Photo: Mygale
Formula 4 is set to arrive in Africa at the end of this year as a new championship is being launched in Morocco.
The FIA’s entry-level winged single-seater category was launched in Italy in 2014 and quickly expanded to several other European nations, East Asia, Central America, Oceania, North America and then the Middle East by 2016.
There has been F4 racing in South America since 2021, but the two continents the category has still not yet reached are Africa and, unsurprisingly, Antartica.
Mygale, a French constructor of F4 chassis, announced this week that the category’s absence from Africa will come to an end:
“Four rounds will be organised on the Moroccan national circuits from December 2024 to March 2025 with F4 Mygle of generation one equipped with the Alpine 1.3-litre turbo engine formerly used by the FFSA Academy.
“The Royal Motor Sports Federation (FRMSA), which organizes this championship in collaboration with AGS, also announced that this championship would be open to drivers of different nationalities alongside Moroccan drivers. Motorsport continues to develop in Morocco, with the goal of becoming a major player on the international competition scene. Mygale is proud to be part of it.”
The fleet of first-generation cars were previously used by the centrally-run French F4 championship, with the chassis being introduced in 2018 before being replaced in 2022 by Mygale’s second-generation design. The 1.3L engines were a feature of the championship for the 2020 and ’21 seasons.
Africa has a strong single-seater racing history, with South African pilot Raoul Hyman having raced at the top level in Super Formula last year, and less than nine miles of sea separates Morocco on the continent’s north-west coast from Europe.
The city of Marrakech has frequently attracted Europe-based racing series over the last 15 years, and its e-prix has featured on the Formula E calendar five times since 2016.
Before that the Formula 3000-spec Auto GP series brought second-tier single-seater action to the city’s street circuit from 2012 to ’14, and MotorSport Vision’s Formula 2 championship (more akin to Formula 3-level competition) held a round there in 2010 while supporting the World Touring Car Championship.
The circuit is set to return to use this May when the TCR World Tour visits.