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: ACI Sport

Hiyu Yamakoshi will take another step up the single-seater ladder with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2026 when he races in FIA Formula 3 with the team.

It will the 18-year-old Japanese driver’s third year in three different categories with VAR. He came third in Italian Formula 4 with the team in 2024, having scored two race wins, and took another two victories on his way to fourth in Euro 4.

That was his second year racing F4 machinery, having begun 2023 with two rounds in F4 United Arab Emirates for Pinnacle VAR before taking on a full season in French F4 – finishing fifth – and a partial campaign in in Spanish F4 with Tecnicar.

This year he has moved up to the Formula Regional European Championship with VAR. He finished second in race two at Spa-Francorchamps and the second race at Zandvoort as part of a run of nine consecutive points finishes to start the season. He is currently eighth in the championship with two rounds remaining. His year has also included outings in FRegional Middle East with Pinnacle and GB3 with Hillspeed.

“First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone who gave me this opportunity,” Yamakoshi said. “This will be my third year working with VAR which I think is going to be really helpful for my first FIA F3 season. I can’t wait for my F3 tests and I’m already very excited to get my F3 race weekend. See you at our first official test at Jerez.”

Yamakoshi is the second driver that VAR has confirmed for its 2026 F3 line-up, joining Jesse Carrasquedo.

“We’re pleased to continue our journey with Hiyu as he steps up to FIA Formula 3,” said team principal Brad Joyce.

“He’s been great to work with so far, a hard worker with a professional approach, and we’re confident he will adjust well to this next step on the international stage. The upcoming tests will be his first chance to get behind the wheel of the F3 machinery and lay the groundwork for a strong season ahead. We’re looking forward to supporting his development and are confident we can achieve great results together.”

The post Hiyu Yamakoshi to move up to F3 with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2026 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

The Nicolas Todt-led All Road Management firm had announced some changed to the line-up of junior single-seater drivers it supports.

Noel Leon departed its ranks last week after 16 months as a member of its driver stable. In that time the 20-year-old Mexican, who was aleady a champion at the Formula 3 level in Euroformula, has done two FIA F3 Championship campaigns.

With Van Amersfoort Racing he came 10th in the points with four podiums, and took two feature race podiums en route to 17th in the standings this year with Prema. He also came third in the 2024 Macau Grand Prix in a Formula Regional cameo.

At the start of this month, 18-year-old Hiyu Yamakoshi joined All Road for support in his FRegional European Championship programme with VAR. He is currently eighth in the standings with two rounds to go, taking two podiums early in the season but only scoring once in the last seven races.

The Japanese racer is also competing part-time in GB3, where two fourth places are his best results, and came 16th in FRegional Middle East as a part-timer at the start of 2025. Last year he was third in Italian Formula 4 and fourth in the sister E4 championship.

Yesterday another new member arrived, as Kasper Schormans was named as the winner of the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy shootout which All Road organises. Part of the prize is a paid-for 2026 Spanish F4 seat with MP Motorsport.

Dutch driver Schormans, 16, was the oldest of the six finalists who spent a day at Italian driver training firm Formula Medicine’s facilities for “fitness, mental and physical assessments”, then on September 21/22 tested F4 cars at Jerez.

He was Rotax Winter Cup, BNL Series and BNL Kick-Off winner and Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy runner-up on Rotax Junior karts, and has since come fourth in the CIK-FIA European championship and fifth in the WSK Final Cup for KZ2 shifter karts.

The post All Road revises its driver line-up and names its F4 shootout winner appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Red Bull

A number of late entries have resulted in the field for this weekend’s GB3 season-opener at Silverstone growing to 24 cars.

Among those is Enzo Tarnvanichkul, who has been a member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2023. The 16-year-old will contest the four British rounds of the series as well as the Monza season finale in GB3 with Velocity Racing Development. He will get his first taste of the GB3 car at Thursday’s pre-event test.

