As more and more main seasons draw to a close, single-seater testing continued to ramp up in the first few weeks of October. Feeder Series tells you who was where in official and unofficial post-season tests.
By Marco Albertini
It’s a big week for testing coming up, with F3’s first official post-season taking place at Jerez this week. We’ll be covering that test – and other testing-related happenings – on several platforms later this week.
F2, F3, EC3: Ugochukwu and Pino test F2 cars across Spain
On 5 October, Speed Center’s previous-generation F2 cars were at Jerez for Ugo Ugochukwu (#1) and Alceu Feldmann Neto (#2).
A week later, more F2 and F3 machinery appeared in a one-day test at MotorLand Aragón. Regular teams Campos’ and Porteiro’s F2 and F3 drivers remained unidentified, but MM Motorsport is believed to have fielded Nico Pino, who last competed in junior single-seaters in 2022 and now competes in endurance racing.
Three teams brought Eurocup-3 machinery to the same Aragón test. Drivex’ two cars were driven by Bernardo Gentil (#3) and Simon Bulbarella (#6), while TC’s only car was in the hands of Rahim Alibhai (#11). Oscar Repetto (#33) drove one of Palou’s three cars, with Thomas Strauven driving another.
On 15 October, F3, Eurocup-3 and F4 cars took to Valencia for a one-day test. The only identified name was Franciszek Cegielski (#70) in one of GRS’ two EC3 cars.
GB3, GB4, F4: Two Ethans’ returns make headlines
On 6 October, GB3 cars were being tested at Silverstone. Lewis Wherrell and Theo Palmer piloted Hitech’s two cars, while VRD tested newcomer Arjen Kräling (#98). Xcel’s lone car was driven by Jaber Al Sabah, Arden’s by Leon Wilson, and Rodin’s by Abbi Pulling.
Two days later, GB3 and GB4 cars were on track for a one-day test at Snetterton. Hillspeed brought two cars, one of them for Ethan Nobels (#12), who has not appeared at a racetrack since he sustained serious injuries in a Brazilian F4 crash last year. Rodin expanded to three cars, fielding Pulling (#3), Maxim Rehm (#1) and newcomer Bernardo Bernoldi (#2), while Elite fielded a lone car for Fred Green (#19).
Elite also brought three GB4 cars for Henry Cameron (#5), John O’Donnell (#77) and an unidentified driver. Nitrous ADM fielded a lone car, but the identity of its occupant was unclear.
Newcomers LN4 Fusion made their first of several appearances across England at the same Snetterton test. They then tested at Croft five days later and most recently at Donington Park on 15 October. During those three tests, the team fielded cars for Ethan Jeff-Hall, who recently split from Argenti’s F4 team and the Mercedes Junior Programme, and Houzai “Darren” Jiang.
The Aragón test featuring F2, F3 and EC3 machinery also featured some GB3 entrants. VRD’s four cars were in the hands of Ryan Giannetta (#20), Patricio Gonzalez (#21), Rodrigo Gonzalez (#22) and Arjen Kräling (#98), while Elite’s three cars were driven by Matan Achituv (#17), Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso (#18) and Fred Green (#19), who formed their GB4 line-up in 2026.
EFO, F4: Italian F4 drivers feature at Mugello
Euroformula Open and F4 cars appeared at Mugello on 12, 13 and 14 October.
Among the Euroformula contingent, NV Racing brought Paolo Brajnik (#212), and G Motorsport brought Stig Larsen (#20) for day one only. BVM fielded two cars, one for Alessandro Famularo (#11).
Thirteen teams housed F4 machinery, mostly coming from Italian F4. R-ace GP’s usual five-car squadron was augmented by newcomer Ty Fisher (#36). Technorace’s three cars were driven by Musaad Albassam (#78), Antonio Errigo (#99) and an unnamed third driver. Over at US Racing, the team added PHM stalwart Iacopo Martinese (#29) in place of Arjen Kräling, mirroring their recent driver change in E4, while Prema added a car for Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy member Filippo Sala (#5), who made his F4 debut for the team in the E4 finale just before the test.
