The new season of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine kicks off this weekend as part of the International GT Open event at Hockenheim. In this preview, you can find out more about the participating teams and their drivers, the race calendar for the year, short reports on the pre-season tests and more.
33 drivers from 11 different teams will be competing in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine this year. In addition to one new team, Iron Dames, two teams from last year, Arden Motorsport and Monolite Racing, are no longer taking part in the championship due to financial difficulties. In addition, some well-known drivers from last season are no longer involved. In addition to last year's champion Andrea Kimi Antonelli, these include drivers such as Martinius Stenshorne, Tim Tramnitz, Kas Haverkort, Macéo Capietto, Sami Meguetounif, Santiago Ramos, Joshua Dürksen and many more. The best-known returnees from the previous year are Rafael Câmara, Alessandro Giusti and Roman Bilinski.
Saintéloc Racing
Matteo De Palo, Théophile Naël, Enzo Peugeot
The French Saintéloc Racing team is starting the season with three new drivers. Matteo De Palo mainly contested races in the Spanish F4 last year. The 16-year-old Italian finished the championship in fifth place with one win and three more podium finishes. At the beginning of the year, he also took part in six Formula Regional Middle East races, where his best result was a seventh place at the Yas Marina Circuit. Théophile Naël is also moving up from Spanish Formula 4. The 16-year-old Frenchman won the Spanish championship with eight victories and a total of 14 podium finishes out of 21 races. He has also already won a race in Formula Regional. At the Yas Marina Circuit in the Formula Regional Middle East, he won the second race of the second weekend and finished race three in second place. At the season finale in Dubai, he finished third on the podium once again. The team is completed by the reigning runner-up of the French F4 championship. The 18-year-old Enzo Peugeot, who is not related to the Peugeot car brand, won seven races last year and stood on the French F4 podium a total of 13 times. He also contested several races in Formula Regional Middle East at the beginning of the year, where his best result was an eleventh place in Dubai.
Prema Racing
Ugo Ugochukwu, Rafael Câmara, James Wharton
The reigning champions of the teams' and drivers' championships will also be the favorites at the start of this year. Ugo Ugochukwu, who already raced with Prema last year, is making the step up from Formula 4. The 17-year-old New Yorker finished runner-up in the Italian F4 Championship last season with three wins and a further eleven podium finishes. With three further race wins and a total of five podium finishes, he also won the inaugural Euro 4 Championship. This year, the McLaren Junior is also competing in the British GB3 Championship in addition to the Formula Regional EU by Alpine. His team-mate Rafael Câmara will start his second season in Formula Regional in 2024. The 18-year-old Brazilian finished the championship in fifth place last year with two wins and five more podium finishes. At the beginning of the year, he took part in the Formula Regional Middle East, where he finished third in the final standings with two victories. The team is completed this year by James Wharton. The 17-year-old former Ferrari Junior finished fourth in last year's Italian F4 Championship. He finished on the podium eight times and won two races. The Australian also won two races in the Euro 4 championship, stood on the podium a further three times and finished the season as runner-up.
Trident
Roman Bilinski, Nicola Lacorte, Ruiqi Liu
Trident wants to take one step forward again after just one podium finish last year. The Italian team is relying on one familiar and two new drivers. Roman Bilinski is already entering his third season with the team. So far, he has made it onto the podium once, finishing third at the Hungaroring in 2022. He finished last year's championship in 21st place with just five points finishes. However, he was able to prove his talent once again at the start of this year. The 20-year-old Polish-British dual national won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship with six victories and a total of twelve podium finishes from 15 races. One of his new team-mates this year is Nicola Lacorte. The 16-year-old Italian contested the Italian F4 with Prema last year, which he finished in ninth place with one win and another podium finish. In preparation for the new season, the son of racing driver Roberto Lacorte took part in Formula Regional Oceania, where he won one of nine races and finished on the podium once again. The third driver in the team is Ruiqi Liu. The 17-year-old Chinese driver contested his rookie season in Formula 4 last year. In addition to his main program of Italian F4 and Euro 4, he also took part in eight races of Chinese F4, where he won three races and finished on the podium a further four times. His best result in Europe so far was a seventh place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
KIC Motorsport
Alex Sawer, Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi, Costa Toparis
The Finnish KIC Motorsport team is starting the new year with three new drivers. Alex Sawer made his car racing debut at the end of last year in the Indian F4 Championship. The Vietnamese driver finished the championship in fifth place with one win and five other podium finishes. At the beginning of the year, he also competed in Chinese F4 at the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, where he took pole position and won the first race. One of his teammates at KIC this year is Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi. The 17-year-old Thai has been racing in Formula 4 for the past two years. His only podium finish came in third place in F4 CEZ at the Red Bull Ring. The trio is completed by Costa Toparis. The 18-year-old Australian took part in last year's GB3 championship, which he finished in 15th place. In preparation for his first Formula Regional year, he also took part in the Formula Regional Middle East, where he finished third on the podium for the first time with Evans GP at the Yas Marina Circuit.
