97 replies to this topic

[Balnazzard]

I hadn't noticed the reverse grid race is full points - that's crazy.

Ye reverse grid races should awards points like 10p to 1 point to top 10. Really awards too many points to those who finish in p 5-10 in the first race

[Frood]

It was especially egregious this weekend. Naël - as good as he has been - benefitted from his time penalty in race one, as he was demoted to 8th, which in turn put him third on the grid for the reverse grid race!

[Jellyfishcake]

It was especially egregious this weekend. Naël - as good as he has been - benefitted from his time penalty in race one, as he was demoted to 8th, which in turn put him third on the grid for the reverse grid race!

 

Yeah, that wasn't great really.

 

Likewise weekend 1 you had Lindblad and David as the main gainers, 

[Frood]

The Formula Regional Middle East grid has a week off this weekend; the Oceania boys will be in action at Manfeild Park.

Meanwhile, there have been some further announcements for this year's FRECA grid:
 

Team            Driver 1            Driver 2           Driver 3
Arden             
ART             Alessandro Giusti   Yaroslav Veselaho  Léna Bühler
G4              Romain Andriolo     Jesse Carrasquedo  Kanato Le
KIC            
Monolite      
MP Motorsport   Nikhil Bohra        Valerio Rinicella  
Prema           Rafael Câmara       Ugo Ugochukwu      James Wharton  + Marta García 
R-ace GP        Tuukka Taponen      Enzo Deligny       Zachary David
RPM             Giovanni Maschio    Noah Strømsted
Saintéloc       Matteo de Palo      Théophile Naël     Enzo Peugeot 
Trident         Roman Biliński      Nicola Lacorte     Liu Ruiqi
Van Amersfoort  Pedro Clerot        Ivan Domingues

New signings since the last update:

• ART have signed new Williams junior driver Alessandro Giusti. The young Frenchman came alive in the middle of 2023 driving for usual backmarkers G4 Racing, taking three wins and a second place to end up 6th in the standings. A move to ART will likely take him into championship contention. To partner Giusti, the team have also taken on Yaroslav Veselaho and Léna Bühler. Veselaho was a backmarker in French F4 last year, so I wouldn't expect a great deal from the former Ukrainian drift champion. Bühler was last year's F1 Academy runner up, but has already had previous experience in FRECA - an absolutely miserable season at R-ace GP where she looked completely out of her depth.
• British F4 race winner Kanato Le is in at Giusti's old G4 Racing seat.
• 2023 teams' runners-up R-ace GP have added Enzo Deligny and Zachary David to their roster. Filipino-Maltese racer David has been a solid pair of hands in Formula 4, but doesn't appear to be a world-beater. Sino-French Red Bull Academy driver Deligny showed plenty of potential in his first open-wheeler season in Spanish F4, but also ran hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when he was disqualified from a race at the end of the season for making some hot-headed moves - and subsequently ignoring black flags - which cost him his chance of 2nd in the championship.
• Van Amersfoort Racing have signed Portuguese driver Ivan Domingues. He's had a couple of decent points-scoring seasons in Italian F4, but has been outdriven by team-mates in both - losing out to Maya Weug in 2022, and Brando Badoer in 2023.

[Frood]

Race 1 for FROC at Manfeild is in the books.

 

Spoiler

It was an already familiar sight up front. Roman Biliński took pole ahead of Christian Mansell, with Liam Sceats and Niko Lacorte on row 2. The front four were pretty much equal off the line, with Biliński protecting his lead into Turn 1; Lacorte managed to edge ahead of Sceats and take third. Further back, Titus Sherlock got a nudge from Michael Shin early in the lap, which sent the Texan into a spin. After the first lap, the race settled down fairly quickly; Manfeild's lack of big braking zones made overtaking somewhat difficult in these cars. Mansell's car developed an electrical gremlin early on, dropping him from second to tenth. Biliński and Lacorte then started pulling away from Sceats in third as a train formed behind the Kiwi. Sceats appeared to be struggling with the front end of his car, repeatedly locking up the front tyres; this in turn meant the M2 driver came under pressure from fourth-placed Kaleb Ngatoa. Sceats' stout defence earnt him a black-and-white flag from the stewards, but he continued to hold Ngatoa behind him. By this point, Mansell had rectified the electrical issue, and had worked his way past Woods-Toth, Crosbie, and Shin. With 8 laps to go, light rain started falling over the circuit, though it never became heavy enough to require the drivers to switch to wet weather tyres. Sceats managed to get some respite from Ngatoa, as the local man's attention turned to keeping Tommy Smith behind him instead. Mansell made a superb late move to the inside of Gerrard Xie, and then took Smith by surprise into the final corner to claw his way back up to 5th. Biliński was never challenged by Lacorte up front, and eased his way to another win; Lacorte finished a very lonely second, but looked much stronger than he had at Taupo. Sceats valiantly defended his 3rd place all the way to the flag to take the final spot on the podium; Ngatoa staved off Mansell's attack in the closing laps to take 4th. The rest of the Top 10 was filled by Smith, Shin, Xie, Woods-Toth, and Crosbie. Shin was later given a 30-second penalty for his incident with Sherlock, promoting Lucas Fecury into the Top 10.

Edited by Frood, 27 January 2024 - 10:41.

