First half
Euroformula Open began its eleventh season with an all-time low of six cars competing at Portimão. BVM’s Francesco Simonazzi, the only non-Motopark driver present, took pole position. He kept the lead at the start of the opening race, with Levente Révész, Brad Benavides and Lorenzo Fluxá initially slotting in behind him before the Hungarian dropped behind the other two drivers later on. Fernando Barrichello started race two from first place, but finished the race last after spending it dropping down the order. Jakob Bergmeister took the lead first, but then fared similarly and dropped back, allowing Benavides to take the win ahead of Fluxá and Simonazzi. Race three saw Fluxá lead the field. After a calm opening stage, a safety car bunched the field up and the Spaniard had to fend off an attack from Benavides. The American then locked up, allowing Simonazzi past him before he was able to get back into second later on. This saw Benavides end the first round atop the standings, seven points ahead of Fluxá. [19]
Benavides led the seven cars competing at the Hockenheimring in qualifying to take pole position for the first race. A slow start dropped him to third behind Révész and Simonazzi, but he immediately started attacking the Italian and retook second on lap three. Six laps later, he repeated the feat to take the lead from Révész. Simonazzi also got past the Hungarian, but penalties handed Bergmeister third place as Simonazzi dropped to sixth. That then gave him pole position for the second race, where he initially fought off Bergmeister before Benavides took second. Simonazzi then held off the American for the remainder of the race to take the win. Motopark’s debutant Michael Shin started the third race from the front and spent the opening part battling Simonazzi, but came out ahead after briefly losing the lead but retaking it right away. Révész in third had to contend with Benavides before the latter dropped to fifth. Still, as Fluxá was absent, Benavides slightly increased his championship lead to 15 points over Simonazzi. [20]
Qualifying at Spa was held in the wet, and Simonazzi came out on top to claim pole position. Benavides used the slipstream to take the lead from third on the grid on the first lap as Motopark’s front-row starter Gerrard Xie stalled. Révész and Bergmeister followed Benavides past Simonazzi. The Hungarian then tried taking the lead, before Benavides got back past and Bergmeister claimed second. Race two saw Benavides climb from fifth on the grid to another win ahead of Bergmeister and Shin in a race filled with hotly contested duels - La Source and Les Combes saw multiple lead changes as drivers went three- and four-wide on the Kemmel Straight. Race three began in wet conditions behind the safety car with Bergmeister spinning out from third place. Révész then did the same, allowing Benavides into third. Reverse-grid pole sitter Xie led Shin to take his maiden Euroformula win. Simonazzi did not start the race due to car troubles and therefore had to watch from the sidelines as Benavides built up his championship advantage to 60 points. [21]
A round at the Hungaroring ended the first half of the championship. Shin took pole position in qualifying for the first race, but lost the lead to Benavides through the opening sequence of corners. The American went on to win the race, while Révész converted his fifth-place start to a podium. Simonazzi was classified sixth and last after having to pit with front wing damage. He bounced back to win the second race by twelve seconds from pole position. Bergmeister came second, unchallenged from behind all race, and Benavides came third after Barrichello went off track ahead of him when he tried to move into second at the end of the first lap. Simonazzi started race three from third and capitalised when Révész attacked Bergmeister for the lead and both went off and dropped out of contention. The Italian then led Benavides and Barrichello home to win by over 13 seconds. While Simonazzi took two wins, Benavides ended all three races on the podium and was therefore able to slightly extend his points lead to 63. [22]
Second half
Benavides claimed pole position for the first race at Paul Ricard, but both front-row starters had bad getaways, allowing Bergmeister to take the lead ahead of Simonazzi and Révész. The Hungarian then claimed second, and Simonazzi continued dropping down as Benavides and Barrichello also got past him. Révész closed up to Bergmeister at the front, but was unable to threaten his lead. NV Racing’s gentleman driver Paolo Brajnik started race two from first place, but Révész and Benavides soon caught up and overtook him. Rain started to fall, and Brajnik spun and was forced to retire. Five of the six drivers running fought for the podium in tricky, slippery conditions, with Benavides eventually coming out on top to take his sixth win of the season ahead of Révész and Simonazzi. Motopark’s debutant Enzo Richer had pole position for race three, but immediately dropped behind Révész, Barrichello and Benavides. The latter then got into second to end the weekend with a 91-point lead, while Barrichello won the Rookie title in third. [23]
Round six was held at the Red Bull Ring and Motopark's José Garfias took pole position on his debut. However, his first race, held in wet conditions, only lasted two corners before he was forced to retire. Benavides took the lead and won the race by 15 seconds. Simonazzi defended his second place as conditions deteriorated before falling behind Motopark's other debutant Edward Pearson and Révész in the final laps. Race two, also in wet conditions, began under a safety car. Pole-sitter Barrichello initially fell behind Shin and Simonazzi when the safety car was withdrawn but was able to fight back. He reclaimed second place from Simonazzi and caught up to leader Shin to retake the lead on lap ten. With Shin focused on keeping Simonazzi behind him, Barrichello was able to take his first win. Race three was dry and Shin started from first place. Barrichello, alongside him, made a poor start and fell back, allowing Shin to build a lead and win the race ahead of Benavides – who was now leading by 104 points – and Simonazzi. [24]
Barcelona hosted the penultimate round of the season and Benavides was fastest in qualifying for race one. He was attacked by Garfias early in the race but moved back into the lead a corner later and subsequently led every lap of the race to take his eighth win of the year. Garfias went off track but Pearson behind him was unable to capitalise and remained third. Vladislav Ryabov, returning to the series with Motopark after a one-off appearance in 2023, started race two in first place. Simonazzi immediately overtook him and Barrichello and Benavides also followed. Benavides then took second, with the positions then remaining unchanged and Simonazzi claiming his fifth win of 2024. Barrichello was on pole for race three but Ryabov took the lead at turn one at the start and took his first single-seater victory. Pearson and Garfias also overtook Barrichello to complete the podium. Benavides finished fifth, ahead of Simonazzi. His lead now stood at 94 points, and with 79 points still up for grabs, he was crowned champion. [25]
At the season finale at Monza, Benavides secured another pole position. Yevan David, debuting as a guest driver for Motopark, started from second place and overtook Benavides at turn four to claim the lead. David managed to establish a comfortable gap as the rest of the field engaged in battles behind him. Amidst the competition, Simonazzi advanced from sixth to second place, while Garfias completed the podium. [26] Benavides started a very wet race two from pole and maintaining his lead throughout to achieve a lights-to-flag victory. Garfias finished second, and David climbed from sixth to third, while Simonazzi retired after a collision with Barrichello. Ryabov began the final race from pole position, but an incident involving four cars at the opening chicane allowed David to take the lead. Although he briefly lost it during a subsequent restart, David managed to regain control and held off Barrichello for the remainder of the race. Bergmeister concluded the season in third place, while Benavides finished fourth, ending 2024 with an 86-point lead. [27]
Benavides secured nine victories and an additional ten podium finishes during the 2024 Euroformula season, achieving a commanding championship win that faced little competition from other drivers. The season was marked by low participation, with a maximum of only eight cars competing in any race, reflecting Euroformula’s ongoing difficulties in attracting both drivers and teams for the third consecutive year. The presence of Benavides, a former Formula 2 driver, as the championship winner highlighted the challenges faced by the series. In response to these issues, a new car and a spec Toyota engine are set to be introduced in 2025, with the goal of reducing entry costs and revitalizing interest in the series. Whether these measures will restore Euroformula’s prominence and encourage larger grids remains to be seen.