R-ace GP
Tuukka Taponen, Zachary David, Enzo Deligny
After a narrow defeat last year, R-ace GP is back in the hunt for the team championship title. With Tuukka Taponen, they probably also have the biggest favorite for the drivers' championship in their own ranks. The 17-year-old Finn contested his rookie season in Formula 4 last year, finishing the Italian F4 championship in fifth place with seven podium finishes and one victory. He also won five times in F4 UAE and finished as runner-up in the overall standings. At the beginning of the year, he managed to win the Formula Regional Middle East. The Ferrari Junior won five races and finished on the podium a further four times. His two team-mates are also competing in Formula Regional for the first time this year. Zachary David finished the Italian F4 championship in seventh place last year with four podium finishes. The 16-year-old Filipino also stood on the podium four times in Formula Regional Middle East and finished the championship in a strong fourth place at the beginning of the year. The French team is completed by Enzo Deligny. The 16-year-old Red Bull Junior contested his first Formula 4 season in Spanish F4 last year. The Frenchman finished fourth with two victories and eight further podium finishes. At the beginning of the year, he also contested nine races in the F4 UAE Championship, where he won the second-to-last race in Dubai.
G4 Racing
Kanato Le, Romain Andriolo, Jesse Carrasquedo
G4 Racing from Switzerland is starting the season with three new drivers. Kanato Le took part in the British F4 Championship last season, where he won three races and finished on the podium twice. In preparation for the new year, the 16-year-old Japanese driver took part in six Formula Regional Middle East races, where his best result was a tenth place in Dubai. Romain Andriolo has competed in French F4 in recent years, where he won two races and finished on the podium a further nine times. The 17-year-old Frenchman finished fourth in last year's championship. Jesse Carrasquedo is the only member of the team to have already contested individual Formula Regional races last year. The 17-year-old Mexican won two out of three races in the F4 NACAM in 2022, but is still waiting for his first podium finish in Europe. At the beginning of the year, he also took part in the Formula Regional Middle East, where his best result was an eleventh place.
ART Grand Prix
Alessandro Giusti, Léna Bühler, Evan Giltaire, Yaroslav Veselaho
ART Grand Prix wants to attack at the front again this year after a weak 2023 season. So far, they are the only team to make use of the additional car for a female driver. This will be Alessandro Giusti's second year in the championship. With G4 Racing, the French F4 champion from 2022 managed to win three races and finish second on the podium once again. The 18 year-old Frenchman finished his rookie season in a strong sixth place. After a year in F1 Academy, Léna Bühler is now back full-time in Formula Regional EU by Alpine, where she contested her first races in 2022. Last season, the 26-year-old Swiss driver won two F1 Academy races, stood on the podium a further eleven times and finished the year as runner-up. Another French F4 champion, Evan Giltaire, has been promoted to Formula Regional. The 17-year-old Frenchman won six races last year, finished on the podium a further seven times and won the French F4 championship by just four points. The team is completed by Yaroslav Veselaho from the Ukraine. The 19-year-old took part in the French F4 last year, where he scored six points.
MP Motorsport
Nikita Bedrin, Nikhil Bohra, Valerio Rinicella
The Dutch team from MP Motorsport is entering three new drivers in this year's Formula Regional EU by Alpine. Nikita Bedrin already took part in individual races last year, but concentrated on the FIA F3 Championship as this year. The 18-year-old Russian has already finished on the podium in both FIA F3 and Formula Regional. With Van Amersfoort Racing, he finished third on the podium at last year's season finale at the Hockenheimring. At the beginning of the year, he took part in F4 UAE, where he won three out of nine races. His team-mate Nikhil Bohra is contesting his second year in Formula Regional in 2024, having already finished third on the podium in Imola last year. The 19-year-old American-Indian dual national also finished third overall in the Indian Racing League at the end of last year. At the beginning of the year, he won a race in Dubai with MP in Formula Regional Middle East. The team is completed by the Italian Valerio Rinicella. The 18-year-old from Rome already competed for the team in Spanish F4 last year. He won two races, stood on the podium a further ten times and finished the championship in a strong third place. At the beginning of the year, he took part in Formula Regional Middle East, where his best result was a sixth place. He also won both non-championship races in Eurocup-3.
