Euroformula Open Championship

The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe and Scandinavia that together used to form an important part of the established "career ladder" below Formula One. The championship's first season was held in 2001. In 2006, it was branded as the Spanish F3 Championship by Toyota, in deference to its sole engine supplier. In 2020, the championship ceased to be a F3-championship and will share its specifications with Japan's Super Formula Lights based on the previous-generation Formula Three standards, primarily with a choice of engines.

EuroFormula car in 2021
Euroformula Open Championship
Euroformula Open logo
CategorySingle seaters
CountryEurope
Inaugural season2001
Drivers10 (2023)
Teams6 (2023)
ConstructorsDallara
Engine suppliersMercedes
Volkswagen
Tyre suppliersHankook[1]
Drivers' championMexico Noel León
Teams' championGermany Team Motopark
Official websitehttp://www.euroformulaopen.net/
Current season

Profile

The Spanish Formula Three Championship was formed during Spain's recent growth period in motor racing that began with the Euro Open Movistar by Nissan, which eventually became the World Series by Renault when the two companies' motor racing programs were reorganised. The new championship replaced the previously existing Super Formula Toyota, a one-make series with performance similar to F3.

The European F3 Open championship has become successful by actively taking measures to control budget requirements. This provides a more achievable option for drivers who lack the major sponsorship portfolio that is required by leading Euroseries teams, and would otherwise have to look elsewhere for their next step up the career ladder.

With Renault's backing, the World Series has developed into a championship from which drivers can reach Formula One, and three major Spanish teams are established in GP2.[2] This has fostered new opportunities for the graduates of Spanish F3, which has, in turn, made the championship itself a success.[3]

In recent years the Championship has become much less centred in Spain, with races across Europe, and has successfully attracted famous non-Spanish teams to take part. The first was the British outfit Team West-Tec who went on to win two Driver's Championship titles in their first three seasons, and which were followed a year later by Italy's RP Motorsport who have won races each year since joining.

The championship was renamed to Euroformula Open Championship for 2014, after the FIA restricted the use of the Formula Three name to championships that do not follow the current engine regulations.[4]

Sub-divisions

Like British Formula Three, the series incorporates a second championship class for chassis specifications from the previous generation. The Copa was created in 2005, and provides an opportunity for drivers without competitive budgets, who would otherwise be left unable to progress from cheaper formulae. The name is derived from the chassis specification that all Copa entrants must use: the Dallara F308.

Equipment

The Euroformula Open Championship has used chassis from Italian constructor Dallara. During the first seasons, the Dallara F300 was used. The Dallara F305 debuted in 2005, the Dallara F308 in 2008, and the Dallara F312 in 2012. The secondary class was dropped during the 2014 season due to lack of entries. The current chassis is the Dallara 320, which debuted in 2020.

Originally, the European F3 Open Championship had a single engine supplier. From 2010 to 2018, the series used Toyota's F3 engine upgraded by the Spanish tuner Piedrafita Sport. In 2019, the series also allowed Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen engines, and the Toyota engines were dropped after the first round of the season.

F1 tests

The exclusive use of the Toyota engine prompted Toyota to offer a Formula One test to each year's champion. The first driver to benefit from this was 2004 champion Borja García, who later graduated to GP2.[5]

Venues

Between 2001 and 2005, the Spanish F3 Championship had seven rounds, each with two races. Exceptions to this included the Valencia round in 2002 and the Jerez round in 2003, each of which had only one race, and Albacete, which held a single-race event in addition to its regular two-race event in 2005.

In every season from its inception until 2007, the championship made a regular visit to Estoril in Portugal. The 2006 season, which was expanded to eight rounds, included the championship's first visit to Magny-Cours in France.[6]

Since 2008 many circuits from further afield have been added to the schedule including visits to Magny Cours, Donington Park and Brands Hatch with major European motorsport venues including Spa, Monza, Silverstone and Hungaroring hosting rounds of the 2014 season as the series expands further into Europe.

