Euroformula Open Championship

The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe that together used to form an important part of the established "career ladder" below Formula One. The championship's first season was held in 2001. In 2006, it was branded as the Spanish F3 Championship by Toyota, in deference to its sole engine supplier. In 2020, the championship ceased to be a F3-championship and will share its specifications with Japan's Super Formula Lights based on the previous-generation Formula Three standards, primarily with a choice of engines.

Euroformula Open Championship
Euroformula Open logo
CategorySingle seaters
CountryEurope
Inaugural season2001
Drivers10 (2024)
Teams4 (2024)
ConstructorsDallara
Engine suppliersMercedes
Volkswagen
Tyre suppliersPirelli[1]
Drivers' championUnited States Brad Benavides
Teams' championGermany Team Motopark
Official websitehttp://www.euroformulaopen.net/
Current season
EuroFormula car in 2021

Profile

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The Spanish Formula Three Championship was formed during Spain's recent growth period in motor racing that began with the Euro Open Movistar by Nissan, which eventually became the World Series by Renault when the two companies' motor racing programs were reorganised. The new championship replaced the previously existing Super Formula Toyota, a one-make series with performance similar to F3.

The European F3 Open championship has become successful by actively taking measures to control budget requirements. This provides a more achievable option for drivers who lack the major sponsorship portfolio that is required by leading Euroseries teams, and would otherwise have to look elsewhere for their next step up the career ladder.

With Renault's backing, the World Series has developed into a championship from which drivers can reach Formula One, and three major Spanish teams are established in GP2.[2] This has fostered new opportunities for the graduates of Spanish F3, which has, in turn, made the championship itself a success.[3]

In recent years the Championship has become much less centred in Spain, with races across Europe, and has successfully attracted famous non-Spanish teams to take part. The first was the British outfit Team West-Tec who went on to win two Driver's Championship titles in their first three seasons, and which were followed a year later by Italy's RP Motorsport who have won races each year since joining.

The championship was renamed to Euroformula Open Championship for 2014, after the FIA restricted the use of the Formula Three name to championships that do not follow the current engine regulations.[4]

Sub-divisions

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Like British Formula Three, the series incorporates a second championship class for chassis specifications from the previous generation. The Copa was created in 2005, and provides an opportunity for drivers without competitive budgets, who would otherwise be left unable to progress from cheaper formulae. The name is derived from the chassis specification that all Copa entrants must use: the Dallara F308.

Equipment

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The Euroformula Open Championship has used chassis from Italian constructor Dallara. During the first seasons, the Dallara F300 was used. The Dallara F305 debuted in 2005, the Dallara F308 in 2008, and the Dallara F312 in 2012. The secondary class was dropped during the 2014 season due to lack of entries. The current chassis is the Dallara 320, which debuted in 2020.

Originally, the European F3 Open Championship had a single engine supplier. From 2010 to 2018, the series used Toyota's F3 engine upgraded by the Spanish tuner Piedrafita Sport. In 2019, the series also allowed Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen engines, and the Toyota engines were dropped after the first round of the season.

F1 tests

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The exclusive use of the Toyota engine prompted Toyota to offer a Formula One test to each year's champion. The first driver to benefit from this was 2004 champion Borja García, who later graduated to GP2.[5]

Venues

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Between 2001 and 2005, the Spanish F3 Championship had seven rounds, each with two races. Exceptions to this included the Valencia round in 2002 and the Jerez round in 2003, each of which had only one race, and Albacete, which held a single-race event in addition to its regular two-race event in 2005.

In every season from its inception until 2007, the championship made a regular visit to Estoril in Portugal. The 2006 season, which was expanded to eight rounds, included the championship's first visit to Magny-Cours in France.[6]

Since 2008 many circuits from further afield have been added to the schedule including visits to Magny Cours, Donington Park and Brands Hatch with major European motorsport venues including Spa, Monza, Silverstone and Hungaroring hosting rounds of the 2014 season as the series expands further into Europe.

