Photo: Fotospeedy
Fernando Alonso protege Franco Colapinto will make an early Euroformula Open debut at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
The 16-year-old Argentinian – currently in the thick of the 2019 Spanish Formula 4 title fight – was set to join the EF Open grid later in the season, but has made the move up to Formula 3 after just three weekends of racing.
Colapinto will join Rui Andrade at Drivex School, which has so far scored zero points with its Piedrafita-powered cars.
Andrade will therefore switch to a HWA engine, previously used by Van Amersfoort Racing in FIA European F3, from Spa onwards, while Colapinto takes over in a Piedrafita-powered machine.
Despite the poor results of the teams that have used the Toyota-derived engine this year, Colapinto was eighth fastest in pre-season testing at Barcelona when he made his first EF Open appearance with Drivex, and even topped one of the sessions.
Shortly after his impressive EF Open test run, Colapinto picked up the support of two-time Formula 1 world champion Alonso and fellow former Spanish F1 star Pedro de la Rosa. He now races in the ‘FA Racing’ livery inspired by Alonso that also adorns Drivex’s Formula Renault Eurocup cars.
Colapinto kicked off his Spanish F4 season with victory and a run of three pole positions, but a red flag infringement and issues in the latest round means he is currently second in the standings for Drivex.
Prior to 2019, Colapinto had been supported by former single-seater star and World Touring Car Cup racer Esteban Guerrieri, and made history when he took victory in the electric karting event at the 2018 Youth Olympics.
Further karting success included a national title, and a second place finish at the South Garda Winter Cup.
Having skipped the second and third rounds of the EF Open season at Pau and Hockenheim due to complaints about its Piedrafita engine, RP Motorsport will make its championship return at Spa with two Spiess-powered cars for Pierre-Louis Chovet and Javier Gonzalez.
The team is the most successful in Spanish F3/EF Open history, but had its first pointless weekend in a decade in the 2019 season opener at Paul Ricard.