Junior announcements aplenty in GP2, GP3, Formula Renault 3.5 - MotorSportsTalk

It has been a busy few days in the world of junior motorsport, with a number of driver announcements being made across the racing ladder.

Earlier today, we received confirmation that GP3 runner-up and former F2 champion Dean Stoneman has joined Red Bull’s junior programme for the 2015 season, securing a seat in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship with DAMS as a result.

What makes Stoneman’s story all the more incredible is the fact that he was fighting cancer just four years ago – a fight he won to resume his racing career. He is joined in the Red Bull junior programme by European karting champion Callum Ilott and the returning Pierre Gasly.

Besides Red Bull’s junior movement, here’s a quick run-down of the other announcements from the past few days:

GP2

Rene Binder (pictured) returns for a second full season in GP2, moving from Arden International to Trident where he will race alongside Ferrari junior Raffaele Marciello. “We met Rene at the end of the 2014 season and we appreciated the efficiency of his driving style, which is clean and aggressive,” Trident owner Maurizio Salvadori said. “The lap times set were extremely interesting.”

GP3

Campos Racing will make its debut in the GP3 Series in 2015, and has wasted little time in confirming the first of its drivers. Alex Palou and Zaid Ashkanani will both make their debuts in the series this year. Palou, 17, raced in EuroFormula last year, whilst Ashkanani won the Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East Challenge in 2014.
Alex Bosak of Poland will race for Arden in GP3 this year, as confirmed last week.

Formula Renault 3.5

As above, Dean Stoneman joins defending champions DAMS for the new season, racing alongside McLaren junior Nyck de Vries.
Meindert van Buuren joins Lotus for the new 3.5 campaign, racing alongside the returning Mathieu Vaxiviere.
Nicholas Latifi completes Arden’s line-up for 2015, joining Egor Orudzhev.
Alfonso Celis Jr. will be a busy boy in 2015, racing in both Formula Renault 3.5 and GP3. He was confirmed at AVF for the new season yesterday.
Roy Nissany, son of one-time F1 test driver Chanoch Nissany, will race for Tech 1 Racing in 2015.
Bruno Bonifacio graduates to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2015 with International Draco Racing, forming an all-Brazilian line-up alongside Pietro Fantin.

FIA F3 European Championship

Lance Stroll of Canada continues in the Ferrari Driver Academy, moving up into a seat at Prema Powerteam in the FIA F3 series after winning the Italian F4 title last year.
Callum Ilott graduates to single seaters with Red Bull backing, racing for Carlin.

Keep an eye out for some of these names as a few will undoubtedly be gracing F1 at some point in the future.

Follow @LukeSmithF1

It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗪𝗔𝗦. 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖.@EagleRaceway went above and beyond in their return to the main stage with the High Limit Sprint Car Series tonight!

pic.twitter.com/H3XKQEOpg6

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 7, 2023

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

Read more about Motorsports