All is set for the third round of the Euroformula Open, taking place in Portugal. All eyes are on hard-fought battle for the championship after two rounds. Twenty-two cars on the entry list for this second Iberian event driven by racers from eleven different nationalities
The Euroformula Open, the only Formula 3 championship with presence on the international stage during fifteen uninterrupted years, is ready for another thrilling event taking place at Autódromo do Estoril. With its 4.182 km, the Lusitanian track was the home of the F.1 Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996 and, more recently, it was visited by the Spanish F.3 series back in 2007. It is worth mentioning Estoril will count towards the Euroformula Open and the Spanish F.3 Championship, so there will be a double stake to go for!
The entry list has twenty-two cars for Estoril and some interesting novelties have been added to the field, with second entries of DAV Racing and Corbetta Competizioni still to confirm their drivers. Russia´s Alexey Chuklin is back to the series with Corbetta Competizioni. The Muscovite racer drove for Emilio de Villota Motorsport two years ago, ranking eleventh overall. Now Chuklin will drive one of the yellow cars entered by Angelo Corbetta. Another interesting addition is Otto Sánchez, from Spain and aged 15, and who made his debut in the series in the opening round. Sánchez will be racing for under the Emilio de Villota Motorsport banner.
After two rounds held at Jerez and Paul Ricard, there is a truly international top-5 in the standings as drivers from five different countries are in command. Russia´s Konstantin Tereschenko (Campos Racing) stormed to the top of the drivers´ championship with two wins achieved on Sundays but a newcomer, Brazil´s Vítor Baptista (RP Motorsport), is quite close, 77 points to 74. Baptista took a brilliant maiden during Saturday´s race at Paul Ricard, and it should be a strong rival for the Russian on Portuguese soil again.
The “Transalpine” driver Alessio Rovera (BVM Racing), Japan´s Yu Kanamaru (Emilio de Villota Motorsport) and Motul Team West-Tec duo, Tanart Sathinthirakul and Yarin Stern, from Thailand and Israel respectively, are other favorites on their own merit. There is a panoply of international racers right behind them, with names such as Damiano Fioravanti (RP Motorsport), William Barbosa (BVM Racing), Andrés Saravia (RP Motorsport) and John Simonyan (RP Motorsport) complete the top-ten after four races.
The teams´ classification is led by RP Motorsport´s meagre lead of three points ahead of Campos Racing, 29 to 26. BVM Racing lies third and Emilio de Villota Motorsport, Motul Team West-Tec and DAV Racing are fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
The Euroformula Open will be joined by the International GT Open, the SEAT León Eurocup and the Campeonato Nacional de Clásicos & Legend Classic Cup, so another weekend full of exciting and action-packed races is foreseen.