Formula Winter Series rolls out with an international starting field

With a high-quality and international grid, the Formula Winter Series will start its first event in Jerez.

Special excitement lies ahead for the GEDLICH Racing event in Jerez. In addition to the GT Winter Series, which is fully booked with 47 cars, a second race series of the organisation will be held for the first time. The Formula Winter Series will celebrate its debut on the former Formula 1 circuit in southern Spain. High-quality drivers and racing teams will compete in the Formula Series.

At each of the four race events, there will be two race heats of half an hour each and an additional lap. The race day will be introduced by a two-part qualifying session. In addition, six one-hour practice sessions will be held in Jerez de la Fontera so that the young drivers can perfectly prepare for the demanding circuit.

High-quality grid

US Racing will start the 2023 season in the Formula Winter Series. Ralf Schumacher and Gerhard Ungar’s team won the drivers’ title in ADAC Formula 4 in 2015, 2018 and 2019. The team from Kerpen will compete with four cars. The team will announce the drivers shortly before the race weekend. However, it is considered certain that the German racing team will start with a high-quality driver line-up and will have a say in the title.
“We will compete in the Formula Winter Series with four cars. For us, the racing series is a perfect addition to extend our racing programme to the whole year and to compete in the Formula Winter Series in addition to the Italian Formula 4 in the summer,” says Gerhard Ungar.

AKM Motorsport from San Marino will ensure that there is also a woman in the starting field of the Formula Winter Series with Tina Hausmann. The Swiss is moving up from karting to motor racing, having previously competed in the ADAC Kart Masters and Swiss Rotax Max Challenge, among others. The team is also fielding another car for Carl Bennett and is in talks with drivers about fielding more Tatuus Formula 4 cars.
“I am really looking forward to making my racing debut in the Formula Winter Series!” said Hausmann, who comes from Switzerland. “I got to know the car well during test drives with various teams. Moreover, as a karting newcomer, the Formula Winter Series offers me the perfect basis to make my racing debut and prove myself against strong competition.”

Spanish Formula top team Drivex will also be competing in the Formula Winter Series in Jerez and Valencia. Juan Cota and Maximiliano Restrepo will pilot the cars of Miguel Ángel de Castro’s team.

Italian Alvise Rodella, who will drive one of the Tatuus cars for AS Motorsport, also proves that the Formula Winter Series is the perfect promotion platform for kart drivers. In addition to Rodella’s entry, the Slovenian team is also working on the entry of other cars in the GEDLICH Racing formula racing series. Team boss Andrej Slak is already negotiating with several drivers.

More teams join in as the season progresses

As the season progresses, the starting field in the Formula Winter Series will continue to grow. Campos Racing will enter the race at the second race weekend in Valencia. Matteo de Palo from Italy, a karting newcomer, will start for the Spanish team, which was founded by former Formula 1 driver Adrian Campos. In addition, the team is talking to more drivers, so that up to three cars from the Spanish team will be on the grid.

Also joining the race series in Valencia will be Phinsys by Argenti, who will have two cars on the grid. Australian Patrick Heuzenroeder, who raced in last year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship, will compete for the team. The team’s second car will be driven by Indian Jaden Pariat, who raced in the British Formula 4 Championship in 2022 and will further strengthen the international grid in the Formula Winter Series.

The tradition-rich Jenzer Motorsport team from Switzerland is also working on a programme in the new GEDLICH Racing Formula 4 Championship. The team from Lyss in Switzerland, founded in 1993 by Andreas Jenzer, has already celebrated success in several Formula 4 racing series and is also active in Formula 3 in the Formula 1 environment. Several title wins in national and international formula racing also characterise the team’s history.
“For us, the Formula Winter Series is an interesting platform. We are currently in talks with drivers about starting in the racing series and hope that we will be able to enter with several cars in the course of the season,” Andreas Jenzer emphasises.

Other teams are working on entering the Formula Winter Series for the third race weekend in Navarra in northern Spain. For example, the traditional British team Carlin Racing is working on a programme with several cars in the Formula racing series, as is Monlau Motorsport from Spain.

Races on the most famous circuits in Spain

The four race weekends of the Formula Winter Series will take place on the most famous and important race tracks in Spain. The season opener takes place from 9 to 12 February on the former Formula 1 circuit in Jerez. Just one week later, the Formula 4 series will be held at the world-famous MotoGP circuit in Valencia. The third race weekend takes place from 3 to 5 March in Navarra. The circuit in northern Spain hosts many national racing series. One week later, the Formula 1 circuit in Barcelona will host the grand season finale of the first racing year of the Formula Winter Series.

Professional Support

There is professional support for the drivers and teams at the Formula Winter Series events. Car manufacturer Tatuus and engine partner AutoTecnica will offer on-site support at the race track. For the control of the compliance with the regulations and in the race control, the racing series relies on proven personnel. The technical scrutineering will be carried out by the Spanish motorsport authority RFEDA, which is familiar with the cars through the Spanish Formula 4 Championship, in cooperation with AutoTecnica. Werner Aichinger will be the race director. The German race director is considered an institution in his field and is also very experienced in Formula racing. The race series will run on tyres from Pirelli, as prescribed in many European Formula 4 series, thus the young talents in the Formula Winter Series can perfectly prepare for the summer season in other championships.

“We are delighted that after many months of planning and hard work, the Formula Winter Series will finally debut,” said FWS project manager Robin Selbach. “We have an international starting field with a lot of high quality talent on the grid and we are looking forward to being one of the first steps in their, hopefully successful, careers! We are also encouraged by the interest of the teams who want to join us in the course of the season! This shows us that our work is accepted by the drivers and teams and that we are doing a good job.”

Race calendar Formula Winter Series 2023:

09.02. – 12.02. – Jerez
17.02. – 19.02. – Valencia
03.03. – 05.03. – Navarra
10.03. – 12.03. – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya