Almost all 2026 junior single-seater championships are underway now, with Italian Formula 4 and the Kyojo Cup in Japan holding their first rounds this weekend as four other series continue their seasons. Feeder Series previews what’s to come.

By Feeder Series

These days, it seems almost every article we publish is either a session report or a season guide. Our final two for the time being represent the start of the seasons for the Kyojo Cup, Japan’s all-female F4 series, and Italian F4, which boasts an astonishing 47 drivers this weekend.

They’re not the only championships on the docket, though. British F4 is also back for its second round of the season at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, and as in Italian F4, the series will utilise a split qualifying format because its grid is too large to accommodate the small 1.944-kilometre layout. IndyCar’s three immediate support series – Indy NXT, USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 – will also race this weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as the main series kicks off its Month of May proceedings.

Nordic 4 also returns for its second round this week at the Jyllandsringen. Fourteen-year-old Matteis Stigsen took pole position and two wins to lead the standings, four points ahead of F5 driver Mille Hoe and her trio of podiums, as points for the top three in qualifying were introduced. The new Aquila Formula Nova also looked quick in the hands of Richard Olson, who finished on the podium in race one. Only eight drivers are entered for the event this weekend, with the top two from race three, Silas Egedal and Rosanne den Drijver, amongst the absentees.

Formula Nordic is also racing for the first time in 2026 this weekend at Anderstorp. Twelve drivers, all Swedish, are on the entry list for the three races, which support the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. The final two races, taking place Saturday, can be viewed on the series’ YouTube channel, while live timing for all sessions is available on Motorsport & Events.

1. Italian F4: Round 1, Misano
2. British F4: Round 2, Brands Hatch
3. Indy NXT: Rounds 5–6, Indianapolis
4. USF Pro 2000: Round 2, Indianapolis
5. USF2000: Round 2, Indianapolis
6. Kyojo Cup: Round 1, Fuji 

Italian F4: Round 1, Misano

Circuit: Misano World Circuit, 4.226 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+2)

Thursday 7 May

• 09:00–11:10: Collective test 1
• 14:20–16:30: Collective test 2

Friday 8 May

• 08:30–08:50: Free practice 1 (Serie 1)
• 09:00–09:20: Free practice 1 (Serie 2)
• 13:30–13:50: Free practice 2 (Serie 1)

• 14:00–14:20: Free practice 2 (Serie 2)
• 17:55–18:15: Qualifying (Serie 1)
• 18:25–18:45: Qualifying (Serie 2)

Saturday 9 May

• 11:30–12:00: Race 1 (Groups B and C)
• 17:15–17:45: Race 2 (Groups A and B)

Sunday 10 May

• 08:30–09:00: Race 3 (Groups A and C)
• 13:50–14:20: Final race

How to follow: Free practice and qualifying sessions are not broadcast, but ACI provides  live timing. Races are live-streamed on ACI’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Weather forecast: Cloudy on Friday with rain possible in the morning. Calm, sunny weather is expected on Saturday before clouds and rainstorms arrive on Sunday.

What to know: The Misano World Circuit will be hosting the first round of the 2026 Italian F4 season. A total of 47 drivers will join the grid this weekend, setting a record for the highest number of cars present in any F4 race in Europe

To account for the larger grid, a new points system has been established for the 2026 season, with the top 15 drivers earning points.

Every Italian F4 season tends to bring quite a lot of driver changes between teams, and 2026 is no exception. Niccolò Maccagnani makes the move from BVM Racing to Prema Racing, while Oscar Repetto goes from Cram Motorsport to PHM Racing. Florentin Hattermer switches from Jenzer Motorsport to the new Trident team and Elia Weiss joins Jenzer instead after his season with Cram Motorsport.

For a complete overview of the new rules and all the competitors, read our forthcoming Italian F4 season guide, to be released later today.

Report by Julien Thoinet

British F4: Round 2, Brands Hatch

Circuit: Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, 1.944 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+1)

Friday 8 May

• 09:35–End: Practice 1
• 13:35–End: Practice 2

Saturday 9 May

• 10:00–10:35: Qualifying
• 16:10–16:30: Race 1 

Sunday 10 May 

• 12:10–12:30: Race 2
• 16:35–17:00: Race 3 

How to follow: Race one will be available for all viewers on the British F4 YouTube page. Races two and three will be available on ITV4 and ITVX for UK viewers and on the British F4 YouTube page for international viewers. Live timing for all sessions can be found on TSL Timing.

Weather forecast: Cool and cloudy all weekend with a moderate chance of rain across Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

What to know: Thirty F4 cars are taking to Brands Hatch’s shorter ‘Indy’ layout this weekend, and British F4 has introduced a new qualifying format to keep drivers from tripping over one another as they vie for pole.

