Bianca Bustamante is the only woman on the Eurocup-3 grid. On a weekend in Portimao, she gave everyone else on that grid something to think about.
Racing the all-new Dallara 326 with Palou Motorsport in partnership with PREMA Racing, the 21-year-old Filipina delivered her strongest weekend yet in the 2026 Eurocup-3 Championship—a result built not on a clean run to the front, but on a recovery drive that turned what looked like a write-off into the best finish of her career so far.
It did not start well. Bustamante qualified P25 in a 30-car field for Saturday’s race, made up five places at the start to reach P20—and then got spun around by contact from behind on the opening lap. Front wing endplate damage. Dead last, P30. The kind of moment that ends a race before it has really begun.
She did not let it.
“It has been such a dream walking away from the weekend with my best result in Eurocup-3,” Bustamante said. “Honestly, Saturday was a rollercoaster. I thought the race was over when we got spun from the rear and dropped to P30 with wing damage. But we fought back, pushed to catch the pack, and I really had the race of my life so far.”
What followed was a methodical, race-long climb back through the field. Bustamante used her Push to Pass allocations wisely, built strong corner exits that gave her the edge on straights, and navigated multiple Safety Car restarts—sometimes picking off three cars in a single move. By the chequered flag, she had clawed her way from P30 to P14. In a 30-car field, on a damaged car, after being spun on lap one. That is not a small recovery. That is a statement.
Bianca Bustamante Shows Progress, Resilience
Sunday brought a different kind of progress—the kind that shows up in the numbers before it shows up on the results sheet. Bianca Bustamante qualified P21, just one-tenth of a second outside P15, the closest she has been to the sharp end all season. Race 2 was chaotic, but she kept her head, drove cleanly, executed several overtakes, and brought it home P18.
“Sunday also showed how insanely competitive this championship is with my closest qualifying performance yet,” she said. “I love racing and the challenge it brings. For some a P14 might be a little thing, but those around me know how hard we’ve worked to make these gains on track in such a strong and competitive grid, so we have to celebrate the small wins along the way. I am honestly hungry for it now more than ever.”
Being the only female driver on the Eurocup-3 grid means Bianca Bustamante is navigating a challenge that none of her competitors face in quite the same way—every weekend carries a visibility that comes with being the one different name on the entry list. She has responded to that not with words but with work: an intensive off-track training program, close collaboration with her team on race craft, and hours of data debriefs and onboard analysis aimed at squeezing every tenth out of a margin-thin field.
Busy Days Ahead for Bianca Bustamante
The schedule does not slow down. Bianca Bustamante is now at the series’ Collective Testing in Aragon, with Round 3 at Imola, Italy set for July 3-5.
“Now it is time to reset and head to Collective Testing in Aragon before we head to Imola,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
A P14 from P30. A qualifying lap a tenth away from the top 15. On a grid where she is the only one of her kind—Bustamante is not just holding her own. She is closing the gap.
