Race Report RU1, RU2 & RU3 | Event 3

2026 RU1, RU2 & RU3 CHAMPIONSHIP | RACE REPORT | EVENT 3

Date: 26 April 2026

Location: Zurich City / Madrid / Munich

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RU1 | ROUND 3 | SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS (BELGIUM)

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PODIUM RESULTS: P1 Coque López | P2 Michal Smidl | P3 Alejandro Sanchez

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The two leading contenders in the 2026 RU1 Championship clashed on the opening lap of a dramatic race at the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

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Coque Lopez had edged out his title rival Siro Zambra for pole position in qualifying, but the long run to Les Combes meant he was always going to be under immediate pressure heading into Turn 1.

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Zambra got the perfect run through Eau Rouge, pulling alongside Lopez as they charged uphill, with Smidl also joining the fight to make it three-wide into the chicane. Zambra looked to have seized the advantage, but Lopez carried too much speed into the corner, forcing both drivers wide and off the track.

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The drama continued on the exit. As Zambra rejoined, Lopez wasn’t prepared to back down, diving back up the inside. Zambra came off worse, dropping down the order and rejoining in 10th after a trip through the gravel.

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Despite being at the centre of the incident, Lopez escaped relatively unscathed, losing just one position to reigning champion Smidl. By the end of the opening lap, he was back in control, retaking the lead into the Bus Stop chicane.

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From there, Lopez began to show his pace. Controlling the race from the front, he steadily pulled clear of Smidl, while Race Control reviewed the opening lap incident between him and Zambra.

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By the halfway stage, Lopez had built a gap of over three seconds — enough to offset the penalty he would later receive for the clash at Turn 5. The stewards placed shared blame on both drivers for the second contact at Turn 6, but it was Zambra who paid the price, his hopes of victory slipping away.

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Further back, with Zambra recovering through the field, Janik Pletscher held third ahead of Alejandro Sanchez, who returned to RU1 after missing the previous round in Barcelona.

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The top five remained largely unchanged in the closing stages. Lopez continued to extend his lead, while Smidl held off late pressure from Pletscher behind. Lopez crossed the line to take his second victory of the season and move to the top of the Drivers’ Championship. Even after a three-second penalty was applied, he held on to win by just 0.549s from Smidl.

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Pletscher initially celebrated a podium finish, but a post-race penalty for an opening-lap incident dropped him to fifth, promoting Sanchez to his first podium of the year. A frustrated Zambra recovered to finish sixth but did set the fastest lap — a reminder of the pace he had and what could have been in the fight for victory with Lopez.

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After the race, Lopez was magnanimous in victory as he reflected on the collision with Zambra.

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Speaking to Racing Unleashed commentator Dan Field, Lopez said: “Not so happy because of what happened on the first lap. Of course, when something like this happens, even when you win or lose, my feeling is not the best one.

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“With Siro [Zambra], he’s been unreal these three races. In terms of pace, he’s the fastest. I would have enjoyed a battle with him, especially on this track. I think I could have put up a good fight with him in race pace, even though I was slower than him in practice.

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“It is what it is. I want to say sorry for that. It was a difficult action, I think, because I lost the rear a bit. I wasn’t expecting Siro to come from off-track ahead of me because there are the sausage bumps. I thought he was going to lose more time.

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“When I was losing the car a bit, I saw Siro on the [racing] line. He wasn’t fully on the line, but if I did a perfect line I could have avoided it. I lost the rear on the exit of the previous corner. It’s a shame. It’s unfair for Siro. It’s true that it could have been handled a bit differently from both of us, because my reaction was probably because I didn’t expect him to come onto the line again.”

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The 2026 RU1 Championship continues on May 24 at Imola.

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RU2 | ROUND 3 | SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS (BELGIUM)

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PODIUM RESULTS: P1 Néstor García | P2 Tim Potzmader  | P3 Norik Lehocki

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Néstor García made it a hat-trick of victories to extend his lead in the 2026 RU2 Championship.

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García delivered another dominant performance at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, stretching his advantage in the standings to 36 points over Tim Potzmader.

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It was Potzmader who ended García’s unbeaten qualifying streak, taking pole position ahead of Patrick Dubach by 0.134s. However, García quickly made amends at the start, sweeping around the outside of Dubach at the Turn 1 hairpin.

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That move set him up for an immediate attack on Potzmader, who was left vulnerable on the run to Les Combes. García braked later and carried more speed around the outside to take the lead from the reigning 2025 RU3 Champion.

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That overtake proved decisive. From there, García controlled the race from the front, pulling clear to build a gap of over two seconds to Potzmader behind.

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With the top two settled, attention turned to the battle for third. Norik Lehocki began to apply pressure on Guzman Miguelez, and on Lap 12, he nailed his exit from Turn 1 to slipstream past down the Kemmel Straight into Turn 5.

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Further back, Melvin Leuppi once again caught the eye. Recovering from a difficult qualifying that left him at the back of the grid, Leuppi produced one of the standout moments of the race with a bold double overtake on the Kemmel Straight.

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His pace suggested a podium challenge was possible had he qualified higher, but he was ultimately left to rue his starting position and a post-race stewards’ investigation.

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At the front, García secured his third win of the season, crossing the line three seconds clear of Potzmader. Lehocki completed the podium, claiming his second top-three finish of the year with a strong drive.

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RU3 | ROUND 2 | BRANDS HATCH GP & HUNGARORING

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RACE 1 PODIUM RESULTS: P1 David Sobreiro | P2 Julian Ammann | P3 Lukas Egger

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RACE 2 PODIUM RESULTS: P1 David Sobreiro | P2 Julian Ammann | P3 Unai Maroto

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The 2026 RU3 Spring Championship welcomed a new wave of talent following a second round of hotly contested Qualifiers across Racing Unleashed’s four lounges in Zurich City, Zurich Airport, Madrid and Munich.

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Madrid continued its impressive form in the RU Esports Series, as David Sobreiro secured back-to-back victories to take control of the championship. Race 1 at Brands Hatch proved relatively straightforward for the Portuguese driver, who pulled clear of Julian Ammann to win by nearly four seconds.

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Race 2 at the Hungaroring saw Sobreiro come out on top once again — but this time he was pushed all the way. Ammann kept him under pressure throughout, finishing within a second at the chequered flag. Those two victories moved Sobreiro to the top of the RU3 Spring Championship standings with one round remaining.

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Unai Maroto, one of the standout performers from the opening round in March, endured a more mixed weekend. A difficult qualifying session at Brands Hatch left him in the midfield, where he became caught up in a series of incidents and ultimately finished sixth.

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The Hungaroring offered some improvement for the Spaniard, but he was unable to match the pace of the leading duo. Elsewhere, Munich-based driver Niko Druzovic Lozada showed strong potential on his RU Esports Series debut, narrowly missing out on a podium finish at the Hungaroring.

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Qualifiers for Round 3 of the 2026 RU3 Spring Championship open on May 13.