Several feeder series championships are on the line this weekend, with as many as five drivers emerging as potential title winners come Sunday. Feeder Series previews the action to come.

By Feeder Series

Seven championships compete this weekend, and three are guaranteed to crown champions. Euroformula Open and FRegional Americas have not had competitive title races for several years, but that has changed this year. Both end their 2025 seasons this weekend, with GB3 joining Euroformula Open at Monza while F4 US and the Ligier Junior Formula Championship – the third series with an open title fight – support FR Americas at Barber.

Two more, Spanish F4 and Japanese F4, have runaway championship leaders in Thomas Strauven and Itsuki Sato with strong chances of clinching their respective titles this weekend.

F3 held its second of three post-season tests Wednesday and Thursday in Barcelona, and once again, Campos were the class of the field. Ugo Ugochukwu led the way overall for the second test in a row with his 1:28.322 on Wednesday morning, while Théophile Naël topped Thursday’s running with a 1:28.398. All 30 drivers from the first test returned, though Euroformula Open title contender Michael Shin handed his seat to Joseph Loake for the second day.

The entry lists for November’s Macau Grand Prix, which features the FIA FR World Cup and the new F4 World Cup, were also revealed Monday. Among the entrants in the former are FR Europe title rivals Matteo De Palo and Freddie Slater, Toyota juniors and FR Japan rivals Kiyoshi Umegaki and Tokiya Suzuki, Eurocup-3 champion Mattia Colnaghi and F3 race winner Mari Boya. The invite-only F4 World Cup’s 20-strong entry list includes six 2025 F4 champions as well as GB4 champion Ary Bansal and Japanese F4’s Sato.

F4 Saudi Arabia’s drivers were also on track mid-week for their second round at Bahrain International Circuit. Adam Al Azhari took his second victory in a row in race one, with Scott Lindblom taking his maiden single-seater podium ahead of Kit Belofsky. In race two, Belofsky returned to the top step of the podium, and after a number of wheel touches and excursions over the curbs, Ary Bansal finished second ahead of Lindblom. Belofsky retains the championship lead on 73 points, followed by Al Azhari on 64 and Theo Palmer on 55.

Additional reporting by Mitchell Ash

1. Euroformula Open: Round 8, Monza
2. GB3: Round 8, Monza
3. Spanish F4: Round 6, Valencia
4. Japanese F4: Round 5, Autopolis
5. FRegional Americas: Round 8, Barber
6. F4 US: Round 7, Barber
7. Ligier Junior Formula Championship: Round 6, Barber

Euroformula Open: Round 8, Monza

Circuit: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, 5.793 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Thursday 16 October

• 13:40–14:15: Private test 1
• 16:45–17:20: Private test 2

Friday 17 October

• 09:54–10:34: Free practice 1
• 14:24–15:04: Free practice 2

Saturday 18 October

• 9:50–10:10: Qualifying
• 13:05–13:35: Race 1
• 17:50–18:20: Race 2

Sunday 19 October

• 10:40–11:10: Race 3

How to follow: Every race will be streamed live on Euroformula Open’s YouTube channel. Live timing is available on Cronococa.

Weather forecast: Cloudy but with sunny intervals throughout the weekend.

What to know: Euroformula Open heads to Monza for its final round of the 2025 season.

Tymek Kucharczyk leads the way on 321 points after winning race one at Barcelona one month ago. He is 23 points ahead of Michael Shin, who won race three by more than a minute after switching to slick tyres at the start.

Five points behind Shin is Motopark teammate Yevan David, who took pole and finished second in the first two races at Barcelona. Also in mathematical contention is José Garfias, who finished third in race three and sits 62 points behind Kucharczyk.

Barcelona’s other race winner, Edward Pearson, currently sits fifth on 214 points, 26 ahead of Fernando Barrichello, who finished third in both of the opening races.

The only new addition to the Euroformula Open grid will be 16-year-old Greek driver Stylianos Taxiarchis Kolovos, who will compete for Nielsen Racing in the #7 entry previously driven by Theo Micouris. Prior to his single-seater graduation, Kolovos raced in senior karting this year, taking a best result of 26th in the Campillos round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series.

