Eurocup-3 series held fourth round of 2024 season at Paul Ricard Circuit last weekend with Christian Ho (Campos Racing) taking the lead of the standings with an almost-perfect event for him. The young gun from Singapore had a double zero in two first races of the season but he has managed to turn the situation around with 3 wins and four podiums in last five races becoming new series leader reaching the halfway point of the season.
The weekend started with Ho on Pole ahead Race 1 with the hitherto leader Bruno del Pino (MP Motorsport) taking advantage of yet another slow start by the Poleman, who also lost second place to Javier Sagrera (MP Motorsport) during the first lap but managed to overtake the Spaniard four minutes and one lap before the checkered flag.
The runner-up of the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship then snatched the fastest lap from del Pino (less than two hundredths between their best performances), clearly distancing Sagrera, demonstrating the speed and race pace that has characterized Ho since the beginning of the year.
José Garfias (Saintéloc Racing) finished fourth, skillfully overcoming Owen Tangavelou (MP Motorsport). The Vietnamese driver still managed to add ten points to his tally, resisting Alexander Abkhazava’s (Saintéloc Racing) persistent attacks in the final stages of the race. Valentin Kluss (Campos Racing) came in seventh with Emerson Fittipaldi (MP Motorsport) eighth, Michael Shin (Campos Racing) ninth and Georgy Zhuravskiy (Drivex) taking his first point of the year rounding out the top ten.
Perfect Sunday for Ho
Race 2 at Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet dramatically started with championship leader, Bruno del Pino stalled and was forced to start from the pit lane, pushed at the last second by his mechanics. He then embarked on an impressive comeback, finishing in tenth place. However, it was not enough to retain the lead.
Christian Ho, by winning the race, climbed to the top of the standings. His victory was never in doubt: once he held the lead, he showcased all his qualities, already demonstrated in qualifying with fifth Pole of the season but often hindered by less-than-ideal starts and some reliability issues. As the winner himself stated, something went wrong in the very last laps, and slowing down to manage the margin was the best choice.
Javier Sagrera (MP Motorsport) consoled himself with second place and also took second place in the standings just three points behind Ho. The Spaniard finished ahead of a tenacious Jesse Carrasquedo (Campos Racing), who marked his return to the category with a podium finish. Overall, a positive performance for Valentin Kluss, who finished fourth ahead of Owen Tangavelou and Emerson Fittipaldi.
The last four point-scoring positions were claimed by José Garfias increasingly eighth in the drivers’ standings, Michael Shin, his teammate Alexander Abkhazava and the aforementioned del Pino.
Christian Ho now leads the standings with 116 points as best rookie too with Javier Sagrera right behind (113). Bruno del Pino (106) is now third with Owen Tangavelou (100) and Valentin Kluss (76) knocking the door while MP Motorsport (277) lead is increases now to 62 points over Campos Racing (215). The Eurocup-3 will return to the track in The Netherlands at the Circuit Zandvoort on July 12-14.