From 2001, the circuits used in the Euroformula Open Championship are listed as:

  • Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2023 season.
Number Circuits Rounds Years
1 Spain Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 22 2001–present
2 Spain Circuito de Jerez 20[lower-alpha 1] 2002–2011, 2013–2018
3 Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 16 2008–present
4 Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 14 2009–present
5 Spain Circuit Ricardo Tormo 13[lower-alpha 2] 2001–2011
6 Portugal Circuito do Estoril 12 2001–2007, 2015–2018, 2022
7 Spain Circuito del Jarama 11[lower-alpha 3] 2001–2010
France Circuit Paul Ricard 11 2012–2013, 2015–present
9 Spain Circuito de Albacete 9[lower-alpha 4] 2001–2008
Hungary Hungaroring 9 2012, 2014, 2017–present
11 United Kingdom Silverstone Circuit 7 2013–2019
12 France Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 6 2006–2011
Austria Red Bull Ring 6 2015–2016, 2019–present
Portugal Algarve International Circuit 6 2011–2014, 2021, 2023
15 United Kingdom Brands Hatch 3 2010–2012
Germany Nürburgring 3 2012–2014
17 Spain Valencia Street Circuit 2[lower-alpha 5] 2008
France Circuit de Pau-Ville 2 2019, 2022
Italy Imola Circuit 2 2021–2022
20 United Kingdom Donington Park 1 2009
Germany Hockenheimring 1 2019
Italy Mugello Circuit 1 2020

Points system

Seasons Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 PP FL PG
20012003 Race 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2
2004 Race 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1
20052006 Race 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
20072008 Race 1 13 11 9 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
Race 2 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
20092011 Race 1 14 12 10 8 6 5 3 2 1 1 1
Race 2 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
20122020 Race 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1 1
2021–present Race 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1 1 2*

Champions

Drivers

Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2001 Spain Ander Vilariño Spain Racing Engineering 7 6 8 7 196 Race 12 of 14 39
2002 Spain Marcel Costa Spain E.V. Racing 2 2 9 3 190 Race 11 of 13 16
2003 Brazil Ricardo Maurício Spain Racing Engineering 4 6 7 2 190 Race 11 of 13 6
2004 Spain Borja García Spain Racing Engineering 8 9 10 8 149 Race 14 of 14 18
2005 Spain Andy Soucek Spain Llusiá Racing 2 3 7 1 112 Race 13 of 13 3
2006 Argentina Ricardo Risatti Spain TEC-Auto 3 5 7 8 118 Race 15 of 16 15
2007 Spain Máximo Cortés Spain Escuderia TEC-Auto 4 6 7 9 117 Race 16 of 16 4
2008 Spain Germán Sánchez Spain Campos F3 Racing 1 4 5 4 88 Race 17 of 17 4

Teams

Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2001 Spain Racing Engineering 8 7 13 9 113 Race 14 of 14 19
2002 Spain Racing Engineering 2 4 9 2 108 Race 12 of 13 19
2003 Spain Racing Engineering 4 6 10 3 119 Race 12 of 13 26
2004 Spain Racing Engineering 9 10 21 10 179 Race 10 of 14 18
2005 Spain Racing Engineering 2 3 7 1 252 Race 9 of 13 128
2006 Spain Racing Engineering 1 4 14 1 155 Race 16 of 16 9
2007 Spain Escuderia TEC-Auto 4 7 17 9 197 Race 16 of 16 30
2008 Spain Campos F3 Racing 3 4 12 7 134 Race 15 of 17 44

Junior Cup

Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Junior) Podiums (Junior) Fastest laps Points (Junior) Clinched Margin
2001 Spain Juan Antonio del Pino Spain Meycom 0 0 1 0 73 Race 13 of 14 23
2002 Spain Andy Soucek Spain Racing Engineering 0 0 0 0 113 Race 7 of 13 16
2003 Argentina Ricardo Risatti Spain EV Racing
Spain Elide Racing
0 0 (8) 1 (10) 0 70 (96) Race 12 of 13 28
2004 Spain Javier Villa Spain EV Racing
Spain Elide Racing
0 0 (10) 0 (11) 0 29 (108) Race 13 of 14 28

