Photo: Paul Hurley / IndyCar

HMD Motorsports has announced that reigning Euroformula champion Tymek Kucharczyk will relate his career to join its Indy Nxt line-up this season.

The 19-year-old Pole has four years of single-seater experience at lower levels, starting off in Spanish Formula 4 where he won once en route to third in the 2022 standings.

He spent the next two years in GB3, coming third as a sophomore with four race victories, then in 2025 won six times en route to the Euroformula title and in his first weekend racing Formula 3 cars finished 13th in the Macau Grand Prix.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join HMD Motorsports,” said Kucharczyk. “Making the move to the American racing scene feels like the right next step, and the test I did with the team was really positive. I feel confident in what we can achieve together.

“Thank you to my main sponsor, Mubi.pl, and my supporting partners, Orlen Motorsport Academy and Iteo, as well as to HMD for their trust and support. I am committed to giving everything I have this year.”

He is the team’s third confirmed signing for the 2026 campaign, following fellow rookie Jack Beeton and Enzo Fittipaldi. HMD has one other yet to be announced driver.

“Tymek has shown tremendous potential throughout his career,” said the team’s president Mike Maurini.

“We are excited to help guide his development in the United States and see what we can accomplish together. The 2026 season will undoubtedly feature a strong line-up throughout the series, and we believe Tymek will be a valuable addition to it as he fights for race wins, podium results, rookie of the year honours and, ultimately, the Indy Nxt championship.”

The post HMD Motorsports signs Tymek Kucharczyk for Indy Nxt appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

BVM Racing’s Tymek Kucharczyk became Euroformula champion with a race to spare in a slipstreaming classic at Monza.

His title rival Yevan David started on reversed-grid pole, alongside Alessandro Famularo who was slow off the line. That put Ed Pearson into second, but he retired after moving across on Fernando Barrichello and breaking the latter’s front wing.

Famularo tried recovering ground by charging into turn one, except he cut the corner entirely and spun across turn two’s entry as he rejoined. That forced off Kucharczyk, who returned to track as leader while Michael Shin, Barrichello (who needed to pit) and Luca Viisoreanu all cut the chicane.

David reclaimed the lead, with Kucharczyk, Diego de la Torre, Everett Stack, Shin, Jose Garfias and Enzo Yeh completing a seven-car train behind him as lap two began. There were yellow flags from turns one to three due to Pearson’s stopped car.

Shin passed Stack into the final corner, and tried the same on de la Torre on lap three but Stack overtook both on the outside.

Kucharczyk took the lead from David starting lap five, and Shin cleared de la Torre too before the yellow flags. Garfias was then applying pressure, and got past de la Torre on the inside of Parabolica.

David lost second to Stack into turn one on lap six, and de la Torre cut turn two to reclaim fifth so hand to return the position. Stack cut the della Roggia chicane after getting alongside Kucharczyk, and the pack closed up again.

Kucharczyk locked up to fend off Stack into turn one a lap later, then Stack got around the outside of him into della Roggia but Kucharczyk got the better exit and squeezed back past into Lesmo 1.

Shin went around David’s outside at Lesmo 2, then on lap eight went to the inside of Stack through Curva Grande and Kucharczyk through Parabolica to become leader. De la Torre went off at Lesmo 2 and lost out to Yeh, and Garfias ended the lap passing David for fourth.

This time Kucharczyk’s turn one lock-up allowed Stack to go around his outside at turn two, and his attempt to reclaim second into della Roggia sent Stack off but did count as a pass. David tried overtaking around the outside into Ascari, but it allowed Yeh to clear he and Garfias for fourth.

Garfias got back past at turn one on lap 10, and Kucharczyk and Stack went either side of leader Shin as lap 11 began. Positions were held, until Stack took second through Parabolica.

They went three-wide again starting lap 12, with Kucharczyk on the outside grass but snatching the lead into turn one.

Garfias used the inside through Curva Grande to demote Stack to fourth, and at the della Roggia chicane Shin went off David went around Yeh’s outside for fifth. He gained another spot as Stack found the gravel at Ascari.

The top three now had a gap, and Garfias looked to Shin’s outside into della Roggia on lap 13. Kucharczyk braked early, Shin moved across, and Garfias was squeezed onto the grass then over the back of Shin’s car.

Garfias parked up after Lesmo 1, Shin pitted, and Kucharczyk now led comfortably over David and Stack. Until the last lap.

David slipstreamed past on the pit straight, then Kucharczyk dived down the inside into turn one to get back ahead. The outside of Curva Grande became the inside of della Roggia for David, and he led again.

He weaved down the back straight, and Kucharczyk carried more speed into Parabolica on the outside to lead. But David exited ahead, and Stack made it three-wide approaching the finish. Kucharczyk won by 0.001 seconds, clinching the title.

Race results (16 laps)

The post Kucharczyk clinches Euroformula title in Monza slipstreaming classic appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

The full entry list for the 2025 Macau Grand Prix has been published, with 27 drivers lining up to win the second edition of the FIA Formula Regional World Cup.

Two-time grand prix winner Charles Leong is returning with Prema, last year’s winning team team R-ace GP is returning with three FRegional frontrunners, while Pinnacle Motorsport, Sainteloc Racing and TOM’S are all entering two cars each.

