KIC Motorsport has revealed two Formula Regional European Championship drivers for this year, with plans to name its third driver believed to have been disrupted by sanctions against Russia.
At the end of February the team announced Francesco Braschi and Santiago Ramos, with Formula 4 star Kirill Smal understood to have been lined up for the team’s third seat. However, the team now has a vacant place in its FREC line-up.
A statement on Smal’s social media channels on Thursday confirmed that he will not be stepping up to FREC or racing outside of Russia this year. Like FIA Formula 3 race winner Alexander Smolyar, Smal has long been part of the SMP Racing programme, which says its drivers will not be signing the FIA documentation created to allow Russian drivers to race while the country itself is banned from being represented in international motorsport.
Braschi has recently had his first FRegional experience by racing in the United Arab Emirates-based Asian championship with 3Y Technology by R-ace GP. He contested three of the five rounds, scoring twice and coming 22nd in the standings.
The 17-year-old has spent the previous two years racing in a variety of F4 championships. His best results came in the UAE, where he claimed two podiums and came eighth in the 2021 points despite contesting less than half of the season.
In Italy he finished in the top five once and took a fastest lap from his 30 starts in the country’s series, and in the Spanish and ADAC F4 championships he had best finishes of eighth and 10th respectively.
“This is a great chance for me, and I can’t wait to hit the track to start working with my new team,” said Braschi.
“I’m pushing very hard to be as much ready as possible and achieve the best possible results. I want to thanks all at KIC for having offered to me this opportunity.”
Ramos, 18, has had a similar car racing career. He debuted in Italian F4 in late 2019 with DR Formula by RP Motorsport, then did part-time campaigns over the past two years with Jenzer Motorsport. From 35 races he claimed three fifth places.
At the end of 2021 he began testing in FREC with DR Formula and CAP Racing, neither of which race in the series, and KIC.