Photo: Alpine
The Global Racing Service team is turning up to Jerez this weekend with four new drivers: two in Eurocup-3 and two in Spanish Formula 4.
GRS started the season in the new Formula Regional-based Eurocup-3 series with one car for Cenyu Han, then after three rounds he departed and was replaced by Jesse Carrasquedo and Daniel Mavlyutov for the most recent round at Navarra as the team expanded to two cars.
Neither driver will be in action at Jerez, and instead GRS will be fielding FRegional European Championship regular Niels Koolen and FIA Formula 3 racer Nikola Tsolov.
Koolen is currently 37th in the FREC standings with Van Amersfoort Racing, and started 2023 by coming 31st in FRegional Middle East with Pinnacle VAR. A 12th place is his best finish in a single-seater race so far.
Alpine junior Tsolov came 22nd in his rookie FIA F3 campaign, and was 23rd in FRME having scored points in the one round he entered with GRS. Last year he won the Spanish F4 title in dominant fashion with Campos Racing.
“I’m super happy and thankful for the opportunity to race this weekend in Eurocup-3 with GRS Team,” said the 16-year-old, whose career is managed by Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management firm.
“It’s a new car and championship for me which makes it even more exciting but me and the team are working hard to fight for a good result!”
In Spanish F4, GRS will be expanding to three cars this weekend. Their full-time driver Carl Bennett is joined by Isaac Barashi and Eloi Gonzalez.
Baraschi will contest the four rounds that make up the second half of the season, starting with Jerez, and moves across to Spain from British F4 where he has picked up one podium with Argenti Motorsport since joining them late last season.
He has already been testing with GRS and “impressed the team”. Baraschi himself said “I’m ready for the challenge ahead and feel confident that we can deliver good results”.
Gonzalez was the Spanish champion on X30 Senior karts in 2022, and in February of this year was announced as joining VAR’s partner team Monlau Motorsport as a wildcard entrant in Spanish F4. His wildcard status was awarded by the Spanish automobile federation.
However there has been no sightings of Gonzalez with Monlau, and he now teams up with GRS to finally make his F4 debut as a wildcard. He got to know his new team by joining them for a test at Jerez, and Gonzalez indicated on Instagram that his new destination was chosen by Monlau.
The 18-year-old has not been out of racing action, having continued to kart. He recently came 40th in the European championhip in a part-time campaign and 55th in the Champions of the Future series for OK karts, and on X30 Senior karts was fourth in the IAME Winter Cup and 10th in the IAME Euro Series.