The other five teams — ART Grand Prix, Evans GP, PHM Racing, Trident and Van Amersfoort Racing — are all fielding three-car line-ups.

ART GP will run its FRegional European Championship line-up of Evan Giltaire, Taito Kato and Kanato Le, who sit sixth, ninth and 14th in the standings there with one round to go. Giltaire and Le drove for the team in Macau last year, with both retiring.

Evans GP will field Hiyu Yamakoshi, 16th in FRegional Middle East at the start of this year and currently eighth in FREC, alongside teenaged brothers Charlie and Oscar Wurz.

Charlie, the older of the two, has spent three years in single-seaters’ third tier and took two FIA Formula 3 Championship podiums this season. He entered Macau in 2023, and retired.

Oscar, the 2024 Formula 4 Central European Zone champion, was 14th in Eurocup-3’s winter series at the start of 2025 and is currently 18th in the main championship. He will miss the season finale since both it and the Macau GP take place on November 14-16.

PHM Racing has signed Euroformula title contender Jose Garfias, Eurocup-3 champion and Eurocup-3 winter series runner-up Mattia Colnaghi and FREC part-timer and FRegional Oceania points-scorer Enzo Yeh. Colnaghi was classified 14th in the 2024 Macau GP.

Noah Stromsted and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who both won races en route to sixth and seventh in the FIA F3 Championship this year, will drive for Trident alongside Reza Seeworuthun. He is contending to become GB3 runner-up at Monza this weekend

Completing the grid with VAR are Euroformula points leader Tymek Kucharczyk, FRegional Japanese Championship leader Kiyoshi Umegaki and Newman Chi. He will be the least experienced driver in the grand prix, having spent less than a year in car racing so far.

In that time the 16-year-old from mainland China has come fifth in the United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy and Italian F4, and ninth in F4 Middle East. He has FRegional experience from two FREC outings.

The post Wurz brothers to be team-mates and other F3 stars to race in Macau GP appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

Euroformula had three different winners in round six at the Red Bull Ring.

There were two practice sessions on Friday, and BVM Racing’s Tymek Kucharczyk set the pace by 0.189 seconds over Motopark’s Jose Garfias.

It marked the debuts of Alessandro Famularo (BVM), Formula 4 Central European Zone race-winner Lucas Viisoreanu (Motopark), single-seater rookie Ricardo Baptista and Francisco Soldavini (both Nielsen Racing). Soldavini is a race-winner in the Ultimate Cup Series’ Formula Cup for Formula Regional cars.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning, and it was closely fought with 0.086s covering the top three. Kucharczyk was quickest, claiming pole by just 0.054s over Motopark’s Michael Shin.

Yevan David was third, and Motopark team-mate Diego de la Torre was 0.22s off pole in fourth. A second covered the top eight, with Famularo the second-best non-Motopark driver in seventh.

De la Torre burst into the lead at the start of race one, and at turn three Garfias demoted David to fourth. Shin tried reclaiming the lead at turn four, and got it after the corner as de la Torre went off. He ended up with a 1.1s lead over Garfias, with de la Torre rejoining in third ahead of Kucharczyk, Nielsen’s Ed Pearson and Motopark’s Everett Stack.

Kucharczyk overtook de la Torre on the inside of turn three on lap three, but de la Torre swept back past not long after. David meanwhile continued his descent. The fight for third heated up again on lap 10, with two passes and then an off for Kucharczyk.

But then de la Torre had an off at the end of lap 12 and Kucharczyk was gifted third. He went chasing Garfias, and repeatedly tried overtaking him through the last five laps. Garfias was always better under braking and stayed ahead. Shin meanwhile was 7.5s up the road celebrating victory.

David finished sixth behind Stack, so had reversed-grid pole for race two which he led lights to flag. Kucharczyk jumped to second at the start, but Stack reclaimed the spot on the outside at turn three. Shin overtook Garfias for fourth, then little happened until a backmarker clash triggered a safety car period.

On the lap seven restart David sprinted away, while Shin was on the attack then defence. On lap 11 he gained a place as Kucharczyk tried passing Stack at turns three and five but locked up. Shin went side-by-side with Stack on lap 12, and got him into turn one a lap later.

Stack went off and then came under more pressure from behind. A failed overtake by Kucharczyk at turn five on lap 17 allowed Garfias to get past briefly, and the squablled on the penultimate lap too. They moved ahead of Stack when he got a five-second track limits penalty.

In race three, Stack converted reversed-grid pole into a maiden victory. David got a puncture at the start by sweeping across de la Torre, and Garfias and Shin were second third. Kucharczyk rose to fourth on lap two, and the top four ran as a group.

On lap 11, Garfias took the lead after Stack put a wheel off exiting turn five. Kucharczyk overtook Shin a lap later, and on lap 13 Garfias locked up at turn three and dropped back to second. He had to be defensive thereon, while Stack pulled away.

Garfias succeeded, and Shin was demoted to fifth by a five-second penalty for jumping the start. De la Torre’s track limits penalty dropped him one spot to eighth.

Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Michael Shin Motopark 28m24.868s
2 Jose Garfias Motopark +7.254s
3 Tymek Kucharczyk BVM Racing +7.612s
4 Diego de la Torre Motopark +11.094s
5 Everett Stack Motopark +12.269s
6 Yevan David Motopark +14.143s
7 Ed Pearson Nielsen Racing +14.644s
8 Alessandro Famularo BVM Racing +18.743s
9 Luca Viisoreanu Motopark +28.469s
10 Francisco Soldavini Nielsen Racing +32.088s
Pole: Kucharczyk, 1m23.501s
Fastest lap: Shin, 1m24.484s

Race 2 (20 laps)
1 David 30m21.610s
2 Shin +5.135s
3 Kucharczyk +15.813s
4 Garfias +16.018s
5 de la Torre +17.010s
6 Pearson +18.470s
7 Famularo +18.737s
8 Stack +20.479s
9 Viisoreanu +30.967s
10 Soldavini +40.961s
FL: Shin, 1m24.188s

Race 3 (20 laps)
1 Stack 28m32.101s
2 Garfias +2.184s
3 Kucharczyk +2.773s
4 Pearson +4.702s
5 Shin +8.171s
6 Famularo +11.221s
7 Viisoreanu +21.628s
8 de la Torre +22.272s
9 Soldavini +24.371s
10 Ricardo Baptista Nielsen Racing +51.474s
FL: Kucharczyk, 1m24.789s

Championship standings
1 Kucharczyk 277   2 Shin 267   3 David 246   4 Garfias 241   5 Pearson 173   6 Stack 155   7 Barrichello 149   8 de la Torre 123   9 Shawn Rashid 41   10 Finley Green 31

The post Euroformula has three different winners in trip to Red Bull Ring appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

BVM Racing’s Tymek Kucharczyk moved into the Euroformula points lead with a trio of podiums at Paul Ricard last weekend.

The Pole was quickest in practice, setting a 1m56.047s to lead Motopark’s Yevan David by 0.127 seconds. There then a half-second gap to Everett Stack in third, but just 0.102s split him and sixth place.

Kucharczyk remained on top in qualifying, and posted a 1m54.617s to clinch pole by 0.297s over David. Erstwhile points leader Michael Shin was eighth fastest in practice and ninth in qualifying, 1.32s off pole.

BVM’s new signing Preston Lambert, stepping up from a points-free Eurocup-3 campaign, was sixth and felllow debutant Gino Trappa was an off-the-pace 11th. The Argentinian is a Brazilian Formula 4 race-winner.

David tucked in behind Kucharczyk at the start of race one, then had to get defensive against team-mate Fernando Barrichello until Jose Garfias managed to go around the outside of Barrichello at the Mistral Straight chicane.

Diego de la Torre overtook Lambert for fifth there too, then positions settled down until Nielsen Racing’s Ed Pearson crashed into Shin going through Signes on lap three and the safety car appeared. Racing resumed on lap six and de la Torre passed Barrichello, while Lambert resisted Stack’s attacks. Kucharczyk charged away to win by 3.4s.

Lambert had reversed-grid pole for race two, and drove superbly to hold the lead until lap 13 of 15 when Barrichello pulled off a brave overtake around the outside of Bendor after Lambert had hit the kerbs at Beausset.

Kucharczyk finished right behind in third, then crashed into Barrichello on the cooldown lap. Shin could not match the top three’s pace in fourth. David and Garfias went side-by-side into the last corner twice early on before colliding, with both failing to score and Kucharczyk taking the championship lead by one point over David.

Lambert had reversed-grid pole again for race three, and Pearson stalled from the front row alongside him. Garfias took the lead on the inside, with Barrichello going around the outside of Lambert at turn two.

They were side-by-side again though at turn four and Barrichello went off, but was able to rejoin in third ahead of David.

Shin got past David later in lap one when his title rival went off, and overtook Barrichello as lap two began.

David braved his way past Barrichello at Beausset, and on lap three team-mates de la Torre and Stack collided. Racing continued, and on lap four Shin took second from Lambert at Beausset.

It all went wrong for David on lap six, as he tried squeezing past Lambert at turn one. There was not enough room for both to make the corner, and Lambert went off and rejoined alongside David. They made contact at the next braking zone and David spun, with both needing to pit.

Shin was next to hit trouble on lap nine, breaking his front wing and flying off. That left Garfias with a big lead over Kucharczyk he managed to the end, and after Shin pitted he finished ninth. Barrichello was a very distant third.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Tymek Kucharczyk BVM Racing 31m01.171s
2 Yevan David Motopark +3.401s
3 Jose Garfias Motopark +7.928s
4 Diego de la Torre Motopark +10.024s
5 Fernando Barrichello Motopark +10.697s
6 Preston Lambert BVM Racing +11.182s
7 Everett Stack Motopark +16.072s
8 Finley Green Nielsen Racing +24.136s
9 Gino Trappa Nielsen Racing +45.665s
10 Paolo Brajnik NV Racing +46.851s
Pole: Kucharczyk, 1m54.617s
Fastest lap: Green, 1m56.109s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Barrichello 29m15.676s
2 Lambert +0.629s
3 Kucharczyk +1.157s
4 Michael Shin Motopark +2.628s
5 Stack +15.342s
6 Ed Pearson Nielsen Racing +19.319s
7 Trappa +26.893s
8 de la Torre +28.451s
9 Green +37.981s
10 Brajnik +49.215s
FL: Kucharczyk, 1m56.033s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Garfias 29m11.366s
2 Kucharczyk +2.179s
3 Barrichello +13.857s
4 Stack +16.396s
5 Trappa +27.057s
6 de la Torre +27.894s
7 Pearson +29.111s
8 Green +30.050s
9 Shin +1m40.895s
10 David +1m44.663s
FL: Kucharczyk, 1m55.965s

