Meunier celebrates birthday with home Euro RX3 victory as title fight tightens

Julien Meunier completed an unforgettable birthday weekend at Circuit de Lohéac by claiming a well-deserved home victory in Euro RX3, slashing Rytis Gurklys’ championship advantage from 28 points to ten ahead of the season-ending double-header in Portugal.

The Frenchman controlled the Final from the opening corner to secure victory ahead of Audrius Kragas, who celebrated his maiden Euro RX3 podium, while local contender Tom Le Jossec completed a remarkable comeback to give the home crowd two French drivers on the podium.

Meunier had entered Sunday at the top of the overnight standings after a superb opening day in which he won all three of his heats. He reinforced that advantage in Qualifying 4, defeating Kragas, Nicolas Geleyns, Tiago Ferreira and Sámuel Kovács to secure the highest overall Qualifying Ranking.

Kragas completed the four sessions second overall, while Geleyns climbed into third ahead of Gurklys. Václav Tůma, Ferreira, Le Jossec and Markus Røsrud completed the leading eight, with Dylan Dufas, Kovács and Ádám Végh missing out on places in the Semi-Finals.

Gurklys had begun Sunday with an important response to his difficult final session on Saturday. The championship leader controlled the opening Q4 heat ahead of Le Jossec, Anthony Massé, Dufas and Végh, while João Sousa prevailed in the second race.

All eyes then turned to the Semi-Finals, where the changing conditions and differing joker strategies continued to produce close racing. Geleyns made the best start in Semi-Final 1 and immediately took the lead, while Le Jossec climbed into third and began applying pressure to Meunier.

The local driver took his joker on lap two in an attempt to find a way ahead, but Meunier responded one lap later and emerged from the joker still holding second. At the front, Geleyns delayed his own joker until the final tour after working to build a sufficient margin over the championship contender.

His advantage was not quite enough. Meunier drew alongside as Geleyns rejoined the standard lap and swept ahead at the joker exit to take the Semi-Final victory. Geleyns secured second, while Le Jossec held third to book his place in the Final.

Røsrud and Gurklys both made excellent starts in Semi-Final 2, while Ondřej Dvořák’s challenge was immediately compromised when he ended up in the gravel at Turn One. Gurklys moved into the lead and attempted to create a margin over Kragas, with the leading four drivers all delaying their jokers until the closing stages. By the final lap, everybody except Gurklys had completed the longer route. When the championship leader eventually took his joker, he emerged alongside Kragas. The pair ran side-by-side at the merge, but Kragas held the inside line and claimed the advantage, securing victory ahead of Gurklys and Røsrud.

The Final brought Meunier, Kragas, Geleyns, Gurklys, Le Jossec and Røsrud together as light rain once again began to fall over the circuit.

Meunier produced the perfect start and immediately took command. Geleyns also launched well and firmly closed the door as Gurklys attempted to find a way through, allowing Meunier to begin building an advantage at the front.

While Meunier controlled the race at the front, Gurklys found himself under increasing pressure from Le Jossec. The championship leader had still not completed his joker by lap four and was forced to defend heavily against the Frenchman, who had recovered brilliantly after initially appearing to have lost touch with the leading group.

Kragas maintained his hold on second to deliver the strongest performance of his Euro RX3 career. Having previously reached the Final only once during the season, qualifying sixth in Latvia, the Lithuanian kept his composure throughout to claim a breakthrough first podium.

Gurklys’ delayed joker ultimately dropped him behind Le Jossec, who completed an inspired recovery to take third just ten kilometres from his home. Geleyns finished fourth ahead of Gurklys and Røsrud.

At the front, there was no denying Meunier. The Frenchman crossed the line to secure a memorable home victory on his birthday, capping an extraordinary turnaround after a technical issue discovered before the event had placed his participation in doubt.

Julien Meunier, said: “It was awesome and I want to thank the whole team for helping me. The weekend started really badly, but we fixed the problem, improved the speed a lot and everything came together. We had struggled a little with our starts, but the start in the Final was perfect. To win at home on my birthday is really special. We have brought the gap back to ten points, so everything is possible now. I will push as hard as I can and I promise I will not give up.”

Tom Le Jossec, said: “I am living a dream. I didn't really know the car before the event and had completed only around ten laps, so I've been discovering it throughout the weekend. The team helped me a lot, and to finish on the podium is incredible. I'm French, I live ten kilometres from here and I have managed to get a podium in France. The crowd has been amazing – I know half of the people here, and everybody was shouting, ‘Bravo, Tom!’ It's an amazing feeling.”

Meunier’s victory has dramatically reshaped the Euro RX3 title battle. Gurklys remains at the top of the standings with 138 points, but Meunier has closed to within ten on 128. With two rounds remaining at the Lousada double-header, the fight for the 2026 crown is now guaranteed to go down to the final weekend.

Click here to view the final classification from the Euro RX of France.

Click here to view the provisional Euro RX3 championship standings.