Valerio Rinicella has decided to keep in the family for his promotion to the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA). The 16-year-old Roman will continue at MP Motorsport as he steps up from Spanish Formula 4.
Having started his motorsport career with the Dutch team two seasons ago, the talented Italian has found no reason to look elsewhere for his graduation to the next level, following a successful second season in the Spanish Formula 4 Championship in which he proved a consistent frontrunner. Building on his pair of podiums in 2022, Rinicella collected his first two wins, 12 podiums and four pole positions on his way to a close third in the 2023 championship. Now he is heading to FRECA with MP Motorsport, underlining the value of the single-seater talent ladder constructed by the Dutch outfit.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be staying with MP for my debut season in FRECA”, said Rinicella. “It’s a great new challenge in Europe’s most competitive series at Formula Regional level, and I am certain that staying in a trusted environment will ease the transition. It will help me to focus on the car and the job ahead and no doubt shorten my learning curve ahead of the 10-round season. It’s going to be a long and tough year on some of the most exciting circuits in Europe, so I can’t wait to get started!”
“In the past two seasons Valerio has become a valued member of our Spanish F4 line-up”, said MP Motorsport’s team principal Sander Dorsman. “In fact, he proved to be our team leader in the 2023 title race, in which he challenged for victories throughout and bagged a few wins of his own as well. We feel that he is more than ready to graduate to FRECA, and look forward to helping him perform in his rookie season in this highly competitive championship.”
Before stepping up to Formula 4, Rinicella plied his trade in the Italian karting scene, moving into the WSK Super Master Series and Euro Series at 60 Mini level in 2019. In a pandemic-restricted 2020 season, Rinicella was a regular top-five runner in the FIA European Karting Championship at OK Junior level while also taking in WSK’s Euro Series and Super Master Series. In 2021, he continued in the same series, now racing at OK level, before eyeing his move to single-seaters.