Photo: Formula Regional by Alpine
The FIA has issued an invitiation to tender for the supply of tyres to all certified Formula Regional championships from 2026 to 2028.
The invitiation was published on October 21, and the submission deadline for interested parties is November 24. A decision from the FIA on which company will be selected to become the supplier will be made no later than the end of January 2025.
Since it is a global supply tender, a key requirement from a manufacturer wanting to take on the contract is that it can prove it has a supply chain that enables worldwide production or distribution, and that it has a manufacturing capacity for racing tyres that means it could supply 100s of cars year-long. The FIA estimates this will mean 4,000 to 8,000 sets of tyres per year.
There are currently continental FRegional championships in Europe, North America and Oceania, as well as a regional championship in the Middle East and a Japanese one too. At the end of each year, starting from 2024, is the FRegional World Cup-awarding Macau Grand Prix.
Hankook is the current tyre supplier for FRegional Americas, Pirelli has the contract for Europe and Oceania, Dunlop supplies in Japan and Giti Tyres is the tyre partner of FRME. These will all have a spec tyre supplier as of 2026, and offers from manufacturers to supply only a selection of those championships will not be considered.
If global supply can not be achieved by any interested party, then “the FIA reserves the right, without giving reasons therefore and at its sole discretion, not to select any tenderer for any or all of the championships and/or not to enter into a contract with the selected tenderer”.
Should all of the FIA’s FRegional championships use the same tyres, there is no requirement for them to be branded as such. The manufacturer can enter agreements with championship promoters for their products to be sold under a different name, and this can reflect their market presence. For example Japanese tyre manufacture Bridgestone has used its Dayton and Firestone subsidiaries to sell its racing tyres in the USA.
The FIA has also noted that in 2028, teams and chassis manufacturers would be allowed to test with tyres from a different supplier to the global one.