[Frood]

I forgot to give an update on last week's second and third FROC races - both were run in the wet. The reverse grid race two had Pat Woods-Toth and Xie on the front row. Xie had the better start, but spun off at Turn 2, with Mansell getting the advantage in the chaos. The rest of the race wasn't particularly competitive, with Mansell and Kaleb Ngatoa running away at the front ahead of Tommy Smith and Woods-Toth. The only other noteworthy occurrence was Lucas Fecury doing his best impression of countryman Felipe Massa's performance at the 2008 British Grand Prix and spinning off three or four times. Points leader Biliński finished last due to getting the meatball flag for a non-functional rain light. Race 3 was wetter than Race 2, and Biliński and Mansell took up the front row again. The race was almost immediately red-flagged due to a crash between M2 team-mates Niko Lacorte and Michael Shin, and the rain had gotten worse by the time the race was restarted. From there, again, there was not a great deal of racing, as Biliński and Mansell held station out front. Tommy Smith looked like he'd hold onto third, but spun off late in the race, handing the final podium position to Liam Sceats. Gerrard Xie then spun off as well, and the race was stopped for good with 4 laps to go as the rain wasn't getting any better. Biliński now holds a big advantage over Mansell in the standings having taken 4 wins out of 6 races.

 

Both Formula Regional Oceania (at Hampton Downs) and Formula Regional Middle East (at Dubai) are in action this weekend. Only change to the FROC grid is the absence of Christian Mansell, which gives Biliński an even more comfortable advantage. For FRMEC, MP Motorsport have swapped out Valerio Rinicella for Francesco Braschi, who was 5th in Eurocup-3 last year oops, I was being dyslexic. It's actually Isaac Barashi, which is a big downgrade. He was completely useless in everything he drove in 2023, including somehow managing to crash behind the safety car in Spanish F4. There are two changes at Saintéloc as Matteo de Palo and Pedro Clerot give way to José Garfias (4th in Eurocup-3) and Noah Strømsted, who made an immediate impression upon his FRECA début at Monza last year.

Edited by Frood, 02 February 2024 - 09:57.

[Muppetmad]

The F4 and Formula Regional cars have been very racy at Dubai so far this weekend, which is assuredly not something we can say at every circuit. I'm looking forward to the remaining races.

[Frood]

Here's Race 1 for CTFROC.

 

Spoiler

A wet qualifying session saw Gerrard Xie take pole position, ahead of Liam Sceats. This presented a golden opportunity for Sceats – now the closest championship challenger to Roman Biliński – as Biliński had a miserable qualifying, languishing down in 14th on the grid. The track had dried in parts as the grid formed, with two drivers opting to take wet tyres: Kaleb Ngatoa, starting 6th, and Kaden Probst just behind him in 7th. Sceats got the better start as they slithered away from the line, with Ngatoa almost immediately jumping up into 2nd place. With Xie running Patrick Woods-Toth wide at Turn 2, Probst followed Ngatoa to jump up into 3rd. By the end of the first lap, both Ngatoa and Probst had cleared Sceats and set about stretching their advantage as quickly as possible on the drying track. Even worse for Sceats was the fact Biliński had a brilliant first lap, and was already 6th by the time they came around to start Lap 2. By the end of Lap 3, however, with the circuit bathed in sun, the slick tyre runners had gotten their rubber up to temperatre. Probst was quickly dispatched again by Sceats, and lost another two positions by the end of the lap. The first of those positions was Biliński, having himself passed both Woods-Toth and Xie, and the Pole was already up to 3rd and right on Sceats' gearbox. By Turn 2 on Lap 4, Biliński was past Sceats as well, and set about reeling in the floundering Ngatoa. As the leaders came down the main straight at the end of Lap 5, Biliński passed Ngatoa for the lead, making up 13 positions in just 5 laps to get there. Sceats ducked through as well, and as the front pack ran into Turn 2, Ngatoa ran Xie wide and Woods-Toth passed both in one fell swoop. Over the next few laps, Biliński consolidated his lead over Sceats, with the Kiwi similarly pulling away from Woods-Toth in 3rd. As the laps ticked down, darker and darker clouds appeared over the Hampton Downs circuit, and Ngatoa bravely soldiered on with his wet tyres, falling farther and farther behind in the process. Spits of rain started to fall as the race approached the closing stages, and Sceats appeared to have kept his tyres in better condition, as he was soon right back onto Biliński's gearbox... until the heavens opened completely. In the space of one lap, the track went from almost dry to treacherously wet. This was far too late for Ngatoa, who by this point had been lapped! The track was soon declared too wet, and a red flag truncated the race. Biliński duly took the win ahead of Sceats, and Woods-Toth took his first podium in 3rd. Xie and Tommy Smith rounded out the top five.

 

Here's a link to the first FRMEC race at Dubai.

Here's a link to the second.

 

Spoiler

Good defending from Barnard to take the win in Race 1, though some of his defence against Taponen was a little over-the-top. Câmara was initially classified third, but he got demoted back behind Boya as his pass (barging Boya off on the apex) was way too wild. Race 2 was pretty good; Nikhil Bohra took a fairly unopposed win ahead of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Brando Badoer.

 

Have to say though, and I don't want to sound like a broken record... tarmac run-offs once again are the bane of racing. I thought Stenshorne drove particularly poorly in Race 2. The F4 races were even worse in terms of the quality of the racing.

 

I don't know what's up with Stenshorne in particular. Taponen's had his number for the last two weekends. Lindblad also continues to be majorly disappointing.

Edited by Frood, 03 February 2024 - 20:53.

[ANF]

The first FRECA race this morning was entertaining. There was some good racing in both races – it's just a shame that so many drivers (and race control) show so little respect for track limits and for fellow competitors' right to stay within them.

