Exciting Season Lies Ahead for Euroformula Open
New season is ready to kick off at Autodromo do Estoril next weekend. Teams and drivers representing twelve different nationalities and 20-Dallara built cars will make up one of the strongest fields the Euroformula Open has seen.
The ninth season of the Euroformula Open is coming up and 2017 will be yet another great year of close racing as the series predicts another tight title battle. The Formula 3-based racing series will continue being a breeding ground for a new generation of talented young guns scaling the racing ladder towards the pinnacle of motorsport.
Euroformula Open’s DNA remains fundamentally unchanged: rules stability, controlled costs, premium TV coverage and two-race events at top-tier racing circuits such as AutĂ³dromo do Estoril (29-30 April), Spa-Francorchamps (27-28 May), Paul Ricard (10-11 June), Hungaroring (1-2 July), Silverstone (2-3 September), Monza (30 September-1 October), Jerez (7-8 October) and Barcelona (28-29 October), all F.1-graded tracks.
Besides, the rich racing programme will be yet enhanced as GT Sport has put together a new sister series: the Touring Car Open. The TC Open will join the other GT Sport-promoted series, the International GT Open and the Euroformula Open, in addition to top series such as the Radical European Masters and the Formula Renault Eurocup, among others, also partnering in selected events. The Touring Car Open will be launched as from the second round at Spa-Francorchamps.
The season will begin on Portuguese soil, where there is a deep passion for motorsport. The AutĂ³dromo do Estoril, which was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix, has become the traditional season opener for the Euroformula Open and that isn’t an exception in 2017. The Iberian petrolheads will enjoy a big weekend as the excitement kicks into high gear with twenty Dallara F312 cars entered for the first round.
Defending champions Campos Racing will compete with four cars for Romania’s Petru Florescu, Brazil’s duo of Thiago Vivacqua and Matheus Iorio and Finland’s Simo Laaksonen. The team founded by AdriĂ¡n Campos will launch with its title defense with a strong driver line-up. Florescu made a one-off appearance last year and Vivacqua, Iorio – both with experience in the Brazilian Formula 3 Championship – and Laaksonen are debuting in the series, but they all showed excellent pace in Euroformula Open’s Winter Series.
RP Motorsport is another team to watch. Fabio Pampado and Niki Rocca will have a three-car line up with Italy’s Ludovico Laurini, Great Britain’s Harrison Scott and Poland’s Alex Karkosik at the wheel of their Dallaras. Briton Scott excelled during the pre-season, in fact he claimed race two win at Winter Series’ event at Paul Ricard. Karkosik and Laurini are two newcomers to the series but with speed in their genes. In fact, Karkosik won the Formula Gulf 1000 championship recently.
Carlin shone on its own merit last year. Trevor Carlin and his outfit will field a three-car armada for two Indian emerging stars such as Ameya Vaidyanathan and Tarun Reddy and Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco. Vaidyanathan delivered eye-catching results in preseason and his fellow countryman Reddy is another welcome addition to the Euroformula Open as he has already achieved good results on the European single-seater scene. Similarly, DeFrancesco is another pilot whose talent speaks loud despite his youth.
Fortec Motorsports will enter three cars for Germany’s Jannes Fittje, Russia’s Yan Leon Shlom and Malaysia’s Najiy Ayyad Razak. Shlom and Fittje achieved an impressive one-two for Fortec at a rain-soaked Paul Ricard two months ago and they will be a strong pairing. On the other hand, Razak will make his debut following a strong background in his native Malaysia.
Teo MartĂn Motorsport will have a driving trio of Latin youngsters. Spaniards Eliseo MartĂnez and Javier CobiĂ¡n will be joined by Brazilian Pedro Cardoso. Cardoso, with Formula 3 experience in Brazil, MartĂnez and CobiĂ¡n are three other talents on display.
Drivex will be another strong team with its duo of Russia’s Nikita Troitskiy and Brazil’s Christian Hahn. Troitskiy will contest a full eight-event Euroformula Open season after his two appearances in the series at Red Bull Ring and Monza last year. Troitskiy scored his first pole position in Italy and then secured his maiden podium finish in race 2. Hahn will take part in his very first Euroformula Open season but has previous experience in Formula 3.
BVM Racing has secured an entry for Russia’s Daniil Pronenko at the wheel of one of their cars and is in talks over a driver for its second Dallara F312. Pronenko is one of the bravest drivers and pushed his car to its limit in preseason to show excellent progress.
The Euroformula Open will be partnering with its sister series, the International GT Open, and five racing Portuguese championships such as the CNV Turismos – TCR IbĂ©rico, the CN ClĂ¡ssicos, the Legends cars, the Classic Super Stock and the Single Seater Series.
Entry List
No. 1, Petru Florescu*^, ROU, Campos Racing, Dallara F312
No. 2, Thiago Vivacqua^, BRA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312
No. 3, Simo Laaksonen*^, FIN, Campos Racing, Dallara F312
No. 8, Lodovico Laurini*, ITA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312
No. 10, Harrison Scott, GBR, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312
No. 11, Alexs Karkosik*, POL, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312
No. 12, Christian Hahn, BRA, Drivex School, Dallara F312
No. 14, Tarun Reddy*^, IND, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312
No. 16, Nikita Troitskiy*, RUS, Drivex School, Dallara F312
No. 17, Devlin DeFrancesco*^, CAN/ITA, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312
No. 18, Jannes Fittje*, DEU, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312
No. 19, Yan Leon Shlom*, RUS, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312
No. 20, Najiy Ayyad Razak*, MYS, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312
No. 22, Daniil Pronenko, RUS, BVM Racing, Dallara F312
No. 23, TBA, BVM Racing, Dallara F312
No. 24, Ameya Vaidyanathan^, IND, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312
No. 34, Matheus Iorio^, BRA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312
No. 42, Eliseo Martinez Meroño*^, ESP, RACE, Dallara F312
No. 43, Pedro Cardoso^, BRA, RACE, Dallara F312
No. 44, Javier CobiĂ¡n*, ESP, RACE, Dallara F312
- Rookie, ^ Spanish F3
Euroformula Open, April 27-30 (Local time):
Thursday:
Private test 1 09.00-12.00
Private test 2 14.05-15.05
Private test 3 16.15-17.15
Friday:
Free practice 1 09.40-10.20
Free practice 2 14.10-14.50
Saturday:
Qualifying 1 09.00-09.30
Race 1 14.15 (19 laps – max. 35´)
Sunday:
Qualifying 2 09.00-09.30
Race 2 12.15 (19 laps – max. 35´)
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