Eurocup-3: Victoria Blokhina equals personal best in Aragon

Formula Regional rookie Victoria Blokhina matched her best result of the Eurocup-3 season by finishing 16th from 28th on the grid, gaining 12 positions in the second race at Motorland Aragon.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

Victoria Blokhina matched her personal best finish in the Eurocup-3 championship, finishing 16th from 28th on the grid in the second race at Motorland Aragon, Spain.

Having joined the Formula Regional-based series in 2024 for her rookie campaign after contesting two seasons in the highly competitive Italian F4 as well as in F4 UAE, Blokhina stepped up to the aero-updated Tatuus T318 employed in the Eurocup-3 series, scoring nine top-20 finishes out of 12 races so far.

Driving for Spanish squad Drived, Blokhina had a strong run in the rain at Spa Francorchamps, followed by equally good rounds at Red Bull Ring and Portimao, where she finished 16th in race 1 - before being taken out in race 2.

Le Castellet and Zandvoort proved to be very demanding circuits, but Victoria still bagged top-20 finishes and headed to Aragon aiming to continue building experience in her learning-oriented season, having also raced at the track in the Winter Series earlier in the year, where she finished P11 in a non-championship race.

The event at Motorland Aragon featured 30 cars on the grid, the largest number ever for Eurocup-3, highlighting the series' rapid growth in only its second season. The first practice session was heavily disrupted by several red flags, limiting Blokhina's track time and leaving her in P29.

During qualifying, Blokhina initially ran as high as ninth as the session entered its final 10 minutes; she ultimately finished in P23, in what was still an encouraging starting position,

The start of the first race was chaotic: MP Motorsport teammates collided at turn 1, causing Owen Tangavelou to spin out and championship leader Javier Sagrera to suffer rear suspension damage, forcing him to retire. Blokhina had a good start and managed to take evasive action to hold her position, remaining in P23 as the safety car neutralized the race. Meanwhile, Jesse Carrasquedo took the lead from Christian Ho and Michael Shin, in a Campos Racing 1-2-3 as Hadrien David pressured Shin.

At the restart, Blokhina initially dropped to P27 but managed to gain a position when De La Torre went off. On lap 4, Ho attempted a move on Carrasquedo at turn 1, but had to back out after exceeding track limits. The battle continued fiercely a lap later, with Carrasquedo defending his lead aggressively.

Victoria Blokhina was overtaken by De La Torre, dropping to P27, but regained a spot from Zhuravskiy. While she struggled for pace early on in the race, she found better pace in the second half of the race and by lap 9 she clocked her first 1:55 lap time, closing the gap to Hellberg. With 7 minutes remaining, she advanced to P25.

Ahead, Carrasquedo continued to fend off Ho as the two pulled away from the pack. When Hellberg spun, Blokhina moved up to P22 but couldn't quite catch Le Gallais ahead. An issue for Abkhazava allowed her to climb to P21 on the penultimate lap, and after penalties were applied, she finished the race in P20, gaining three positions from her starting spot.

In a very entertaining fight for victory, Jesse Carrasquedo held off Christian Ho to secure his first championship win.

Qualifying for Race 2 was highly competitive, and Blokhina ended up in P28, unable to match her speed from the previous day. However, she aimed to make up for it in the final contest of the weekend.

The race start was delayed due to an incident involving Douwe Dedecker and Pierre Louis Chovet, whose car stalled at the start of the formation lap and was collected by Dedecker.

Once the race finally began, Tangavelou, Del Pino, and Sagrera quickly took the top three positions, establishing an MP Motorsport 1-2-3, with Campos’ Christian Ho in pursuit.

Blokhina had a superb launch, gaining four positions off the line and slotting into P25. A multi-car accident involving De La Torre, David, and Zhuravskiy on the second lap brought out the safety car just as the lead changed hands: Tangavelou had dropped to fifth, while Del Pino and Sagrera engaged in a prolonged side-by-side battle, with Sagrera ultimately taking the lead after Del Pino went wide.

Blokhina navigated the chaotic first lap without damage, picking up positions and advancing to P20 by avoiding the crash.

When the race resumed with 16 minutes remaining, Sagrera backed up the pack and accelerated away, leading Del Pino and Ho. Blokhina was immediately on Emil Hellberg's tail, with Jesse Carrasquedo recovering from a first-lap spin and also in pursuit.

Carrasquedo got by, followed by Jose Garfias. Victoria resumed her battle with Hellberg, who also lost positions to Carrasquedo and Garfias. They gained a position when Nogales pitted for a drive-through penalty on lap 7, advancing Blokhina to P21. The Drivex racer was consistently a few tenths faster than the DXR car ahead and closed the gap to just three-tenths by lap 9. They both overtook Gaspard Le Gallais with three minutes remaining, breaking into the top 20. Blokhina continued to pressure Hellberg, aiming to climb higher.

On the final lap, Luciano Morano and Isaac Barashi collided at the hairpin and dropped out of contention, allowing Blokhina to move up to 18th. She crossed the finish line, having gained ten positions from her starting spot. However, her progression was not over yet, as post race penalties for Hadrien David and Jesse Carrasquedo saw the only female driver in the field further moving up to P16 and therefore equalling her best result in the series.

Sagrera reclaimed the top step of the podium, followed by teammate Emmo Fittipaldi and Nikola Tsolov.

Despite facing challenges earlier in the season, Blokhina delivered clean races at Motorland Aragon, demonstrating her potential and gaining once again numerous positions, including a 12-place gain in Race 2 alone, while also showing improved qualifying performance on Saturday.

The next Eurocup-3 round is scheduled for Jerez de la Frontera on October 4-6, after the summer break.