The 2024 Euroformula Open Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seater open wheel formula racing cars held across Europe. The championship featured drivers competing in Euroformula Open Championship specification Dallara 320 chassis cars. It was the eleventh Euroformula Open Championship season. The season consisted of eight race weekends with three races each. It started in late April and spanned until October.
Brad Benavides, a returnee to the series after last competing there in 2021, won the Drivers' Championship with three races to spare, while his teammate Fernando Barrichello won the Rookie Championship at the first race of round 5 after being the only rookie competitor for the first four rounds. Their team, Team Motopark, the only multi-car team, clinched the Teams' Championship at the third race of the same round.
Teams and drivers All teams utilized the Dallara 320 chassis. TeamEngineNo.DriverStatusRounds Team MotoparkVolkswagen4 Cenyu Han17 Lorenzo Fluxá111 Levente Révész1–6 Ricardo Escotto721 Yevan David 823 Michael Shin2–4, 626 Jakob Bergmeister1–5, 837 Vladislav Ryabov7–839 Gerrard Xie341 Fernando BarrichelloAll66 Enzo Richer571 Brad BenavidesAll95 Edward Pearson6–799 José Garfias6–8 STKMělníkMercedes-Benz65 Roman RoubíčekG6G 8 BVM RacingVolkswagen84 Francesco SimonazziAll NV RacingVolkswagen212 Paolo BrajnikGAll
Race calendar A provisional seven-round calendar with an eighth event yet to be confirmed was announced on 24 August 2023. In September 2023, the eighth round was confirmed to be held at the Hockenheimring for the first time since 2019. This schedule saw the round at Mugello leave the calendar.
Round Circuit DateSupport billMap of circuit locations 1 R1 Algarve International Circuit, Portimão 27 AprilInternational GT OpenGT Cup Open EuropeRenault Clio Cup EuropeAlpine Europa Cup R228 April R3 2 R1 Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 11 May International GT OpenGT Cup Open EuropeFormula Regional European ChampionshipRenault Clio Cup Europe R2 R312 May 3 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 25 May International GT OpenGT Cup Open EuropeFormula Regional European Championship R2 26 May R3 4 R1 Hungaroring, Mogyoród 22 June International GT OpenPorsche Carrera Cup GermanyFormula Regional European ChampionshipGB3 Championship R223 June R3 5 R1 Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 20 July International GT OpenItalian F4 ChampionshipGT Cup Open EuropeFormula Regional European Championship R221 July R36R1 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 14 September International GT OpenFormula Regional European ChampionshipEuro 4 ChampionshipPorsche Carrera Cup BeneluxR215 SeptemberR3 7 R1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló 28 September International GT OpenItalian F4 ChampionshipGT Cup Open EuropeFormula Regional European Championship R2 29 September R38R1 Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 19 October International GT OpenGT Cup Open EuropeClio Cup SeriesAlpine Elf Europa CupR2R320 October
Race results Round Circuit Pole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning teamRookie winnerGold Cup winner 1 R1 Algarve International Circuit Francesco Simonazzi Lorenzo Fluxá Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing Fernando BarrichelloNo starters R2 Levente Révész Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello R3 Brad Benavides Lorenzo Fluxá Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello 2 R1 Hockenheimring Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo classified finishers R2 Brad Benavides Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing Fernando Barrichello Paolo Brajnik R3 Michael Shin Michael Shin Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo starters 3 R1 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francesco Simonazzi Levente Révész Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello Paolo Brajnik R2 Francesco Simonazzi Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello Paolo Brajnik R3 Gerrard Xie Gerrard Xie Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo starters 4 R1 Hungaroring Michael Shin Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello R2 Francesco Simonazzi Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing Fernando Barrichello R3 Francesco Simonazzi Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing Fernando Barrichello 5 R1 Circuit Paul Ricard Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Jakob Bergmeister Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello Paolo Brajnik R2 Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo classified finishers R3 Brad Benavides Levente Révész Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo starters6R1 Red Bull Ring José Garfias Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo classified finishersR2 José Garfias Fernando Barrichello Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo startersR3 Francesco Simonazzi Michael Shin Team Motopark Fernando Barrichello 7 R1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Team Motopark Fernando BarrichelloNo entries R2 Francesco Simonazzi Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing Fernando Barrichello R3 Edward Pearson Vladislav Ryabov Team Motopark Vladislav Ryabov8R1 Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Brad Benavides Francesco Simonazzi Yevan David Team Motopark Yevan David Roman RoubíčekR2 Brad Benavides Brad Benavides Team Motopark Yevan David Roman RoubíčekR3 Fernando Barrichello Yevan David Team Motopark Yevan David Roman Roubíček
Season report
First half Euroformula Open began its eleventh season with an all-time low of six cars competing at Portimão. BVM’s Francesco Simonazzi, the only non-Motopark driver present, took pole position. He kept the lead at the start of the opening race, with Levente Révész, Brad Benavides and Lorenzo Fluxá initially slotting in behind him before the Hungarian dropped behind the other two drivers later on. Fernando Barrichello started race two from first place, but finished the race last after spending it dropping down the order. Jakob Bergmeister took the lead first, but then fared similarly and dropped back, allowing Benavides to take the win ahead of Fluxá and Simonazzi. Race three saw Fluxá lead the field. After a calm opening stage, a safety car bunched the field up and the Spaniard had to fend off an attack from Benavides. The American then locked up, allowing Simonazzi past him before he was able to get back into second later on. This saw Benavides end the first round atop the standings, seven points ahead of Fluxá.