Championship standings
1 Kucharczyk 230   2 David 213   3 Shin 212   4 Garfias 193   5 Barrichello 149   6 Pearson 147   7 Stack 146   8 de la Torre 97   9 Shawn Rashid 41   10 Green 31

The post Kucharczyk moves to top of Euroformula points at Paul Ricard appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

BVM Racing’s Tymek Kucharczyk dominated Euroformula’s first race of the weekend at the Hungaroring.

Track action began with pre-event testing on Thursday, and Kucharczyk set a 1m36.204s to lead the way by 0.179 seconds over Nielsen Racing’s Ed Pearson.

Joining BVM’s line-up for his third Euroformula outing at the Hungaroring in four years was local driver and two-time Austrian Formula 3 Cup champion Benjamin Berta.

Kucharczyk was fastest again on Friday morning in free practice one, posting a 1m35.552s to go 0.326s faster than Motopark’s Jose Garfias. Motopark’s Michael Shin improved from seventh to fifth overall by topping FP2 with a 1m36.264s.

Shin was fastest at first in qualifying on Saturday morning, then Kucharczyk and Pearson lowered the pace. Although Shin was then able to move back ahead with successive improvements that brought the pace down to 1m34.39s, Kucharczyk did the same afterwards and clinched pole with a 1m34.138s before improving by a further 0.024s.

His team-mate Yevan David got within 0.079s of his pole time, and Shin found no more pace. He qualified third, 0.047s ahead of Garfias, and team-mate Everett Stack was 0.384s back in fifth.

David was due to start race one from eighth, but gained back a spot on the grid when Shin lined up at the back. Kucharczyk was therefore unchallenged at the start, and romped away to a 12.759s win over Garfias.

David charged up to fourth on lap one, but Stack then went around the outside of him at turn 13 to knock him back down one place.

Shin was also on the rise, clearing Pearson on lap two then diving past David into turn one on lap three. Motopark’s Diego de la Torre was third, but an off allowed Stack to then barge past at turn 12 on lap 13. He was overtaken by Shin at turn two a lap later.

Pearson overtook David on lap 10, and after an off he fell behind team-mate Fernando Barrichello too on the penultimate lap.

The result means David is now only 10 points clear of Shin in the title fight, with Kucharczyk one point further back.

Race results (17 laps)

The post Kucharczyk flies to victory in Euroformula’s Hungaroring opener appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

BVM Racing’s Tymek Kucharczyk won both Euroformula races at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday to reduce Motopark driver Yevan David’s points lead.

The pair started fifth and sixth for the reversed-grid race two, with Motopark’s Michael Shin and Everett Stack occupying the front row. Nielsen Racing’s Ed Pearson and Motopark’s Diego de la Torre were also between the championship’s top two and the front of the field.

Pearson was slow off the line but was still third into La Source. David passed him around the outside exiting the corner, then he cleared Stack down the Kemmel Straight. At Les Combes, Motopark’s Jose Garfias was spun around.

Stack went off at Pouhon on lap two and conceded two places, putting Kucharczyk into fourth. Down the Kemmel Straight on lap three he took third, as David passed Shin for the lead.

On lap six Kucharczyk moved into second, and as the track became moist he was one of several drivers to make major errors. He went off at turn 11 on lap seven, but rejoined, while Stack crashed out there heavily. Stack had passed Pearson a few laps earlier.

The safety car was summoned, and racing resumed on lap 10. Kucharczyk took the lead on the inside at La Source, as Shin locked up heavily and spun David around. They fell to the back, with Shin cradling a damaged car, and Pearson was promoted into second ahead of BVM’s Vladislav Ryabov.

Pearson very briefly had the lead at Les Combes but Kucharczyk had the better drive exiting the corner, and David was a long way back in sixth.

On lap 11 Pearson got the job done, and David rapidly joined the battles behind. He passed Nielsen’s Shawn Rashid before the end of the lap, then watched the top four battle on lap 12.

Kucharczyk reclaimed the lead down the Kemmel Straight and tried to break the tow after, which he succeeded in doing to win. On the final lap David overtook Ryabov at Les Combes, went off and rejoined still ahead.

Motopark’s Fernando Barrichello finished third and started on pole for race three. Kucharczyk tried passing him around the outside at La Source on lap one, but that left the door open for de la Torre to take the lead on the inside.

A four-wide battle ensued down the Kemmel Straight, and de la Torre fell to fourth at Les Combes. Kucharczyk overtook both he and Barrichello for the lead on the outside, and Shin took third on the inside.

