Former Formula 3 driver Zdeněk Chovanec has died aged 21

The motorsport community is mourning the loss of Zdeněk Chovanec. It has now been revealed that the 21-year-old racing driver passed away last Saturday at the age of 21. Chovanec died in Trofa, Portugal.

Born in Venezuela, Chovanec had Czech roots and had lived in Portugal since his youth; he spent most of his career racing under a Portuguese licence and was regarded as a promising young talent in the country’s motorsport scene.

Zdeněk Chovanec began his career in 2018 in karting in Portugal, before quickly moving into formula racing. In 2020, he competed in the United Arab Emirates Formula 4 series and the Italian Formula 4 Championship, where he made a name for himself with strong results. In Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he secured podium finishes in the winter championship. In 2021, he moved to the Euroformula Open, where he was also a regular points-scorer. In 2022 and 2023, he took part in a few races in the official FIA Formula 3 series as part of the Formula 1 calendar with the Czech Charouz Racing System team, but was unable to score any points.

In addition, Chovanec contested six races in the Boss GP Championship in 2022, in which he secured five class victories.

In 2023, Zdeněk Chovanec turned his attention to endurance racing. He was due to contest the full GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with the German Mercedes-AMG team GetSpeed from Meuspath, but withdrew from the programme following the test sessions. His only race start since then was in an LMP3 prototype in the Ultimate Cup Series at Estoril.

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Details of the circumstances surrounding his death have not been released. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to Zdeněk’s family and friends.