Trappa collided at Turn 1, sending Trappa into the barriers and leaving Harrison rolling back across the track. Bustamante reacted quickly to avoid the incident and emerged in 16th place as the Safety Car was called out once more.
At the next restart, Lammers managed to pass her, but Al Azhari’s trip through the gravel immediately handed a position back and kept Bustamante in 16th. She then settled into a battle with Pradel ahead while Borgna closed from behind. Running consistent 1:38.4 laps, Bustamante held her own well and benefited from Borgna and Harfield fighting each other behind her, allowing her a brief period of clear air.
The race took another dramatic turn when championship leader and race leader James Egozi slowed at Variante Alta and came to a halt, promoting Bustamante to 15th before another Safety Car period with seven minutes remaining. The final restart came with just three minutes to go. Bustamante initially held position through Tamburello, but the recovering Harrison eventually found a way through. In the closing laps, Cota and then Harfield also managed to pass as the field bunched up once again, and Bustamante crossed the line in 17th.
Post-race penalties promoted the Filipina to 15th place, giving her a second top-15 finish of the season and highlighting the clear progress she is making in the championship.
Bustamante again lined up 24th for Race 2 on Saturday afternoon, and once more made an excellent launch when the race initially got underway. Tarnvanichkul stalled on the grid and was collected at speed by several cars, causing an immediate red flag, but Bustamante had already climbed to 17th before the race was neutralized.
When the field returned behind the Safety Car, she was repositioned to 19th for the restart. As green-flag racing resumed with 13 minutes remaining, further contact at Tamburello sent Fiorentino and Dall’Agnol off the road. Bustamante again showed excellent awareness, avoiding the incidents and moving up to 18th before another Safety Car period.
The next restart came with seven minutes to go, and Bustamante stayed tucked close to the car ahead through Tamburello. More chaos erupted immediately as cars collided and spun directly in front of her. The Filipina slammed on the brakes and produced an important save, threading her way through the accident while other cars piled into the spinning machine behind her. She emerged safely in 17th place as the Safety Car was deployed for a third time.
Thanks to the marshals’ quick work, racing resumed again with three minutes remaining. Bustamante held 17th while pressuring Kolovos, although Lammers found a way through during the final laps. Al Azhari then suffered a puncture after several earlier close calls, promoting Bustamante back to 17th, before Tunon went off at Acque Minerali to move her into 16th as the race entered the final lap.
In the closing corners, Bustamante and Stevenheydens traded positions in a spirited fight, and she ultimately crossed the line 17th before being promoted to 16th after penalties.
It was another impressive recovery drive, gaining eight positions from her starting spot while surviving one of the most chaotic races to date through intelligent and disciplined driving.
Sunday morning’s third race finally offered a cleaner start than the two chaotic contests on Saturday. Starting 20th, Bustamante again made a strong getaway to climb to 18th before Lorenzo Campos went through the gravel and triggered an early Safety Car.
The race resumed one lap later, and Bustamante found herself in the middle of several midfield battles. She briefly lost positions to Caretti and Panetta at Variante Alta, but when Caretti ran wide at Tosa on the following lap, Bustamante seized the opportunity to retake 19th place with a decisive move on lap five.
From there, she focused on building pace. A 1:38.6 lap allowed her to close back in on Panetta while keeping the cars behind at bay. As the race progressed, Bustamante continued to improve her first sector and remained within range of the drivers ahead, while Heuzendroeder and later Harfield applied pressure from behind. Harfield eventually managed to pass on lap 13, dropping Bustamante to 20th, but the Filipina responded with her strongest pace.
She set a new personal best of 1:38.2 before dipping below the 1:38 barrier for the first time with a 1:37.995 on lap 16, opening a gap to the cars behind while staying within roughly a second of Harfield. The race remained clean until lap 18, when Tunon suffered a puncture and lost a tyre carcass, bringing out the Safety Car. The event ended under caution, with Bustamante classified 19th after another mature and mistake-free drive.
With results of 15th, 16th and 19th, the Imola weekend represented one of Bustamante’s strongest performances since joining Eurocup-3. On a circuit she had never raced before, she consistently fought near the top 15, improved her pace in every session, handled multiple Safety Car restarts and avoided several accidents.
The championship now remains in Italy for the fourth round at Monza on 31 July–2 August, a circuit that holds special memories for Bustamante, including a victory in F1 Academy, and one where she will be aiming to convert her growing confidence into another step forward.
