2017 Euroformula Open – Chuklin Joins the Euroformula Open Field

Iconic Spa-Francorchamps to Add Extra Spice to Title Race

The “Belgian Rollercoaster” will add another thrilling chapter of rivalry with still more drivers joining the fight up front. There are drivers and teams from 12 different nationalities represented in the entry list. Russian driver The Euroformula Open heads to Belgium for the second of the 8 rounds at eight prestigious top-grade circuits across Europe. The legendary Spa-Francorchamps is a 7.004-kilometre rollercoaster in the middle of the Ardennes forest and whose weather is always unpredictable. Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Kemmel or La Source are some of the undoubted highlights of the season and a challenge for any driver. The Euroformula Open, the series providing a key rung on the single-seater ladder leading to F.1, predicts even more interesting action-packed Formula 3 racing next weekend.

The entry list has been unveiled and there is a strong addition to join the 18-car field as Ukraine’s Alexey Chuklin is making his Euroformula Open return behind the wheel of a Fortec Motorsports’ Dallara F312. Earlier this year, Kiev resident Chuklin took part in Euroformula Open’s Winter Series at Paul Ricard and earned an eight place at the checkered flag in the opening race of the weekend.

The Euroformula Open season geared up for an exciting start at Autódromo do Estoril at the end of April. Briton Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport) emerged from the opening round with two victories. Scott sits first in the point standings ahead of Jannes Fittje (Fortec Motorsports), Ameya Vaidyanathan (Carlin), Nikita Troitskiy (Drivex) and Matheus Iorio (Campos Racing), who rounds off the top-five. Fittje claimed Rookie triumph in race 1 at Estoril and lies first in rookies’ class ahead of Troitskiy and Petru Florescu (Campos Racing). RP Motorsport took the lead in the Teams’ classification.

Campos Racing will enter their four cars into next weekend. The Brazilian duo of Thiago Vivacqua and Iorio made a positive start to the season as they both recorded podium finishes at the season opener. Romania’s Florescu and Finland’s Simo Laaksonen, with two other Dallara-built cars entered by Adrián Campos’ outfit, also left their mark in Portugal. In fact, Florescu picked up a podium finish in this year’s rookie class. Laaksonen also managed to score solid points on his first appearance.

RP Motorsport’s three car team is spearheaded by Briton Scott. The team founded Fabio Pampado and Niki Rocca bordered on perfection as Scott, as commented above, dominated in style with a double win, also including one pole position and one fastest lap also to his credit. Poland’s Alex Karkosik and Italy’s Lodovico Laurini also achieved top ten finishes on their debut in the series and they both look like being on the verge of something bigger at Spa-Francorchamps.

Carlin’s trio of drivers showed great pace and promise, always among the fastest, on Portuguese soil. Indian drivers Ameya Vaidyanathan and Tarun Reddy and Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco are a strong and extremely young driver line up. Vaidyanathan challenged Scott for the win on Saturday’s race on Portugal. On the other hand, Reddy also grabbed valuable points on his debut. Finally, DeFrancesco, at just 17 years of age, proved he has the talent to shine throughout the season.

Fortec will enter two cars instead of three for Fittje and Chuklin and the duo will be seeking another strong result for the Daventry-based team. Fittje took two fourth places in his Fortec-entered Dallara and will eye to further enhance his performance in the F.3-based series. Russia’s Yan Leon Shlom will miss the next two events due to his schooling exams but will then return for the remainder of the season. Malaysian Najiy Ayyad Razak will be also absent due to other commitments but the young Asian driver is looking at competing at some more events later this year.

Drivex managed to continue its pack of positive finishes in the series and added another podium to their streak at with Troitskiy. Nikita set his first pole position of the 2017 season at Estoril but failed to match Scott’s scorching pace later in race, still securing though a valuable second place, which was a fitting reward. Brazil’s Christian Hahn and Troitskiy carried out a private test in Valencia where they were joined by Pedro de la Rosa,
former F.1 driver. Their experience with de la Rosa shall serve as a good starting point heading into the weekend.

Teo Martín Motorsport will compete at Spa-Francorchamps with two cars for Spanish karting star Eliseo Martínez and Brazilian Pedro Cardoso. Martínez shone in his debut F.3 race in Portugal and brought a fifth place home and also finished 2nd in the Rookie class. Cardoso will be in search of his first points-paying finish as he left the Portuguese venue on zero points. Cardoso was unable to make the most of his good pace but the Ardennes will be a different story.

BVM Racing will field their two Dallara cars for Russia’s Daniil Pronenko and another driver to be announced. Pronenko was forced to retire early in both Portuguese races but despite his low mileage the Italian team and its driver made steady progress.

The Spa-Francorchamps premium programme includes the Euroformula Open and its sister series, the International GT Open, the Radical European Masters and the FCD Racing Series.