Van Amersfoort Racing
Brando Badoer, Pedro Clerot, Ivan Domingues
There are also three new names at Van Amersfoort Racing compared to the start of last season. Brando Badoer is contesting his first Formula Regional season this year. The 17-year-old Italian
finished fifth in last year's Italian F4 Championship with five podium finishes. The son of former F1 driver Luca Badoer also took part in the Formula Regional Middle East at the beginning of the
year, where he finished the championship in tenth place with three podium finishes. One of his team-mates this year is Pedro Clerot. The 2022 Brazilian F4 champion contested races in Spanish F4
last year. With two wins and another podium finish, the 17-year-old Brazilian ended the championship in sixth place. He also competed in six Formula Regional Middle East races at the start of
this year. The team is completed by Ivan Domingues this season, who made his debut in the championship at the end of last year. The 17-year-old Portuguese driver mainly contested the Italian F4
Championship with Van Amersfoort in 2023, where he once finished third on the podium in Imola and finished the championship in eleventh place.
Iron Dames
Marta García, Doriane Pin
The Iron Dames team, which is mainly known from racing series such as the WEC, GT World Challenge and IMSA, is new to the grid this year. However, they have also competed with Maya Weug in the Italian F4 and the former ADAC F4 in previous years. Like her team-mate, Marta García is taking part in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine for the first time. The 23-year-old Spaniard took part in F1 Academy last year and was also part of the former W Series for three years. In F1 Academy, she was able to win the championship title in a fairly controlled manner. She won seven of 21 races and finished on the podium a further five times. Doriane Pin is also taking part in F1 Academy for the first time this year alongside her Formula Regional EU by Alpine duties. The 20-year-old Frenchwoman first really made a name for herself in 2022 when she won the title in the Trofeo Pirelli Pro class of the Ferrari Challenge Europe with nine wins out of 14 races. At the end of last year, she made her debut in Formula 4 South East Asia, where she won one race, finished on the podium three more times and took the runner-up title. At the beginning of the year, she also managed to win a race in F4 UAE. In F1 Academy, she is in second place with one win and four podium finishes after just as many races at the moment.
RPM
Edgar Pierre, Noah Strømsted, Giovanni Maschio
The Italian RPM team is hoping to build on last year's success with two podium finishes and fourth place in the team championship. They are relying on three new drivers. Edgar Pierre has competed in French F4 for the past two years and is making his debut in Formula Regional EU by Alpine this weekend at Hockenheim. The 18-year-old Frenchman finished the season in ninth place last year. His best result was a third place in the first race at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Noah Strømsted mainly raced in Spanish F4 last season, where he finished the championship in seventh place with three podium finishes. He made his Formula Regional debut last year in Monza with RPM. After a retirement in the first race, he immediately took a strong sixth place in his second race. At the beginning of the year, the 16-year-old Dane also took part in a Formula Regional Middle East weekend. The team is completed by Giovanni Maschio. For the 17-year-old Italian, 2024 will be his second year in Formula Regional EU by Alpine. Last year, he competed with Monolite Racing and achieved his best result to date with 17th place in the second race at Mugello.
Ten race weekends with two races each are planned again this year. The 20 races in total will be held on the same race tracks as last year. However, Imola and Barcelona will no longer take place at the beginning of the year. The Hockenheimring and Spa-Francorchamps will now kick off the season, followed by the round at Zandvoort, which has been moved from October to June.
Round 1: Hockenheimring, Germany (11-12 May)
Round 2: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (25-26 May)
Round 3: Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands (8-9 June)
Round 4: Hungaroring, Hungary (22-23 June)
Round 5: Mugello Circuit, Italy (13-14 July)
Round 6: Circuit Paul Ricard, France (20-21 July)
Round 7: Imola Circuit, Italy (7-8 September)
Round 8: Red Bull Ring, Austria (14-15 September)
Round 9: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain (28-29 September)
Round 10: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy (26-27 October)
On every race weekend of the Formula Regional EU Championship by Alpine there will be two races of 30 minutes (+1 lap) duration each. The positions for the start formation will be determined for both races by two separate qualifying sessions. Due to the large starting grid, the qualifying sessions are divided into two groups each. Each group is on the track for 15 minutes. In addition, two practice sessions of 50 minutes each will be held on Friday.
Each Formula Regional EU by Alpine race will award points to the top ten classified drivers with 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points. Furthermore there are no extra points for pole positions or fastest race laps.
All qualifying sessions and races of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine can be followed via livestream on the series YouTube channel or on ACI Sport TV.
The teams and drivers prepared for the new year at three different racetracks. In April, two days each were spent testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Circuit Paul Ricard and the
Hockenheimring.
BARCELONA:
On the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Van Amersfoort Racing driver Pedro Clerot was fastest on the first day with a 1m36.281s. However, the second day of testing in Barcelona was significantly faster. At the end, James Wharton was the fastest driver with a 1m35.614s. Just 0.066 seconds behind him was Brando Badoer from Van Amersfoort Racing. Noah Strømsted, Enzo Deligny and Pedro Clerot completed the top five.