There was a 3.25s gap up front by the start of lap two, and de la Torre was fifth behind Garfias. He overtook Shin next, and Barrichello for second at Les Combes.

David cleared Shin at the end of the lap, and Barrichello at Les Combes on lap three. But Kucharczyk now had a 4.1s lead and Garfias had a two-second gap of his own.

Those began to be reduced on lap seven, and David took second into Les Combes on lap nine. In the remaining laps he reduced Kucharczyk ‘s lead from 3.1 to 0.98s, bringing Garfias along in his tow.

Results round-up
Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Tymek Kucharczyk BVM Racing 31m37.031s
2 Ed Pearson Nielsen Racing +0.759s
3 Fernando Barrichello Motopark +1.720s
4 Yevan David Motopark +1.852s
5 Vladislav Ryabov BVM Racing +2.989s
6 Shawn Rashid Nielsen Racing +3.568s
7 Michael Motopark +2m32.343s
8 Jose Garfias Motopark +3 laps
Ret Everett Stack Motopark
Ret Finley Green Nielsen Racing
Fastest lap: Kucharczyk, 2m10.387s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Kucharczyk 28m20.585s
2 David +0.981s
3 Garfias +1.617s
4 Shin +6.790s
5 Barrichello +10.112s
6 Diego de la Torre Motopark +10.801s
7 Stack +19.228s
8 Ryabov +19.745s
9 Rashid +20.957s
10 Pearson +21.801s
FL: David, 2m09.684s

Championship standings
1 David 122   2 Kucharczyk 102   3 Shin 81   4 Pearson 74   5 Barrichello 51   6 Garfias 47   7 de la Torre 39   8 Stack 36   9 Ryabov 27   10 Rashid 18

The post BVM Racing’s Kucharczyk gets a Sunday double at Spa in Euroformula appeared first on Formula Scout.

50. Abbi Pulling

New entry • Never off the podium while dominating second F1 Academy season

Photo: F1 Academy

Photo: F1 Academy

Alpine junior Pulling finally made good on her potential  as she destroyed the field in the second season of F1 Academy.

The pressure was on Pulling after a winless 2023 and she had no answer to debutant Doriane Pin’s pace in the opening round in Jeddah, where pre-season testing had also taken place. But she was gifted a maiden win in race two when Pin was penalised for remaining at racing speeds after the finish, which seemed to give Pulling a huge confidence boost that she rode for the rest of the year.

From then onwards she seemed almost unbeatable in her Rodin Motorsport-run car, claiming 10 out of what would be 13 pole positions over the remainder of the season and converting eight of those into wins. She finished all 14 races on the podium – 13 of them in the top two – and even when a strange rescheduling quirk temporarily uncrowned her as champion, she responded perfectly to put it beyond doubt once more.

F1 Academy exists under a brighter media spotlight than any other Formula 4 series but Pulling never looked to be fazed as she closed the season out.

She also returned to British F4 this year with Rodin for rounds that didn’t clash with her main programme. Results there were more modest, but she took a reversed-grid win at Brands Hatch and second to the dominant Deagen Fairclough in the opening race at Thruxton. Next year she’ll hope to impress in a British-based series once more with a deserved step up to GB3.

49. Ugo Ugochukwu

Down 19 • Macau GP win salvaged arduous FRegional campaign

Photo: FIA

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

Tall, quiet, rapid, and caught smiling after he won junior single-seaters’ most prestigious race: the Macau Grand Prix.

McLaren junior Ugochukwu primarily drove for Prema this year, but his best performances came with other, less dominant teams.

In Formula Regional Middle East, driving a Mumbai Falcons-branded entry, Ugochukwu embarked on his first campaign above F4 (having cameoed in Formula 3 in 2023) and his tally of three podiums and seventh in the standings was not too bad given he went points-free in the first two races and if the season was one race longer he could’ve jumped his team-mates in the standings.

But when Prema headed to Europe, sophomore star Rafael Camara and fellow rookie James Wharton had a clear advantage over Ugochukwu for most of the season. Team principal Rene Rosin conceded that the American’s difficulties were not all of his making: issues with two engines led to a disqualification at Paul Ricard after the team felt it had no choice but to introduce a third powerplant, and he was only able to salvage his campaign by winning from pole in the final round at Monza.

A third of the way into the season he was 16th in the standings while Camara topped the table, and 40% of Ugochukwu’s total points tally came at Monza.

He had already proven race-winning capabilities at the FRegional level earlier in the year though, contesting three GB3 rounds with Rodin and claiming three podiums. He retired while fighting for third in his final race at Spa-Francorchamps, and prior to that his average finishing position had been 3.7.

For the FRegional World Cup-awarding Macau GP in November he joined R-ace GP, and he took pole, won the qualification race then after some restart antics led lights-to-flag in the main race around the trickiest of circuits. He keeps faith with Prema though for his step up to FIA F3 for 2025.

48. Tymek Kucharczyk

New entry • GB3 title contender amid funding uncertainty

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Kucharczyk had shown flashes of great speed when he arrived in GB3 with Douglas Motorsport in 2023 without achieving the results to show for it. Securing a seat with Hitech GP for 2024 would allow him to put that right.

