Christian Ho crowned 2024 Eurocup-3 champion

After a three-month wait, Singaporean race car driver Christian Ho has been crowned the 2024 Eurocup-3 champion, following an appeal at the International Automobile Federation's (FIA) International Court of Appeal.

On Feb 24, Formula racing series Eurocup-3 announced Campos Racing driver Ho as the 2024 champion after MP Motorsport's Emmo Fittipaldi Jr was hit with a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits during the season's penultimate race in Barcelona last November.

Ho had initially finished second in that race behind Fittipaldi, but has now been promoted to race winner following the appeal. The upgraded result gives him 255 total points to pip MP Motorsport's Javier Sagrera (250) to the championship.

It caps a dream debut in the Eurocup-3 for the 18-year-old, who finished the 2024 campaign with six race wins and three more podium finishes. He was also crowned rookies' champion last October.

The Eurocup-3, which was created in 2023, is a stepping stone for drivers from Formula 4 who are hoping to compete in F3. Each race weekend typically consists of two races, except in June, when drivers competed in three races in Portimao, Portugal.

Reflecting on his "incredible season", Ho, who will race in F3 in 2025, said: "The last few months have been a roller coaster of emotions and I'm still trying to process everything and take in the moment.

"But I'm very happy with my performance last season. It has been an amazing experience. I've learnt so much from each weekend and everyone involved, including my teammates, competitors and engineers. There were ups and downs for sure, but that's normal. The most important thing is that I learnt something new each time and emerged stronger.

"Going into the final rounds, I knew it was going to be close and I just made sure to be fully focused each weekend, so that I could get the best results possible. I'm glad everything paid off and I'm just so proud of how far we've come, having overcome a shaky start to the season."

The long wait to be crowned champion began after the final Eurocup-3 weekend in Barcelona, where Sagrera was provisionally declared the champion after placing fifth in the final race on Nov 10.

But a day earlier, Brazilian driver Fittipaldi won the first race ahead of Ho, but appeared to have left the track and gained an unfair advantage. At the time, the stewards deemed it a racing incident and Ho's team lodged an appeal immediately after the race.

While the appeal result was being determined, Sagrera was provisionally named champion with his title rival Ho - two points behind - placing second overall.

The Royal Spanish Automobile Federation's Appeal and Disciplinary Committee later overturned the stewards' decision - which would then have resulted in a penalty for Fittipaldi - and MP Motorsport took their appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal.

But on Feb 24, the FIA International Court of Appeal upheld the decision made by the former.

Eurocup-3 confirmed that a five-second penalty would be added to Fittipaldi's final result, giving Ho the race win and an extra seven points to pip his rival to the series championship.

While happy to clinch his first championship title, Ho is looking to put the off-track drama behind him and bring his winning form into the Formula 3 season, which flags off in Melbourne on March 14. The first Singaporean driver to race in F3, he will be in the colours of French team Dams Lucas Oil for the 2025 campaign.

Ho, who dreams of competing in F1 one day, said: "All these experiences have shown me that I'm always capable of pushing myself further and doing better, and that motivates me even more to keep going. I'm excited for what's to come in F3 and I'm going to bring this energy with me this year."