2023 Formula Regional European Championship

The 2023 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across Europe. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in Formula Regional cars that conform to the FIA Formula Regional regulations for the championship. This was the fifth season of the championship and the third after a merger with Formula Renault Eurocup which resulted to the change of the engine supplier to Alpine.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, driving for Prema Racing, won the Drivers' Championship with two races to spare. His team clinched the Teams' Championship at the final race by only two points. Martinius Stenshorne, driving for R-ace GP, won the Rookie Championship.

The season was marred by the death of Dutch driver Dilano van 't Hoff during the second race of the Spa-Francorchamps round.

Teams and drivers

Twelve teams were pre-selected by the championship organizers on 2 December 2022.

* Nicolás Baptiste was expected to join Saintéloc Racing to tackle his second season in the championship after failing to score points with FA Racing in 2022, but did not enter any rounds.

Team changes

FA Racing by MP announced their departure from the championship in October 2022. The entry was taken over by French team Saintéloc Racing.

Driver changes

Reigning team champions Prema Racing renewed their line-up completely, as all their 2022 full-time drivers were promoted to Formula 3, with champion Dino Beganovic and Paul Aron staying with the Italian team and Sebastian Montoya joining Hitech Pulse-Eight. Replacing them were the 2022 Italian F4 and ADAC F4 champion Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Rafael Câmara and third-year FRECA driver Lorenzo Fluxá. All three raced for Prema's partner team Mumbai Falcons in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship, with Antonelli taking the title.

Vice-champion team R-ace GP recruited Tim Tramnitz, who departed Trident after coming 15th with the team in his debut season. He replaced Lorenzo Fluxá, who joined Prema Racing. The team signed another second-year driver in Matías Zagazeta, who failed to score points in his rookie year with G4 Racing, to replace Gabriel Bortoleto, who graduated to F3 with Trident. Their lineup was completed by Martinius Stenshorne, who made appearances in four different Formula 4 series in 2022, with a seventh in the Italian Championship as his best result.

2022 Formula 4 UAE and 2023 Formula Regional Oceania champion Charlie Wurz joined ART Grand Prix, replacing Gabriele Minì, who graduated to FIA Formula 3 with Hitech Pulse-Eight. The team also signed Sauber Academy driver Marcus Amand, who graduated from Formula 4, to replace Esteban Masson.

Van Amersfoort Racing replaced Arden-bound Levente Révész with Niels Koolen, who also competed with the team in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship.

Trident recruited Owen Tangavelou, who raced with G4 Racing and Race Performance Motorsport in 2022, finishing 20th in the championship. He replaced Leonardo Fornaroli, who graduated to the Italian outfit's Formula 3 team after winning the rookie title in 2022. Nikhil Bohra replaced Tim Tramnitz to complete Trident's line-up after a successful Formula Regional debut in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship, where he finished 9th overall.

MP Motorsport signed Victor Bernier, who started his second season in the championship after a 17th-place finish in the 2022 season driving for MP's former partner team FA Racing.

Levente Révész made the switch from Van Amersfoort Racing to Arden for his second FRECA season, replacing Noel León, who moved across to the Euroformula Open championship. Arden's driver roster was completed by Tom Lebbon, 2020 Ginetta Junior champion and third in GB3 in 2022, who replaced Dudu Barrichello.

RPM promoted Irish driver Adam Fitzgerald from the F4 British Championship to replace the Trident-bound Owen Tangavelou. Santiago Ramos, who joined the team for the final round in 2022, raced there on a full-time basis in 2023. The teams' lineup was completed by Macéo Capietto, who moved over from Monolite Racing after a 22nd place in his rookie season. He replaced fellow Frenchman Pierre-Louis Chovet, who moved over to GT3 racing after three years in Formula Regional.

Monolite Racing fielded Giovanni Maschio, who graduated from the Italian F4 Championship, having also taken part in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship. Partnering him was Enzo Scionti, who last drove for Drivex in the 2021 Euroformula Open Championship where he came 14th.

2022 French F4 champion Alessandro Giusti made his Formula Regional debut in 2023, joining G4 Racing to replace Zagazeta. Partnering him and returning to the team was Michael Belov, who finished 7th in 2022 despite only completing half the season with MP Motorsport.

KIC Motorsport fielded an all-new, all-rookie line-up in 2023. Ferrari Academy driver Maya Weug jumped up to the Formula Regional level after two years in the Italian F4 Championship, replacing Santiago Ramos, who moved to RPM. Piotr Wiśnicki, who graduated to F3, was replaced by Ultimate Cup Series race winner Shannon Lugassy. The seat of Sebastian Ogaard, who moved to the newly created Eurocup-3 series, was originally to be filled by Formula Academy Finland race-winner Iker Oikarinen, before he was replaced by F4 racer Olexander Partyshev.