Another thing I didn't like was the race director's pre-Bianchi way of dealing with stationary cars. In the first race a car stopped in the run-off area at T1 on the penultimate lap. There was one lap to go, the track was wet, the stationary car was in a position where it easily could have been hit had anybody gone straight on at the end of the main straight. Yet there was no safety car, only yellow flag(s) on the last lap. In the second race a car stopped near the opening in the barrier before T3 on the opening lap. If a car had spun to the left at the exit of T2, the stationary car would have been in a perfect position to get hit, and the driver was still in the car when the field passed it on lap 2. Again, no safety car, only yellow flags. The commentator loved the fact that we didn't get a safety car, but you know, maybe they should ask Billy Monger, Peter Li, Juan Manuel Correa and Adam Fitzgerald what it feels like hitting a stationary car at high speed.

[sportyskells]

At least the safety car finally turned up in today race again close to the end of the race

[Racer3000]

The first laps of the Race 3 were breathtaking. That's what I call racing. 

[ANF]

Yeah, those opening laps were amazing. The racing at Dubai is so much better than at Abu Dhabi.

Taponen seems to be a great racer. You can see when he goes wheel to wheel with somebody that he's always thinking two or three corners ahead. And Ugochukwu has once again shown his ability to pull off tricky overtaking moves and stay within track limits at the corner exit. But he obviously needs to qualify better.

[Frood]

A mid-season check-in on how the drivers in FRMEC are doing, in comparison. Like usual, I'll do dropped scores at the end of the season to account for any outliers, but just raw data for now.

 

Qualifying (where 100% is the pole position time)

 

Spoiler

 

Qualifying, team-mate comparison

 

Spoiler

 

Fastest race laps (where 100% is the fastest race lap)

 

Spoiler

 

Fastest race laps, team-mate comparison

 

Spoiler

[Frood]

FRMEC is back at Yas Marina again this weekend. With Formula 2 and Formula 3 testing this weekend, Arvid Lindblad and Martinius Stenshorne will not be present. However, this doesn't appear to have affected Mari Boya, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, or Taylor Barnard, who are still present. Not quite sure how that works! Thus, Barnard will continue his fight for the title with current leader, Tuukka Taponen. There are a few changes on the grid as a result. Mumbai Falcons have elected to not replace Lindblad, and will only run three cars. In Stenshorne's place at R-ace GP is Kanato Le, a race-winner in British F4, though Le didn't manage to challenge for the championship like Hitech team-mate Will Macintyre (he's in GB3 this year). Evans GP are running a third car for French F4 graduate Edgar Pierre, who has only managed one podium in two years in F4, so expectations are likely low. There will be another French F4 graduate on the grid, as Noah Strømsted makes way for Enzo Peugeot at Saintéloc Racing. Peugeot finished runner-up in French F4 last year after a fierce season-long battle with eventual victor Evan Giltaire. Fin Green also returns to Pinnacle after sitting out the last round.
 
Qualifying has already taken place for Races 1 and 3, with the Top 10 on the grid for the two races as follows:
 
Race 1

Pos  Driver          Team            Time
 1.  Barnard         PHM AIX         1:50.323
 2.  David           R-ace GP        +0.137
 3.  Taponen         R-ace GP        +0.160
 4.  Toparis         Evans GP        +0.218
 5.  Wharton         Mumbai Falcons  +0.229
 6.  Ugochukwu       Mumbai Falcons  +0.242
 7.  Badoer          PHM AIX         +0.280
 8.  Abkhazava       Pinnacle        +0.357
 9.  Naël            Saintéloc       +0.430
10.  Câmara          Mumbai Falcons  +0.482 

Race 2

Pos  Driver          Team            Time
 1.  Taponen         R-ace GP        1:49.493
 2.  Wharton         Mumbai Falcons  +0.299
 3.  David           R-ace GP        +0.396
 4.  Barnard         PHM AIX         +0.451
 5.  Ugochukwu       Mumbai Falcons  +0.515
 6.  Toparis         Evans GP        +0.676
 7.  Boya            Pinnacle        +0.687
 8.  Câmara          Mumbai Falcons  +0.718
 9.  Inthraphuvasak  PHM AIX         +0.734
10.  Bohra           MP Motorsport   +0.771

Barnard gets the advantage for Race 1, with Taponen taking pole by a healthy three tenths in Race 2. Zachary David appears to have stepped up his game at R-ace, now Stenshorne isn't present, and outqualified Taponen for Race 1. Câmara seems to be off-form again, unlike at Dubai; a good effort from Costa Toparis to get his Evans car well inside the Top 10 for both races. Alexander Abkhazava also makes a sudden appearance in the Top 10, after being a backmarker for the last two rounds.

[ren]

Early start for the weekend, race 1 already started. Sadly no live stream due to technical issues.

[sportyskells]

I was disappointed there was no live stream for race 1

[tyker]

FRMEC is back at Yas Marina again this weekend. With Formula 2 and Formula 3 testing this weekend, Arvid Lindblad and Martinius Stenshorne will not be present. However, this doesn't appear to have affected Mari Boya, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, or Taylor Barnard, who are still present. Not quite sure how that works! Thus, Barnard will continue his fight for the title with current leader, Tuukka Taponen. There are a few changes on the grid as a result. Mumbai Falcons have elected to not replace Lindblad, and will only run three cars. In Stenshorne's place at R-ace GP is Kanato Le, a race-winner in British F4, though Le didn't manage to challenge for the championship like Hitech team-mate Will Macintyre (he's in GB3 this year). Evans GP are running a third car for French F4 graduate Edgar Pierre, who has only managed one podium in two years in F4, so expectations are likely low. There will be another French F4 graduate on the grid, as Noah Strømsted makes way for Enzo Peugeot at Saintéloc Racing. Peugeot finished runner-up in French F4 last year after a fierce season-long battle with eventual victor Evan Giltaire. Fin Green also returns to Pinnacle after sitting out the last round.
 
