Nicola Marinangeli joins VAR for 2022 EFO Championship
Van Amersfoort Racing is pleased with the signing of Nicola Marinangeli. The 18-year-old from Foligno, Italy joins his recently announced teammate Filip Ugran for the 2022 Euroformula Open championship.
With only three years into his single seater racing career, Marinangeli steps up from competing in both the Asian F3 series and the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine last year.
At the age of fifteen, Nicola made his first appearance in Formula racing during the last round of the 2018 Italian F4 championship. This experience acted as a warm-up for his 2019 UAE Formula 4 campaign, before returning to a full season of Italian F4 racing in 2019. Still a learning year, Marinangeli gained valuable on- and off-track experience during the season, all leading to his first Formula 4 podium during the F4 UAE F1 Support Trophy round, held at the Yas Marina circuit at the end of 2019.
The youngster from Central Italy stayed in the UAE for a second F4 championship. A successful campaign as he collected his first victory during the 3rd round of the series at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit. After nineteen races, Nicola registered fifteen top ten classifications, of which nine podium finishes including three 3rd and 2nd positions, as well as his maiden victory.
Marinangeli moved up the ladder as he entered the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2020, immediately claiming a top five result during the opening round at Imola’s Temple of Speed. Towards the end of the year, Nicola also competed in selected rounds of the Formula Regional European Championship, securing top ten finishes in four out of six races.
In 2021, the Foligno native returned to the Middle East for the Asian F3 championship, followed by another season in the Formula Regional European Championship, which just merged with the Formula Renault Eurocup, transferring the series into the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.
Marinangeli comments on the upcoming season: “I am excited to enter the Euroformula Open championship. It feels like this is the right move for me after having gained experience in both FRECA and the Asian F3 last year. I am also looking very much forward to attacking the season together with Van Amersfoort Racing. I have tested with the team last year, which has left me with very good impressions. To be able to now get to work with them for a full season gives me extra confidence and I can’t wait for it all to start!”
By entering the Euroformula Open championship, Marinangeli takes another step towards higher levels of Formula racing. Over the years, the EFO series has proven to deliver well-prepared drivers to next levels of racing, such as the FIA F3 championship, for which VAR recently announced its entry.
Rob Niessink, CEO at Van Amersfoort Racing says: “We are happy to add Nicola to the team. He has developed himself as a driver and gained solid experience in a relatively short time. The EFO environment is tough and competitive, but we believe that Nicola will be able to perform well. He is eager when it comes to learning and self-development, and he communicates well with the team. As always, we are extremely dedicated to supporting him in this new challenge. We clearly look forward to having him in the car, starting with the winter test at Barcelona in March.”
The 2022 Euroformula Open series is held over nine rounds with three races each (Except for the Grand Prix du Pau, which is a two-race event). The season kicks-off at the Autódromo do Estoril in Portugal (April 29- May 01). Round two and three of the championship brings the team to France, where they first strike the streets of Pau for the Grand Prix du Pau (May 06-08), followed by the circuit of Paul Ricard (May 20-22). Round four takes place at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit (June 17-19), located in the beautiful surroundings of the Belgian Ardennes. The Hungaroring acts as the host for round five of the series (July 08-10), after which the team returns home for the summer break. The season picks up again with round six, held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located along Imola’s Santerno river (Sept.02-04). The team then moves straight to the Styrian Alps for round seven at the Red Bull Ring (Sept.09-11) and returns to Italy for the penultimate round of the season, held at the Temple of Speed, Monza (Sept.23-25). The season finale takes place mid-October and is hosted by circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain (Oct.14-16).
Van Amersfoort Racing is a professional racing team based in the Netherlands. It was founded by Frits van Amersfoort in 1975. Since then, Van Amersfoort Racing has built a long tradition of supporting up-and-coming drivers on their way to higher levels. Drivers like Max and Jos Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, Kevin Magnussen and Giedo van der Garde all raced for Frits van Amersfoort’s eponymous team in the early stages of their careers before making it into Formula 1.