17.10.2017
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will bring the curtain down on the 2017 season next week
The 2017 Euroformula Open season will come to an end in dramatic fashion at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Great Britain’s Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport) sealed the title at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and Russia’s Nikita Troitskiy (Drivex) also claimed Rookies’ title in the most recent round of the season at the Circuito de Jerez.
But the season finale is still full of emotion with entries expected to rise over 20 once again and imminent announcements in the coming days. Besides, the title fight for the Spanish F.3 crown is still open with Devlin DeFrancesco (Carlin) remaining the main title contender. Last but not least, Spaniard Eliseo Martínez (Teo Martín Motorsport) will be another eye-catcher for local fans.
From 2001 onwards, Montmeló has been a constant presence on the calendar. The Spanish F.3 Championship, the European F.3 Open and the Euroformula Open always hosted their season finale on the Catalan track.
We need to go quite far back in time to see Jordi Palomeras and Daniel Martín winning both races in the inaugural season of 2001. Borja García won in Barcelona double header in 2002 with Brazilian Ricardo Mauricio and Martín, who repeated win after his triumph two years earlier, emerging as race winners in 2003. García – who beat Manuel Giao to title- and José Manuel Pérez-Aicart hunted top step of the rostrum the following year. Filipe Albuquerque and Andy Soucek, two drivers currently enjoying successful careers in endurance racing, took two wins in 2005. FIA World Endurance drivers Nicolas Prost and Miguel Molina brought wins home during the final races of 2006. France’s Prost again stepped first onto the podium in 2007 with Manuel Saéz Merino Jr. winning the first race. 2008 saw former Formula 1 racer Roberto Merhi scoring a double race win in the treacherous wet conditions.
Following its internalization, Adri Campos Jr. and Italian David Fumanelli won both races during the first European F.3 Open visit to the circuit in 2009. Fumanelli added another triumph to his credit in 2010 with his fellow country man Kevin Ceccon snatching his maiden win in the series. There was another triumph from Fumanelli in the series in 2011 with Zoël Amberg adding his name to an illustrious list of winners. Argentinean Facu Regalia took a double win in 2012 with Indy 500 podium finisher Ed Jones and Alexandre Cougnaud leaving their mark the following season.
More recently, Thai Sandy Stuvik was the dominant force in 2014 but Alex Palou managed to beat him on Sunday. Konstantin Tereschenko made it a double win two years ago and finally Ferdinand Habsburg and Colton Herta took top honors in 2016.