Alfonso Celis Jr is returning to Fortec Motorsports Ltd to race in the 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 competition.
Born in Mexico City in 1996, Celis Jr started karting in 2009 and made his début in single-seaters in 2011 taking part in the LATAM Challenge Series with Megaracing. In 2012 Celis made the move to Europe and switched to the Formula BMW Talent Cup.
The young Mexican then signed with Fortec Motorsports for the 2013 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC season. He achieved eleven point-scoring finishes, including a podium in the closing race of the season at Zandvoort, finishing fourteenth in the overall series standings. During the 2013 season Celis Jr also competed in one-off entries to British Formula 3 and FIA European Formula 3 championships at Nürburgring and Zandvoort respectively with #TeamFortec.
For 2014 and 2015 Celis Jr graduated to the GP3 Series and was signed as development driver by the Sahara Force India F1 team for 2016, making his first event on-track appearance during free practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Alfonso Celis Jr is now returning to Fortec Motorsports following a season in Formula V8 3.5 with the AVF team. The championship has been renamed “World Series Formula V8 3.5” following approval at the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting last month. The 2017 series will partner the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) visiting three continents over nine meetings and featuring races in Austin, Mexico and Bahrain.
The last collective test of 2016 was held at the Circuito de Jerez on 5-7 December 2016, with more than 20 drivers participating over the three days. Alfonso Celis Jr topped the time sheet of the first morning session in the #1 Fortec Motorsports car.
Alfonso Celis Jr, driver Fortec Motorsports Formula V8 3.5 team
“I am so happy to be re-joining Fortec Motorsports. They were my number one team choice for 2017 and I look forward to sharing great success with them next season.”
Jamie Dye, team manager, Fortec Motorsports Formula V8 3.5 team
“It is great to have the Fonz back with us! We had a great year of 2.0 together in 2013 – he is a great kid. We had a good test in the 3.5 car recently, so we are ready to take on the Championship in 2017.”
Fortec Motorsports Press Release