Can Kacper Sztuka be crowned Formula Winter Series champion early?

The third race weekend of the Formula Winter Series is coming up in Navarra, and Kacper Sztuka can crown himself champion early. Meanwhile, Jenzer Motorsport makes its debut in the racing series.

Kacper Sztuka has won three of the four Formula Winter Series races so far this season. At the season opener in Jerez, the US Racing driver scored two victories and in Valencia, the Pole also won a race. As a result, Sztuka travels to the third event in Navarre with a 33-point lead over his team-mate Frederik Lund. Should he extend his lead to over 52 points at the race weekend in Los Arcos, he will be crowned the first champion in the history of the Formula Winter Series at the penultimate event of the season. The season finale of the series will take place at the Formula 1 circuit in Barcelona, where further renowned teams will join the starting field.

The battle for the rookie classification is closer. US Racing driver Gianmarco Pradel leads by only seven points ahead of his team-mate Ruiqi Liu from China. In third place is Matteo de Palo, who took an overall win in Valencia, but the Campos Racing driver will not be able to contest the remaining races in the Formula Winter Series due to the testing regulations of the Spanish Formula 4 Championship. However, fans can look forward to an exciting duel between Pradel and Liu to win the rookie classification. At the first two race weekends, both drivers already proved on the track that they will fight hard to win the title. In Jerez, the Swiss Tina Hausmann was also able to impress in the Rookie classification and take a class win.

Jenzer Motorsport makes its debut

Jenzer Motorsport will make its debut in the Formula Winter Series in Navarra. The tradition-steeped team from Switzerland will compete with two Formula 4 cars in northern Spain. Kim Hwarang and Ethan Ischer will drive the two cars. While Ischer already gained racing experience with the team last year, the South Korean Hwarang will celebrate his racing debut with the team. Both drivers will also compete for Andreas Jenzer’s racing team in the summer season.

Modern race track

The Circuito de Navarra in Los Arcos was completed in June 2010. The track is 3,933 metres long and the longest straight measures 800 metres. The slightly hilly track with six left-hand and nine right-hand corners is mainly used for car races. In the early days, the GT1 World Championship and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, as well as the Superleague Formula, which was quickly abandoned, raced on the circuit. Due to the FIA Grade 1T track licence, Formula 1 test drives were also likely to take place on the circuit. Nowadays, almost only national racing series make guest appearances at Los Arcos.

At 12:55 and 15:50 on 5 March, the two qualifying rounds of the Formula Winter Series will take place at the Circuito de Navarra. Before that, the race day will be opened by a two-part qualifying session. On the two preceding days, the drivers will have the opportunity to get to know the circuit very well during extensive test drives.