Spanish F4’s new winter championship attracts 34-car grid for round one

Photo: F4 Spain

Spanish Formula 4’s new winter series, dubbed the ‘Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship’, was launched at Jerez on Friday with two test sessions.

There were 33 drivers in attendance, and two more are entered into the inaugural round of the series this weekend.

In the opening two-hour session, Jan Przyrowski set a 1m43.450s to lead team-mate Thomas Strauven by 0.31 seconds. There were part of a six-strong Campos Racing line-up, alongside Miguel Costa, Vivek Kanthan, Matus Ryba and Noah Monteiro.

Strauven came seventh in Spanish F4 last year, Przyrowski came 10th in Spanish F4 last year and Ryba was 28th. Costa, Monteiro and Kanthan are all stepping up from karting, and Monteiro is following in the path of his father Tiago who raced in Formula 1.

Tecnicar Motorsport’s Andrej Petrovic was third fastest in session one, 0.028s behind Strauven and 0.031s ahead of Drivex School’s Red Bull junior Christopher Feghali.

Saudi Arabian F4 runner-up Petrovic has two team-mates: fellow F4 sophomore Wiktor Dobrzanski and Sacha Van’t Pad Bosch. He starred in a United States F4 cameo last year, and turns 15 tomorrow.

Stepan Suslov comes across from racing GT4 sportscars to partner Feghali at Drivex, along with the Spanish F4-experienced Filippo Fiorentino and Brazilian F4 race-winner Gino Trappa.

TC Racing has expanded to three cars after running two in Spanish F4 last year, and the experienced Alfio Spina leads its line-up. He was the last driver in session one to get within half a second of Przyrowski’s pace, with the top 17 split by a second.

His team-mates are Santiago Baztarrica, who used to race in Formula Nacional Argentina and karting graduate Santino Panetta.

All but 12 of the drivers improved their pace in session two, while Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America racer Courtney Crone (ART Grand Prix) and Reno Francot (MP Motorsport) were absent. Francot is currently at Dubai Autodrome competing in F4 Middle East, while it is unclear if Crone will race.

Kanthan moved to the top of the timesheet, a 1m43.139s putting him 0.214s ahead of Strauven and 0.29s clear of MP’s Rene Lammers.

Spanish F4 podium-finisher Lammers had four team-mates with him on track: Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout winner Ean Eyckmans, French F4 runner-up Yani Stevenheydens, USF2000 podium-finisher Hudson Schwartz and Red Bull junior Niklas Schaufler who is stepping up from karting.

Przyrowski and Spina were fourth and fifth again, ahead of Eyckmans, Petrovic, Feghali and Rodin Motorsport’s Nathan Tye. The F4 sophomore’s team-mates are Emma Felbermayr, who was due to race for the team in the rival Formula Winter Series in Iberia, and Kyuho Lee. He won the 2024 FIA World Cup for OK-N karts, and is currently 15th in F4 ME after doing the first two rounds.

Test results