Pradel Takes Pole at Jarama as BIANCA BUSTAMANTE Battles in Crowded Field

February 28, 2026

• BIANCA BUSTAMANTE finished 25th out of 28 drivers in a brutally competitive Eurocup-3 qualifying session at Jarama, posting a 1m25.719s that put her 1.362 seconds off pole position. Racing for Palou Motorsport, she was one of only nine drivers to complete nine flying laps in the 20-minute session in what’s clearly a stacked field where less than a second separated the top 19 finishers.
• The session belonged to MP Motorsport’s Gianmarco Pradel, who snatched pole with a last-gasp 1m24.357s lap that held off a fierce challenge from Hitech GP’s Keanu Al Azhari by just 0.042 seconds. The top five were covered by barely a tenth of a second, with MP Motorsport showing serious pace by placing three drivers in the top four positions, proving this winter series is going to be an absolute dogfight for every position.
• What’s particularly telling is how BUSTAMANTE’s Palou Motorsport teammates fared significantly better – James Egozi qualified 10th and Rafael Perard 9th, both more than half a second quicker than her. This suggests there’s setup work to be done or track time needed, but in a series this competitive, every session is a chance to close that gap and we’ve seen her fight back from tougher spots before.

drag illustrated winter series, eurocup-3, jarama circuit, palou motorsport