| Mugello, 12–14 October | P1 | P2 | P3 |
| EFO, Day 1 | BVM 1, 1:38.604 | BVM 2, +1.516s | Stig Larsen, +4.750s |
| F4, Day 2 | Luka Sammalisto, 1:49.396 | Dominik Šimek, +0.145s | Ary Bansal, +0.168s |
| F4, Day 3 | Augustus Toniolo, 1:49.163 | Kenzo Craigie, +0.059s | Luka Sammalisto, +0.072s |
USF Pro Championships: Fall Combine sees slimmer entry lists
The United States was the focal point of testing for the remainder of the week. Activities began with three days of running at Mid-Ohio for USF Pro 2000, USF2000 and USF Juniors on 13 and 14 October.
In USF Pro 2000, VRD brought one car for Leonardo Serravalle (#25) and Exclusive Autosport two for Evan Cooley (#90) and Anthony Martella (#93). Naim Saleh (#28) drove one of TJ Speed’s two cars. Turn 3 Motorsport’s two-car lineup was unidentified.
Six teams fielded USF2000 cars. Cole Medeiros (#3) and Edward Kennedy (#98) drove VRD’s two cars, while Olivia’s lone car was driven by Karol Pasiewicz (#25). DEForce’s only car was driven by Elías Vignola (#12), while Exclusive and PFH brought one car each for Brenden Cooley (#92) and Wian Boshoff (#67) respectively. Zanella’s three-car lineup remained unidentified.
At least six teams brought USF Juniors machinery. Olivia’s only car was driven by Royce Vega (#24), while PFH Racing fielded two cars for Mason Ward (#13) and Danny O’Gara (#67). Exclusive brought two cars for Jack Cushman (#91) and Cam Becker (#93), while Juan Garciarce (#14) piloted one of DEForce’s two cars. Axel Roberts (#06), Alessandro Truchot (#17) and Rigs Keyes (#30) were also present at the test, but it is unclear for which team they tested. JHDD and Zanella fielded two cars each, but none of the drivers were identified.
| Mid-Ohio, 13–14 October | P1 | P2 | P3 |
| USF Pro 2000, Day 1 | Anthony Martella, 1:17.134 | Turn 3 #44, +0.454s | Evan Cooley, +0.516s |
| USF Pro 2000, Day 2 | Anthony Martella, 1:17.036 | Turn 3 #44, +0.285s | Turn 3 #2, +0.319s |
| USF 2000, Day 1 | Cole Medeiros, 1:21.248 | Brenden Cooley, +0.236s | Elías Vignola, +0.246s |
| USF 2000, Day 2 | Karol Pasiewicz, 1:20.835 | Brenden Cooley, +0.442s | Edward Kennedy, +0.461s |
| USF Juniors, Day 1 | DEForce #20, 1:24.827 | Alessandro Truchot, +0.709s | Cam Becker, +0.852s |
| USF Juniors, Day 2 | Cam Becker, 1:24.945 | JHDD #8, +0.322s | Danny O’Gara, +0.429s |
The teams from the three USF Pro Championships series then took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for their annual fall combine.
Five teams fielded USF Pro 2000 cars. Exclusive’s duo from Mid-Ohio were joined by Jeshua Alianell (#91). Pabst Racing’s three cars were piloted by Brad Majman (#18), Colin Aitken (#19) and Eddie Beswick (#20). Turn 3’s only entry was driven by Vivek Kanthan (#2), while JHDD fielded JT Hoskins (#7) and Elliot Cox (#8). Saleh was joined by “Sam Urus” (#27) at TJ Speed.
USF2000 cars were fielded by five teams. VRD’s trio was composed of Connor Willis (#3), Jack Mohrhardt (#78) and Cole Medeiros (#98). DEForce featured Cal Peter (#11) and Elias Vignola (#19), while Boshoff and Cooley drove PFH and Exclusive’s lone cars. Zanella’s three cars were piloted by Olivier Mrak (#23), Grant Mitchell (#28) and Jared Oselka (#29), who all drove for the team in USF Juniors this year.
