Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador Zack Scoular was back behind the wheel in France for Round 3 of the Eurocup-3 Championship at Circuit Paul Ricard. It turned out to be a promising weekend for the Kiwi, who came away with his best result of the season.
Scoular has had a challenging yet productive start to his rookie campaign, getting to grips with a new car, new circuits, and a highly competitive field. Heading into the weekend, his best finish had been 18th in the Sprint Race at Portimão, still chasing that first points haul of the season.
Paul Ricard presented another learning curve, with Scoular needing to familiarise himself with the 5.8km Grand Prix venue. He banked solid mileage in Friday’s testing, completing 20 laps and setting a best time of 2:01.981 to end the day in 25th.
Saturday began with Practice, where Scoular continued to work on setup and pace, posting a 2:03.580 to finish 27th. That left plenty to work on ahead of Qualifying 1, though despite making gains, Scoular wasn’t quite able to hook up a lap that reflected his potential, setting a 2:01.799 to secure 25th on the grid for Race 1.
When lights went out, chaos erupted early, with several cars running wide through the opening corners. Scoular managed to steer clear of the carnage, storming up to 17th before the Safety Car was called mid-lap.
When racing resumed with 20 minutes to go, Scoular tucked in behind teammate Luciano Morano. The pair picked off Jules Caranta as he dropped back before Scoular jumped another two spots to sit 14th, just four places off the points.
Caranta would recover and slip past Scoular before Kai Daryanani followed through to drop the Kiwi to 16th. In the closing laps, Scoular fended off pressure from behind but was eventually passed by Lorenzo Castillo on the penultimate lap.
He crossed the line 17th, but post-race penalties ahead saw him promoted to 15th, his best finish of the year so far and a strong result from where he started.
Lining up 25th again for the Sprint Race, Scoular made another clean getaway and quickly climbed to 21st by the end of Lap 1. A Safety Car on Lap 2 for a stricken car brought the field back together, with Scoular moving up to 20th by the time the caution was called.
When the race resumed with 8 minutes to go, he gained another spot through on-track drama, then passed teammate Lenny Reid to climb into 18th.
Once more, he found himself sandwiched between teammates, now behind Morano and ahead of Castillo. The Mexican would find his way past on the penultimate lap, followed by Caranta on the final tour, leaving Scoular to take the chequered flag in 20th, later classified 19th due to a penalty ahead.
Sunday’s action began with Qualifying 2, where Scoular improved again, this time posting a 2:01.433 to secure 23rd for Race 3. And once again, he nailed the start.
A slick opening lap saw him dodge the chaos and gain six places to run 17th. He kept the charge going into Lap 2, picking off teammates Reid and Isaac Barashi to break into the Top 15 with just five minutes gone.
From there, things became more defensive. Reid and Barashi would work their way back through on the next lap before a mistake from Scoular inside the final five minutes saw him slip to 21st. He held that spot until the final lap when Andrés Cardenas got past, leaving Scoular to cross the line in 22nd, later bumped to 21st after post-race penalties.
While the results may not tell the full story, there were definite steps forward this weekend. Scoular showed strong racecraft and made big moves off the line, continuing to battle further up the grid.
He now sits 29th in the standings, still looking to crack the points but showing all the signs he’s not far away. With Monza up next in two weeks time, Scoular’s hopeful that gains in Qualifying will help put him in a better position to capitalise on his race pace.
Header Image: Supplied
