Eurocup-3, a brand-new feeder series lying in between FIA F3 and F4, will officially launch in 2023. Mainly set in Spain, this new championship hopes to offer high sporting and financial value for young drivers. F1 Feeder Series talked with Alvaro Martinez de Tejada, the championship’s general coordinator, to learn more about this new opportunity for F4 drivers.

By Grégoire Devaux

The transition from F4 to F3 can be challenging, and some drivers prefer a more linear career instead, such as the recent ADAC and Italian F4 winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will compete in FRECA next season. This is the reason that in-between categories like FRECA, GB3 or Euroformula Open are still attractive. In 2023, Eurocup-3 will join this intermediate category of championships but will be significantly distinct from its counterparts, as explained by Martinez de Tejada.

“Eurocup-3 aims to give drivers that are not ready yet for FIA F3 a step forward and a margin by keeping the cost low with an accessible budget. The championship offers a great value for money product. In Spanish F4, the average budget is €350,000. In Eurocup-3, all teams have aligned on a same budget, €450,000. This is one of the main assets of the championship because in other ones, there is a huge difference in budgets between bigger and smaller teams. We don’t want to have that in Eurocup-3.”

The championship offers a great value for money product. In Spanish F4, the average budget is €350,000. In Eurocup-3, all teams have aligned on a same budget, €450,000.

Alvaro Martinez de Tejada (Eurocup-3 and Spanish F4 coordinator)

Eurocup-3 could then be more affordable for drivers, but the financial value isn’t the only asset of this championship. Indeed, for its inaugural season, Eurocup-3 managed to set up a calendar with challenging tracks around Europe.

Apart from the four rounds in Spain at MotorLand Aragón, Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, the Circuito de Jerez and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, drivers will travel to famous tracks like Zandvoort, Monza and Spa-Francorchamps. The Circuito do Estoril in Portugal completes this eight-round inaugural season, which will have several rounds run alongside the Spanish F4 Championship.

“The calendar is one of the main assets of Eurocup-3. It is very attractive. We want to create something great, so the calendar has to be great. We think that this championship has achieved to gather high-quality attractiveness and budget,” Martinez de Tejada told F1 Feeder Series.

Tatuus will build a new car for Eurocup-3 with what Martinez de Tejada calls a ‘tailor-made package’ on the aerodynamic side. The car have an Alfa Romeo engine, tuned by Autotecnica Motori, with 285 horsepower, a higher value than the 270 and 240 horsepower of the FRECA and Euroformula Open cars respectively.

As of now, Eurocup-3 is composed of four teams: Campos Racing, MP Motorsport, Drivex and GRS Team. Given the growing interest from various teams around Europe, the grid should expand sooner rather than later – a promising sign for Martinez de Tejada, who hopes to have a 20-car grid in 2023.

“The four teams already announced are the teams that came with the idea of this championship. We have received requests of information from six or seven teams around Europe. For this inaugural season, the perfect grid would be to have 20 cars. That would signify a massive success for us, but we wouldn’t be worried if we end up with 15 cars. We prefer to be conservative on the number. The championship must be sustainable.”

Header photo credit: Spanish F4