Benavides led the seven cars competing at the Hockenheimring in qualifying to take pole position for the first race. A slow start dropped him to third behind Révész and Simonazzi, but he immediately started attacking the Italian and retook second on lap three. Six laps later, he repeated the feat to take the lead from Révész. Simonazzi also got past the Hungarian, but penalties handed Bergmeister third place as Simonazzi dropped to sixth. That then gave him pole position for the second race, where he initially fought off Bergmeister before Benavides took second. Simonazzi then held off the American for the remainder of the race to take the win. Motopark’s debutant Michael Shin started the third race from the front and spent the opening part battling Simonazzi, but came out ahead after briefly losing the lead but retaking it right away. Révész in third had to contend with Benavides before the latter dropped to fifth. Still, as Fluxá was absent, Benavides slightly increased his championship lead to 15 points over Simonazzi.
Qualifying at Spa was held in the wet, and Simonazzi came out on top to claim pole position. Benavides used the slipstream to take the lead from third on the grid on the first lap as Motopark’s front-row starter Gerrard Xie stalled. Révész and Bergmeister followed Benavides past Simonazzi. The Hungarian then tried taking the lead, before Benavides got back past and Bergmeister claimed second. Race two saw Benavides climb from fifth on the grid to another win ahead of Bergmeister and Shin in a race filled with hotly contested duels - La Source and Les Combes saw multiple lead changes as drivers went three- and four-wide on the Kemmel Straight. Race three began in wet conditions behind the safety car with Bergmeister spinning out from third place. Révész then did the same, allowing Benavides into third. Reverse-grid pole sitter Xie led Shin to take his maiden Euroformula win. Simonazzi did not start the race due to car troubles and therefore had to watch from the sidelines as Benavides built up his championship advantage to 60 points.
A round at the Hungaroring ended the first half of the championship. Shin took pole position in qualifying for the first race, but lost the lead to Benavides through the opening sequence of corners. The American went on to win the race, while Révész converted his fifth-place start to a podium. Simonazzi was classified sixth and last after having to pit with front wing damage. He bounced back to win the second race by twelve seconds from pole position. Bergmeister came second, unchallenged from behind all race, and Benavides came third after Barrichello went off track ahead of him when he tried to move into second at the end of the first lap. Simonazzi started race three from third and capitalised when Révész attacked Bergmeister for the lead and both went off and dropped out of contention. The Italian then led Benavides and Barrichello home to win by over 13 seconds. While Simonazzi took two wins, Benavides ended all three races on the podium and was therefore able to slightly extend his points lead to 63.
Second half Benavides claimed pole position for the first race at Paul Ricard, but both front-row starters had bad getaways, allowing Bergmeister to take the lead ahead of Simonazzi and Révész. The Hungarian then claimed second, and Simonazzi continued dropping down as Benavides and Barrichello also got past him. Révész closed up to Bergmeister at the front, but was unable to threaten his lead. NV Racing’s gentleman driver Paolo Brajnik started race two from first place, but Révész and Benavides soon caught up and overtook him. Rain started to fall, and Brajnik spun and was forced to retire. Five of the six drivers running fought for the podium in tricky, slippery conditions, with Benavides eventually coming out on top to take his sixth win of the season ahead of Révész and Simonazzi. Motopark's debutant Enzo Richer had pole position for race three, but immediately dropped behind Révész, Barrichello and Benavides. The latter then got into second to end the weekend with a 91-point lead, while Barrichello won the Rookie title in third.
Round six was held at the Red Bull Ring and Motopark's José Garfias took pole position on his debut. However, his first race, held in wet conditions, only lasted two corners before he was forced to retire. Benavides took the lead and won the race by 15 seconds. Simonazzi defended his second place as conditions deteriorated before falling behind Motopark's other debutant Edward Pearson and Révész in the final laps. Race two, also in wet conditions, began under a safety car. Pole-sitter Barrichello initially fell behind Shin and Simonazzi when the safety car was withdrawn but was able to fight back. He reclaimed second place from Simonazzi and caught up to leader Shin to retake the lead on lap ten. With Shin focused on keeping Simonazzi behind him, Barrichello was able to take his first win. Race three was dry and Shin started from first place. Barrichello, alongside him, made a poor start and fell back, allowing Shin to build a lead and win the race ahead of Benavides – who was now leading by 104 points – and Simonazzi.