From 2001, the circuits used in the Euroformula Open Championship are listed as:

  • Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2024 season.
Number Circuits Rounds Years
1   Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 23 2001–present
2   Circuito de Jerez 20[a] 2002–2011, 2013–2018
3   Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 16 2008–present
4   Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 15 2009–present
5   Circuit Ricardo Tormo 13[b] 2001–2011
6   Circuito do Estoril 12 2001–2007, 2015–2018, 2022
7   Circuito del Jarama 11[c] 2001–2010
  Circuit Paul Ricard 11 2012–2013, 2015–present
9   Circuito de Albacete 9[d] 2001–2008
  Hungaroring 9 2012, 2014, 2017–present
11   Silverstone Circuit 7 2013–2019
  Red Bull Ring 7 2015–2016, 2019–present
13   Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 6 2006–2011
  Algarve International Circuit 6 2011–2014, 2021, 2023–present
15   Brands Hatch 3 2010–2012
  Nürburgring 3 2012–2014
17   Valencia Street Circuit 2[e] 2008
  Circuit de Pau-Ville 2 2019, 2022
  Mugello Circuit 2 2020, 2023
  Imola Circuit 2 2021–2022
21   Donington Park 1 2009
  Hockenheimring 1 2019, 2024

Points system

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Seasons Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 PP FL PG
20012003 Race 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2
2004 Race 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1
20052006 Race 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
20072008 Race 1 13 11 9 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
Race 2 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
20092011 Race 1 14 12 10 8 6 5 3 2 1 1 1
Race 2 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
20122020 Race 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1 1
2021–present Race 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1 1 2*

Champions

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Spanish Formula Three

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Drivers

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2001   Ander Vilariño   Racing Engineering 7 6 8 7 196 Race 12 of 14 39
2002   Marcel Costa   E.V. Racing 2 2 9 3 190 Race 11 of 13 16
2003   Ricardo Maurício   Racing Engineering 4 6 7 2 190 Race 11 of 13 6
2004   Borja García   Racing Engineering 8 9 10 8 149 Race 14 of 14 18
2005   Andy Soucek   Llusiá Racing 2 3 7 1 112 Race 13 of 13 3
2006   Ricardo Risatti   TEC-Auto 3 5 7 8 118 Race 15 of 16 15
2007   Máximo Cortés   Escuderia TEC-Auto 4 6 7 9 117 Race 16 of 16 4
2008   Germán Sánchez   Campos F3 Racing 1 4 5 4 88 Race 17 of 17 4

Teams

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Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2001   Racing Engineering 8 7 13 9 113 Race 14 of 14 19
2002   Racing Engineering 2 4 9 2 108 Race 12 of 13 19
2003   Racing Engineering 4 6 10 3 119 Race 12 of 13 26
2004   Racing Engineering 9 10 21 10 179 Race 10 of 14 18
2005   Racing Engineering 2 3 7 1 252 Race 9 of 13 128
2006   Racing Engineering 1 4 14 1 155 Race 16 of 16 9
2007   Escuderia TEC-Auto 4 7 17 9 197 Race 16 of 16 30
2008   Campos F3 Racing 3 4 12 7 134 Race 15 of 17 44

Junior Cup

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Junior) Podiums (Junior) Fastest laps Points (Junior) Clinched Margin
2001   Juan Antonio del Pino   Meycom 0 0 1 0 73 Race 13 of 14 23
2002   Andy Soucek   Racing Engineering 0 0 0 0 113 Race 7 of 13 16
2003   Ricardo Risatti   EV Racing
  Elide Racing
0 0 (8) 1 (10) 0 70 (96) Race 12 of 13 28
2004   Javier Villa   EV Racing
  Elide Racing
0 0 (10) 0 (11) 0 29 (108) Race 13 of 14 28

Trofeo Ibérico

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Trofeo) Podiums(Trofeo) Fastest laps Points (Trofeo) Clinched Margin
2003   Borja García   GTA Motor Competición 1 1 (0) 7 (4) 2 80 (182) Race 5 of 5 4
2004   Borja García   Racing Engineering 7 9 (5) 10 (5) 8 149 (63) Race 6 of 6 13
2005   Andy Soucek   Llusiá Racing 2 3 (2) 7 (3) 1 112 (77) Race 5 of 6 19
2006   Roldán Rodríguez   Campos Racing 2 4 (3) 5 (3) 3 103 (65) Race 6 of 6 6

