Photo: F4 CEZ
Three more teams have confirmed their plans to race in the Formula 4 Central European Zone championship this year.
Swiss team Maffi Racing was the first to announce its plans for the 2024 season last month, and now its rivals have confirmed they will be on the grid again.
The first of those is Austrian outfit Renauer Motorsport, which did the first two rounds of the 2023 season with two cars and has committed to picking up where it left off by doing the full campaign this year.
In one of its cars it will run Preston Lambert, who came fourth in American series F4 Western last year and will relocate to his maternal grandparents’ home in Hungary for the season. Lambert has been testing with the team at Hungarian circuit Pannonia-Ring. Renauer is keen to sign a female single-seater rookie as his team-mate.
“[Preston immediately made] an impact on us both on and off the track. Considering he is only 16 years of age, he is both a talented and very mature young man,” said team owner Sepp Renauer, who added “having two weekends at home is a special treat for us, particularly as we know them really well” since F4 CEZ has rounds at the Red Bull Ring and Salzburgring in 2024.
Another returnee of sorts is Slovenian team AS Motorsport, which plans “to enter two cars, maybe even a third car for some races”, according to team owner Andrej Slak.
AS Motorsport last raced in the Central European Zone’s F4 series in 2021, the year before it was relaunched as ACCR F4. It changed name to F4 CEZ in 2023 when it received FIA certification.
Slak has become frustrated with “budgets that are becoming impossible for many drivers” in Italian F4, where his team has been competing since 2018.
“The Italian championship has practically become a world championship. We will still participate in it, of course, but we are looking for a valid alternative for drivers who want a high-level championship with a reasonable investment.”
Jenzer Motorsport won the 2023 driver and teams titles in F4 CEZ and has confirmed to Formula Scout it will defend its crowns and expects to enter “three to four cars”. Team owner Andreas Jenzer described the six-round calendar as an “attractive” schedule and is “looking forward to coming back to the championship for the new title fight”.
Czech team JMT Racing has also confirmed, as anticipated, that it will be continuing in F4 CEZ while its 2023 rivals Gender Racing Team and SAPE Motorsport have placed orders with Tatuus for additional cars but are yet to announce their 2024 plans.