Also at Nielsen, Luca Viişoreanu (#27) will make his second appearance of the season as he prepares for a full campaign next year. The Romanian last drove for Motopark in a one-off appearance at the Red Bull Ring, in which he scored a best result of seventh in race three.

Report by Marco Albertini

From the press: Kucharczyk, Shin, David and Garfias have been locked in battle all season. How did they each get to Euroformula Open and what do they make of their 2025 campaigns? Read the thoughts of each title contender here.

You can also read the previous round’s report here.

GB3: Round 8, Monza

Circuit: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, 5.793 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Thursday 16 October

• 13:00–13:30: Test session 1
• 17:30–18:00: Test session 2

Friday 17 October

• 09:00–09:45: Free practice 1
• 13:30–14:15: Free practice 2

Saturday 18 October

• 10:20–10:35: Qualifying 1
• 10:40–10:55: Qualifying 2
• 14:05–14:30: Race 1

Sunday 19 October

• 09:45–10:10: Race 2
• 16:50–17:15: Race 3

How to follow: All races will be available to watch on the MSV TV YouTube channel. The stream will also be shown on the GB3 Facebook page and website. Live timing for all sessions is available through Cronococa and the GB3 website.

Weather forecast: Cloudy but with sunny intervals throughout the weekend. 

What to know: GB3’s 2025 season comes to a close this weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the first time in series history that the final round takes place in mainland Europe. 

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic secured the drivers’ championship last time out at Donington Park. He enters the finale with 446 points, 113 clear of Patrick Heuzenroeder in second with just 102 left to play for.

Ninovic could usurp Zak O’Sullivan’s records for most points and largest winning margin of the GB3 era if he accumulates at least 535 points and finishes 154 or more points clear of his nearest rival. The Australian already holds the records for the most wins and poles in a season with eight of each.

Gianmarco Pradel, Deagen Fairclough, Reza Seewooruthun, Noah Lisle and Keanu Al Azhari are separated by 36 points in the fight for third, with Fairclough and Lisle also seeking their first GB3 wins.

A grid of 22 drivers is set to compete at Monza this weekend, with a few driver changes to note.

Hillspeed have a three-car lineup as Maxim Rehm (#71) and Zhenrui Chi (#28) join Lucas Fluxá for the season finale. Both drivers took part in Italian F4 this season, finishing 19th and fifth respectively. Germany’s Rehm, 18, also participated in the Formula Winter Series with US Racing. GB3 will be 16-year-old Chi’s fifth campaign alongside Italian F4, E4 and F4 Middle East with Prema Racing and a partial FR Europe season with CL Motorsport. The Italian-licenced Chinese driver will also join Van Amersfoort Racing for the FR World Cup

GB4 runner-up Isaac Phelps (#67) makes his GB3 debut this weekend, stepping into the Elite Motorsport seat left vacant by Will Macintyre. Phelps, 16, finished second in the GB4 Championship this season, claiming four victories and two further podiums to come home just 11 points behind his title-winning Elite teammate, Ary Bansal.

August Raber (#47) returns to the GB3 Championship in the Argenti with Prema seat he filled for the fifth round of the season at Silverstone. The Swedish driver scored a best finish of 13th during his debut weekend in GB3. He finished seventh in his main campaign British F4 this season, with three victories and four further podiums, and took one victory and one further podium on his way to eighth in F4 Middle East.

Both Fortec Motorsport and Racelab will not be on the grid for the season finale, as their drivers from Donington Park, Liam McNeilly and Max Taylor, will not make the trip to Monza. McNeilly scored a podium during his GB3 debut in the previous round. Earlier this week, Taylor was confirmed to be racing for Andretti Global in the 2026 Indy NXT championship stateside.

Report by George Sanderson

Read the previous round’s report here.

