Rafael Villagomez will graduate to Formula 2 with Van Amersfoort, the team he drove for over the last three seasons in junior categories.
The 22-year-old Mexican racer contested the 2021 Euroformula Open for the team then moved up to Formula 3 the following season. He ended his first campaign 25th overall with two points, a result he repeated last year.Villagomez completes Van Amersfoort’s Formula 2 line-up alongside Enzo Fittipaldi, who joined the category in 2021.
The team’s CEO Rob Niessink said Villagomez’s long association with the team will work on their favour.
“As a team, we always aim for long-term cooperation with our drivers,” he said. “The benefits of such a long-term relationship are extremely valuable and will help Rafael to progress at a high pace, as his experience in F3 will do of course.
“As a result of his unparalleled determination, we’ve seen Rafael grow and mature strongly as a driver and he is ready for this next challenge. We are fully committed to offering him our continuous support, especially in this exciting next chapter of his racing career.”
Villagomez said he is “ready for this next level up” after his three seasons in F3-level competition.
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“The dynamics coming from an F2 car are overly impressive, but I grew great confidence after a successful post-season test in Abu Dhabi last year. The test has proven to both myself and the people around me that F2 is the right category for me to further develop myself as a driver.
“The team and I know each other very well, which will only be of great benefit to all of us. I look very much forward to continuing our journey together and getting the season started.”
With Villagomez’s promotion, just two seats are left unfilled in the Formula 2 grid for 2024. One is at PHM alongside rookie Joshua Duerksen, the other at Trident which has already signed multiple race winner Richard Verschoor.
Confirmed 2024 Formula 2 drivers
| Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
|---|---|---|
| MP | Franco Colapinto | Dennis Hauger |
| Rodin | Zane Maloney | Ritomo Miyata |
| ART | Zak O’Sullivan | Victor Martins |
| Prema | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Oliver Bearman |
| Hitech | Paul Aron | Amaury Cordeel |
| DAMS | Jak Crawford | Juan Manuel Correa |
| Virtuosi | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kush Maini |
| PHM by Charouz | Joshua Duerksen | TBC |
| Trident | Richard Verschoor | TBC |
| Van Amersfoort | Enzo Fittipaldi | Rafael Villagomez |
| Campos | Isack Hadjar | Pepe Marti |
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Formula 2
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SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
19th January 2024, 15:08
I do hope the size of his wallet does t put his car too much over the weight limit.