Zdeněk Chovanec

Zdeněk Chovanec López (9 October 2004 – 18 July 2026), otherwise known as Zdeněk Chovanec Jr. or simply Zdeněk Chovanec, was a Czech, Portuguese, and Venezuelan racing driver. He notably raced in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Charouz Racing System.

Chovanec raced with Double R Racing in the Euroformula Open Championship in 2021, and made the switch to FIA F3 with Charouz Racing System prior to round five of the championship, following Reshad de Gerus' departure from the team. He previously competed in the Italian F4 Championship in 2020.

Early career

Karting Zdeněk Chovanec López was born in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela on 9 October 2004, to a family with Czech roots. He started karting professionally in 2018 at the age of 14 while living in Portugal, fairly late compared to other drivers.

Lower formulae 2020 In early 2020, Chovanec made his car racing debut, competing with Xcel Motorsport in the 2020 Formula 4 UAE Championship. He was seventh in the standings with two podium finishes. He then went on to race with Bhaitech in the Italian F4 Championship, finishing 17th in the championship with eighteen points.

2021 Chovanec started 2021 stepping up to the F3 Asian Championship for the first round of the season with BlackArts Racing, and scored points in only his third race. He later signed with Double R Racing to compete in the Euroformula Open Championship. After five rounds in which he generally was a backmarker, he moved to Charouz Racing System to take part in the remaining five events of the 2021 FIA F3 season, replacing Reshad de Gerus. He achieved a best finish of 20th twice and finished second last in the championship.

2022 Chovanec driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2022 Spielberg Formula 3 round. In 2022, Chovanec drove for MM International Motorsport in BOSS GP. Chovanec also drove for Charouz Racing System in his return to the 2022 FIA F3 season in Silverstone, replacing Lirim Zendeli. In the sprint race, Chovanec caused a collision with teammate László Tóth and retired; he was given a three-place grid penalty ahead of the feature race. He was retained at Spielberg, where in the feature race he was involved in an accident with teammate Francesco Pizzi, as the Italian spun Chovanec out of the race. However, for the Budapest round, Chovanec was replaced by Christian Mansell. Chovanec ended the season 40th and last in the standings with no points.

Sportscar career 2023 season The 2023 season would see Chovanec making a move to sportscar racing, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the GetSpeed Performance alongside Lance Bergstein and Aaron Walker in the Silver Cup class of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. However, he withdrew from the season before the opening round. Chovanec made a lone appearance in the LMP3 class of the Ultimate Cup Series, driving at Estoril with TS Corse.

Chovanec stepped away from racing in late 2024 due to "personal issues". Despite this, in early 2025, he would make a one-off test for the Fast Track Racing team at Daytona International Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series. This would turn out to be his last time in a race car.

Chovanec died on 18 July 2026, at the age of 21.

Racing record

Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2019 IAME Winter Cup - X30 Senior Monlau Junior TeamN/A

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2020 Formula 4 UAE Championship Xcel Motorsport 19 0 0 0 2 88 7th Italian F4 Championship Bhaitech 14 0 0 0 0 18 17th 2021 Euroformula Open Championship Double R Racing 18 0 0 0 0 33 15th FIA Formula 3 Championship Charouz Racing System 8 0 0 0 0 0 34th F3 Asian Championship BlackArts Racing 2 0 0 0 0 2 18th 2022 BOSS GP Series - Formula Class MM International Motorsport 6 5 5 0 6 147 5th FIA Formula 3 Championship Charouz Racing System 4 0 0 0 0 0 40th 2023 Ultimate Cup Series - Proto P3 TS Corse 1 0 0 0 0 24 15th

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2020 Xcel Motorsport DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 DUB14 YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC14 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 YMC24 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 DUB24 DUB31 DUB32 DUB33 DUB34 7th 113

Complete Italian F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points 2020 Bhaitech MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 IMO11 IMO12 IMO13 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 IMO21 IMO22 IMO23 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 17th 18

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2021 Double R Racing POR1 POR2 POR3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 15th 33

Complete Ultimate Cup Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2023 TS Corse LMP3 Duqueine M30 - D08 LEC1 NAV HOC EST MAG LEC2 15th 24