27.09.2017

The Euroformula Open heads to the boot-shaped peninsula for an exciting, hard-fought battle at Monza. A season-high 21 cars and 13 different nationalities among teams and drivers make up the entry list. Daniel Lu (BVM Racing) will join the star-studded field. Fittje switches to RP Motorsport

The Euroformula Open is entering crucial phase at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Monza’s so called Temple of Speed is venerated by drivers and fans as the fastest track on the calendar. The ultra-rapid circuit just north of Milan plays host to Round 6 of the series with a growing number of young contenders to challenge for race wins. With a track length of 5.793 kilometers, Monza made its debut on the series calendar in 2009. The necessary compromise between downforce and drag and the combination of long straights plus slipstreams always produce huge overtaking opportunities and exciting on-track action.

The Euroformula Open continues consolidating itself as a key ladder in the single-seater formulae pyramid attracting a pool of young talents throughout the 2017 season. In this regard, GT Sport has revealed a 21-car entry list for the Italian venue, which brings the grid to a new season-high. The latest addition to the Monza entry list is Daniel Lu (BVM Racing).

Lu has been confirmed as part of the BVM Racing line-up for the upcoming Monza event. Born on May 9 2001 in Shanghai, Lu can look back at a long list of achievements despite his youth. The series newcomer ranked second in the 2017 Asia Formula Renault Series – Class A with three wins and six podiums to his credit. Besides, Lu also scored six wins and ten podiums in the 2017 Formula Masters Asian Series.

But there are still more novelties. Jannes Fittje will complete the remainder of the Euroformula Open season with RP Motorsport. Fittje will make the switch for the remaining events at Monza, Jerez and Barcelona. The German ace is currently sixth in the drivers’ championship and second in the rookies’ classification following two third place finishes at Paul Ricard and Silverstone. Last but not least, Fortec announced last week that Wales’ Ben Hingeley will be still competing for the remaining races of the 2017 season. Hingeley delivered a strong performance on debut at Silverstone by finishing fourth and sixth in both races.

Briton Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport) extended lead at his home round. At the moment, Scott leads now on 233 points ahead of Nikita Troitskiy (Drivex) and Ameya Vaidyanathan (Carlin). Further adrift, Devlin DeFrancesco (Carlin) moved up to fourth after his double second place finish at Silverstone and Thiago Vivacqua (Campos Racing) lies fifth. Troitskiy continues to lead rookies’ championship with a 19-point lead over Fittje. DeFrancesco is third in the standings, behind Alex Karkosik (RP Motorsport) and Simo Laaksonen (Campos Racing) round out the top-five. RP Motorsport has lead the series in teams’ championship since Estoril and remains in control on 88 points. Carlin sits second ahead of Drivex.

RP Motorsport will field four Dallara-built cars for Scott, Karkosik, Fittje and Lodovico Laurini. Scott claimed eight wins in nothing short of dominating style throughout the season and the series leader will be looking to extend the winning streak. Poland’s Karkosik secured his maiden podium finish in the series at Silverstone and will head to Milan on good form. Fittje is another strong addition to join the Italy-based team. Local hero Laurini arrives in Monza in good spirits after his second finish in the points on British soil.

Campos Racing experienced a challenging Round 5 of the season but the outfit founded by former Formula 1 driver Adrián Campos is eying podiums again with its four-car attack. The Brazilian duo of Vivacqua and Matheus Iorio are looking forward to put in a strong performance coming into the weekend. “Flying Finn” Laaksonen, a podium visitor at the Hungaroring, and American young star Cameron Das are two others to closely watch.

Drivex’s three-car operation aims to continue its Euroformula Open charge. Troitskiy struggled a bit to find the right feeling at Silverstone but still produced two fifth places. Brazil’s Christian Hahn is getting stronger and more competitive as the season progresses and did battle his way into the outright points-paying top-10 once again in Great Britain. India’s Tarun Reddy failed to score points in his last two races but remains confident ahead of the Monza event.

Carlin will run its three cars at Monza for Vaidyanathan, DeFrancesco and Guilherme Samaia. Vaidyanathan will be still chasing the podium next weekend after finishing no higher than fourth in his last four races. DeFrancesco’s goal will be to keep the momentum rolling and move up in the standings. Brazilian Samaia made a good impression on his Euroformula Open debut and now, after putting more experience under his belt in the F.3 car, the Carlin driver hopes to claim first points.

Fortec will be another podium finishing force next weekend with their trio of Hingeley, Petru Florescu and another driver to be announced in the coming days. Hingeley, who ran in podium contention at Silverstone, needs no introduction. Ben and Romanian Florescu will be an extremely solid driver lineup for James Dye’s team.

Teo Martín Motorsport, in their sophomore season in the Euroformula Open, and the extremely young driver pairing still have high goals for the upcoming races. Spaniard Eliseo Martínez struggled to convert excellent qualifying efforts into podium finishes. Anyway he looks to be on the verge of achieving a maiden podium finish. In the same way Cardoso also has podium in his sights.

BVM Racing is looking to enhance the performance as home ground factor always brings a morale boost. Russian Daniil Pronenko and the above mentioned Lu will work their socks off to get the team’s best result of the season.

The Monza premium programme includes the Euroformula Open and its sister series, the International GT Open, plus the Radical European Master, the KIA Lotos Race and the Trofeo Super Cup.

All the action can be followed from fans at home thanks to live coverage by major national broadcasters in key countries such as UK (BT Sport), Italy (Sportitalia), Spain (Teledeporte RTVE), Portugal (Sport TV), Russia, CIS countries and Baltics (Poverkhnost Sport), Poland (PolSat Sport TV) and Central Europe (Digisport in CZ, SK, HU and RO), among others. In addition, international coverage is ensured by Motors Trend on demand. Races are also livestreamed in English and Italian with commentary by Ben Evans and Antonio Caruccio, respectively, on our website www.euroformulaopen.net.

Entry list (provisional)