Round 2 of the 2025 Eurocup-3 season has wrapped up in Portugal, with Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador Zack Scoular enduring another challenging weekend aboard the Palou Motorsport entry.
In what was a chaotic few days of racing at Algarve International Circuit, here’s how Scoular’s weekend unfolded.
Heading into the round in good spirits, Scoular had reason to feel optimistic with the circuit being familiar territory, having made his Eurocup-3 Winter Series debut at Portimão back in February.
Friday’s Test sessions gave an early indication of the task ahead, with Scoular finishing the day 28th out of the 30-car field. He completed 36 laps across the two sessions, 14 in the first and 22 in the second, setting a best time of 1:41.776, 1.9 seconds off the front-running pace.
Saturday morning began with a 40-minute Practice session, where Scoular again placed 28th, this time improving slightly to a 1:41.738, 1.986 seconds off the leader after completing 17 laps.
Qualifying followed shortly after, with all six Palou Motorsport cars struggling to find one-lap pace. None made it into the Top 10, with Scoular qualifying 25th overall. He set a 1:41.701, his quickest time of the weekend to that point, trimming the gap to the front by a couple of tenths.
Lining up 25th for Race 1, Scoular was caught in the usual first-lap biff and barge, slipping to 26th by the time the Safety Car was deployed. Once the race restarted with just over 22 minutes remaining, he got a strong jump and moved up two positions by the end of the first sector.
Oscar Wurz would soon slip past to reclaim 24th, leaving Scoular in 25th. He then found himself in a scrap with Garret Berry, but the Brit was able to make his way through.
Shortly after, Scoular became entangled in a fierce three-way battle with teammates Isaac Barashi and Alceu Feldmann. Contact between Scoular and Barashi saw both forced to pit for repairs, with the Kiwi rejoining a lap down in 28th.
He would remain in that position until a multi-car incident brought out the Safety Car once again, elevating him to 25th, though still a lap behind. The race would finish with a two-lap dash, where Scoular held position to cross the line in 25th.
Sunday’s Sprint Race saw Scoular once again start from 25th, and he did well to narrowly avoid two stalled cars on the grid. He made it through the first lap cleanly and picked up a spot to move into 24th.
At the start of Lap 2, he gained more ground in a messy exchange up ahead, briefly running 21st before Enzo Tarnvanichkul made a move to relegate him to 22nd. Moments later, the Safety Car was called.
The race resumed with 11 minutes left on the clock, but drama struck again with a three-car tangle at Turn 3. Scoular managed to avoid the chaos and was rewarded with another position, sitting 21st as the Safety Car was redeployed.
Like Race 1, the Sprint finished under a two-lap sprint to the flag. Scoular made a great restart and slipped past teammate Barashi to move into the Top 20.
Another incident late in the lap elevated him to 18th, where he crossed the line. A post-race penalty for a competitor bumped Scoular up to 17th in the final classification, his best finish of the weekend.
Qualifying 2 followed early Sunday, and again, all six Palou Motorsport cars missed the Top 10. Scoular qualified 26th, setting a time just over two seconds off the front.
In the final race of the weekend, Scoular made good progress early, climbing from 26th to 24th on the opening lap. He then continued to move forward before the Safety Car was called for a car off in the gravel, with Zack now sitting in 21st.
When racing resumed with under 17 minutes remaining, Scoular fought his way into the Top 20 after a chaotic restart. He was passed by Lorenzo Castillo soon after but stayed in the fight, eventually reclaiming 20th on the final lap.
However, a post-race five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits saw him drop back to 24th in the final results.
While it wasn’t the weekend Scoular had hoped for, there were still moments of promise as the Dhabi-based Kiwi continues to learn and develop in what’s been a tough start to his maiden Eurocup-3 campaign.
Following Round 2, Scoular sits 25th in the championship standings. He’ll return to action in just under two weeks at Circuit Paul Ricard in France, a venue that’s hosted 16 Formula One Grands Prix.
It’ll be Scoular’s first time racing there, and he’ll be aiming to turn his fortunes around and get his first points on the board, something only one of the six Palou Motorsport cars has managed to do so far this season.
Header Image: Supplied
