A series with over 20 years of history under its belt, albeit under different guises, Euroformula Open will once again kick off with a grid of Dallara F320s, iconic side-intakes and all. The series served as a cost-effective way for drivers to capture attention, a tactic best demonstrated by F2 championship contender Felipe Drugovich and Indycar champion Alex Palou. The past few seasons have been tough, however, as grids sizes have taken a hit due to competition from other series. Here is F1 Feeder Series guide to the 2022 Euroformula Open Championship.

By Oorjit Mishra

With teams and drivers either choosing to jump onto the F1 support bill with FIA F3, or run the newer Regional F3 cars in FRECA, EFO has struggled over the past two seasons. It has, however, always given cash-strapped talents the opportunity to impress, and with some exciting talents on the grid this year, that could once again prove true. 

Having won the title with Cameron Das last year, Motopark remain the title favourites, and will run 6 of the 12 full season entrants. 

Drivers who raced in Euroformula Open include the aforementioned Indycar champion Alex Palou, as well as his rival Colton Herta. Formula Two has a number of EFO graduates on the grid this year, with Drugovich and Marino Sato being past champions of the series and Liam Lawson, Jack Doohan, Calan Williams, Dennis Hauger being the other examples.

Teams and drivers

Motopark

Reigning champions Motopark will take to the grid for 2022 with an all-rookie lineup. Joining the German squad is Denmark’s Oliver Goethe (Car #96), who raced in FRECA last year for MP Motorsport and FRAC in 2022 for 3Y by R-Ace GP. Frederick Lubin (#78), who finished 11th in GB3 last year despite health problems, will make his debut in EFO in 2022. Completing the Motopark lineup for 2022 is Alex Garcia (Car #24). After having finished 5th in the 2018-19 F4 NACAM championship, The Mexican did two rounds of Formula Mexico in 2019. In 2020 and 2021 he drove for Global Racing Service and Campos in Spanish F4

Cryptotower Racing Team

The Japanese Cryptotower Racing Team, who run in a technical partnership with Motopark, finished 2nd in last year’s standings. They will run a three-car effort featuring 20 year-old Brit Josh Mason (Car #21), who raced for Double R Racing last year, finishing 8th in the standings. Vladislav Lomko (Car #69), who took part in the last round of FRAC for Hitech GP, will make the jump up to F3 level this year, having finished 6th in the ADAC F4 and 11th in Italian F4 last year. They are joined by Australia’s Christian Mansell (Car #71), who finished 3rd in last year’s GB3 standings, and took part in 3 rounds of EFO last year for Carlin and Motopark. 

Van Amersfoort Racing

Dutch Outfit Van Amersfoort Racing, who finished 3rd in last season’s championship, will bring a 3-car outfit to the 2022 championship, and will be hoping to take the challenge to Motopark for this season. Some of their hopes will surely rest on Sebastian Ogaard (Car #25), who comes off an impressive Spanish F4 campaign which saw him finish 2nd for Campos. After a difficult year, which saw him score a single point across 2 entire seasons of FRAC and a year of FRECA, 2020 F4 UAE runner-up Nicola Marinangeli (Car #22) will make his debut in EFO for 2022 alongside Ogaard. Completing VAR’s lineup will be Filip Ugran (Car #14), another man with a point to prove after a tough year in FIA F3 last year.  

Drivex School

Drivex School, who had a tough campaign last year, finishing 5th with just 25 points across the entire season, come into the season with only 1 full-time entry. Joining the team is 17-year old Nico Pino (Car #67), who makes a return to single seater racing after a year in sportscars. The Chilean will be racing in EFO alongside his sportscar commitments in the European Le Mans Series and IMSA for this season. Drivex-s second entry is a familiar face: Alex Peroni was a last-minute announcement as he makes a return to European single-seaters after driving in Indy Lights in 2021.

BVM Racing

BVM Racing, who made a return to Euroformula Open after four years out of the series last year, will continue-on for this year with a single-car effort. Francesco Simonazzi, who drove two rounds for the team last year, will continue with them this year. Simonazzi raced a partial Italian F4 campaign last year, finishing 14th in the standings alongside an 18th place in Euroformula Open.

Effective Racing

Czech outfit Effective Racing will make their EFO debut this year, running a single-car outfit for team-owner Vladimir Netusil (Car #7). The 39-year old has previously raced in the ESET Cup’s L21 series, as well as the Austrian F3 Open class in 2021, where he finished 5th. The team will miss the opening round at Estoril, and will join the paddock for the 2nd round at Pau.

2022 Calendar 

Euroformula Open will serve on the support bill for the International GT Open, which will see it visit some of Europe’s most iconic circuits. 2022 will also see the return of the Pau Grand Prix, as part of the WTCR weekend. 

• 30th April-1st May – Circuito do Estoril, Cascais
• 7th-8th May – Circuit de Pau-Ville, Pau
• 21st-22nd May – Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
• 18th-19th June – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
• 9th-10th July – Hungaroring, Mogyorod 
• 3rd-4th September – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Emilia Romagna
• 10th-11th September – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
• 24th-25th September – Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza
• 15th-16th October – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmelo

All races and qualifying sessions will be broadcast on Euroformula Open’s official Youtube channel.

Format and points system

There will be three races for each weekend except Pau, which will be a two-race event. Race 1’s grid will be set by qualifying times, with Race 2’s grid set by reversing the finishing order of the top 6 in Race 1. Drivers’ individual fastest laps in that race will set the grid for the final race of the weekend. 

Points will be handed in the F1 format for all 3 races, along with a bonus point for pole position, one for fastest lap, and two for the driver who gains the most positions in each race. 

There will also be a Rookies’ championship, which will be awarded to the debutant who collects the most points over the season. Points will be handed out separately, with a 10-8-6-4-3 format. 

There will also be a Teams’ championship, with points awarded in the same format as the rookies’ championship, and only the top 2 cars in a race collecting points for each team.

Header photo credit: Euroformula Open