Day 1 & 2 Combined - Overall Results:
P1: James Wharton - Prema / 1m35.614s
P2: Brando Badoer - VAR / +0.066s
P3: Noah Strømsted - RPM / +0.248s
P4: Enzo Deligny - R-ace GP / +0.274s
P5: Pedro Clerot - VAR / +0.386s
P6: Nikita Bedrin - MP / +0.415s
P7: Alessandro Giusti - ART GP / +0.451s
P8: Valerio Rinicella - MP / +0.536s
P9: Théophile Naël - Saintéloc / +0.545s
P10: Evan Giltaire - ART GP / +0.552s
LE CASTELLET:
Two weeks later, testing continued at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. On both days, there was one session in the morning and one in the afternoon. On the first day, there was no getting past Prema driver Rafael Câmara. With a 1m57.321s he was the fastest driver of day one. His time was beaten on the second day by Tuukka Taponen, among others. The Ferrari Driver Academy member was the fastest driver overall with a 1m56.669s. Brando Badoer came in second, just 0.141s behind. R-ace GP driver Zachary David was third fastest, 0.380s behind his teammate. With 121 laps completed on both days, Giovanni Maschio from RPM was the busiest driver.
Day 1 & 2 Combined - Overall Results:
P1: Tuukka Taponen - R-ace GP / 1m56.669s
P2: Brando Badoer - VAR / +0.141s
P3: Zachary David - R-ace GP / +0.380s
P4: Rafael Câmara - Prema / +0.434s
P5: Evan Giltaire - ART GP / +0.463s
P6: Enzo Deligny - R-ace GP / +0.476s
P7: Théophile Naël - Saintéloc / +0.590s
P8: James Wharton - Prema / +0.602s
P9: Alessandro Giusti - ART GP / +0.696s
P10: Ugo Ugochukwu - Prema / +0.747s
HOCKENHEIM:
Just one week after the two days of testing in France, the action continued at the Hockenheimring in Germany, where the season opener takes place. On a chaotic first day with many interruptions, Evan Giltaire from ART Grand Prix was the fastest with a lap time of 1m35.833s. This time was beaten by almost a second on the second day. RPM driver Noah Strømsted secured the fastest lap time in Hockenheim with 1m34.852s. Van Amersfoort Racing driver Brando Badoer finished in second place again, 0.410 seconds behind. Roman Bilinski from Trident secured the third-fastest time over both days.
Day 1 & 2 Combined - Overall Results:
P1: Noah Strømsted - RPM / 1m34.852s
P2: Brando Badoer - VAR / +0.410s
P3: Roman Bilinski - Trident / +0.587s
P4: James Wharton - Prema / +0.684s
P5: Rafael Câmara - Prema / +0.685s
P6: Ugo Ugochukwu - Prema / +0.711s
P7: Alex Sawer - KIC / +0.799s
P8: Costa Toparis - KIC / +0.823s
P9: Pedro Clerot - VAR / +0.847s
P10: Nikita Bedrin - MP / +0.890s
Once again this season, I'm giving my personal prediction for the drivers and teams championships in Formula Regional EU by Alpine.
Drivers Championship
P1: Tuukka Taponen
P2: Rafael Câmara
P3: Ugo Ugochukwu
P4: Brando Badoer
P5: Alessandro Giusti
My main favorite for the title this year is Tuukka Taponen. The Finn impressed on his Formula Regional debut in the United Arab Emirates and at times dominated the Formula Regional Middle East at will. If he can show the same pace from the start in Europe, it will be difficult to beat the Ferrari Junior. For me, his toughest rivals are the three Prema drivers Câmara, Ugochukwu and Wharton, as well as Brando Badoer, who gets on well with the Formula Regional car and could cause a surprise or two. I'm also looking forward to seeing the two ART Grand Prix drivers Alessandro Giusti and Evan Giltaire, who I think are capable of competing for victories and podium places. Other podium contenders for me over the course of the year are Théophile Naël, Roman Bilinski, Zachary David, Valerio Rinicella, Noah Strømsted or Nikita Bedrin.
Teams Championship
P1: Prema Racing
P2: R-ace GP
P3: Van Amersfoort Racing
The team championship title will probably be decided between Prema and R-ace GP again this year. For me, Prema is just ahead this season, but it could just as easily tip to the side of R-ace GP. The battle for third place in the overall standings will probably be between Van Amersfoort Racing, MP Motorsport and ART Grand Prix. I see RPM, G4 Racing, Saintéloc and Trident mostly fighting in the midfield, where the Iron Dames and KIC Motorsport will at times join them.
written by Claudio Graf / 8th May 2024