Photo: Copa Notiauto
A new era for NACAM Formula 4 is moving closer to reality, as a season launch was held at Puebla’s Autodromo Miguel E. Abed today.
The championship announced in mid-November last year that it would retire its first-generation Mygale chassis (that had been in use since 2015) to switch to second-generation, halo-shod F4 cars for its 2024 season.
Three days later a seven-round calendar running from June to December and including the now-traditional Formula 1 support slot at the Mexico City Grand Prix was revealed, as was the information that the Tatuus T-421 would succeed the Mygale and be fitted with a 1.4-litre Abarth engine.
That meant NACAM F4 was to become the ninth of the FIA-certified F4 championships to use that chassis-engine combination.
The first car to be delivered to Mexico was unveiled in December 2023, then in February this year it was claimed that 14 teams were already “confirmed to take part and there are three more interested”. None were named, and the championship promoter made a statement on April 17 that “the cost of participation in NACAM F4 for drivers is around €200,000 (£170,319) per season” as it sought to drive interest.
Five days later Mexican Karting Championship runner-up Maximiliano Arguero conducted his prize NACAM F4 test organised by the promoter, but it was in the now-retired Mygale car.
Another two days after that, on April 24, the first driver to sign up for the 2024 season was named except Mexican karting graduate Charbel Lopez was actually without a team and in search of sponsorship to make his NACAM F4 dream possible.
The month ended with Ram Racing, the team which has run six of NACAM F4’s seven champions, confirming its presence on the grid with three cars.
Tragically, on the same day another mainstay of the championship was lost as Julian Abed Rouanett, who along with his brother Jose has masterminded the promotion of much of Mexican motorsport over the last few decades and developed the Puebla circuit which is named after their father, died.
The 2024 NACAM F4 season did not begin on June 28/29 in Mexico City as planned, and the day before the scheduled start a new calendar was published that pushed the season opener back to August and ran through to March 2025. Crucially the F1 support slot was retained.
The calendar for NACAM F4's next season has been released.
2024
1 Puebla (October 5/6)
2 Mexico City (October 25-27) [F1 support slot]
3 Puebla (November 23/24)
4 Mexico City (December 16/17)
2025
5 Mexico City (January 25/26)
6 Queretaro (February 22/23)
7 Monterrey (March 7/8) pic.twitter.com/UraGxNpGde— Formula Scout (@FormulaScout) July 1, 2024
Preparations for the season have been more frequent since, with Ram naming touring car racer Zaky Ibrahim Jr, shifter karter Max Mora and Central American Karting Championship graduate Alan Zezatti as its driver line-up.
Formula Regional Americas podium-finisher Manuel Roza did a shakedown test of the first delivered Tatuus T-421 in Puebla on July 26, and a wider test and season launch was planned for August 8 but a multi-day blockade of the main highway between Mexico City and Puebla by local pressure groups and landowners protesting its expansion since its 1962 creation and their lack of financial compensation meant the launch was postponed to August 16.
At the reorganised launch event, it was confirmed that Pirelli would provide tyres for NACAM F4’s Gen2 era.