Drivers will be split into two qualifying groups, with each getting 15 minutes to set their best laps, down from the typical 25-minute sessions of other rounds. The fastest driver from either session will receive pole for race three, with drivers in the polesitter’s session taking the odd-numbered slots on the grid and drivers from the other session filling out the even-numbered slots on the grid, as in F2 and F3 qualifying at Monaco. 

Dries Van Langendonck will be looking to extend his drivers’ championship lead after being stripped of his race three win at Donington Park by a five-second penalty given for contact with Theo Palmer. However, with a chasing pack of Joseph Smith, Ethan Jeff-Hall, Scott Kin Lindblom and Palmer, the McLaren junior could find his 15-point lead rapidly eroded with the slightest error. 

Last year’s fourth-placed driver, Tommy Harfield, and rookie León Hedfors will hope that the revised qualifying format brings them better results. Both found themselves forced to claw their way through the field, gaining 27 and 29 places respectively across the first two races before each being caught out in incidents in race three. 

Ella Lloyd and Piotr Orzechowski depart from the series for round two, with Lloyd preparing for the second round of the F1 Academy season in Canada at the end of May and Orzechowski taking his first of three absences due to public exams. 

In place of Orzechowski, Chris Dittmann Racing will field Canadian driver Autumn Fisher. The 18-year-old made her F4 debut earlier this year in French F4, in which she currently sits 29th in the standings after one round. 

Report by Gavin Guthrie

Read the previous round’s report here.

From the studio: Want to hear more about the upcoming race weekend? Check out the latest episode of Feeder Focus from the Feeder Series Podcast, available now on all major podcast platforms.

Indy NXT: Rounds 5–6, Indianapolis

Circuit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, 3.925 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Friday 8 May

• 08:00–08:45: Practice
• 12:00–12:30: Qualifying
• 16:00–17:00: Race 1 (35 laps)

Saturday 9 May

• 14:30–15:30: Race 2 (30 laps)

How to follow: All sessions will be streamed live on IndyCar Live. Live timing will be available on the Indy NXT website.

Weather forecast: Partly sunny on Friday with a moderate chance of rain. Decreasing clouds Saturday with a low chance of rain. 

What to know: Six weeks after the double-header at Barber Motorsports Park, the 24 Indy NXT drivers are back on track this weekend for another double-header at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. 

Last time out at Barber, Nikita Johnson and Alessandro de Tullio were victorious, with Johnson retaking the championship lead by 23 points over Andretti Global driver Max Taylor. Tymek Kucharczyk is third, 33 points behind the championship leader. The Pole is the only driver this season to have finished every race in the top five.

Lochie Hughes and Myles Rowe, who ended last year  third and fourth in the standings respectively, have endured tough starts to the season. Andrettia’s Hughes is currently seventh, 76 points behind Johnson, while Abel Motorsports’ Rowe sits ninth, 81 points behind.

This weekend will be more condensed than normal, with practice, qualifying and race one all scheduled for Friday and race two scheduled for Saturday.

There are no driver changes.  

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF Pro 2000: Round 2, Indianapolis

Circuit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, 3.925 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Thursday 7 May 

• 13:05–13:50: Test 1
• 15:15–16:05: Test 2
• 17:20–17:50: Practice

Friday 8 May

• 11:20–11:40: Qualifying

Saturday 9 May

• 08:55–09:45: Race 1 (25 laps)
• 13:20–14:05: Race 2 (25 laps)

How to follow: All sessions will be streamed live on the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel. Live Timing will be available on the USF Pro 2000 website.

Weather forecast: Sunny on Thursday. Partly sunny on Friday with a moderate chance of rain. Decreasing clouds Saturday with a low chance of rain. 

What to know: USF Pro 2000 is back this weekend for a double-header at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Frankie Mossman leads the USF Pro 2000 championship after the first two races of the season on the streets of Arlington, Texas, where the VRD Racing driver finished second in race one and third in race two. Leonardo Escorpioni is second in the standings, three points behind Mossman. The 2025 USF Juniors champion, originally signed to race in USF2000 with Zanella Racing, will shift his focus to USF Pro 2000 with Turn 3 Motorsport after being victorious in race one and finishing eighth in race two in Arlington. Reigning USF2000 champion Jack Jeffers comes into this weekend in third place in the standings. 

There are three new drivers on the grid. Mayer Deonarine will make his USF Pro 2000 debut with Pabst Racing. The 17-year-old Canadian previously competed in 20 GB4 races in various stints spread over 2024 and 2025.

Jack William Miller returns to the series driving for Exclusive Autosport after spending two seasons in Indy NXT. In 2025, the 22-year-old finished 10th in the Indy NXT standings. 