Trofeo Ibérico

Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Trofeo) Podiums(Trofeo) Fastest laps Points (Trofeo) Clinched Margin
2003 Spain Borja García Spain GTA Motor Competición 1 1 (0) 7 (4) 2 80 (182) Race 5 of 5 4
2004 Spain Borja García Spain Racing Engineering 7 9 (5) 10 (5) 8 149 (63) Race 6 of 6 13
2005 Spain Andy Soucek Spain Llusiá Racing 2 3 (2) 7 (3) 1 112 (77) Race 5 of 6 19
2006 Spain Roldán Rodríguez Spain Campos Racing 2 4 (3) 5 (3) 3 103 (65) Race 6 of 6 6

Copa de España de F3

Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Copa) Podiums(Copa) Fastest laps Points (Copa) Clinched Margin
2005 Spain Arturo Llobell Spain Campos Racing 0 0 0 0 16 (86) Race 15 of 15 4
2006 Spain German Sanchez Spain Escuela Profiltek 0 0 0 1 19 (108) Race 15 of 16 15
2007 Norway Christian Ebbesvik United Kingdom Team West-Tec 0 0 (7) 0 (13) 0 7 (118) Race 16 of 16 0
2008 Switzerland Natacha Gachnang United Kingdom Team West-Tec 1 0 (5) 0 (12) 2 76 (110) Race 16 of 16 1

Drivers

Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2009 Spain Bruno Méndez Spain Campos Racing 2 4 11 8 145 Race 16 of 16 2
2010 Spain Marco Barba Lebanon Cedars Motorsport 3 6 10 8 154 Race 12 of 16 42
2011 Switzerland Alex Fontana Italy Corbetta Competizioni 1 2 7 1 120 Race 15 of 16 5
2012 Italy Niccolò Schirò Italy RP Motorsport 3 4 11 7 272 Race 16 of 16 5
2013 United Arab Emirates Ed Jones United Kingdom Team West-Tec F3 4 6 10 3 256 Race 16 of 16 9

Teams

Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2009 Spain Campos Racing 4 6 14 10 117 Race 16 of 16 7
2010 Lebanon Cedars Motorsport 3 6 10 8 116 Race 15 of 16 24
2011 United Kingdom Team West-Tec 2 4 8 1 101 Race 16 of 16 6
2012 Italy RP Motorsport 8 8 23 10 138 Race 14 of 16 41
2013 Italy RP Motorsport 6 6 26 7 128 Race 16 of 16 2

Copa F306/300

Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Copa) Podiums (Copa) Fastest laps Points (Copa) Clinched Margin
2009 United Kingdom Callum MacLeod United Kingdom Team West-Tec 0 0 (7) 1 (12) 0 41 (106) Race 14 of 16 27
2010 Lebanon Noel Jammal Lebanon Cedars Motorsport 0 0 (5) 0 (8) 0 24 (89) Race 16 of 16 5
2011 Brazil Fabio Gamberini United Kingdom Team West-Tec 0 1 (10) 3 (14) 0 79 (130) Race 14 of 16 12
2012 Italy Kevin Giovesi Italy DAV Racing 0 0 (10) 1 (11) 0 93 (110) Race 13 of 16 38
2013 Slovakia Richard Gonda United Kingdom Drivex School 0 0 (7) 0 (10) 0 10 (100) Race 15 of 16 19

Drivers

Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014 Thailand Sandy Stuvik Italy RP Motorsport 10 11 12 5 332 Race 14 of 16 89
2015 Brazil Vitor Baptista Italy RP Motorsport 5 6 12 7 291 Race 16 of 16 5
2016 Italy Leonardo Pulcini Spain Campos Racing 3 7 15 8 303 Race 12 of 16 56
2017 United Kingdom Harrison Scott Italy RP Motorsport 9 12 13 9 340 Race 12 of 16 118
2018 Brazil Felipe Drugovich Italy RP Motorsport 10 14 16 10 405 Race 12 of 16 159
2019 Japan Marino Sato Germany Team Motopark 6 9 11 5 309 Race 15 of 18 130
2020 China Ye Yifei Japan CryptoTower Racing 12 11 16 12 369 Race 16 of 18 121
2021 United States Cameron Das Germany Team Motopark 1 7 16 6 382 Race 22 of 24 67
2022 Denmark Oliver Goethe Germany Team Motopark 7 11 18 12 473 Race 24 of 26 57
2023 Mexico Noel León Germany Team Motopark 5* 7* 15* 11* 367* Race 20 of 23 92*