Indeed, he led what would be a three-way title fight in the early part of the season, setting the qualifying pace at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps and coming away with three poles and three wins from the two consecutive race weekends. He had the pace at the Hungaroring too, but an exclusion for a technical infringement and a further non-score cost him the points lead.

He bounced back strongly at another continental venue, Zandvoort, with his fourth win allowing him to reclaim the advantage. By now, however, he had been forced to tape over the logos of main backer Orlen on his racesuit as the Polish oil giant cut back its motorsport sponsorships. His win in the Dutch dunes would prove to be his last and his form wasn’t quite the same over the three British rounds that ended the season, as he slipped to third in the points.

While John Bennett, who beat Kucharczyk to second in the standings, makes the leap to Formula 2, Kucharczyk’s future remains uncertain but he would surely deserve to join champion Louis Sharp in stepping up to FIA F3.

47. Taito Kato

New entry • Honda-backed rookie triumphed in tight French F4 fight 

Photo: KSP

Photo: KSP

Kato emulated Ayumu Iwasa by arriving in French F4 with Honda backing and claiming the championship at the first attempt. But while Iwasa had already celebrated his 19th birthday by the time his COVID-delayed 2020 season had concluded, Kato was still only 16 when he clinched his title.

Just as Iwasa had taken on and defeated a second-year French F4 racer in Isack Hadjar, Kato faced more experienced competition in Belgian series sophomore Yani Stevenheydens, who seemed to have the edge on outright speed with eight pole positions across the year to Kato’s four. French rookie Jules Caranta made it a three-way battle, racing to four ‘feature race’ victories despite no poles, and doing enough to land Red Bull junior status.

All three had four wins to their name going into the final round but it was Kato that would claim a crucial fifth in controversial fashion, with a pass on Stevenheydens that was initially penalised post-race for taking place off track but successfully appealed. Once the pair clashed again in race three and Stevenheydens was penalised, Kato wound up as champion.

Having Honda legend Takuma Sato in his corner was invaluable for Kato, but to find success so soon in Europe demonstrates his potential, which he will continue to develop in a French environment by joining ART Grand Prix in FRegional.

46. Jack Beeton

New entry • Second-best to supreme Slater in Italian F4

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

He may have been on the podium in close to half of the races in Italian F4 this year (10 out of 21), but that didn’t make him a regular victory contender due to the domination of Prema’s Freddie Slater.

Taking that sample of races, Beeton was on average (at the end of green-flag running in those races due to some ending behind the safety car) only 1.4 seconds off the lead so when he and US Racing were competitive he wasn’t being gapped by the dominant champion.

But Beeton also non-scored in a third of the races, so only just secured second in the standings against two drivers who were not podium contenders at as many circuits as he was.

He was a two-time podium-finisher in F4 United Arab Emirates, albeit with the AGI Sport team he won the 2023 F4 South East Asia title with, but with US Racing he was only able to take one podium in Italian F4’s sister series Euro 4.

In Formula Winter Series, which takes place in Spain, he took home three trophies from his first appearance at Motorland Aragon but was down the order in his second outing at Barcelona as his team was mostly off the pace.

Switching to Prema for the step up to FRegional next year will answer more questions about Beeton’s abilities given he has over 20 podiums but only three wins from 99 races in F4.

45. John Bennett

New entry • GB3 runner-up then shone after shock F2 step

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

2024 provided quite a turnaround in the career of Bennett, with a third year spent in GB3 ultimately yielding second place in the championship and an unexpected step up to F2.

After a promising first season of single-seaters in 2022 with Elite Motorsport was followed by a tough second campaign with Rodin Carlin – falling from eight to 10th in the standings – he joined JHR Developments for 2024 and made an immediate impression. After following the eventual champion Sharp home in the first race of the season at Oulton Park, he pulled off a bold pass around the outside of his rival in the treacherous conditions of race two to score a long-awaited maiden win.

He remained a consistent threat through GB3’s leg of races abroad, scoring another win at Zandvoort and one more next time out at Silverstone meant he closed to within four points of the lead. He wasn’t able to match Sharp’s form through the final two rounds, but did at least take the fight down to the wire.

Bennett’s career – which began with two years in the humble Ginetta GT5 Challenge – also took in series outside of Britain for the first time in 2024. His FRME campaign with Evans GP yielded only one point but did lead to a FREC outing at Zandvoort, where he qualified a strong sixth in his group.

Later came FIA F3 testing with Van Amersfoort Racing, which in turn led to him being called up for two F2 rounds with the team. He remarkably raced to 12th and then eighth in his first two races at Losail, and has secured the seat full-time for 2025.

44. Keanu Al Azhari

New entry • Fought for F4 titles in UAE and Spain

Photo: Spanish F4

Photo: Spanish F4

Category sophomore Al Azhari’s ability to fight for the title in two competitive F4 championships made for a very impressive 2024, albeit being another driver in the shadow of Slater in the UAE and losing out to a rookie in Spanish F4.

His winning form on home soil made it less of a surprise when he was then a podium regular in Europe, and he won seven races in total.