Copa de España de F3

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Copa) Podiums(Copa) Fastest laps Points (Copa) Clinched Margin
2005   Arturo Llobell   Campos Racing 0 0 0 0 16 (86) Race 15 of 15 4
2006   German Sanchez   Escuela Profiltek 0 0 0 1 19 (108) Race 15 of 16 15
2007   Christian Ebbesvik   Team West-Tec 0 0 (7) 0 (13) 0 7 (118) Race 16 of 16 0
2008   Natacha Gachnang   Team West-Tec 1 0 (5) 0 (12) 2 76 (110) Race 16 of 16 1

European F3 Open

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Drivers

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2009   Bruno Méndez   Campos Racing 2 4 11 8 145 Race 16 of 16 2
2010   Marco Barba   Cedars Motorsport 3 6 10 8 154 Race 12 of 16 42
2011   Alex Fontana   Corbetta Competizioni 1 2 7 1 120 Race 15 of 16 5
2012   Niccolò Schirò   RP Motorsport 3 4 11 7 272 Race 16 of 16 5
2013   Ed Jones   Team West-Tec F3 4 6 10 3 256 Race 16 of 16 9

Teams

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Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2009   Campos Racing 4 6 14 10 117 Race 16 of 16 7
2010   Cedars Motorsport 3 6 10 8 116 Race 15 of 16 24
2011   Team West-Tec 2 4 8 1 101 Race 16 of 16 6
2012   RP Motorsport 8 8 23 10 138 Race 14 of 16 41
2013   RP Motorsport 6 6 26 7 128 Race 16 of 16 2

Copa F306/300

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins (Copa) Podiums (Copa) Fastest laps Points (Copa) Clinched Margin
2009   Callum MacLeod   Team West-Tec 0 0 (7) 1 (12) 0 41 (106) Race 14 of 16 27
2010   Noel Jammal   Cedars Motorsport 0 0 (5) 0 (8) 0 24 (89) Race 16 of 16 5
2011   Fabio Gamberini   Team West-Tec 0 1 (10) 3 (14) 0 79 (130) Race 14 of 16 12
2012   Kevin Giovesi   DAV Racing 0 0 (10) 1 (11) 0 93 (110) Race 13 of 16 38
2013   Richard Gonda   Drivex School 0 0 (7) 0 (10) 0 10 (100) Race 15 of 16 19

Euroformula Open

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Drivers

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014   Sandy Stuvik   RP Motorsport 10 11 12 5 332 Race 14 of 16 89
2015   Vitor Baptista   RP Motorsport 5 6 12 7 291 Race 16 of 16 5
2016   Leonardo Pulcini   Campos Racing 3 7 15 8 303 Race 12 of 16 56
2017   Harrison Scott   RP Motorsport 11 12 13 9 340 Race 12 of 16 118
2018   Felipe Drugovich   RP Motorsport 10 14 16 10 405 Race 12 of 16 159
2019   Marino Sato   Team Motopark 6 9 11 5 309 Race 15 of 18 130
2020   Yifei Ye   CryptoTower Racing 12 11 16 12 369 Race 16 of 18 121
2021   Cameron Das   Team Motopark 1 7 16 6 382 Race 22 of 24 67
2022   Oliver Goethe   Team Motopark 7 11 18 12 473 Race 24 of 26 57
2023   Noel León   Team Motopark 5 7 15 11 394 Race 20 of 23 87
2024   Brad Benavides   Team Motopark 4 9 19 10 431 Race 21 of 24 86