Fatboy Racing also returns to the grid with Charles Finelli behind the wheel. Finelli is a 62-year-old gentleman driver who has been competing in selected events in the series since 2016. His most recent USF Pro 2000 event was the 2025 Road America round last June.

Logan Adams will miss the event to compete in the Mustang Cup at the Circuit of The Americas, while Leandro Juncos, who is also an engineer for Juncos Hollinger Racing in Indy NXT, will miss the round after competing for TJ Speed Motorsports last time. Evan Cooley and Anthony Martella, who drove for Exclusive Autosport, will return to USF2000 after making guest appearances for the team in Arlington. Jay Howard Driver Development’s Tanner DeFabis is absent from the entry list entirely.

Report by Vincent van der Hoek

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF2000: Round 2, Indianapolis

Circuit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, 3.925 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC−5)

Thursday 7 May

• 12:00–12:50: Test 1
• 14:10–15:00: Test 2
• 16:35–17:05: Practice 

Friday 8 May

• 10:45–11:05: Qualifying
• 14:45–15:25: Race 1 (15 laps) 

Saturday 9 May

• 08:00–08:40: Race 2 (15 laps) 
• 12:30–13:10: Race 3 (15 laps)

How to follow: All sessions will be streamed live on the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel. Live Timing will be available on the USF Pro 2000 website.

Weather forecast: Sunny on Thursday. Partly sunny on Friday with a moderate chance of rain. Decreasing clouds Saturday with a low chance of rain. 

What to know: After a break of more than two months, USF2000 is back on track for its second weekend of the season. Twenty drivers are set to take part in three races spread across two days.

Sebastián Garzón leads the USF2000 standings after winning both races in St Petersburg. The biggest news of the weekend, however, is the promotion of nearest rival Leonardo Escorpioni to USF Pro 2000. The Brazilian currently sits second in the USF2000 standings after finishing on the podium twice in the opening round, but in his USF Pro 2000 guest appearance for Turn 3 Motorsports in Arlington, he was victorious in race one and finished eighth in race two. This puts the 16-year-old in second place in the USF Pro 2000 Championship as well. With his promotion, Garzón’s next closest rival is third-placed João Vergara on 40 points.

Two new drivers are on the grid this weekend. One of them is Andretti junior Oliver Wheldon, who will make his debut in the series for VRD Racing after being too young to compete in the opening round at St Petersburg. The 15-year-old American, the younger son of the late Dan Wheldon, finished fifth in USF Juniors last year.

Elías Vignola is the other new driver on the grid. The 15-year-old Mexican will make a guest appearance with DEForce Racing. He currently competes in USF Juniors with the team, in which he is 17th in the standings after six races.

Other driver changes for this weekend are drivers who made one-off appearances at St Petersburg. DEForce’s Brady Golan VRD drivers Colin Aitken and Teddy Musella are returning to USF Pro 2000, while Naim Saleh of Jay Howard Driver Development and Connor Aspley of Exclusive Autosport are not on either series’ grid this weekend. The latter is also racing full-time in USF Juniors and is 15th in the standings.

Report by Vincent van der Hoek

Read the previous round’s report here.

Kyojo Cup: Round 1, Fuji 

Circuit: Fuji Speedway, 4.563 km

Schedule: All times local (UTC+9)

Thursday 7 May

• 10:00–10:30: Free practice
• 13:40–14:10: Free practice
• 15:00–15:30: Free practice

Friday 8 May

• 09:50–10:20: Free practice
• 13:40–14:10: Free practice
• 15:15–15:45: Free practice

Saturday 9 May

• 09:30–09:50: Qualifying
• 15:00–15:25: Sprint race

Sunday 10 May

• 14:00–14:40: Final race

How to follow: Qualifying and races will be broadcast on the Inter Proto Series x KYOJO CUP Channel with Japanese commentary.

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy on Friday and Sunday; mostly sunny on Saturday.

What to know: The Kyojo Cup returns to Fuji Speedway to usher in its 10th season and its second with the KC MG-01 F4-spec car, originally used in the FIA Motorsport Games F4 Cup in 2019 and 2022. This year, the championship boasts its most internationally diverse grid yet, with six of the 20 drivers and one of its 12 teams hailing from outside Japan. 

Mako Hirakawa, who normally drives for Rookie Racing, will be absent this weekend.

Prior to the season’s start, Fuji Speedway hosted an audition for drivers wishing to compete in the Kyojo Cup in 2026, as well as three two-day tests in February, March, and April. The circuit will host all five of the 2026 season’s events, each of which features two races.

Get to know this year’s competitors and find out what’s in store for the season in our forthcoming season guide. 

Report by Anabelle Bremner

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: Alex Galli