Six teams fielded USF Juniors cars, but all of them brought one car each. JHDD’s car was driven by Adam Sana (#6), VRD brought Ocean Lopez (#30) and chief engineer Jacob Loomis (#12), and Zanella brought rookie Gianmatteo Rousseau (#69). Garciarce returned to DEForce, while Ward and Cushman returned to PFH and Exclusive respectively.
| Indianapolis, 17–18 October | P1 | P2 | P3 |
| USF Pro 2000, Day 1 | Brad Majman, 1:21.2209 | Anthony Martella, +0.0486s | Evan Cooley, +0.1947s |
| USF Pro 2000, Day 2 | Brad Majman, 1:21.1681 | Anthony Martella, +0.0531s | Vivek Kanthan, +0.0592s |
| USF2000, Day 1 | Lucas Nanji, 1:24.7287 | Karol Pasiewicz, +0.3360ss | Cole Medeiros, +0.5195s |
| USF2000, Day 2 | Lucas Nanji, 1:24.9220 | Karol Pasiewicz, +0.0232s | Brenden Cooley, +0.2512s |
| USF Juniors, Day 1 | Gianmatteo Rousseau, 1:29.8007 | Juan Garciarce, +0.4373s | Mason Ward, +1.6144s |
| USF Juniors, Day 2 | Gianmatteo Rousseau, 1:29.8500 | Juan Garciarce, +0.4760s | Jack Cushman, +0.7397s |
Indy NXT: Álex Palou headlines Chris Griffis test
The day before the USF combine, Indy NXT held its annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on 16 October with 22 cars present.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s lineup was headlined by five-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou (#11), as Alexander Koreiba (#8), Frankie Mossman (#9) and Alessandro de Tullio (#10) completed the squadron. Abel Motorsports’ four cars were driven by former F2 driver Cem Bölükbaşı (#18), Niels Koolen (#32), Jacob Abel (#51) and Sophia Floersch (#77). Jose Garfias (#20) and Bryce Aron (#21) piloted Cape Motorsport’s two cars, while Andretti Global housed G3 Argyros (#26), Martinius Stenshorne (#27), Max Taylor (#28) and Jack Beeton (#29). HMD Motorsports likewise brought four cars, driven by Max Garcia (#6), Teddy Musella (#25), Leonardo Escorpioni (#55) and Tymek Kucharczyk (#71). AJ Foyt Racing’s squadron meanwhile was composed of Bart Harrison (#4), Sebastian Murray (#14), Matteo Nannini (#15) and Jack Jeffers (#92).
| Indianapolis, 16 October | P1 | P2 | P3 |
| Indy NXT | Álex Palou, 1:14.5050 | Tymek Kucharczyk, +0.3159s | Max Taylor, +0.3403s |
Brazil: EC3 machinery appears at Velocittà
As rumours intensify about a potential winter series in Brazil, Velocittà hosted a two-day test on 12 and 13 October for EC3 and F4 cars. Forti Academy (TMG) were the only team to run EC3 machinery, with Federico Díaz (#1) behind the wheel.
TMG also fielded three F4 cars, which were driven by Davi Mantoan (#45); Dante Monteiro (#59); and Valentino Manta and Nico Manta (#88), who took turns in the third car. Gustavo Delgado also drove for the team, but it is unclear which car he drove.
Cavaleiro fielded cars for Eduardo Salamonde (#26), Fernando Estevão (#82) and Marcella Assumpçao (#305), with Alexandre Louza also believed to have tested with the team in F4 machinery. Bassani were the only other team to be present at the test, with Henrique Werner (#10) and Elías Barbosa in their cars.
Other testing
On 6 October, Salzburgring was the host of a one-day test for Renauer’s F4 cars, which were driven by Ramon Göde (#8) and Viktor Papp (#32).
Over at Magny-Cours on the same day, Feed Racing held their winter tests with their F4 cars for Max Lacroix, István Vass, Franck Brandon and Zoë Cattet.
On the same day, Cremona saw LN4 Fusion field FREC machinery for James Egozi, who is now confirmed to be racing with the team in F3, whilst AKM brought a lone F4 car for Gioele Girardello.
Rixon Salvino (#7) and Sriyan Nuvvala tested AGI Sport’s Gen2 cars at The Bend earlier this month.
Header photo credit: James Black / Penske Entertainment
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