Spanish racer Mari Boya will step up with Dutch outfit MP Motorsport for his debut season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Building on his previous experience with MP in Spanish Formula 4 and the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA), the 18-year-old from Lleida has chosen familiar surroundings for his first year in the Grand Prix supporting category.
Boya had his first acquaintance with MP’s Formula 3 car in the recent post season test at Jérez. Taking part in all three days of the test the Spaniard showed well during his first kilometres in the Dallara-Mécachrome F3-19 chassis, and will now embark on a season in FIA F3 that for the first time will also include rounds at Melbourne and Monaco.
“It’s a great feeling to know that this winter I will be gearing up for a vital next step in my career, moving up to FIA Formula 3 with MP Motorsport”, said Boya. “It’s so good to be able to do that together with MP. Having worked so well with the team in 2020 and in recent months I had no doubts in signing with them for my FIA F3 debut. I’m really looking forward to racing in front of all the Grand Prix teams and can’t wait for the first round in Bahrain!”
“We are very pleased to welcome Mari to our FIA Formula 3 team”, MP’s team principal Sander Dorsman said. “Although he will be new to FIA F3, he is very much a known quantity to us. In 2020, his first season in single-seaters with us in Spanish F4 was truly outstanding, and it was good to welcome him back into our FRECA team in the course of this season. He already showed much promise during the post-season tests. Now we are eager to use that as a platform to set him up for the strongest possible rookie year in FIA F3.”
Boya had a strong career in karting that included winning the FIA Karting Academy Trophy in 2018, before moving up into single-seater racing with MP Motorsport in 2020. With three wins, 14 podiums and two pole positions, the Spaniard took second in the Spanish F4 Championship. Boya followed that up with a two-year streak in FRECA, taking tenth in this year’s championship after rejoining MP midway through the season.
Photo: Dutch Photo Agency