Van Amersfoort Racing completes its Euroformula Open driver line-up by adding Sebastian Øgaard to the team. The Dane will compete together with Filip Ugran and Nicola Marinangeli in the 2022 edition of the EFO championship. Øgaard, who just turned eighteen last week, graduates to the 2022 Euroformula Open championship after securing the runner-up position in last year’s edition of the Spanish Formula 4 championship.
After an active career in international karting, which started with the Danish national Cadet Mini championship back in 2014, Sebastian made his F4 debut in 2019 during the last round of the Spanish F4 championship at Barcelona. During his time in karting, the youngster from Ejstrupholm, Denmark covered all major international karting events including the FIA Karting European- and World championship.
Where Øgaard only got a taste of F4 racing in 2019 through competing in the closing rounds of both the Danish and Spanish F4 championship, Sebastian added serious track time to his record the year thereafter, as he competed in both the Danish and Italian F4 championship. It was during that year that Øgaard claimed his first successes in single seater racing. From the six races he entered in the Danish F4 championship, Sebastian secured five podium finishes, of which four victories and a second position. With only having participated two-thirds of the championship, he was able to register an impressive third spot in the overall rankings.
Leading up to his maiden Euroformula Open campaign, Øgaard competed successfully in the Spanish F4 championship last year, securing podium finishes in all but one round, giving him a respectable second position in the championship.
2022 sees Sebastian taking a step up on the motorsport ladder by entering the Euroformula Open championship. He will compete alongside his teammates Filip Ugran from Romania and Italian Nicola Marinangeli.
Øgaard is excited about his move to the EFO championship and his new team, Van Amersfoort Racing: “I feel ready to make the switch to a higher level of racing. My time in Formula 4 has prepared me well and I cannot wait to get going in the EFO championship. I am very thankful for the opportunity to race with Van Amersfoort Racing this season. They performed well in the championship last year and claimed podium finishes as well as the Rookie Championship title! For sure I will face a learning curve, but I am extremely eager to learn and perform! Can’t wait to get started with winter testing in Barcelona!”
Having raced Formula 4 for two full seasons, Øgaard has gathered a substantial amount of experience, which will surely benefit him during the upcoming season. The Euroformula Open is a competitive championship that acts as the perfect training ground for drivers to eventually progress to the FIA F3 and F2 championship.
”We are happy with Sebastian’s joining” says Rob Niessink, VAR’s CEO. He continues:” It is clear that Sebastian has a good portion of raw talent. He is an intelligent driver and has a natural ability to communicate well with the team, which will obviously help him progress. Of course, we realise that this is his first year in the EFO car, so it will not be a walk in the park for him, but we believe that he and his teammates form a great pack of drivers that are able to pull out the best of each other!”
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).