Qualifying has already taken place for Races 1 and 3, with the Top 10 on the grid for the two races as follows:
 
Race 1

Pos  Driver          Team            Time
 1.  Barnard         PHM AIX         1:50.323
 2.  David           R-ace GP        +0.137
 3.  Taponen         R-ace GP        +0.160
 4.  Toparis         Evans GP        +0.218
 5.  Wharton         Mumbai Falcons  +0.229
 6.  Ugochukwu       Mumbai Falcons  +0.242
 7.  Badoer          PHM AIX         +0.280
 8.  Abkhazava       Pinnacle        +0.357
 9.  Naël            Saintéloc       +0.430
10.  Câmara          Mumbai Falcons  +0.482 

Race 2

Pos  Driver          Team            Time
 1.  Taponen         R-ace GP        1:49.493
 2.  Wharton         Mumbai Falcons  +0.299
 3.  David           R-ace GP        +0.396
 4.  Barnard         PHM AIX         +0.451
 5.  Ugochukwu       Mumbai Falcons  +0.515
 6.  Toparis         Evans GP        +0.676
 7.  Boya            Pinnacle        +0.687
 8.  Câmara          Mumbai Falcons  +0.718
 9.  Inthraphuvasak  PHM AIX         +0.734
10.  Bohra           MP Motorsport   +0.771

Barnard gets the advantage for Race 1, with Taponen taking pole by a healthy three tenths in Race 2. Zachary David appears to have stepped up his game at R-ace, now Stenshorne isn't present, and outqualified Taponen for Race 1. Câmara seems to be off-form again, unlike at Dubai; a good effort from Costa Toparis to get his Evans car well inside the Top 10 for both races. Alexander Abkhazava also makes a sudden appearance in the Top 10, after being a backmarker for the last two rounds.

Taylor Barnard has said that he is wanting the Super License points.

[ANF]

Early start for the weekend, race 1 already started. Sadly no live stream due to technical issues.

Technical issues such as... Let me guess: moving the race to Friday and no TV crew until Saturday?

[Balnazzard]

Taponen just few points away now from winning the championship. If he was lacking the consistency in Italian F4 championship last year, he definitely has been the most consitent of this championship. Hopefully that continues later in European championship and I see no reason why it couldnt, seems that all problems he had last season are but distant memory 

[Racer3000]

Certainly Taponen will be a title contender in FRECA, but I also believe Prema will come stronger there. In some sessions in this FRMEC season Taponen was much faster than the fastest Mumbai Falcons driver, and this is not normal, R-Ace shoudn't be that dominant. I wonder if all teams bring their best engines, parts and engineers to all cars in FRMEC. Looking at Stenshorne's performance in FRMEC this year, I have some doubts about it.

Edited by Racer3000, 10 February 2024 - 18:19.

[tyker]

Certainly Taponen will be a title contender in FRECA, but I also believe Prema will come stronger there. In some sessions in this FRMEC season Taponen was much faster than the fastest Mumbai Falcons driver, and this is not normal, R-Ace shoudn't be that dominant. I wonder if all teams bring their best engines, parts and engineers to all cars in FRMEC. Looking at Stenshorne's performance in FRMEC this year, I have some doubts about it.

Stenshorne was beating the Prema drivers last year in FRECA as well, so was his teammate Tramnitz, the Prema drivers that were not called Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

[Racer3000]

Stenshorne was beating the Prema drivers last year in FRECA as well, so was his teammate Tramnitz, the Prema drivers that were not called Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

 

Exactly. That's why seeing a rookie Taponen beating Stenshorne easily surprised me, and made me wonder if the teams bring to FRMEC their best to all cars.

 

And I didn't say R-Ace wasn't capable of beating Prema. But to beat Prema in this manner is not normal. Right now in FRMEC Mumbai Falcons is in third position in the team's championship, 152 points behind R-Ace, and two of MB's victories (50 points) were due to reversed grids. I don't think we'll see the same happening in FRECA.

[balage06]

I had a feeling last year already that R-Ace has a stronger package than Prema at this level.

[ren]

Barnard's uphill battle for the title has turned into a vertical climb in qualifying.

 

Taponen takes pole in both, Barnard 12th and 5th (according to commentator, couldn't find live timing and times not on screen in the broadcast). Barnard had his fastest lap invalidated in the first qualifying and tires only had one properly fast lap in them.

[Muppetmad]

Taponen has stepped up to Formula Regional very strongly indeed. If he brings this form into FRECA, he'll surely be a convincing title contender.

[ANF]

Barnard's uphill battle for the title has turned into a vertical climb in qualifying.
 
Taponen takes pole in both, Barnard 12th and 5th (according to commentator, couldn't find live timing and times not on screen in the broadcast). Barnard had his fastest lap invalidated in the first qualifying and tires only had one properly fast lap in them.

Live timing this weekend: https://livetiming.g...esults.com/asia

[ANF]

Race 1 is about to get underway:

 

[JvsKVB77]

Spoiler

Tiger got title! (only first, i hope)  

[Muppetmad]

Camara has had a very underwhelming campaign in the Middle East. He better hope he can up his game when he heads back to Europe, or else he won't be a title contender.

[Muppetmad]

F4 UAE finale is currently under red flag, and proving very tense. None of Slater, Nakamura-Berta and Al Zhahari have had perfect seasons, but all have shown good pace at times too. Slater is currently placed to win the title, but when the race is restarted, who knows how it will play out...

 

Edit: Slater takes the title. Credit to Nakamura-Berta, who could have tried an ill-judged banzai move to take the win and title but played fair and takes a well-deserved runner-up position.

Edited by Muppetmad, 18 February 2024 - 09:54.

[sportyskells]

Will barnard be race control bad books for not taking the cone route

[Maisteri]

I have no idea who could even challenge Tuukka in Europe. The guy was racing against completely different tier drivers here.