Spanish F4: Round 6, Valencia

Circuit: Circuit Ricardo Tormo, 4.005 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Friday 17 October 

• 10:00–10:40: Official test 1
• 12:00–12:40: Official test 2
• 14:00–14:40: Official test 3

Saturday 18 October

• 10:00–10:40: Free Practice
• 12:25–12:45: Qualifying 1
• 14:55–15:30: Race 1

Sunday 19 October

• 10:00–10:20: Qualifying 2
• 12:15–12:45: Race 2
• 15:05–15:40: Race 3

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing at Al Kamel Systems. All races will be streamed on the Spanish F4 YouTube channel.

Weather forecast: Rain expected Friday afternoon. Partly cloudy on Saturday and Sunday. 

What to know: Spanish F4 championship leader Thomas Strauven could wrap up his second title of 2025 as early as Saturday afternoon if he outscores René Lammers by at least 12 points in race one.

With 278 points, the Belgian driver currently has a 110-point lead over Lammers, who in turn is only six points ahead of Ean Eyckmans. Strauven’s countryman took his maiden single-seater win last time out at Jerez, and the 17-year-old MP Motorsport driver is the highest-placed rookie in the standings, with double the number of points of the next-highest rookie, Noah Monteiro. 

Fourth in the standings is Jan Przyrowski, the Eurocup-4 winter series runner-up. The Polish driver is notably on a streak of seven consecutive pole positions, the most in the championship’s history, but has been unable to convert any of them into victories.

T-Code replaces one single-seater debutant with another, as Aleix Piñera (#6) stands in for Lewis Wherrell. The 15-year-old Spanish driver competed in the X30 Senior category of the IAME Euro Series earlier this year and tested at the circuit two weeks ago with the team.

Ricardo Baptista (#15) returns to DX Racing Team this weekend after being replaced by Rafaela Ferreira for the Jerez round. Since last competing with the team at Le Castellet, the Brazilian driver has continued his campaign in Brazilian F4 with TMG Racing, taking his first single-seater win at the third Velocitta round. He also competed in Euroformula Open’s Spielberg round with Nielsen Racing, taking a best finish of 10th.

Lastly, Yani Stevenheydens (#71) replaces Daniel Dallakyan at GRS Team after previously competing as the team’s sole Eurocup-3 entry in the first two rounds of the season. The 19-year-old, currently classified 16th in the Eurocup-3 standings, achieved a best finish of seventh in the first race at Spielberg. The 2024 French F4 runner-up was initially set to compete in Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport this year before moving to Eurocup-3.

Report by Seb Tirado

From the press: Last year’s Valencia round was headlined by Juan Cota, who won all three races to leap from 13th to seventh in the standings. After that, Cota – currently fifth overall, 35 points behind Przyrowski – made the unorthodox choice to eschew a planned full-time move to Eurocup-3 for 2025 in favour of a third year in Spanish F4. Read his story here.

You can also read the previous round’s report here.

Japanese F4: Round 5, Autopolis

Circuit: Autopolis International Racing Course, 4.673 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9)

Thursday 16 October

• 13:45–14:15: Independent Class practice 1
• 14:25–14:55: Champion Class practice 1
• 15:45–16:15: Independent Class practice 2
• 16:25–16:55: Champion Class practice 2

Friday 17 October

• 8:00–8:45: Independent Class practice 3
• 8:55–9:40: Champion Class practice 3

• 13:00–13:20: Champion Class qualifying
• 13:30–13:50: Independent Class qualifying

Saturday 18 October

• 8:15–8:45: Independent Class race 1
• 13:40–14:10: Champion Class race 1

Sunday 19 October

• 8:15–8:45: Independent Class race 2
• 9:15–9:45: Champion Class race 2

How to follow: All races are live-streamed and free to watch with Japanese commentary on the series’ official YouTube channel. Within Japan and broader Australasia, live timing is available on the Super GT race app for €6.91.

Weather forecast: Rain expected Thursday. Friday will be sunny, but the forecast suggests rain may fall after the track action on Saturday as well as early on Sunday morning. 

What to know: Japanese F4 enters its penultimate and potentially title-deciding round at Autopolis this weekend. As GT Association president Masaaki Bandoh revealed in a press conference on 21 September, the series will split its practices and races by class this weekend.

