Photo: Dutch Photo Agency
Valerio Rinicella will switch from the Formula Regional European Championship to Eurocup-3 with MP Motorsport for 2025.
Italian driver Rinicella has raced almost exclusively with MP so far in his single-seater career, beginning from when the protege of former Formula 1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella and GT racer Marco Cioci stepped up from karts to Formula 4.
He came sixth in his rookie season of Spanish F4 in 2022, then in 2023. Both seasons were preceded by campaigns in the United Arab Emirates series, where he came fourth overall last year.
Two rounds in Formula Regional Middle East then preceded a full 2024 season in the European championship which he ended 20th in the standings after taking two sixth-place finishes in the last three rounds.
MP Motorsport is leaving FREC to focus on Eurocup-3, where it ran Bruno del Pino to the 2024 championship. Rinicella did take on the Eurocup-3 field when he won both races of a pre-season winter event held at Motorland Aragon in March.
“I’m truly happy to stick with MP for my first assault for Eurocup-3 glory,” said Rinicella. “They have supported me all through my single-seater career, so moving forward with them makes a lot of sense.
“Building on my year of FREC experience, it’s my intention to fight for wins and podiums in Eurocup-3, where MP have been the dominant team this year. I hope to be able to contribute to the team repeating their 2024 teams’ title and return to the winners’ circle in 2025.”
MP will be replaced in FREC by Italy-based CL Motorsport. It has contested multiple Italian F4 and Euro 4 tests through 2024 with karting graduate Newman Chi always at the wheel. The rookie (racing with a Chinese license) just came fifth in the UAE-based and F4-spec Formula Trophy.