Only a fortnight after Hockenheim, which marked the end of the summer break, the Euroformula Open is ready for the final and decisive sprint of the season. Monza and Barcelona, as customary but back in this order, will host the title deciders.
The first stop is at the iconic Autodromo Nazionale, which last year hosted a thrilling finale, with Tymek Kucharczyk conquering the title in a heartbreaking three-way sprint under the flag of the last race. The Pole has shone this year in the Indy NXT, where he finished third, adding his name to the list of former EFO drivers having success in America.
The ‘Temple of Speed’, with its 5.793 km of long straights, fast corners and chicanes, is particularly suited for formula racing, and an exciting although demanding test ground for drivers, who also need to master the ‘art’ of towing.
There will be excitement in the paddock, where there will also be a lot of talking about the very recent news of top team Palou Motorsport joining the series next year with three cars.
Meanwhile, there will also be some current business to think of, starting with the title battle. Solidly at the helm of the standings is Rui-heng Yeh, the Taiwanese driver of Team Motopark. With his 7 wins and 2 poles, he now has an 85-point advantage on his closest rival, who is his teammate Diego de la Torre, since Everett Stark had to interrupt his campaign for personal reasons. The Mexican has won two races, including the last one at Hockenheim in treacherous weather conditions.
Another Mexican driver of Motopark, Jesse Carrasquedo, is the virtual third, 117 points behind but with three race wins. The top quintet also includes two of the BVM Racing drivers, with Venezuela’s Alessandro Famularo ahead of Mexico’s Javier Herrera. The former has two wins in his count, and the latter one plus two poles.
One man who went very close to his maiden win in the wet Race 3 at Hockenheim is Wiktor Dobrzanski, and there is no doubt that the Pole will aim at achieving it in Italy, in addition to further reducing the gap with respect to Herrera (now 7 points in the standings of the Rookies’ Trophy. Lorenzo Castillo, from Mexico, and Jan Koller, from Czechia, complete the ranks of Motopark’s championship regulars.
On his side, Belgium’s Aaron Ferrazzano is back after missing one round, in the car of Neri Motorsport, eager to progress and shine again.
At Monza there will be two very interesting debuts. Motopark is filling the seat left by Stack with Dutchman Niels Koolen (25), who joins from Indy NXT and has reached F2 level in his previous single-seater career in Europe.
A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, the very young (16) Nicolò Maccagnani will make his EFO debut on home soil, driving a car of an Italian squad, BVM Racing, and having already a solid background in F4 and F3. The team has also entered a fourth car, with a driver to be designated.