Tarnvanichkul came 12th in Spanish Formula 4 as a single-seater rookie last year, and took a pair of sixth places during his two-round appearance in Eurocup-3’s 2025 Spanish Winter championship.

“I’m proud to be competing in selected GB3 Championship events this season,” said Tarnvanichkul. “The opportunity to race on some of the most iconic circuits in the UK and Europe will be invaluable in my development as a driver. I’m extremely grateful to VRD Racing for the opportunity and of course to the Red Bull academy for their continued support. I’m fully focused on making the most of this experience and can’t wait to get started on track.”

Hillspeed has expanded to a full three-car line-up for round one after signing both Kanato Le and Hiyu Yamakoshi for partial campaigns alongside Freddie Slater. Both will contest the three non-clashing GB3 rounds this year alongside their full Formula Regional European championship programmes.

Le scored two wins in British Formula 4 in 2023 en route to seventh in the standings. Last year he came 18th in FREC, made a GB3 cameo at Spa-Francorchamps and was a non-finisher in the main race at the Macau Grand Prix. He began 2025 by taking one win and finishing eighth overall in FRegional Middle East.

Yamakoshi was a front-runner in both Italian F4 and Euro-4 last year, winning twice in both and finishing third and fourth in the standings respectively. The 18-year-old took part in the final three FRegional Middle East rounds this year, scoring a best result of fifth.

“I’m very happy to be competing in three events of the GB3 Championship with Hillspeed,” said Yamakoshi. “With very limited practice time I know Silverstone will be a very difficult weekend, but I will try to learn as much as I can from my team-mate Freddie who I competed against for the title in Italian and Euro F4 last year. I will do my best to fight for the lead from the start.”

Fortec Motorsports has expanded its assault to two cars, with Mika Abrahams returning to the team with which he took two poles and came 18th overall in British F4 in 2023. He remained in the series with a switch to Hitech GP last year, taking a maiden victory at Donington Park, but his season only lasted four rounds.

“It feels like coming home,” said Abrahams. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with everyone at Fortec Motorsports once again, and I am looking forward to a successful season ahead.”

The post Red Bull junior Tarnvanichkul among four last-minute entries for GB3 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael was fastest in Formula Regional Middle East practice at Dubai Autodrome, where he had a new team-mate.

The car previously driven by Lorenzo Castillo is being piloted by Jakob Bergmeister this weekend. The 19-year-old German came fourth in Euroformula last year as a part-timer, taking one win.

Evans GP has added a third car for Alex Sawer, the Vietnamese youngster who had a points-free FRegional Europe campaign in 2024 but was seventh in Chinese Formula 4 after winning twice across his two outings, and Pinnacle Motorsport has made two changes.

Replacing Jesse Carrasquedo Jr and Giovanni Maschio at the team are Yuanpu Cui and Hiyu Yamakoshi. Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Cui steps up from F4, where he has won in the British and Chinese championships, while Yamakoshi was third in Italian F4 last season with two victories.

The most high-profile addition to the grid is James Hedley, who has replaced Jaden Pariat at Akcel GP by PHM Racing.

Hedley came fifth in British F4 two seasons in a row, racking up eight wins, then has spent nearly three full seasons in GB3. He came 17th in his rookie campaign, won twice en route to sixth in the 2023 standings then drove for three different teams and dropped to 15th in the points table last year. Between rounds he made cameos in Eurocup-3 and the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Mumbai Falcons’ Freddie Slater was comfortably fastest in the first test session, with a 0.345-second gap to team-mate Rashid Al Dhaheri in second place. Seven drivers got within a second of his 1m54.668s benchmark, and just 0.036s split ART Grand Prix’s points leader Evan Giltaire and Nael in third and fourth.

Laptimes were far slower in session two, and after failing to set a representative laptime earlier in the day a 1m56.342s put R-ace GP’s Ugo Ugochukwu on top of the timesheet. Pinnacle’s Ernesto Rivera was 0.195s slower than him in second, then there was a gap of 0.871s to R-ace’s Enzo Deligny in third.

