2024 Australian Formula Open

The 2024 Giti Australian Formula Open was a multi-event open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. This was the second season of the championship, founded by two-time Australian Gold Star winner Tim Macrow in 2023 as a direct successor to the Australian Formula 3 championship.

Tim Macrow Racing driver Ryan MacMillan won the AFO1 class title at the penultimate round of the season. Matthew Roesler (State Fleet Services) claimed the AFO2 title at the beginning of the final round, while Chris Huang, also driving for Tim Macrow Racing, won the AFO3 title by virtue of being the only competitor in the class for the first six rounds. Isaac McNeill, driving for Volante Rosso, won the AFO4 Class title after he won every race he took part in throughout the first five rounds.

Teams and drivers

The championship was structured in four classes. AFO1 encompassed all Formula 3 machinery, with several chassis and engine manufacturers represented. AFO2 catered to Toyota Racing Series, Formula Renault and older F3 cars. AFO3 served all other invitational entries, while AFO4 is reserved for Formula 4 cars. All cars ran on Giti tires, and all drivers and teams were Australian-registered.

Race calendar

The 2024 calendar was first announced on 23 November 2023. It consisted of seven rounds across six circuits mainly situated in southeast Australia, one more than in 2023 as a second round at Sydney Motorsport Park was added.

Race results

Season report

The second season of the Australian Formula Open began at Sandown Raceway, where Miles Bromley of TMR secured pole position. Bromley claimed his first single-seater victories by winning the initial two races, but an off-track excursion in the third race relegated him to seventh place. This allowed Kyle Evans of Gilmour Racing to secure the feature race victory and take a three-point lead in the AFO1 class standings. The AFO2 class featured only two entrants, with Matthew Roesler and Christopher Slusarski sharing wins in their privately run entries. Volante Rosso Racing's Isaac McNeill meanwhile dominated the AFO4 class, winning all three races of his debut circuit racing weekend.

Round two of the series at Winton Motor Raceway opened with Ryan MacMillan of TMR securing pole position before losing the lead and victory in the opening race to Bromley. In the second race, Bromley, now the championship leader, maintained his advantage, starting ahead of MacMillan and securing another win. However, the feature race saw MacMillan overtake Bromley to take victory, though Bromley retained the overall championship lead. In AFO2, Roesler was the sole entrant, allowing him to extend his points lead unopposed, while AFO3 once again did not attract any entries. Meanwhile, McNeill continued his dominant run in AFO4, further solidifying his lead in the standings.

Sydney hosted the next round, where TMR's Beau Russell secured pole position. He lost the lead to MacMillan at the start of race one and subsequently dropped two additional places due to a penalty for a start infringement. In race two, MacMillan dominated, leading from start to finish. The feature race saw Bromley reclaim the top spot, maintaining his points lead despite battling electrical issues throughout the weekend. While there were no entries in the AFO2 class, a significant milestone was achieved in AFO3 with the first-ever entry in series history, driven by Chris Huang in a TMR car. McNeill extended his winning streak in AFO4 to nine races to further solidify his points lead.

The Bend marked the midpoint of the season, where MacMillan became the first repeat pole sitter. He converted that pole into a faultless victory, followed by Bromley in second place. In the second race, MacMillan lost the lead to Russell, who took the win, while Bromley's retirement proved pivotal, allowing MacMillan to take the lead in the championship standings. The trend continued in the feature race, where MacMillan overtook Russell to secure another victory, while Bromley finished in fifth. In the other categories, all three classes featured triple winners: Slusarski prevailed in AFO2 against a four-car field, while Huang and BF Racing's Lachlan Evennett were the sole competitors in AFO3 and AFO4.

Round five of the championship took place at Queensland Raceway, and championship chaser Bromley took pole position. That would mark the only session he would finish in the lead, as MacMillan swiftly overcame Bromley's advantage in the first race, claiming victory and repeating the feat in race two to extend his points lead. In the feature race, Bromley initially took the lead, but after 15 laps of sustained pressure, MacMillan reclaimed the front position to secure another win. The competition in other classes was limited: George Kantzios of GK Racing was the only car entered in AFO2, while no cars were entered in AFO3. AFO4 saw the return of McNeill, and he took the class title after another triple win.

In round six at Sydney, points leader MacMillan capitalized on the absence of his closest rival Bromley, who missed the event due to a conflicting USF Pro 2000 test outing. MacMillan secured the title one round early with a dominant performance as he claimed pole position in qualifying, won all three races and set the fastest lap in each. Meanwhile, the AFO2 class title remained undecided, with Team Penrite's Rodney Baker winning the first two races and Kantzios securing victory in the feature race to close the gap to points leader Roesler, who endured a podium-less weekend. AFO3 had no entries, while in AFO4, TMR's Jayden Hamilton was the sole entrant, securing second place in the standings.

The season concluded with a round at Phillip Island. Championship leader MacMillan secured pole position in qualifying, but the opening day of the event was overshadowed by a medical emergency that resulted in the death of production car racing driver Andrew Rhodes-Anderson. As a result, the first race was cancelled. Returnee Bromley won race two, while MacMillan ended his title-winning season with a victory in the feature race. In the AFO2 category, Kantzios secured both race wins but was unable to prevent Roesler from clinching the class title. Huang, once again the sole AFO3 entry, only finished one race, while McNeill and Evennett emerged as the final AFO4 race winners of the year.

The second season of the championship experienced a decline in participation, with entries dropping from a minimum of 13 in the inaugural season to a maximum of 14 in 2024. The discontinuation of the S5000 Championship, previously the country's premier single-seater competition, eliminated a clear progression pathway for drivers. Simultaneously, the revival of Australia’s national Formula 4 series drew attention away from the AFO4 class by providing an FIA-sanctioned alternative. Further challenges are anticipated in 2025 with the introduction of the Formula Regional Australian Championship, which is expected to fragment driver interest even more, complicating the championship’s standing.

Standings

Scoring system

Cars classified as finished in race 1 and 2 were awarded points by the following structure:

The third race of the weekend, the longer Feature Race, awarded more points:

Drivers' standings

Notes

External links