Photo: ADAC/Gruppe C Photography
Formula Winter Series, the new Spanish championship for Formula 4 cars that will take place through the next two months, has attracted its first drivers.
The series is organised by German-based promoter Gedlich Racing alongside an existing GT winter series and begins at Jerez next weekend. However, many entries will only join from round two at Valencia a week later, with further events at Navarra and Barcelona scheduled for early March.
US Racing will field four cars and has announced its first driver, who will also race for the team in Italian F4 this year. Chinese teenager Ruiqi Liu made his first steps in single-seaters last year, spending the first half of 2022 testing with F4 team AS Motorsport before joining US for his car racing debut in ADAC F4 at the Lausitzring. In an 11-car grid, Liu took a ninth and two 10ths, scoring enough points to place 19th in the standings.
He then join AKM Motorsport to contest the final two Italian F4 rounds. He could finish no higher than 28th there, leaving him 55th and last in the standings.
Before racing in F4 he was a factory Tony Kart driver in karting, and came 39th in the 2022 WSK Euro Series and 18th in the 2021 WSK Final Cup.
AKM Motorsport will also be on the grid with two drivers initially. American-Thai driver Carl Bennett was 14th in United States F4 last year and contested single events in GB4 (with Fortec) and Spanish F4 (with Sainteloc) before linking up with AKM in Italian F4 testing. Tina Hausmann has tested in Italian F4 with Van Amersfoort Racing, and raced in the German karting championship last year with CRG after previous success in Rotax Max in Switzerland.
Slovenian outfit AS Motorsport will also be on the grid with Italian karting graduate Alvise Rodella, although he will only do the first two rounds at Jerez and Valencia. He came sixth in the Trofeo Andrea Margutti (X30 Senior) and 10th in the WSK Champions Cup (OK) last year and has conducted an extensive F4 testing programme with MP Motorsport, also taking part in the Top Gun by Pro Racing school’s F4 track days.
Also taking part in the Jerez and Valencia rounds will be Drivex with two of the six drivers it has already announced for this year’s Spanish F4 season in Juan Cota and Maxi Restrepo. Cota was fifth in the Spanish karting championship last year and competed in the world championship with Kart Republic, while Restrepo was racing in senior karting in his native Colombia.
Campos Racing will join at its local circuit Valencia with Italian Matteo de Palo, who took part in a Ferrari Driver Academy scouting camp last year, as will Argenti Motorsport with two of its signed British F4 divers – Australian Formula Ford racer Patrick Heuzenroeder and India’s Jaden Pariat.
The championship says Jenzer Motorsport, Carlin and Monlau Motorsport are also “working on” entering the series for later rounds.