Cui was the only other driver within a second of Ugochukwu, but the top four did not factor near the top in the test’s overall classification. Ugochukwu jumped up from 27th to 12th, while Rivera and Cui were each demoted a spot to 13th and 14th.

After the top two, the next best driver to improve their pace was Bergmeister. He was a second slower than Ugochukwu in fifth, and climbed one spot in the overall order to 18th.

The half-hour practice session took place in the afternoon, and with a rubbered in track the pace got faster again.

Nael was marginally slower than in testing, but his 1m55.134s lap still was enough to lead the way. Slater was second with a 1m55.327s, and Ugochukwu improved to 1m55.344s in third.

Giltaire was 0.4s off the top in fourth, then next up were Al Dhaheri and Rivera. Cui was the best newcomer in 12th, and Sawer continued his pace struggles from testing as he was nearly seven seconds slower than Nael and became the only driver not to set a sub-two minute lap during the day.

Results round-up
Pre-event testing
1 Freddie Slater Mumbai Falcons 1m54.668s
2 Rashid Al Dhaheri Mumbai Falcons +0.345s
3 Evan Giltaire ART Grand Prix +0.407s
4 Theophile Nael Sainteloc Racing +0.443s
5 Taito Kato ART Grand Prix +0.646s
6 Kanato Le ART Grand Prix +0.669s
7 Enzo Deligny R-ace GP +0.807s
8 Jin Nakamura R-ace GP +0.882s
9 Akshay Bohra R-ace GP +1.286s
10 Brando Badoer PHM Racing +1.324s

Free practice
1 Nael 1m55.134s
2 Slater +0.193s
3 Ugo Ugochukwu R-ace GP +0.210s
4 Giltaire +0.402s
5 Al Dhaheri +0.536s
6 Ernesto Rivera Pinnacle Motorsport +0.581s
7 Kato +0.608s
8 Nakamura +0.711s
9 Deligny +0.808s
10 Le +0.867s

The post Nael tops FRegional Middle East practice as Hedley joins field at Dubai appeared first on Formula Scout.

40. Evan Giltaire

Down 14 • Was a winner early in first full FREC campaign 

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

After looking promising in a couple of outings at the end of 2023, Giltaire stayed with ART Grand Prix for a full rookie campaign in Formula Regional Europe. The reigning French F4 champion looked like a potential title challenger as he calmly took his maiden win on the opening weekend at Hockenheim. However, thereafter his season lost rhythm as he struggled to get on top of tyre degradation, while team-mate Alessandro Giusti gained the upper hand as the team recovered from a dismal 2023 season.

After that initial high, Giltaire could only manage one more podium, in the first race at the Red Bull Ring.

He acknowledged that his inability to nail routinely a top five slot in split qualifying hampered his chances of progress in races. Overall, an average position of 6.7 in qualifying in his group meant he was only the season’s 13th fastest qualifier, leaving him stuck in the pack and exposed to the risk of midfield contact accordingly.

He did take second place in the rookie standings behind Noah Stromsted but will be looking to challenge for the main title in his sophomore year in 2025.

Giltaire had looked well-placed for a strong finish on his Macau debut, but starting the feature race from ninth he was a victim of team-mate James Wharton’s crash at Lisboa putting an end to his race.

39. Noel Leon

Up 11 • Progressed to score podiums in F3 and Macau

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

After dominating a weak Euroformula field in 2023, Leon’s first season in FIA Formula 3 was characterised by continued progress.

The in-season testing at Barcelona marked a turning point after a slow start for the Mexican and his Van Amersfoort Racing team. At Imola, he achieved his first podium in a chaotic conclusion to the sprint race, where he lost the lead on the last lap to cross the line in second place, then stood on the top step after a penalty for Oliver Goethe, only to then be penalised himself for a restart infraction and demoted to third.

After that Leon became a regular points scorer while his team-mates struggled. He became a frontrunner in the final rounds of the season, snatching three more podiums – including second in the Hungaroring feature race – to allow him to squeeze into the top 10 in the final standings.

