Lamborghini has announced it will be supporting several junior single-seater talents’ switch to sportscars this year, while two Indy Lights frontrunners have landed seats in prototypes.
Alongside the already announced Lamborghini junior Leonardo Pulcini, who made a return to FIA Formula 3 Championship two weeks ago, are four new members of the official young driver programme who come across from open-wheel racing.
The most high-profile of these is 21-year-old Dorian Boccolacci, who finished 14th in the points in a part-season in Formula 2 last year.
The Frenchman has also been dabbling in rallying since budget brought an end to his single-seater hopes midway through 2019, and is dabbling with several manufacturers as he starts to establish himself in GT racing.
As well as racing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, he’s racing for Audi customer Sainteloc Racing in GT World Challenge Europe – where F2’s Luca Ghiotto was also set to be racing this year – and with Mercedes-Benz team Zakspeed in ADAC GT Masters.
Joining him as a Lambo young driver on the Super Trofeo grid is Italian Formula 4 race-winner Raul Guzman, who raced in Formula Regional European Championship last season, 2018 Spanish F4 title contender Guillem Pujeu and Formula Renault Asiacup frontrunner Elias Niskanen.
This weekend there will also be several junior single-seater regulars racing in prototype sportscars at Paul Ricard in the European Le Mans Series.
Sophia Floersch is skipping the FIA F3 round at Spa-Francorchamps to race for Richard Mille Racing in the top LMP2 class, while ex-FIA F3 racer Niko Kari is driving for former FIA European F3 team Eurointernational in the LMP3 class.
Indy Lights race-winner Robert Megennis, whose sophomore campaign there with Andretti Autosport will now take place in 2021 due to the series’ cancellation, and reigning Danish F4 champion Malthe Jakobsen are sharing a RLR Sport-run car.
Megennis’s Indy Lights team-mate and would-be 2020 title rival has also looked to LMP3 while waiting to use his Road to Indy scholarship prize after winning the Indy Pro 2000 title, and is contesting a part-time campaign with Forty7 Motorsports in the IMSA Prototype Challenge.
Both drivers have already expressed their intentions to be racing in Indy Lights upon its 2021 return, with Megennis’s sponsors already confirming as such and Road to Indy promoter Dan Andersen confirming to Formula Scout that Kirkwood’s scholarship prize to race in the series will be carried over another year.
Photo: Road to Indy