Photo: FRECA
The Formula Regional European Championship entry list for 2023 has now surpassed 25 cars as three more drivers were announced this morning.
Van Amersfoort Racing has completed its line-up with the addition of Niels Koolen, who picked up three weekends of single-seater racing experience last year across two different Formula 4 series with VAR’s partner team Monlau Motorsport.
He picked up a best finish of 17th from his brief foray into Italian and Spanish F4, then at the start of this year he raced in FRegional Middle East for Pinnacle VAR. His best result was a 12th place, and he came 31st in the standings.
“I am incredibly excited about joining VAR,” said Koolen. “I already had the opportunity to get to know the team and I look forward to now take FREC head-on with them. I know my experience in F4 and FRME will certainly help me, but I am also very aware that there is still lots to learn.
“Having that said, it is great to have two experienced drivers as team-mates. We get along well, and I am sure the shared knowledge and experience will contribute to further developing myself as a driver.”
Koolen will be team-mate to the more experienced Joshua Dufek and Kas Haverkort.
“The team shows an incredible amount of dedication towards helping me, which lets me step into the season with great confidence,” added Koolen. “I can’t wait to get started later this week with our first pre-season test at Barcelona and I am especially looking forward to racing at Zandvoort later in the year.”
At Monolite Racing, the Euroformula-experienced Enzo Scionti has been signed to partner Giovanni Maschio.
Scionti, who is still only 17, made his single-seater debut in F4 United Arab Emirates with Cram Durango at the start of 2021 and picked up one top-five finish to come 13th in the championship.
He then signed with Drivex School to race in Spanish F4, but the team instead put him in its Euroformula line-up. The Formula 3-level series was a big step up, and Scionti finished no higher than seventh en route to 14th in the standings. He has not raced since, but did do several FRegional tests at the end of last year with MP Motorsport and Trident.
The last of the additions to the FREC grid is Tom Lebbon at Arden. The 2020 Ginetta Junior champion has spent the last two years racing in GB3 with Elite Motorsport, and last season won four races and came third in the points table.
“It’s great to be given the opportunity to race for the English outfit and I feel they are best fitting for me after a constructive winter test programme,” said Lebbon. “I’ve been working hard over the off-season and I’m well prepared to start the season on the front foot.”
He completes Arden’s line-up alongside Joshua Duerksen and Levente Revesz.