He went on to finish on the podium at the Macau Grand Prix in a one-off return to FRegional machinery, and joins Prema for his second season in F3 in 2025.

38. Hiyu Yamakoshi

New entry • Took the fight to Slater after Italian F4 switch

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

Yamakoshi was a revelation as he moved across to the Italian F4 championship with Van Amersfoort Racing, after combining the French and Spanish championships in 2023. The Japanese driver endeared himself to his team with his willingness to listen and learn, his conduct off-track and his speed on-track.

In a season where the rest of the filed was left somewhat in Freddie Slater’s shadow, Yamakoshi was the Englishman’s main challenger in the opening rounds. When he took three poles at Imola, he seemed to have rattled Slater slightly for the first and only time in the year. His two wins in Emilia-Romagna were fully deserved, while he was his own harshest critic for the mistake which cost him a hat-trick.

He took three more podiums at Vallelunga but lost direction mid-season before bouncing back in Barcelona, although a disastrous weekend at Monza cost him second in the final standings.

He did take two more victories in the Euro 4 series but lacked the consistency to challenge for overall honours, with Monza again proving his downfall.

Self-effacing, approachable and modest, if he can add a bit more aggression to his racing, Yamakoshi could shine in FRegional next year as he steps up with VAR.

37. Christian Ho

Up 4 • Singaporean was standout star of Eurocup-3

Photo: Eurocup-3

Photo: Eurocup-3

Ho looks like the next big talent from southeast Asia, and like many drivers with sighs set on Formula 1 he relocated to Europe for his karting career.

As a single-seater rookie in 2022 he was fairly anonymous, but since teaming up with Campos Racing last year he has become a rapid driver capable of winning streaks and title attacks. Spanish F4 was the first place he showed it, keeping the title fight going to the final round and winning the last four races, and in 2024 he stepped up to the FRegional-based Eurocup-3 and came two points short of being champion.

Failing to meet the chequered flag in the first two races meant he already had a 30-point margin to close, and while he took pole for the next race a slow start and a penalty meant he finished fourth and the gap to the top grew.

Ho’s response was two wins and two poles at Algarve, although retiring his car from second place in race three meant he was still 13 points behind in the title race, then a win and a second place from his double pole at Paul Ricard earned him the points lead.

The perfect weekend for main rival Javier Sagrera at Zandvoort while he only picked up one podium meant Ho trailed by 23 points ahead of the Spanish leg of the season, where his team was likely to have the advantage over the MP Motorsport outfit from the Netherlands than ran Sagrera.

A 10-second penalty for Ho denied him a double podium at Motorland Aragon and grew Sagrera’s advantage, and at Jerez only two points were snipped off as Ho claimed a lights-to-flag race one win and was fifth in race two after a prolonged battle with a team-mate that Ho couldn’t win due to their similar pace.

Ho finished second in race one of the Barcelona finale then comfortably took pole for the title decider. That was converted into a fifth win with ease, but the presence of guest drivers meant Sagrera earned two more points than usual in fifth and therefore pipped Ho to the crown – although that remains under appeal.

The 18-year-old Singaporean has not yet announced his 2025 plans, but there’s scant places left on the FIA F3 grid so there’s a risk that the off-season rather than results could slow his career momentum.

36. Sami Meguetounif

New entry • Fast but inconsistent rookie won two F3 feature races

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Meguetounif was immediately up to speed upon his FIA F3 debut, fighting for the podium in the season opener at Bahrain as he made the most of Trident’s highly competitive package.

A costly mistake in qualifying impacted his results in the second round of the championship at Melbourne, but he bounced back at Imola with a superb race management to win the feature race.

However, the Frenchman was not always able to accompany his speed with consistency, and only scored five points in the next five rounds.

He was aware he just needed to put it together, and so he did in the last two rounds to be fifth in the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps and then comfortably win the final race of the year at Monza, which he executed perfectly as he left the title contenders to squabble behind him.