In F4 UAE he utilised the local experience of the Yas Heat Academy team, taking three poles out of four at the team’s home circuit in rounds one and two. Those were converted into two second places then a 10th place and a win in round two, but he took a reversed-grid win thanks to an opening lap charge that weekend too.

At Dubai Autodrome he claimed two podiums, and on the return to Yas Marina Circuit snatched the points lead from Slater, but in the Dubai finale qualified poorly and got a drive-through penalty in race one. Finishing fifth in race two actually grew his lead, but he came out of some scrappy racing in the decider with an eighth place finish and third in the standings.

Next were two FWinter Series outings with MP Motorsport, and in the first he converted a double pole into a win and a second place. An underwhelming Barcelona weekend still lifted him to seventh in the points table.

That was a warm-up for his full Spanish F4 season with MP, in which he was on the podium at every round and only once had a two-race spell of being podium-free. His consistency, with his wins and poles coming at three different tracks, meant once he claimed the points lead in the fifth race of the year he held it for 15 races and only lost it at the penultimate race as Barcelona again proved a weak point despite taking two podiums from the title-deciding weekend.

Al Azhari will pit himself against new rivals in 2025, and on new circuits, by heading to GB3.

43. Syun Koide

New entry • Honda junior sets up Super Formula graduation with Lights success

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Koide is on the cusp of a promotion to Super Formula with B-MAX Racing, the team he won the Super Formula Lights title with.

The third-tier series uses the same car as Euroformula and is an alternative option for drivers who cannot afford to race in FIA F3 but actually operates more like F2 in that it acts as a proving ground for drivers targeting seats at single-seaters’ top level in Japan.

Now 25, Koide started his car racing career later than most who target open-wheel success as he was already in his 20s. But he impressed enough during an incomplete rookie Japanese F4 season to become a Honda junior from 2021 onwards, and he followed up one win in the championship that year with nine and the title in 2022.

Four victories for the one-car Toda Racing outfit in his rookie SF Lights campaign earned him his place at the crack B-MAX outfit for 2024 and he absolutely made the most of it with victories at every round bar one, six poles and a near-repeat of his 2023 efforts at Okayama when he went unbeaten. This time he won twice and took a second place on a wet track in race two.

Rain is a common challenge for drivers on the Japanese racing scene, and Koide proved more than capable of pulling off passes in tricky conditions between safety car interruptions. There was plenty of talent and experience on this year’s grid, and Koide convincingly became champion.

42. Max Garcia

New entry • Winning start to USF2000 season aged 14 set up title success

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Garcia was only 14 when the USF2000 season began in St. Petersburg, but any age concerns were shaken off by two poles that he converted into two wins and the points lead on a circuit he was too young to drive as a rookie in 2023.

In race one he made an error on the rolling start, but after a caution period looked impressive when pressuring drivers and pulled off moves that brought him back to the front of the field. He also lost the lead at the start of race two, but again found a way to reclaim first place.

The points lead remained in Garcia’s hands all the way to the end of the season, but it was more the inconsistency of his rivals rather than his own form that led to him becoming champion by 73 points, the equivalent of two wins and an eighth place.

A win at NOLA Motorsports Park (having now turned 15) was followed by two poles and a podium, and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway he won from sixth on the grid. Seventh place in USF2000’s only oval race followed, then another pole at Road America but no podiums. In the Mid-Ohio triple-header there was a single podium while his rivals picked up the poles and wins, but he was the weekend’s second-highest scorer.

Garcia led a Pabst Racing one-two in qualifying for race one on the streets of Toronto, and was 0.1846 seconds short of doing the double. But after leading the first half of race one he messed up a restart and finished third, with a fourth place following in race two. Again, he was the second-highest scorer though.

In the Portland finale the single-seater sophomore returned to winning ways, starting off with taking pole by just 0.0746s in a dry qualifying session. But a drive-through penalty for corner cutting in a sodden race one meant he had to charge up the field to earn second place. He then had to work hard from fourth on the grid to win race two, a result that sealed the title, and was runner-up in race three.

His scholarship prize for being champion will be spent on a step up to USF Pro 2000 with Pabst.

41. Max Taylor

New entry • USF Juniors champion fought for USF2000 title too

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Velocity Racing Development loyalist Taylor reaped the rewards of contesting three different series this year, just as he did as a car racing rookie in 2023.

Last year he won in USF Juniors, cameoed in United States F4 and had a best finish of sixth from a part-time USF2000 campaign, then for 2024 he did USF2000 and its immediate support series in full with a GB3 outing – also with VRD – on the side.

It actually took a while for Taylor to win in IndyCar’s support series, and swapping between two very similar but slightly different cars between weekends was as difficult as having to do the same thing on the three weekends where he could have a window as short as half an hour between hopping out of one car and being ready to drive the other.

But once it all clicked in USF Juniors, it truly clicked, and when he visited circuits in USF2000 he had already raced on in 2023 that experience in the bank also pushed him into race-winning form.

In the second half of the USF2000 season he won three races, took a second place, a pole position and secured third in the standings, while in the slightly slower USF Juniors machinery he had two victories, three other podiums, three poles and went from being two points behind in the title fight to winning the title.

That earned him a scholarship to spend on USF2000 for 2025, but instead he will move another step up the latter to USF Pro 2000 with VRD.

