Exciting season start for Euroformula Open at Estoril

23 cars are lined up to compete in the Euroformula Open season opener in Portugal this weekend. 16 different nationalities provide a new record-breaking entry and there are two new teams, Carlin and Fortec Motorsports, the latter joining forces with Team West-Tec.

Once again the series consists of eight two-race events on some of the most prestigious tracks in Europe. By providing such a calendar the series is consolidating its position as a key run in the ladder of single-seater racing.

The first races this year take place at Estoril, which made a return to the Euroformula Open calendar last year and provided a number of tense battles. Vitor Baptista and Konstantin Tereschenko won the two races in one of their nail-biting scraps for the title that were the keynote of last season.

The 23-car entry list revealed ahead of the first round provides much excitement with another top F3 team, Fortec Motorsports, entering the fray in conjunction with Team West-Tec. RP Motorsport this year have five cars for a strong driver line up. Poland’s Antoni Ptak, Thailand’s Kantadhee Kusiri and Italy;s Damiano Fioravanti are joined by Tanart Sathienthirakul and Jack Aitken. Sathienthirakul joins RP Motorsport after finishing 7th and 4th the past two seasons, and claiming two podium finishes last year. Aitken took his first steps on the F3 ladder with the Winter Series and finished 7th twice at Paul Ricard.

Campos Racing looked strong in the Winter Series and their four cars will be driven by Italian Leonardo Pulcini, Mexican Diego Menchaca, Ecuadorean Julio Moreno and Azerbaijani Gulhuseyn Abdullayev. Pulcini and Menchaca will contest their second consecutive full season in the series and go into the 2016 campaign with high hopes having both won at Paul Ricard over the winter. Moreno and Abdullayev will make their debut in the series.

Teo Martín Motorsport took over the Euroformula Open entry of Emilio de Villota Motorsport and the Madrid-based team already has a strong presence in the Euroformula Open. Colombian Tatiana Calderón makes her F3 comeback and with Teo Martín Motorsport looks likely to launch a title bid. Romanian Petru Florescu, Mexican José Manuel Vilalta and Russian Nikita Zlobin, son of Minardi Formula 1 test driver Sergey Zlobin, are other names who should put in a strong effort.

Carlin meanwhile confirmed they will enter the Euroformula Open with a three-car effort. Colton Herta, the son of US IndyCar and Champ Car driver Bryan Herta, Germany’s Keyvan Andres and India’s Ameya Vaidyanathan provide a cosmopolitan selection and despite their extreme youth they have all already performed well in the Winter Series.

DAV Racing are also present with their three Dallara F312 cars. Chinese Kang Ling teams up with Italian Daniele Cazzaniga with a third driver still to be announced. Ling has made steady progress since joining the Euroformula Open and 2016 will be his first full season in the series. Cazzaniga makes his debut after achieving success in other feeder series.

BVM Racing gave two cars for Russia’s Daniel Pronenko and China’s Ye Hongli. Pronenko showed excellent pace throughout the winter and Hongli made an impressive debut in Barcelona, the last Euroformula Open Winter Series stop of 2016.

Drivex and Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg could be another strong combination. Habsburg made his first appearance in the Euroformula Open in the championship-deciding season-finale last year where he qualified 2nd, and earlier this year he made it onto the second step of the podium at Paul Ricard.

Fortec/West-Tec should put together a strong Euroformula Open program. Fortec is one of the longest established outfits in open-wheeled single-seater motorsports and the Daventry-based team has a rich racing pedigree in several junior formulae. By working with Team West-Tec, they will form a strong alliance for the upcoming 2016 season. Poland’s Igor Walilko was announced as their driver for 2016. Walilko was on the podium twice in 2015. Meanwhile, Fortec and Team West-Tec are working to line up a second car later this season.

 

Euroformula Open, April 21-24 (Local time):

Thursday:

Private test 1: 09.00-12.00

Private test 2: 13.00-14.00

Private test 3: 15.10-16.30

 

Friday:

Free practice 1: 09.10-09.40

Free practice 2: 13.40-14.10

 

Saturday:

Qualifying 1: 09.05-09.35

Race 1: 14.15 (19 laps – max. 35 minutes)

 

Sunday:

Qualifying 2: 08.30-09.00

Race 2: 12.15 (19 laps – max. 35 minutes)