Itsuki Sato and his team, Kageyama Racing, could make history this weekend, as both could become the first competitors to win Japanese F4 titles without being backed by Toyota or Honda. 

Sato currently leads the drivers’ championship by 32.5 points over TGR-DC Racing School driver Tokiya Suzuki, while Kageyama lead by 43.5 points over TGR-DC RS. Both entities would need a 50-point gap after the weekend to secure the title. 

There are several driver changes this weekend. Most notably, newly crowned Kyojo Cup champion Rio Shimono (#87) returns to Dr.Dry Racing in place of Rikuto Toyoshima, who scored the team’s first points of the season at Sugo. 

Additionally, Aoto Nagahara (#7) returns in the Champion class as Buzz Racing’s second driver, having previously competed in the third round at Suzuka. Nagahara tested at Autopolis on 2 October, and his car will have a new white and orange livery because of his main sponsor, his family’s company Pitwork Nagahara. 

Akiland Racing’s Keito Matsui will be absent from this weekend’s round despite being listed on the entry list. The 21-year-old is instead set to take part in the European Le Mans Series rookie test at Portimão in the LMGT3 class with KesselRacing’s #57 Carguy Racing machine of Takeshi Kimura this weekend. 

Kaoru Yoshida will be absent from this weekend’s round, as will be his team Ragno Motor Sport. Yoshida made his Formula 4 debut at Sugo in the previous round with a best result of 19th.

In the Independent class, Yasuhiro Shimizu (#88) replaces Kazutaka Miura at B-Max Racing. Shimizu competes for B-Max Racing’s satellite GNSY Racing in Super Formula Lights, in which he currently leads the masters’ class standings by 19 points.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Americas: Round 8, Barber

Circuit: Barber Motorsports Park, 3.830 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Friday 17 October

• 08:30–08:55: Practice 1
• 11:25–11:50: Practice 2
• 14:10–14:35: Qualifying

Saturday 18 October

• 10:15–10:50: Race 1

Sunday 19 October

• 13:10–13:45: Race 2

How to follow: Live timing is available on Race Monitor. The races are streamed on the series’ YouTube channel, with Speed Sport 1 also broadcasting the final race of the season.

Weather forecast: Sunny Friday and Saturday, but showers are likely Sunday.

What to know: In its eight-year history, Formula Regional Americas had never sustained a title fight to the season finale. Until this weekend.

Three drivers – American driver Titus Sherlock, Chile’s Nicolás Ambiado, and Brazil’s Bruno Ribeiro – will vie for the crown at Barber Motorsports Park, which returns to the calendar after a four-year absence. There’s more than pride on the line – a $100,000 prize also awaits the champion.

Crosslink Motorsports’ Sherlock is the only full-season driver to have achieved a weekend sweep, doing so at both Road America and Mosport. His seven wins and four further podiums put him on 248.5 points, 13.5 over Ambiado.

The Kiwi Motorsport driver’s four victories have each come on different tracks, but a lacklustre round last time out at VIR hamstrung his championship challenge. Still, Ambiado fared better than rookie teammate Bruno Ribeiro, who fell from first to third after scoring only one point.

A handful of driver changes alter the grid this weekend. Most notably, onetime Indy NXT driver Christian Brooks, who won both races at VIR, has relinquished his Toney Driver Development seat to Lincoln Day, who entered two rounds earlier this season with the team. 

Over at Crosslink Motorsports, Landan Matriano Lim vacates the seat of the #5 car after his one-off return appearance. He will not be replaced, but Kiwi Motorsport will add a car for new F4 US champion Cooper Shipman (#14), who will step up a rung on the ladder ahead of his planned 2026 FR campaigns.

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

F4 US: Round 7, Barber

Circuit: Barber Motorsports Park, 3.830 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Friday 17 October

• 10:00–10:25: Practice 1
• 12:50–13:15: Practice 2
• 15:10–15:35: Qualifying

Saturday 18 October

• 12:40–13:15: Race 1

Sunday 19 October

• 12:00–12:35: Race 2

How to follow: Live timing is available on Race Monitor. The races are streamed on the series’ YouTube channel, with Speed Sport 1 also broadcasting the final race of the season.