[Muppetmad]

Prema are going to have to be a step ahead of where Mumbai Falcons have been if their drivers are going to challenge Taponen, that's for sure.

[Balnazzard]

What a season from Taponen! 5 wins, 10 podiums, scoring in every race and 255 points total. Compare that to Kimi Antonelli's 2023 Middle East F Regional season (192 points) and ppl should really start taking notice of Taponen now in similar way and believe the hype. 

 

Hard to see based on these results how anyone could challenge Taponen in European season, although ofc its alwaya possible that Tuukka gets into some unlucly situations. But he managed to avoid those situations very well and if he gets pole, its very hard for anyone to beat him

[tyker]

I had a feeling last year already that R-Ace has a stronger package than Prema at this level.

Yes that's the point I was making as well, Antonelli beat Stenshorne with a car disadvantage and now we're seeing Taponen beating Stenshorne quite comfortably in the same team, it makes Taponen quite a strong favourite for the FRECA title this year and throws a bit of shade on Stenshorne but then again we might have to consider that he's been beaten by exceptional drivers.

[William Hunt]

Having followed all of these drivers in karting, and they are part of a truly golden generation, I never considered Stenshorne (managed by Nicolas Todt) exceptional amongst them. He did seem like he was going to be exceptional early in his carreer, when he races in the Mini categori (age 10-12) but in the Junior & Senior category he seemed to have stagnated compared to the likes of Antonelli, Taponen, Camara, Tsolov, Slater, Al Dhareri (he stagnated at Senior level though), Ugochukwu, Stolcermanis or Lindblad who kept on improving every year. Stenshorne did have a fantastic year in 2023 but I feel he is a level below the ones I mentioned. Camara & Tsolov were at their best at Senior level.

 

In a strange way, since they are both from Norway, he reminds me a bit of Dennis Hauger. Just like Stenshorne, Hauger completely trashed all oposition in the Mini (10-12 years old) category and then stagnated at Junior (12-14) and Senior (level). They're still both great drivers, they're very very good but not exceptional (meaning drivers I can see winning F1 races or even a title in F1), but they didn't progress at the same rate others did in the older karting categories and... I think you can still see that they both miss that litle bit when they switched to single seaters.

 

The jump from the Mini category (60cc, 10-12) to OK Junior (125cc, 12-14) is by far the biggest jump in terms of power and speed that a karting driver will ever make. The jump from OK Junior to OK (Senior) is not that big and mostly the tyres and it goes a little bit quicker. And with the jump from OK to shifter karts it is the gearbox that's the biggest adaption, not really the speed because that difference isn't that big.

 

You can compare the jump from Mini to OK Jr a bit with what Antonelli is doing right now by skipping F3 to F2. So a lot of young drivers usually have around half a year a very hard time adapting to OK Jr. And some start to stagnate their. The one who can adapt immediately are ones you really should watch closely.

 

Dries Van Langendonck, current OK Junior world champion, famously made his debut, his very first junior karting race as the youngest one the grid, at the World Championship in 2022 and he qualified top 5 I think and was 7th in the final in a 120 car field... on his Junior debut which believe me is freaking amazing on your debut and at the world championship. He had also scorded a pole position during his debut season in Mini on his very first event on a clearly inferior chassis (Birel ART).
One year later he was world champion. Those are the drivers F1 teams should sign (Dries and also Freddie Slater are both still unsigned by an F1 academy, which I find quite mind blowing considering Red Bull is signing lesser talents, like Oliver Goethe currently).

Edited by William Hunt, 19 February 2024 - 18:54.

[jals99]

Having followed all of these drivers in karting, and they are part of a truly golden generation, I never considered Stenshorne (managed by Nicolas Todt) exceptional amongst them. He did seem like he was going to be exceptional early in his carreer, when he races in the Mini categori (age 10-12) but in the Junior & Senior category he seemed to have stagnated compared to the likes of Antonelli, Taponen, Camara, Tsolov, Slater, Al Dhareri (he stagnated at Senior level though), Ugochukwu, Stolcermanis or Lindblad who kept on improving every year. Stenshorne did have a fantastic year in 2023 but I feel he is a level below the ones I mentioned. Camara & Tsolov were at their best at Senior level.

In a strange way, since they are both from Norway, he reminds me a bit of Dennis Hauger. Just like Stenshorne, Hauger completely trashed all oposition in the Mini (10-12 years old) category and then stagnated at Junior (12-14) and Senior (level). They're still both great drivers, they're very very good but not exceptional (meaning drivers I can see winning F1 races or even a title in F1), but they didn't progress at the same rate others did in the older karting categories and... I think you can still see that they both miss that litle bit when they switched to single seaters.

The jump from the Mini category (60cc, 10-12) to OK Junior (125cc, 12-14) is by far the biggest jump in terms of power and speed that a karting driver will ever make. The jump from OK Junior to OK (Senior) is not that big and mostly the tyres and it goes a little bit quicker. And with the jump from OK to shifter karts it is the gearbox that's the biggest adaption, not really the speed because that difference isn't that big.

You can compare the jump from Mini to OK Jr a bit with what Antonelli is doing right now by skipping F3 to F2. So a lot of young drivers usually have around half a year a very hard time adapting to OK Jr. And some start to stagnate their. The one who can adapt immediately are ones you really should watch closely.

Dries Van Langendonck, current OK Junior world champion, famously made his debut, his very first junior karting race as the youngest one the grid, at the World Championship in 2022 and he top 5 I think and was 7th in the final in a 120 car field... on his Junior debut which believe me is freaking amazing on your debut and at the world championship. He had also scorded a pole position during his debut season in Mini on his very first event on a clearly inferior chassis (Birel ART).
One year later he was world champion. Those are the drivers F1 teams should sign (Dries and also Freddie Slater are both still unsigned by an F1 academy, which I find quite mind blowing considering Red Bull is signing lesser talents, like Oliver Goethe currently).

