Event: 06 Spa-Francorchamps
Date: 27th to 29th July, 2017
Circuit: Spa-Francorchamps / BEL
Track length: 7.004 kilometres
Lap record: 2m11.111s (Max Verstappen, 2014) 
Distance: 33 minutes plus one lap

This weekend, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship is going to kick off the second half of its 2017 season – and does so at one of the most demanding circuits in the world: Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The longest circuit on the FIA F3 European Championship calendar (7.004 kilometres) is very popular with the teams and drivers of the series. A flawless lap at the Ardennes rollercoaster represents a true challenge for every racing driver. Championship leader Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam) wants to use the race meeting at the Belgian Grand Prix venue for consolidating his lead in the drivers’ championship while his chasers around Sweden’s Joel Eriksson (Motopark) want to prevent the German from doing so. Due to the Spa 24h race that will be held from Saturday to Sunday, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship race meeting will begin as early as Thursday and end on Saturday.

With four wins on his tally, Joel Eriksson currently holds second position in the championship. The best rookie of the 2016 season crossed the line as winner in one race each at Silverstone, Monza, Pau and Budapest. But the Swede celebrated his first triumph in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship already last year – at Spa-Francorchamps, in the third race of the meeting and after having finished runner-up in the second. Altogether, his most successful race weekend of his 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship campaign.

But Eriksson isn’t the only one who has fond memories of Spa. The same applies to Team Hitech Grand Prix that also won one of the races of last year’s Spa-Francorchamps meeting. And it goes without saying that Ralf Aron, Jake Hughes and Nikita Mazepin who race for the squad would love to repeat the success of last year’s Hitech GP driver George Russell. The team’s fourth regular, Tadasuke Makino, can’t contest the Belgian race meeting due to a hand injury. Meanwhile, Van Amersfoort Racing also secured a podium last year – courtesy of Anthoine Hubert who finished runner-up in race two. Following Pedro Piquet’s first podium at the recent event at Norisring the team is on the way up and wants to tie in with this success in Belgium.

Right in time for the second half of the year, Carlin have announced a new signing. For part two of the season, India’s Ameya Vaidyanathan who also races in the EuroFormula Open will be teamed up with Jehan Daruvala, Ferdinand Habsburg und Lando Norris.

On Tuesday, the young drivers will be offered the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the demanding circuit during an official day of testing. This test will also be contested by the Belgian Formula Renault driver Max Defourny for Van Amersfoort Racing. Only after the tests, team and driver will decide if he is going to also contest the race weekend.

Joel Eriksson (Motopark): “I truly am looking forward to Spa-Francorchamps as racing there is great fun. It’s up and down, there are several ‘blind’ corner exits and Eau Rouge is legendary. Furthermore, Spa also offers you overtaking possibilities and allows you to fight for your position. And it also feels great to come back to a place where I already celebrated several successes – not only in Formula 3 but also in Formula 4. And I’m relaxed when it comes to my position in the championship. I have to admit that the Norisring weekend didn’t run too well for me – but that was a street circuit and I know that we have a fast car that always delivers at permanent racetracks. And there are still five race meetings to go and a lot of points to be scored.”