After announcing the return to the Pau Grand Prix in January, Euroformula Open will not hold its second round at the prestigious street circuit due to technical reasons. This was announced by the series Friday morning.

By Jan Husmann

On Friday morning, GT Sport confirmed that Euroformula Open will not hold its second round of the season in Pau on 13-14 May. The confirmation comes after French outlet larepubliquedespyrenees.fr reported Euroformula Open’s withdrawal on Thursday.

GT Sport cites technical reasons for the withdrawal from the event. “[It] proved not possible to adjust the current engines of the Euroformula Open cars to the wishes of the organizers of the Grand -Prix, its sponsors, and the City of Pau for a low-carbon emissions event, running on ‘greener’ fuels, a requirement that was not part of the agreement signed with the GP de Pau.

Currently running with four-cylinder engines provided by Spiess and HWA, the Euroformula Open competitors do not meet the necessary fuel and engine requirements.

“The studies and checks conducted showed that adapting the engines safely and effectively would require further engineering work, costly modifications, and testing.”

So far neither the event organisers nor the FFSA have made a statement regarding the cancellation of the Euroformula Open round on the historic street circuit.

When the provisional calendar for the 2023 Euroformula Open was announced in September of last year, the street circuit in Pau was nowhere to be found. In January, the series confirmed its return to Pau for the 80th Edition of the Pau Grand Prix, replacing the Mugello round that was scheduled for October.

GT Sport is planning to replace the Pau round with a round at a different time and location with the details to be communicated shortly.

The Pau Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious races in the world and has been a big part of the feeder series world. With Euroformula Open disappearing from this year’s schedule, French F4 will take over as the most well-known feeder series during the Grand Prix weekend.

Header photo credit: Euroformula Open