What about Rene Lammers? I was not impressed by his first races in Formula Winter Series...

[William Hunt]

What about Rene Lammers? I was not impressed by his first races in Formula Winter Series...

 

Give him a bit more time, hugely talented: especially in the rain. His qualifying pace somehow wasn't there during the first races, but on his debut race he climbed from place 30 tot 19th in 1 lap!

 

Thomas Strauven, Jan Prczyrowski & Nathan Tye immediately showed speed as rookies though. But give René some time, I think he will reach F1.

Edited by William Hunt, 19 February 2024 - 14:39.

[Racer3000]

Having followed all of these drivers in karting...

 

Reading some of your messages in this forums, I see you have a deep knowledge on karts. I watch it often too, but it's a bit difficult for me to read and judge a driver's talent level like you do, since I don't know precisely how teams are rated in karts and what are the best and the worst engines and chassis, although I know that in karts things are much more equal than in formula series.

 

Could you do a simple teams (and maybe engine and chassis) ranking for us regarding FIA European Championship and WSK Series? A rank (from the best to the worst) based on your personal view on teams, engines and chassi strenght, by category? If it would take too much of your time, I totally understand that you coudn't do it.

[William Hunt]

I had started one last year, but stopped it when I ended up in hospital (auto immune illness), could try and make a guide again. Basically in Mini category the Parolin chassis rules, in OK Junior and OK senior Kart Republic & Tony Kart are the best but Juniors are usually more even and in shifter karts Birel ART has the best chassis followed by Sodi Kart.

But it's indeed more equal as single seaters although you have much more chances to win on a Kart Republic or Tony Kart in OK or on a Birel ART in KZ or KZ2.

Edited by William Hunt, 19 February 2024 - 19:06.

[Racer3000]

I had started one last year, but stopped it when I ended up in hospital (auto immune illness), could try and make a guide again. Basically in Mini category the Parolin chassis rules, in OK Junior and OK senior Kart Republic & Tony Kart are the best but Juniors are usually more even and in shifter karts Birel ART has the best chassis followed by Sodi Kart.

But it's indeed more equal as single seaters although you have much more chances to win on a Kart Republic or Tony Kart in OK or on a Birel ART in KZ or KZ2.

 

Nice informations. I'm going to save it. Where would you place the CRG team among them? 

 

If you could do the guide in the future, it would be great. It would be very useful for people like me, that are relatively new to following the karting scene.

 

Thanks for the reply, William. I wish everything is fine again with your health now.

[William Hunt]

CRG in the midfield nowadays but top team in shifter karts. They have a program for several years to bring Brazilian drivers to Europe, at least up until last year.

Edited by William Hunt, 19 February 2024 - 19:33.

[Frood]

Team            Driver 1            Driver 2            Driver 3            Driver 4
ART             Alessandro Giusti   Yaroslav Veselaho   Evan Giltaire       Léna Bühler
G4              Romain Andriolo     Jesse Carrasquedo   Kanato Le
KIC/Evans GP    Costa Toparis        
Monolite      
MP Motorsport   Nikhil Bohra        Valerio Rinicella   Nikita Bedrin 
Prema           Rafael Câmara       Ugo Ugochukwu       James Wharton       Marta García 
R-ace GP        Tuukka Taponen      Enzo Deligny        Zachary David
RPM             Giovanni Maschio    Noah Strømsted      Edgar Pierre
Saintéloc       Matteo de Palo      Théophile Naël      Enzo Peugeot 
Trident         Roman Biliński      Nicola Lacorte      Liu Ruiqi
Van Amersfoort  Pedro Clerot        Ivan Domingues      Brando Badoer

Ahead of pre-season testing, and since the previous update in April, we've had the following announcements:

• 2023 French F4 champion Evan Giltaire has signed for ART Grand Prix. He did compete in a couple of rounds at the end of last year, and looked like he was up to speed quickly, so he'll be one to keep an eye on this year.
• Nikita Bedrin continues bouncing around various feeder series, and is pulling double-duty – he'll be running for MP Motorsport, alongside his FIA F3 campaign with PHM.
• RPM have taken another graduate of French F4, in the form of 2023's 9th place finisher, Edgar Pierre. He seemed fairly out of his depth in Formula Regional Middle East with Evans GP earlier this year, but perhaps a full season will allow him to show a bit more.
• VAR ran Brando Badoer in Italian F4 last year, where he finished 6th, and he graduates to FRECA with them. He showed impressive improvement over the Middle East season earlier this year, progressing from midfielder to solid podium contender, so look for him to start challenging for wins later in the year.
• KIC have entered into a technical tie-up with Evans GP, who have run at Formula Regional level in the Middle East previously. Evans, for their part, brings Costa Toparis over from their Middle East campaign; the Australian had a surprise flash of speed in the middle of the season and took a podium, so he should be able to pick up points for KIC this year.
• Arden, sadly, have withdrawn.
• Monolite are also not guaranteed to be on the grid. They won't be present at the pre-season test, which is worrying, but are apparently working on a deal with one or both of GB3 race-winner James Hedley and/or Canada's Kevin Foster, who finished 3rd in French F4 last year behind Giltaire and Peugeot.

[tyker]

If I could vote again I would have Taponen as the favourite.

[Frood]

If I could vote again I would have Taponen as the favourite.

Agreed, but I still wouldn't write Câmara off. Giusti would be my third pick after those two.

Ugochukwu headed this morning's test session, and Domingues was fastest in the afternoon.

KIC did run with three cars today, with Toparis joined by former Monolite backmarker Enzo Scionti in one, and F4 graduate Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi in the other. Bhirombhakdi was announced as a full time driver today.

[Frood]

KIC have announced their third driver, and it's not Scionti; rather, it's a complete left-field choice - 16-year-old Vietnamese driver Alex Sawer Hoàng Đạt, a veteran of just one season in Indian F4.

With Owen Tangavelou eschewing his French licence for a Vietnamese one over in Eurocup-3, there are now two Vietnamese drivers at Formula Regional level.

[Frood]

Team            Driver 1                Driver 2                Driver 3              Driver 4
ART             Alessandro Giusti       Yaroslav Veselaho       Evan Giltaire         Léna Bühler
G4              Romain Andriolo         Jesse Carrasquedo       Kanato Le
Iron Dames      Marta García            Doriane Pin
KIC/Evans GP    Costa Toparis           Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi  Alex Sawer Hoàng Đạt
MP Motorsport   Nikhil Bohra            Valerio Rinicella       Nikita Bedrin 
Prema           Rafael Câmara           Ugo Ugochukwu           James Wharton
R-ace GP        Tuukka Taponen          Enzo Deligny            Zachary David
RPM             Giovanni Maschio        Noah Strømsted          Edgar Pierre
Saintéloc       Matteo de Palo          Théophile Naël          Enzo Peugeot 
Trident         Roman Biliński          Nicola Lacorte          Liu Ruiqi
Van Amersfoort  Pedro Clerot            Ivan Domingues          Brando Badoer

So with the announcement of Iron Dames' entry, with García and Pin (as discussed in the F1 Academy thread); as well as the the likely withdrawal of Monolite, it looks as though the grid is complete.

 

Amidst the announcement of the Iron Dames entry... I feel for Maya Weug, as it appears to have come a year too late for her. Now she's stuck in F1 Academy despite a proven points-scorer at this level, when she could have had a pseudo-Prema car at her disposal instead of the KIC she was saddled with last year.

Edited by Frood, 19 April 2024 - 20:50.

[Racer3000]

There were two days of collective tests at Le Castellet some days ago. Championship begins in three weeks at Hockenheim.

Source: italiaracing.net

 

Day 1, Session 1

 

1 - Rafael Camara - Prema - 1'57"321 - 28 

2 - James Wharton - Prema - 1'57"378 - 29

3 - Evan Giltaire - ART - 1'57"531 - 25

4 - Noah Stromsted - RPM - 1'57"793 - 19

5 - Theophile Nael - Sainteloc - 1'57"842 - 19

6 - Pedro Clerot - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"856 - 28

7 - Brando Badoer - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"902 - 34

8 - Enzo Deligny - R-Ace - 1'58"053 - 24

9 - Roman Bilinski - Trident - 1'58"060 - 21

10 - Tuukka Taponen - R-Ace - 1'58"113 - 24

11 - Alessandro Giusti - ART - 1'58"153 - 22

12 - Nicola Lacorte - Trident - 1'58"205 - 20

13 - Nikhil Bohra - MP Motorsport - 1'58"268 - 23

14 - Ugo Ugochukwu - Prema - 1'58"270 - 28

15 - Ivan Domingues - Van Amersfoort - 1'58"310 - 33

16 - Matteo De Palo - Sainteloc - 1'58"346 - 20

17 - Bhirombhakdi Nandhavud - KIC - 1'58"558 - 29

18 - Valerio Rinicella - MP Motorsport - 1'58"695 - 25

19 - Zachary David - R-Ace - 1'58"839 - 24

20 - Giovanni Maschio - RPM - 1'59"096 - 29

21 - Lena Buhler - ART - 1'59"123 - 28

22 - Marta Garcia - Prema - 1'59"276 - 29

23 - Enzo Peugeot - Sainteloc - 1'59"283 - 20

24 - Jesse Carrasquedo - G4 Racing - 1'59"458 - 27

25 - Edgar Pierre - RPM - 1'59"557 - 22

26 - Costa Toparis - KIC - 1'59"598 - 19

27 - Ruiqi Liu - Trident - 1'59"714 - 21

28 - Romain Andriolo - G4 Racing - 1'59"815 - 28

29 - Kanato Le - G4 Racing - 1'59"919 - 28

30 - Alex Sawer - KIC - 2'00"065 - 28

31 - Isaac Barashi - MP Motorsport - 2'01"764 - 10

32 - Yaroslav Veselaho - ART - 2'02"412 - 6 

 

Day 1, Session 2

 

1 - Tuukka Taponen - R-Ace - 1'57"492 - 25 

2 - Theophile Nael - Sainteloc - 1'57"574 - 24

3 - Brando Badoer - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"580 - 24

