The Euroformula Open Championship has had its fair share of promising talent since its inception in 2014, with several notable names rising up through the championship and then succeeding in professional racing series. Here is Feeder Series’ rundown of where its nine championship winners are today.

By Tom Evans

2014: Sandy Stuvik (RP Motorsport)

Following a fruitful European F3 Open campaign that saw him take second in the championship with RP Motorsport, Stuvik embarked on another campaign with the outfit in the rebranded Euroformula Open in 2014. A podium and a win at the first round at the Nürburgring set the tone for the remainder of the year, as the Thailander counted sweeps  at Jerez, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza among his 11 total wins.

Stuvik then took the expected next step to GP3, but two full seasons only brought him 16 points overall. Since then, Stuvik has competed in a variety of GT3 series in Asia. In 2017 and 2018 he raced in the Blancpain GT Series Asia, taking two second-place finishes and ending his rookie season sixth overall. He then pivoted to national-level GT3 racing in the Thailand Super Series, driving an Audi R8 Evo for B-Quik Absolute Racing.

2015: Vitor Baptista (RP Motorsport)

The first of two Brazilians on this list, Baptista enjoyed a very successful karting career before his step into single-seaters, winning back-to-back Super Kart Brazil titles in 2011 and 2012. In his debut season of car racing in 2014, he won Class B of the Formula 3 Brasil Championship. He carried this positive momentum into a season of Euroformula Open, in which he narrowly took the title by five points over Konstantin Tereshchenko. Both drivers took six wins and six podiums each, making for a thrilling fight all season long.

The following season, Baptista moved up to Formula V8 3.5 but produced disappointing results, taking only 51 points across the entire season. Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil has been Baptista’s main home since 2017, the 2018 season being the standout in which he won the GT3 Cup Brasil 3.8 title. From 2019 till 2021 Baptista wouldn’t take part in a full season campaign until his debut in the Stock Series in 2022, where he took six wins and 15 podiums on his way to champion glory.

2016: Leonardo Pulcini (Campos Racing)

A strong fourth-place finish in the inaugural Italian F4 Championship in 2014 catapulted Pulcini into the single-seater world. A warranted step up to Euroformula Open in 2015 brought mild success; he showed solid improvement in the latter half of the season, with a win at the Red Bull Ring and a podium at Spa being the highlights of a year in which he finished ninth.

Then 2016 brought Pulcini much more success. Seven wins and a further six podiums took him to the title ahead of Ferdinand Habsburg and Colton Herta, now a superstar in IndyCar.

In contrast to Stuvik and Baptista, who struggled further up the ladder, Pulcini had a fruitful three seasons in GP3 in 2017 and 2018 and FIA F3 in 2019. His 2017 season with Arden proved to be a solid learning opportunity as he picked up 20 points including a podium on debut. Pulcini had a significantly better second season, finishing fourth with two wins under his belt, and ended the 2019 FIA F3 season in eighth.

Unfortunately, budget problems hit Pulcini in 2021 following a modest Italian GT season in 2020. With no seat for 2021, he went to work with his father in the construction industry. But a few days later, a phone call with Jerry Canevisio, team principal of sports car outfit Oregon Team, turned the young Italian’s fortunes. They were looking for a driver to partner Kevin Gilardoni for the upcoming season, and Pulcini took the opportunity with both hands.

He went on to compete with Team Oregon in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe in 2021 and International GT Open in 2022, claiming both titles. For 2023, Pulcini has been promoted to factory driver within the Lamborghini stable.

2017: Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport)

Perhaps the most curious case on our list lies with British driver Scott, who had the most dominant season of any Euroformula Open champion. A great start to his single-seater career included back-to-back second-place championship finishes in British Formula Ford in 2013 and 2014, although a rocky year in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2015 left him 12th overall. He took another shot at the series the following year, finishing fourth ahead of current Nissan Formula E driver Sacha Fenestraz and Ferrari development driver Robert Shwartzman.

Then came the year of his Euroformula Open domination. Out of the 14 races Scott entered, he won 12, including a seven-race winning streak. Despite sitting out the final round, he had a more than comfortable 118-point lead after the season wrapped up. Rather than move further in Europe, though, Scott transitioned to the Road to Indy program in the Pro Mazda Championship in which he finished 8th. Since then, Scott hasn’t done any more on-track racing, though he currently works at Williams F1 as a development and simulator driver.

2018: Felipe Drugovich (RP Motorsport)

Drugovich is the most notable driver on this list, and for good reason: He is the defending Formula 2 champion. The Brazilian took his first single-seater title in Euroformula Open in 2018 in a campaign that was nothing short of astonishing. He finished the year with 14 wins, two-second places, and nine pole positions from 16 races.

After this season of domination, the Brazilian driver spent one year in FIA F3 with Carlin,finishing 16th. He then moved up to Formula 2 and amassed eight wins and five pole positions over three seasons, with five and four of those respectively helping him towards the 2022 championship. Drugovich was not able to find an F1 race seat for 2023, though he has secured a role with the Aston Martin Formula One Team as a test and reserve driver.

2019: Marino Sato (Motopark)

After two unremarkable seasons in the F3 European Championship in 2017 and 2018, Sato was not someone many expected to prevail in the 2019 Euroformula Open season. But this is exactly what he did, picking up nine race wins and six poles with Motopark throughout the year.

Unlike Drugovich, Sato did not manage to capture the same level of success in the FIA F2 Championship following his debut in late 2019. With a best season finish of 21st in 2021 and only eight points over three full season campaigns in the series, Sato’s single-seater career looked to have reached a dead end. He has pivoted to the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series for 2023, racing for United Autosports.

2020: Ye Yifei (CryptoTower Racing)

Similarly to Drugovich, Ye dominated the 2020 Euroformula season, taking 11 wins from 18 races. The 2016 French F4 champion headed into the year after a lacklustre FIA F3 campaign in 2019 with only one points finish that put him 21st overall in the standings, behind his Hitech teammates Pulcini and Jüri Vips.

After his Euroformula Open title, however, Ye did not race a single-seater car again, instead venturing into the European and Asian Le Mans Series, both of which he won in 2021. In 2022, Ye finished fifth in the European Le Mans Series and seventh in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Looking ahead to 2023, Ye has lined up a drive with Jota Sport in the World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class.

2021: Cameron Das (Motopark)

The 2021 Euroformula Open season featured the likes of recently crowned Indy Pro 2000 champion Louis Foster, Red Bull junior Jak Crawford, and FIA F3 race winner Roman Staněk. But at season’s end, it was American driver Das who was champion, with seven race wins and 16 podiums. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Das, who had previously competed in two full-time and two part-time campaigns in the series, clinched the title. He kicked off the season in fashionable style by sweeping the first round and sealed the title by 67 points over Foster.

Since his title, Das has not competed in any competitive racing at all, instead focusing on creating racing content for Instagram and YouTube.

2022: Oliver Goethe (Motopark)

Following a disappointing 2021 in which he only picked up three points in FRECA, Danish-German driver Goethe was not the title favourite in Euroformula Open heading into 2022, with returnees Christian Mansell and Josh Mason tipped for the title. But over the 26-race season, Goethe took home 11 wins and 18 podiums with Motopark, giving him the championship crown with two races to spare.

After an impressive two-round showing with Campos Racing in FIA F3 earlier this year, Goethe has been announced at Trident for the full 2023 season.

Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to indicate that Leonardo Pulcini has been promoted to Lamborghini factory driver.

Header photo credit: Euroformula Open