Photo: GRS
Global Racing Service has signed Belgian racer Douwe Dedecker for Spain’s two Formula 4 championships.
His first campaign will be in Formula Winter Series, which runs through February and March, then Spanish F4 gets underway in May and concludes in November.
That totals 33 races, three more than he contested as a single-seater rookie in British F4 last year. In that championship he drove for Virtuosi Racing, and took a reversed-grid podium and three other points finishes to come 21st in the standings.
“I’m really happy to have the chance to drive with GRS in 2024,” said Dedecker. “After some successful test days, I am confident that we will be able to work hard together with the team to achieve good results in the Spanish F4 championship. Looking forward to being back on track with the team.”
Dedecker came 12th in the WSK Euro Series and 29th in the Champions of the Future series in 2022 as a rookie on OK karts, and at the start of the year came seventh in the WSK Super Master Series for OK Junior karts.
He had spent 2020 and ’21 in the OK-J category, coming third in the German championship, ninth in CotF, and 22nd in the CIK-FIA European and World championships.
Two other Spanish F4 teams have recently made signings for the 2024 season.
Tecnicar Motorsport has retained Mexican racer Lorenzo Castillo, who entered three rounds in 2023 as a guest driver and had a best finish of 20th. He will also race in FWinter Series.
Drivex School meanwhile has signed Slovakian 14-year-old Matus Ryba. The single-seater newcomer steps up from junior karting.
“Despite not being 15 years old yet, he has shown tremendous progression and professionalism in all the tests,” said Drivex’s CEO Miguel Angel de Castro.
“Since he doesn’t have the age requirement, he won’t be able to participate in the winter series. However, we’ll try to make up for with private test days, so that he could arrive as well-prepared as possible for the first race in May.”