Teams

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Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014   RP Motorsport 13 13 22 10 152 Race 14 of 16 51
2015   RP Motorsport 5 7 13 8 121 Race 15 of 16 10
2016   Campos Racing 3 7 17 9 120 Race 14 of 16 18
2017   RP Motorsport 12 13 17 10 134 Race 12 of 16 44
2018   RP Motorsport 10 14 16 11 180 Race 11 of 16 78
2019   Team Motopark 11 15 33 11 262 Race 12 of 18 168
2020   CryptoTower Racing 17 16 26 16 244 Race 12 of 18 129
2021   Team Motopark 5 16 29 18 277 Race 23 of 24 69
2022   CryptoTower Racing 3 12 41 8 358 Race 23 of 24 78
2023   Team Motopark 5 15 36 15 325 Race 15 of 23 124
2024   Team Motopark 6 19 46 19 402 Race 12 of 24 279

Rookies

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins (rookie) Podiums (rookie) Fastest laps Points (rookie) Clinched Margin
2016   Ferdinand Habsburg   Drivex School 4 2 (10) 12 (15) 1 247 (140) Race 12 of 16 42
2017   Nikita Troitskiy   Drivex School 2 0 (7) 9 (14) 4 222 (124) Race 14 of 16 29
2018   Bent Viscaal   Teo Martín Motorsport 4 1 (14) 12 (15) 2 246 (138) Race 12 of 16 48
2019   Liam Lawson   Team Motopark 2 4 (6) 7 (9) 1 179 (92) Race 18 of 18 9
2020   Niklas Krütten   Team Motopark 0 0 (9) 5 (13) 0 153 (140) Race 16 of 18 28
2021   Casper Stevenson   Van Amersfoort Racing 0 2 (6) 4 (20) 0 217 (178) Race 19 of 24 35
2022   Vladislav Lomko   CryptoTower Racing 2 6 (21) 19 (25) 5 416 (226) Race 22 of 26 64
2023   Jakob Bergmeister   Team Motopark 0 0 (10) 3 (16) 0 150 (148) Race 12 of 23 40
2024   Fernando Barrichello   Team Motopark 0 1 (20) 5 (24) 1 264 (210) Race 13 of 24 176

Spanish F3 Drivers

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014   Sandy Stuvik   RP Motorsport 4 4 4 2 118 Race 5 of 6 13
2015   Konstantin Tereshchenko   Campos Racing 5 4 5 3 134 Race 5 of 6 37
2016   Leonardo Pulcini   Campos Racing 1 2 4 3 105 Race 6 of 6 11
2017   Devlin DeFrancesco   Carlin Motorsport 0 1 3 0 119 Race 5 of 6 22
2018   Felipe Drugovich   RP Motorsport 0 1 3 0 157 Race 5 of 6 53

Spanish F3 Teams

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Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2014   RP Motorsport 5 5 8 4 56 Race 5 of 6 14
2015   Campos Racing 5 4 6 3 48 Race 6 of 6 9
2016   Campos Racing 1 2 5 3 42 Race 6 of 6 5
2017   RP Motorsport 4 5 6 4 50 Race 5 of 6 7
2018   RP Motorsport 3 5 6 3 72 Race 4 of 6 28

Notes

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  1. ^ Circuito de Jerez hosted 2 rounds in 20022004, and 2007.
  2. ^ Circuit Ricardo Tormo hosted 2 rounds in 20052006.
  3. ^ Circuito del Jarama hosted 2 rounds in 2001.
  4. ^ Circuito de Albacete hosted 2 rounds in 2005.
  5. ^ Valencia Street Circuit hosted 2 rounds in 2008.

References

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  1. ^ "GT Sport announces tyre supply partnership with Pirelli for the Euroformula Open, starting with immediate effect". www.euroformulaopen.net. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
  2. ^ Racing Engineering Season Preview F1prospects.com, April 8, 2006. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  3. ^ Over the Weekend – April 29–30, 2006 Archived 2007-03-01 at the Wayback Machine F1prospects.com, May 1, 2006. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  4. ^ "The Euroformula Open is born!". Euroformula Open Championship. GT Sport. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  5. ^ Toyota F1 test for Spanish champ Autosport-atlas.com, January 28, 2005. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  6. ^ 2006 Spanish F3 Calendar Archived 2007-03-24 at the Wayback Machine Formula3.cc, November 26, 2005. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
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