- Miki Blascos achieved 11th position (4th rookie ) in Sunday’s race after staging a great comeback at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portimão).
- Fausto Arnaudo and Rahim Alibhai showed good pace on a weekend marked by the extreme equality of a grid of 32 single-seaters.
- “We have the potential to be higher up the standings and we will work hard to prove it in the upcoming races. The level of this competition is extremely high and any mistake will be costly,” says David Simón, team manager of Monlau Motul.
- “The main objective of the Spanish Winter Championship is for our drivers to accumulate mileage. This learning is fundamental to arriving in the Spanish F4 ready to consistently score points in a top-level championship,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul.
The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portimão) kicked off Monlau Motul’s 2026 competitive calendar with the first round of the Spanish Winter Championship, where Miki Blascos achieved the team’s best result with an 11th-place finish, just one position shy of scoring points. In a highly demanding weekend with a packed grid of 32 cars, the Barcelona-based team worked to lay the groundwork for what is expected to be a very competitive season.
The competition was tight from the start. After two free practice sessions on Friday, Saturday began with a qualifying session in which Mallorcan Miki Blascos was the team’s best-placed driver (15th), with a time of 1:45.414, just seven tenths of a second off pole. Argentinian Fausto Arnaudo and American Rahim Alibhai qualified 22nd (1:45.840) and 23rd (1:45.859), respectively, in a tightly contested field where a few tenths of a second made a big difference.
In the first race, Blascos made a great start and gained four positions on the first lap, moving from 15th to 11th. The Mallorcan driver ran near the points for much of the race and even briefly moved into them, but ultimately crossed the finish line in 13th place, sixth among the rookies . Arnaudo finished 23rd, while Alibhai was unable to complete the race due to a technical issue.
In Saturday’s sprint race, Arnaudo staged a remarkable comeback from 21st to 14th position (8th rookie ), while Alibhai advanced from 22nd to 19th. Blascos, in a very competitive race with constant battles in the middle group, finished 16th.
Sunday began with Q2, again marked by close competition, in which Alibhai stood out as the best of the Monlau Motul drivers (16th), 0.780 seconds off the fastest time. Arnaudo was 23rd (1:45.962) and Blascos 24th (1:46.074). The third and final race of the meeting then took place , with several incidents and safety car periods. In this context, the team’s three drivers were involved in intense battles on track. Blascos completed a great comeback from 24th to 11th place, fourth among the rookies and just one position away from the points. Alibhai finished 19th, and Arnaudo, who was running 13th with two laps to go, spun after contact with a rival and dropped to 24th.
David Simón , Team Manager of Monlau Motul Technical School, assessed the weekend’s performance: “We can’t be completely satisfied because we know we have the potential to be further up the field. The work of the mechanics and engineers has been impeccable, and Rahim has shown great progress, finishing just a few tenths of a second off pole position. However, we expected to extract more performance from Miki and Fausto, which didn’t quite materialize. The level of competition in this championship is extremely high, and any mistake is costly. We have room for improvement, and we will work intensely to be where this team deserves to be, given its pace and structure.”
For his part, Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul Technical School, emphasized the educational importance of these tests: “The Spanish Winter Championship is the ideal environment to prepare for the regular season. The goal is for our drivers to accumulate mileage and consolidate their learning, something fundamental to arriving in the Spanish F4 Championship ready to be in the points in a top-level competition.”
With hardly any rest, Monlau Motul will face the second round of the championship next weekend (February 27-March 1) at the Madrid Jarama Circuit – RACE, where the team will seek to take a step forward and translate the pace shown into results more in line with its potential.