Meguetounif did what his title-winning team-mate Leonardo Fornaroli could not by winning a race – twice – but never otherwise finished on the podium and therefore only scored just over half as many points and finished eighth in the standings. Rather than stay to put that right in 2025, another step up to Formula 2 beckons.

35. Tim Tramnitz

Down 6 • Red Bull junior was strongest in F3 sprints

Photo: Red Bull

Photo: Red Bull

Tramnitz quickly emerged as the leading driver of MP Motorsport’s all-rookie line-up in FIA F3.

The experience gathered during pre-season testing allowed him to finish fifth and third in the opening round of the season at Bahrain. The expectations were high after that, but the MP car was not always able to fight at the front.

Still, the Red Bull junior continued to make the podium in reversed-grid sprint races, twice finishing in second place at Imola and Monaco while the season was still in its early stages.

Results were hard to come by in the middle of the year but the German continued to progress as the season went on and kept maximising the opportunities he had. He capped off the season by scoring points in the last four races, and finally stood on the top step in the sprint race at Monza.

Ninth in the final standings, he scored more points than anybody – and 64% of his own total – in sprint races, so will be trying to lead MP forward into the top half of the top 12 in qualifying to score bigger in 2025.

34. Callum Voisin

New entry • Drove Rodin to the top step in F3

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Without a doubt, Voisin was one of the standout drivers of the second half of the 2024 FIA F3 season.

The Rodin Motorsport package lacked competitiveness and his lack of experience in the series didn’t help either, which led to him going points-free for the first six rounds.

However, the Silverstone round was an important turnaround. Helped by the mixed weather conditions and his and his British-based team’s local knowledge, Voisin extracted the maximum from the car and showcased his talent by qualifying ninth and finishing the sprint race in fourth place, before charging to first in a highly strategic feature race only to then be classified third because of a penalty.

The points streak continued at the Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps, where he starred again claiming pole position and then winning the feature race in slippery conditions.

33. Ollie Bearman

Down 27 • Managed three more F2 wins amid F1 call-ups and Prema struggles

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Bearman’s 2024 season was far off the expectations for a sophomore of his pedigree. Prema’s struggled with the set-up of the new F2 car was evident in its all-star line-up’s lack of results, with the car proving difficult to handle especially in the race.

However, Ferrari junior Bearman still put it on pole in Jeddah – a remarkable turnaround from Bahrain one week earlier – before he had to withdraw to make his surprise F1 debut.

More F1 commitments and the unpredictability of his car impacted the Briton’s performances from thereon. Qualifying became a struggle, and it was difficult to reach the front starting from the back. Nevertheless, Bearman still delivered when he found himself in a position to do so, winning the sprint races at Spielberg, Monza and Lusail.

The highlight of his season though was the Monaco feature race, where he charged from 12th place on the grid to fourth at the chequered flag, including a blistering opening lap, strong race pace and a brilliant move on his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

32. Nikita Johnson

Up 16 • Teen won frequently in Indy Pro 2000 and twice in GB3

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Velocity Racing Development’s protege is still only 16, but has already proven himself on three rungs of the Road to Indy and now on the British racing scene too.

After taking two wins and two other podiums from five races in 2023, Johnson raced in the third-tier USF Pro 2000 full-time this year and won eight races but lost the title due to non-finishes and a disqualification. He not only won three more races than the champion, but became only the fourth driver in the last 27 years to surpass seven victories in a season.

Johnson was victorious in four of the first six races this season. That run was ended when he was disqualified from victory in race two on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course due to having a modified component on his car, and he not just lost the 30 points for winning but was also docked a further 30 points as a penalty.

His lead went from 55 to 15 points, but then he finished second from pole in race three and his closest title rival ran out of budget and dropped off the grid. The following race however also contributed to Johnson losing the title, as the Freedom 90 awarded additional points due to running on an oval. Johnson crashed out halfway through and had a penalty, and now he had just a one-point lead over Lochie Hughes.