New entrant Saintéloc Racing signed Emerson Fittipaldi Jr., who made the step up to Formula Regional in 2023. Partnering him was Lucas Medina, a race winner in NACAM F4.

Mid-season changes

Kirill Smal joined Monolite Racing after the first round for a part-time campaign that lasted until round six, after making his Formula Regional Debut in the final three rounds of the inaugural Middle Eastern championship.

Esteban Masson joined Saintéloc Racing from round three onwards, except for the rounds at Mugello and Zandvoort. The French driver competed for FA Racing by MP and ART Grand Prix in 2022, scoring a single point. His main campaign in 2023 was the Eurocup-3 championship, where he drove for Campos Racing.

ART Grand Prix's Charlie Wurz was ruled out from competing in round four at Spa as he contracted laryngitis. At the same event, the team welcomed guest driver Hadrien David, who came fourth in 2022 with R-ace GP. Charlie Wurz returned to the championship from round five onwards.

After Dilano van 't Hoff lost his life in a crash during the second race at Spa, his team MP Motorsport did not enter any of their cars for the following round at Mugello. RPM driver Adam Fitzgerald, who suffered multiple broken bones in the accident, was also absent from round 5 onwards. At KIC Motorsport, Oleksandr Partyshev missed the round and was replaced by Konsta Lappalainen, who last competed in the series in 2021 and has been driving GT cars since.

Following KIC Motorsport's Oleksandr Partyshev's absence for the round at Mugello, he announced his retirement from racing, citing one of the main reasons to be due to Dilano van 't Hoff's death. His seat, filled by Lappalainen for round five, was filled by Ivan Klymenko, who therefore ended his TTE Formula Renault Cup campaign, for the remainder of the season.

Ahead of the round at Paul Ricard, G4 Racing announced that they would field a third car from that event on for French F4 driver Pierre-Alexandre Provost.

Charlie Wurz and Joshua Dufek, driving for ART Grand Prix and Van Amersfoort Racing respectively, switched to the Euroformula Open prior to round seven at the Red Bull Ring, where both series coincided. Jesse Carrasquedo Jr., stepping up from Spanish F4, replaced Dufek at VAR. Kirill Smal was absent from Monolite Racing, with Hadrien David rejoining the series to replace him. Both MP Motorsport and KIC Motorsport expanded back to three cars. They fielded Eurocup-3 competitors Bruno del Pino and William Karlsson respectively. Saintéloc Racing meanwhile only fielded two cars as Lucas Medina was absent. Shortly before the race weekend, Enzo Scionti announced his withdrawal from the round as he was recovering from a road accident.

Prior to the round at Monza, Saintéloc Racing announced that GB3 driver Tymek Kucharczyk would join the team for round eight. RPM also announced a new driver, with Spanish F4 driver Noah Strømsted joining the team for the round to make his debut.

Five drivers were announced to be making their series debut at the penultimate round: Francisco Soldavini for G4 Racing (replacing Michael Belov), Ivan Domingues for Van Amersfoort Racing (replacing Jesse Carrasquedo Jr.), newly crowned French F4 champion Evan Giltaire for ART Grand Prix (occupying the car previously driven by Charlie Wurz), Eurocup-3 driver Javier Sagrera for MP Motorsport (using Bruno del Pino's car) and F3 driver Nikita Bedrin at Monolite Racing to replace Hadrien David. Saintéloc Racing was another team that changed its lineup as it brought in Lamborghini junior and experienced Formula Regional driver Pierre-Louis Chovet in place of Esteban Masson. Levente Révész and William Karlsson left Arden and KIC Motorsport, but were not replaced.

Ahead of the season finale, Monolite Racing announced that Formula 4 driver Valentin Kluss would make his series debut, driving the car previously piloted by Smal, David and Bedrin. The latter meanwhile moved to Van Amersfoort Racing to replace Niels Koolen. Strømsted returned to RPM ahead of his 2024 campaign with the team.

Race calendar

The calendar was revealed on 2 December 2022. Three pre-season tests were held at Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Monza in March and April. The championship visited Germany for the first time in its history, but did not support Formula One unlike in the years before.

Race results

Championship standings

; Points system

Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers.

Drivers' standings

Teams' standings

For teams entering more than two cars, only the two best-finishing cars were eligible to score points in the teams' championship.

Notes

References

External links

*

ACI Sport page

{{European championships in 2023

Formula Regional European Championship seasons
Formula Regional European
Formula Regional European Championship
Formula Regional