Hitech takes Imola podium in Eurocup-3 Sprint Race
Round 3 – Imola – Race Report
The third round of the 2026 Eurocup-3 season saw the championship visit the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola for the first time, where Hitech delivered a podium in a challenging and action-packed weekend across three races as the team continued its debut campaign in the series.
The podium finish came courtesy of Gino Trappa in the Sprint Race (Race 2), alongside further points-scoring results and valuable experience across all four drivers.
Qualifying
Hitech showed strong pace in qualifying, with Keanu Al Azhari leading the way in P3 after a competitive session at the historic Italian circuit.
Gino secured P7, placing both drivers firmly inside the upper half of the field, while Stefan Bostandjiev and Santino Panetta qualified 19th and 20th respectively.
Race 1
Keanu’s race ended in retirement, bringing an early end to his opening challenge of the weekend. The remaining Hitech drivers focused on navigating the disrupted race and gaining experience in a highly competitive field, with Santino picking up two points.
Sprint Race
The Sprint Race delivered the highlight of the weekend for Hitech, as Gino secured a superb podium finish in P3 after a strong and controlled drive from the front group.
Starting from third on the grid, Trappa remained firmly in contention throughout a tightly fought race, managing pressure from the pack and capitalising on key moments to secure a place on the podium at the chequered flag.
Keanu also ran strongly inside the leading group after starting from fifth, before ultimately finishing P4.
Race 3
The final race of the weekend saw Keanu start fifth and Gino line up third following his Sprint Race podium. Stefan and Santino started 10th and 11th respectively as the team looked to finish the weekend strongly.
Keanu finished fourth and collected valuable points to support his continued title challenge but it was an otherwise frustrating conclusion for the rest of the lineup.
Bruin Beasley, Hitech Eurocup-3 Team Manager:
“Imola was a challenging weekend, but there were plenty of positives to take away. Gino’s podium in the Sprint Race was thoroughly deserved and showed the pace we've got within the team, while Keanu demonstrated strong speed despite the disappointment of Race 1.”
Bruin continued:
“Every weekend we're continuing to learn and develop in an incredibly competitive championship. We're building momentum as a team, and we'll take those positives with us into Monza.”