A perfect weekend at the Road America triple-header put Hughes ahead, and Johnson rebounded by going unbeaten at Mid-Ohio but that was a two-race weekend so a big points gap still existed.

Then came Toronto. Johnson ploughed into the back of another car one corner into race one, then his attempt to pressure Hughes for the lead in race two turned into a spin and a race-ending crash. Now he was third in the points, and another unbeaten weekend in the Portland finale only moved him back up one spot.

VRD isn’t active in Indy Nxt, the next rung of the Road to Indy, so the team prepared Johnson for 2025 by also having him race in GB3 this year. He joined the grid after turning 16 and won twice en route to 11th in the standings. For 2025 he will stay there but join Hitech GP.

31. Noah Stromsted

New entry • Summary

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Against a dominant Prema and drivers with more FRegional experience, Stromsted probably did the maximum he could this year by coming sixth in FREC.

He was over 50 points shy of fifth place, but was classified as top rookie and in addition to four second places (one of which came from a pole position claimed in heavy rain at the Red Bull Ring), he had three other top-five finishes and three fastest laps.

Wet-weather form propelled him to strong results at multiple circuits, but Stromsted admitted to Formula Scout there was a pace struggle in the dry during the season’s first half. The building of experience helped him following that, and 62% of his points came after season’s halfway point.

Stromsted also scored 99.1% of Race Performance Motorsport’s points, individually matching the team’s combined podium tally from the previous two seasons and single-handedly earning it sixth place in the teams’ standings for 2024. Had he been with a more established outfit, there’s no doubt Stromsted’s struggles would have either been resolved quicker, been less costly in terms of points, or both.

There were also cameos in FRegional Middle East and FIA F3 either side of turning 17, and Stromsted will step up to the latter full-time for his fifth year of single-seater racing.

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2024: 40-31 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: ACI Sport

Hiyu Yamakoshi will continue with Van Amersfoort Racing as he steps up to the Formula Regional European Championship next year.

The 18-year-old started his car racing career with the team last year by doing Formula 4 United Arab Emirates rounds for Pinnacle VAR. He scored twice, and came 22nd in the standings.

Yamakoshi then did dual campaigns in the centrally-run French F4 championship and in Spanish F4 with Tecnicar Motorsport. Five podiums in the former put him fifth in the standings, and he was 14th in the latter after missing two rounds.

For 2024 the Japanese racer made an F4 UAE cameo with Pinnacle Motorsport, running its cars independently of VAR, before reuniting with the Dutch outfit for full attacks on Euro 4 and Italian F4 as well as a cameo in Spain with the VAR-supported Monlau Motorsport outfit.

Two victories and two other podiums earned Yamakoshi fourth place in the standings of the three-round Euro 4 series, while in Italian F4 he won twice in round two of the season and five further podiums left him third in the points table. For a long time it looked like he was going to be championship runner-up, but VAR lacked the pace of rivals Prema and US Racing.

“I’m really looking forward to racing with VAR again in FREC,” said Yamakoshi. “We had a very successful 2024 together in F4 with a lot of wins and podiums, so I’m hoping to continue this is 2025 with the team and aiming to fight for the championship together!”

VAR’s CEO Rob Niessink added: “We’re delighted to welcome Hiyu to our FREC line-up for 2025. His growth since joining VAR has been impressive, demonstrating qualities we value – focus, resilience, and a true commitment to improvement. We believe Hiyu is ready to embrace the challenges of FREC, and we’re excited to support him in this next phase of his journey.”

The post Hiyu Yamakoshi continues with VAR as he moves up to FREC appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: ACI Sport

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi totally dominated the second Euro 4 race at Mugello, finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of Freddie Slater.

Starting second on the grid, Yamakoshi took the lead from Akshay Bohra around the outside of the first corner.

He was followed through by Slater, who had started fourth. But, in spite of Slater’s frequently crushing form in Italian Formula 4 so far this year, Yamakoshi could quickly build a gap of almost four seconds in just three laps, and continued to pull away.