Weather forecast: Sunny Friday and Saturday, but showers are likely Sunday.

What to know: F4 US holds its seventh and final round of 2025 at Barber Motorsports Park, and one thing is for certain: the series will have a new winner for the first time since May.

Kiwi Motorsport’s Cooper Shipman cruised to his ninth win in a row at VIR last time out, breaking the series’ record for most consecutive victories and wrapping up the drivers’ championship to boot. He has now graduated to FR Americas, leaving the field wide open for the likes of Kekai Hauanio, Alex Popow and Caleb Campbell – who all won in the first two rounds – to stand atop the podium again.

After reaching a record-low six cars for the third round at Mid-Ohio in June, the series’ grid sizes have gradually increased by one car per round. That means F4 US has double-digit entry numbers for the first time since it switched to using the Ligier JS F422 car at the start of 2024.

The new addition comes in the form of Augusto Paschetta (#27), who steps up a level after racing in the Ligier Junior Formula Championship’s opening two rounds this year. He thus brings Scuderia Buell back to the grid after they last raced with Conor Grant at the season opener.

Shipman’s replacement at Kiwi will be Zach Fourie (#15), who is 12th in the Ligier JFC standings, one place behind Paschetta. Jonathan Cottrill, meanwhile, changes teams from Rase Motorsports to MLT Motorsports, where he will line up alongside runner-up candidate Popow.

Report by Michael McClure

With the crowning of Cooper Shipman (middle) as champion, Alex Popow (left) and Kekai Hauanio (right) will now fight for second | Credit: Gavin Baker

Read the previous round’s report here.

Ligier Junior Formula Championship: Round 6, Barber

Circuit: Barber Motorsports Park, 3.830 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Friday 17 October

• 10:00–10:25: Practice 1
• 12:50–13:15: Practice 2
• 15:10–15:35: Qualifying

Saturday 18 October

• 14:35–15:10: Race 1

Sunday 19 October

• 08:00–08:35: Race 2

How to follow: Races are streamed on the series’ YouTube channel. Live timing is available on Race Monitor.

Weather forecast: Sunny Friday and Saturday, but showers are likely Sunday.

What to know: The Ligier Junior Formula Championship’s sixth and final round takes place  this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in what is a showdown between title contenders Gastón Irazú and Drew Szuch.

Despite having his first retirement of the season last time out at VIR, Champagne Racing’s Irazú continues to lead the standings on 196 points, 23 ahead of Szuch. The Illinois native has four wins, most recently from pole in race one at VIR, as well as three zeros on his championship scorecard.

His Berg Racing teammate Harbir Dass, however, is the sole driver to have scored in every race so far and is third in the standings on 130.5 points. Champagne driver Cash Felber is level with Daniel Cará on 126.5 points, but the Brazilian has relinquished his championship podium hopes by missing both this round and the previous one. Roman Felber, further back on 100 points, will look to continue his four-race podium streak and finish inside the top five.

The rest of the grid has been shaken up by a number of arrivals and departures. Momentum Motorsports will field neither Max Mokarem nor Luca Day this weekend, while LC Racing Academy – with whom Day started the season – will also not run Beckham Jacir, currently eighth in the standings. Jacir instead moves to Champagne Racing for the weekend.

Zach Fourie will step up to F4 US this weekend, and with no replacement lined up, Kiwi Motorsport will also be absent.

Elsewhere on the grid, Pablo Benites Jr returns to Scuderia Buell after competing with them at Mid-Ohio earlier this year and taking first-, second- and fourth-place finishes. Meanwhile, sixteen-year-old Taisei Murakami (#98) joins Berg Racing after completing tests in various entry-level single-seaters in North America and his native Japan, including with the Berg family’s racing school. He replaces Alex Berg, who also serves as the team’s sporting director.

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

All times and forecasts listed above are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, follow each series’ websites or social media pages.

Header photo credit: Edern Frouin