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2024: 50-41 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Tymek Kucharczyk was quickest in GB3’s two-day pre-event test ahead of the penultimate round of the season at Donington Park.

The Hitech GP driver set his best lap in session four on Friday morning to deny title rival Louis Sharp by 0.112 seconds.

Kucharczyk’s team-mate Gerrard Xie was the driver to beat on Thursday by topping two out of three sessions. Freddie Slater, who is making his GB3 debut with Rodin Motorsport this weekend, set the early session once pace on a drying circuit before team-mate Sharp went 0.2s quicker.

Sharp continued to lower the pace, but he was edged after the chequered flag fell by Xie who posted a 1m23.203s to be quickest by just 0.002s, while Fortec Motorsports’ Colin Queen was only 0.034s further behind in third.

Session two was disrupted by a red flag period due to Rodin’s Arthur Rogeon becoming beached in the gravel. Xie missed out on top spot to Elite Motorsport’s Jarrod Waberski by 0.013s, though his session one time was not beaten.

The Chinese racer led the final session of the day throughout, setting a new best of 1m23.370s which was 0.2s faster than Elite’s McKenzy Cresswell.

Sharp set a new quickest time of 1m23.055s inside the final 10 minutes of Friday’s opening session before Kucharczyk posted two faster laps, his final effort of 1m22.943s good enough to end the session – and the test – at the top.

Despite being unable to beat Kucharczyk’s benchmark, Sharp displaced the Pole from first place in session six with a 1m23.320s. JHR Developments’ John Bennett was behind his two title rivals in third with a new personal best which only put him ninth in the test’s overall classification.

The majority of drivers set their best times in session four, including Arden’s debuting Max Taylor who impressed by being third fastest overall. Hitech’s Will Macintyre was fourth ahead of Velocity Racing Development’s Noah Ping, while day one pacesetter Xie was shuffled back to sixth despite also setting his personal best in session four.

Harry Burgyone Jr led most of GB4’s opening session, a 1m30.243s putting him 0.367s clear of title rival Alisha Palmowski, while Fortec’s points leader Linus Granfors was one place behind Palmowski’s Elite team-mate Finn Harrison in fourth.

Palmowski and KMR Sport duo Lucas Blakeley and Burgyone took it in turns to lower the pace in session two before Palmowski reclaimed top spot with a 1m28.926s with four minutes remaining . Blakeley set a new best of 1m28.844s to finish 0.3s clear of Granfors in session three, and the Scot improved to a 1m28.599s to lead again in Friday’s session four.

Having been second behind Granfors in a slower session five, Blakeley set the best time of the test – a 1m28.547s – in session six to end up 0.24s clear of Granfors. He also improved, and pipped ahead of Palmowski by 0.005s.

Test results

The post Kucharczyk leads GB3’s pre-event Donington test, Blakeley on top in GB4 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Hitech GP’s Tymek Kucharczyk remains optimistic of fighting for the GB3 title despite a collision at Silverstone last month costing him the points lead.

Kucharczyk retired from the opening contest after a collision with Elite Motosport’s McKenzy Cresswell as he tried to make up ground from sixth on the grid, but he bounced back by finishing fifth and third in the other two races.

“I had a really good lap one where I made up two places and I tried to go after it because I knew after lap one, lap two, the racing’s pretty much over, you cannot get close enough to try to overtake because of the [aero] washout,” Kucharzyk told Formula Scout. “I saw the opportunity, I was much quicker down the straight after [Cresswell’s] poor exit out of Becketts. 

“I made a lunge but we touched and made the car spin round and end up in the gravel which is unfortunate. A shame, but it’s good that we bounced back on Sunday and scored some decent points.”

After starting from the front row in each of the previous eight non-reversed-grid contests, the Polish racer had his worst qualifying since the Oulton Park season opener at Silverstone, having also struggled in pre-event testing.

“Qualifying didn’t make it easy,” he said. “The race pace looked really strong, so that’s a positive thing. We were struggling with the car setup for the whole weekend.

“A good start and good first lap is key here but even more important is qualifying. I shouldn’t allow that situation to happen, if we had worked with the car a bit more in testing, if we had understood it a bit quicker.

“No one said you can win all the time, it’s obvious that at some point we wouldn’t be able to perform at the level we would want to. Unfortunately it happened this week, but we fight, we try to find better stuff to work on, and I’m pretty sure the Hitech GP guys are working very hard to make the car even faster.”

Despite slipping to third in the standings, Kucharczyk is only 13 points behind Rodin Motorsport’s championship leader Louis Sharp heading into the final two rounds, where he feels there could be more twists in the title race. 

“We got four victories in four rounds. We had some bad luck in Hungary but we were really good at Spa and really good at Zandvoort. We just have to work out why we put ourselves in this situation [at Silverstone].

“It’s so tight in the championship battle and people have better and worse races. Everything might change in the next few races. I know that I just need to do my job on the track. We focus on the championship, race by race. For the amount of struggles we have had this week, it’s still not a bad place to end up. It’s all to play for.”

The post Kucharczyk: GB3 title is “all to play for” despite Silverstone setback  appeared first on Formula Scout.