In the closing stages, Slater had to deal with pressure from Jack Beeton (US Racing) and Gustav Jonsson (VAR) who started fifth and seventh. Jonsson passed Beeton for third around the outside of turn 1 with five minutes to go which gave Slater the breathing space he needed.

Rashid Al Dhaheri ran third early on but fell back to 10th, together with Prema team-mate Kean Nakamura-Berta who started sixth and finished 11th. Bohra meanwhile ended up eighth.

Gianmarco Pradel came from 13th to finish fifth ahead of US team-mate Maxim Rehm, with Tomass Stolcermanis seventh for Prema.

Race results (18 laps)

The post Yamakoshi dominates second Euro 4 race at Mugello appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Van Amersfoort Racing

Italian Formula 4 title outsider Hiyu Yamakoshi will return to Spanish F4 for this weekend’s round at Motorland Aragon.

The 17-year-old Japanese racer competed in multiple F4 championships last year as a single-seater rookie, coming fifth in French F4 with five podiums, 14th in an in incomplete Spanish F4 campaign with Tecnicar Motorsport and 22nd in F4 United Arab Emirates after only contesting two rounds with Pinnacle VAR.

He stuck with that combination for 2024, making an F4 UAE cameo with Pinnacle Motorsport in February then joining Van Amersfoort Racing in Italian F4.

Despite taking two wins, three other podiums and three poles from the first five rounds and occupying second place in the standings, he is 86 points off the championship lead in Italian F4 and unlikely to challenge for the title due to the domination of Prema’s Freddie Slater.

He will make his Spanish F4 return with the VAR-supported Monlau Motorsport, which is adding a fourth car to its line-up, and compete as a wildcard entrant.

Yamakoshi’s Italian F4 rival Reno Francot will also be joining the grid at Aragon, along with single-seater debutant Rafael Teran, with the Global Racing Service team.

Francot was the F4 Central European Zone runner-up with Jenzer Motorsport in 2023, and made a Spanish F4 cameo with MP Motorsport. The 16-year-old Dutchman began this year by joinging GRS for a Formula Winter Series outing, then returned to Jenzer for Italian F4 where he is currently 13th in the standings with a best finish of fourth.

Teran comes from Colombia and during his karting career races in Europe as well as North and South America.

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Photo: Fotospeedy

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi set the fastest lap across Italian Formula 4’s two practice sessions at Paul Ricard.

Yamakoshi set the quickest two laps in the morning session, his best time putting him 0.119 seconds ahead of US Racing’s Jack Beeton, while Prema’s Freddie Slater headed the slower afternoon session, with a time 0.145s down on Yamakoshi’s benchmark.

Beeton’s team-mates Akshay Bohra and Kabir Anurag had topped the times early on in FP1 before Beeton moved to the front with the first sub-2m06s lap with just under 30 minutes remaining.

Yamakoshi then went top, but Beeton immediately reclaimed the position. However, the Japanese driver continued to improve, moving back ahead as everybody pitted then improving further on his 11th and 12th laps.

Slater rose to third on his final flying lap, demoting Bohra to fourth at the flag, with VAR’s Gustav Jonsson taking fifth, having run as high as third during the session.

Yamakoshi was again to the fore in FP2, setting a 2m06.709s to head Slater by just 0.014s as the field headed to the pits with 15 minutes remaining.

Once back on track, Bohra and Gianmarco Pradel took turns at the front, before the Prema trio of Slater, Dion Gowda and Alex Powell each moved to the top within seconds of each other.

However, Slater was not to be beaten, returning to the top with a 2m05.343s on his final lap, with Rashid Al Dhaheri pipping Powell for second in the final seconds.

Bohra was sixth fastest overall with his FP1 time, ahead of Jonsson and Pradel, and Gowda’s FP2 improvement brought him into the top 10.

Andrej Petrovic is absent from the event having left PHM Racing during the week.

Free practice results

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