4 - Evan Giltaire - ART - 1'57"636 - 27

5 - Enzo Deligny - R-Ace - 1'57"673 - 26

6 - James Wharton - Prema - 1'57"750 - 30

7 - Pedro Clerot - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"841 - 25

8 - Zachary David - R-Ace - 1'57"864 - 27

9 - Rafael Camara - Prema - 1'57"872 - 28

10 - Noah Stromsted - RPM - 1'57"900 - 27

11 - Roman Bilinski - Trident - 1'58"000 - 26

12 - Valerio Rinicella - MP Motorsport - 1'58"023 - 16

13 - Ugo Ugochukwu - Prema - 1'58"037 - 31

14 - Ivan Domingues - Van Amersfoort - 1'58"040 - 27

15 - Alessandro Giusti - ART - 1'58"118 - 24

16 - Matteo De Palo - Sainteloc - 1'58"119 - 25

17 - Bhirombhakdi Nandhavud - KIC - 1'58"156 - 31

18 - Jesse Carrasquedo - G4 Racing - 1'58"240 - 20

19 - Romain Andriolo - G4 Racing - 1'58"345 - 23

20 - Nikhil Bohra - MP Motorsport - 1'58"580 - 15

21 - Nicola Lacorte - Trident - 1'58"610 - 27

22 - Costa Toparis - KIC - 1'58"721 - 30

23 - Enzo Peugeot - Sainteloc - 1'58"812 - 25

24 - Edgar Pierre - RPM - 1'58"892 - 35

25 - Giovanni Maschio - RPM - 1'58"893 - 33

26 - Marta Garcia - Prema - 1'58"903 - 30

27 - Alex Sawer - KIC - 1'59"209 - 30

28 - Yaroslav Veselaho - ART - 1'59"299 - 22

29 - Ruiqi Liu - Trident - 1'59"494 - 29

30 - Kanato Le - G4 Racing - 1'59"802 - 25

31 - Lena Buhler - ART - 1'59"919 - 26

32 - Isaac Barashi - MP Motorsport - 2'00"074 - 35

 

Day 2, Session 1

 

1 - Tuukka Taponen - R-Ace - 1'56"669 - 12 

2 - Brando Badoer - Van Amersfoort - 1'56"810 - 24

3 - Zachary David - R-Ace - 1'57"049 - 13

4 - Rafael Camara - Prema - 1'57"103 - 25

5 - Evan Giltaire - ART - 1'57"132 - 29

6 - Enzo Deligny - R-Ace - 1'57"145 - 12

7 - Theophile Nael - Sainteloc - 1'57"259 - 22

8 - James Wharton - Prema - 1'57"271 - 28

9 - Alessandro Giusti - ART - 1'57"365 - 29

10 - Ugo Ugochukwu - Prema - 1'57"416 - 22

11 - Noah Stromsted - RPM - 1'57"480 - 33

12 - Valerio Rinicella - MP Motorsport - 1'57"573 - 15

13 - Costa Toparis - KIC - 1'57"613 - 30

14 - Pedro Clerot - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"692 - 28

15 - Jesse Carrasquedo - G4 Racing - 1'57"817 - 28

16 - Kanato Le - G4 Racing - 1'57"859 - 19

17 - Ivan Domingues - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"861 - 14

18 - Nikhil Bohra - MP Motorsport - 1'57"940 - 14

19 - Matteo De Palo - Sainteloc - 1'57"944 - 22

20 - Giovanni Maschio - RPM - 1'57"945 - 38

21 - Roman Bilinski - Trident - 1'57"996 - 22

22 - Romain Andriolo - G4 Racing - 1'58"021 - 25

23 - Bhirombhakdi Nandhavud - KIC - 1'58"045 - 15

24 - Nicola Lacorte - Trident - 1'58"100 - 25

25 - Edgar Pierre - RPM - 1'58"235 - 24

26 - Marta Garcia - Prema - 1'58"308 - 25

27 - Ruiqi Liu - Trident - 1'58"355 - 29

28 - Enzo Peugeot - Sainteloc - 1'58"480 - 23

29 - Yaroslav Veselaho - ART - 1'58"516 - 34

30 - Lena Buhler - ART - 1'58"912 - 29

31 - Isaac Barashi - MP Motorsport - 1'59"143 - 35

32 - Alex Sawer - KIC - no time

 

Day 2, Session 2

 

1 - Kanato Le - G4 Racing - 1'57"658 . 26 

2 - Theophile Nael - Sainteloc - 1'57"727 - 25

3 - Brando Badoer - Van Amersfoort - 1'57"852 - 26

4 - James Wharton - Prema - 1'58"036 - 17

5 - Evan Giltaire - ART - 1'58"047 - 24

6 - Valerio Rinicella - MP Motorsport - 1'58"086 - 16

7 - Ugo Ugochukwu - Prema - 1'58"098 - 17

8 - Matteo De Palo - Sainteloc - 1'58"189 - 25

9 - Enzo Deligny - R-Ace - 1'58"293 - 25

10 - Noah Stromsted - RPM - 1'58"308 - 18

11 - Tuukka Taponen - R-Ace - 1'58"311 - 25

12 - Rafael Camara - Prema - 1'58"373 - 17

13 - Zachary David - R-Ace - 1'58"419 - 25

14 - Pedro Clerot - Van Amersfoort - 1'58"420 - 27

15 - Roman Bilinski - Trident - 1'58"464 - 24

16 - Ivan Domingues - Van Amersfoort - 1'58"552 - 27

17 - Alessandro Giusti - ART - 1'58"589 - 24

18 - Nicola Lacorte - Trident - 1'58"725 - 23

19 - Nikhil Bohra - MP Motorsport - 1'58"729 - 16

20 - Jesse Carrasquedo - G4 Racing - 1'58"755 - 14

21 - Marta Garcia - Prema - 1'59"054 - 1'59"054 - 17

22 - Enzo Peugeot - Sainteloc - 1'59"212 - 25

23 - Romain Andriolo - G4 Racing - 1'59"222 - 16

24 - Lena Buhler - ART - 1'59"230 - 18

25 - Edgar Pierre - RPM - 1'59"355 - 25

26 - Bhirombhakhdi Nandhavud - KIC - 1'59"509 - 26

27 - Costa Toparis - KIC - 1'59"574 - 11

28 - Ruiqi Liu - Trident - 1'59"715 - 27

29 - Yaroslav Veselaho - ART - 1'59"835 - 17

30 - Giovanni Maschio - RPM - 1'59"866 - 21

31 - Isaac Barashi - MP Motorsport - no time

32 - Alex Sawer - KIC - no time