Teams

Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014 Italy RP Motorsport 13 13 22 10 152 Race 14 of 16 51
2015 Italy RP Motorsport 5 7 13 8 121 Race 15 of 16 10
2016 Spain Campos Racing 3 7 17 9 120 Race 14 of 16 18
2017 Italy RP Motorsport 12 13 17 10 134 Race 12 of 16 44
2018 Italy RP Motorsport 10 14 16 11 180 Race 11 of 16 78
2019 Germany Team Motopark 11 15 33 11 262 Race 12 of 18 168
2020 Japan CryptoTower Racing 17 16 26 16 244 Race 12 of 18 129
2021 Germany Team Motopark 5 16 29 18 277 Race 23 of 24 69
2022 Japan CryptoTower Racing 3 12 41 8 358 Race 23 of 24 78

Rookies

Season Driver Team Poles Wins (rookie) Podiums (rookie) Fastest laps Points (rookie) Clinched Margin
2016 Austria Ferdinand Habsburg Spain Drivex School 4 2 (10) 12 (15) 1 247 (140) Race 12 of 16 42
2017 Russia Nikita Troitskiy Spain Drivex School 2 0 (7) 9 (14) 4 222 (124) Race 14 of 16 29
2018 Netherlands Bent Viscaal Spain Teo Martín Motorsport 4 1 (14) 12 (15) 2 246 (138) Race 12 of 16 48
2019 New Zealand Liam Lawson Germany Team Motopark 2 4 (6) 7 (9) 1 179 (92) Race 18 of 18 9
2020 Germany Niklas Krütten Germany Team Motopark 0 0 (9) 5 (13) 0 153 (140) Race 16 of 18 28
2021 United Kingdom Casper Stevenson Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 0 2 (6) 4 (20) 0 217 (178) Race 19 of 24 35
2022 Russia Vladislav Lomko Japan CryptoTower Racing 2 6 (21) 19 (25) 5 416 (226) Race 22 of 26 64

Spanish F3 Drivers

Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014 Thailand Sandy Stuvik Italy RP Motorsport 4 4 4 2 118 Race 5 of 6 13
2015 Russia Konstantin Tereshchenko Spain Campos Racing 5 4 5 3 134 Race 5 of 6 37
2016 Italy Leonardo Pulcini Spain Campos Racing 1 2 4 3 105 Race 6 of 6 11
2017 Canada Devlin DeFrancesco United Kingdom Carlin Motorsport 0 1 3 0 119 Race 5 of 6 22
2018 Brazil Felipe Drugovich Italy RP Motorsport 0 1 3 0 157 Race 5 of 6 53

Spanish F3 Teams

Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014 Italy RP Motorsport 5 5 8 4 56 Race 5 of 6 14
2015 Spain Campos Racing 5 4 6 3 48 Race 6 of 6 9
2016 Spain Campos Racing 1 2 5 3 42 Race 6 of 6 5
2017 Italy RP Motorsport 4 5 6 4 50 Race 5 of 6 7
2018 Italy RP Motorsport 3 5 6 3 72 Race 4 of 6 28

Notes

  1. Circuito de Jerez hosted 2 rounds in 20022004, and 2007.
  2. Circuit Ricardo Tormo hosted 2 rounds in 20052006.
  3. Circuito del Jarama hosted 2 rounds in 2001.
  4. Circuito de Albacete hosted 2 rounds in 2005.
  5. Valencia Street Circuit hosted 2 rounds in 2008.

References

  1. "Hankook Tire becomes the official tire supplier of the Euroformula Open". www.euroformulaopen.net. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  2. Racing Engineering Season Preview F1prospects.com, April 8, 2006. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  3. Over the Weekend – April 29–30, 2006 Archived 2007-03-01 at the Wayback Machine F1prospects.com, May 1, 2006. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  4. "The Euroformula Open is born!". Euroformula Open Championship. GT Sport. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  5. Toyota F1 test for Spanish champ Autosport-atlas.com, January 28, 2005. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  6. 2006 Spanish F3 Calendar Archived 2007-03-24 at the Wayback Machine Formula3.cc, November 26, 2005. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
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