After an exciting start of the 2025 season at Portimão, the Tom’s-powered Dallara 324s of the Euroformula Open are ready to be ‘christened’ in one of the most demanding tracks in the world, Spa-Francorchamps. The magnificent ‘Cathedral of the Ardennes’ is ready to host the second round of 2025 and test the new technical package of the series.
It is still very early stages in the championship, but no doubt that the fight will be fierce, considering also the prestige that winning at Spa entails.
In Portugal, one driver emerged as the first leader of the season: Yevan David. The young Sri Lankan of Team Motopark, supported by a whole country, netted two wins and one third, leaving Portugal with a 10-point lead in the overall standings.
His closest rival at the moment is teammate Michael Shin. The Korean collected three second positions, after a consistently solid weekend. He surely will want to open this year’s count of wins in Belgium.
Another hero in Portugal was Ed Pearson. The young Brit conquered Race 1, the very first race of the year, in Portugal, adding later another podium finish to take provisional third in the standings, 22 points clear from the lead. His win marked also a memorable feat in the Euroformula history, as it meant the first win, in its debut race in the series, for Nielsen Racing. The British squad proved to be competitive from straight, despite a short preparation period, clearly stating it will be part of the fight at the forefront.
The fourth driver to show great things and great potential in Portugal was Tymek Kucharczyk, the 17-year-old new recruit of BVM Racing. The Pole taking the pole may sound … logical, but it certainly wasn’t granted. His pace throughout the weekend was impressive but two stalled starts forced him to be in ‘charge mode’ in all races, eventually taking one third and two points finishes, which put him in fourth position in the standings.
Behind this quartet, the other drivers also showed good things and will strive to show their progress in Spa. Joss Garfias and Diego de la Torre, the Mexican duo of Team Motopark, proved to be not far from the top level, and so did the other two drivers of the German squad, Brazil’s Fernando Barrichello and US rookie Everett Stack.
At Nielsen Racing, Shawn Rashid, the other US driver, and Briton Finn Green, will both continue their fast adjustment to a series new to them.
The other driver of BVM Racing, Russia’s Vladislav Ryabov, already an EF race winner, proved fast and hopes to further raise his game in Belgium.
On his side, Paolo Brajnik, at the wheel of the NV Racing car, felt at ease with the new car and will aspire at scoring his first points of the season.
