The Royal Spanish Motorsports Federation (RFEDA) will launch Eurocup-5 in 2027, creating a new national single-seater championship specifically aimed at drivers aged 14 and 15.
RFEDA has designed the category as an intermediate step between karting and the F4 Spanish Championship, with cost control, equal preparation opportunities and driver development at the centre of the project. EPIC Championships, which already organises F4 Spain and Eurocup-3, will manage the new series from a sporting perspective.
The championship will feature five events with two races at each meeting, alongside five official test days. RFEDA will also introduce financial support at both ends of the pathway, with a €42,000 grant available to an eligible leading Spanish karting driver and €100,000 awarded to the Eurocup-5 champion towards a future F4 Spain campaign.
Eurocup-5 creates new step between karting and F4
RFEDA approved the creation of Eurocup-5 following decisions taken by its Board of Directors and Delegate Commission on July 1. The federation intends the championship to strengthen Spain’s existing motorsport development structure by giving leading karters a more gradual route into single-seater competition.
Rather than asking young drivers to move directly from karting into F4 machinery, Eurocup-5 will provide an introductory category focused specifically on the first stage of car racing. Its regulations will place an emphasis on learning while attempting to prevent differences in financial resources from producing equally large differences in preparation.
The category will only accept drivers within a narrowly defined age range. Competitors must have turned 14 before the opening round of the season but cannot have turned 16 before the final event.
That eligibility structure positions Eurocup-5 as a championship specifically for drivers at the beginning of their single-seater careers rather than as another alternative category for more experienced competitors.
EPIC Championships to manage new series
EPIC Championships will assume responsibility for the sporting management of Eurocup-5.
The organisation already runs two established categories within the Spanish single-seater pyramid through F4 Spain and Eurocup-3. Adding Eurocup-5 therefore creates a more direct progression between the championships under the same organisational structure.
For young drivers, that continuity could provide early exposure to the sporting environment they may encounter as they advance. Eurocup-5 will also share most of its events with the F4 Spanish Championship and appear alongside Eurocup-3 at selected meetings.
Consequently, competitors will enter a paddock containing the categories they could target next rather than competing in an isolated junior series.
RFEDA sets €150,000 maximum seasonal budget
Cost control forms one of the central elements of the new championship.
RFEDA has established a maximum budget of €150,000 per season, with the federation aiming to prevent escalating expenditure from becoming a decisive factor in determining which drivers can compete successfully.
The championship will also impose strict limits on additional preparation. During the season, Eurocup-5 drivers will not be permitted to complete private testing, training or other sessions in any single-seater or similar competition vehicle.
Karting practice will remain permitted, allowing drivers to continue training without creating the same potential advantage available through extensive private car testing.
RFEDA intends those restrictions to ensure competitors arrive at official events with broadly equal preparation opportunities. Teams and drivers will therefore need to maximise the championship’s designated test programme rather than supplementing it with extensive private running.
Five official test days form part of 2027 programme
Eurocup-5 will hold five race meetings during its inaugural season, with two races scheduled at each event.
That gives drivers a 10-race championship programme during their first stage of single-seater development. Five official test days will accompany the race calendar and provide structured opportunities for drivers to gain additional mileage.
The championship will share the majority of its weekends with F4 Spain, while some meetings will also feature Eurocup-3. RFEDA therefore intends to place drivers inside an established professional single-seater environment immediately after their transition from karting.
The compact calendar also aligns with the championship’s focus on controlling costs. Instead of creating a large number of race and private test days, Eurocup-5 will concentrate its programme around official running available to the entire field.
€42,000 grant supports move from Spanish karting
RFEDA will also introduce financial assistance aimed at helping a leading karting driver make the transition into the new championship.
The best eligible junior driver in the 2026 Hyundai Spanish Karting Championship will receive a €42,000 grant towards a 2027 Eurocup-5 campaign.
However, the scholarship will target drivers who can demonstrate that they possess the remaining funding required to complete the full championship season. RFEDA therefore intends the award to contribute towards a complete programme rather than fund only part of an incomplete campaign.
The initiative creates a direct connection between the federation’s national karting structure and its new entry-level single-seater series, establishing a clearer route for drivers attempting to progress without immediately finding the complete budget themselves.
Champion earns €100,000 towards F4 Spain move
Eurocup-5 will also provide a substantial prize for the driver who wins its inaugural championship.
The 2027 champion will receive €100,000 to put towards participation in the F4 Spanish Championship. That creates a defined sporting and financial pathway from karting through Eurocup-5 and into the next level of single-seater racing.
Combined with the €42,000 karting grant, the structure provides incentives both for entering and graduating from the championship.
RFEDA has consequently designed Eurocup-5 not simply as another standalone title but as part of a progression system. A successful driver could earn support to move from Spanish karting into Eurocup-5 before competing for a significantly larger prize towards an F4 campaign.
ADESS develops car specifically for young drivers
Eurocup-5 will use a single-seater developed specifically for this introductory stage of competition.
ADESS has designed the chassis, with the championship placing high safety standards and development-appropriate performance among its priorities. The technical regulations will also seek to minimise performance differences between teams and keep greater emphasis on driver ability.
Former Formula 1 engineer Stéphane Chosse founded ADESS, which has experience developing competition vehicles and has worked as an official LMP3 prototype manufacturer.
The new car will therefore serve a different purpose from simply producing the highest possible performance level. Instead, its role will centre on giving young drivers a suitable platform in which to learn the techniques required for more advanced single-seaters.
Eurocup-5 strengthens Spanish single-seater pyramid
The creation of Eurocup-5 adds another defined stage to Spain’s increasingly structured junior racing pathway.
Drivers will now have an RFEDA-backed national championship specifically designed to sit between karting and F4 Spain, rather than immediately making the significant jump between the two disciplines.
Strict limits on private single-seater testing, a €150,000 seasonal budget cap and a five-event calendar form the basis of RFEDA’s attempt to control costs and preserve competitive equality. At the same time, official testing and shared weekends with F4 Spain and Eurocup-3 will introduce competitors to a professional single-seater environment from their first season in cars.
The financial incentives further connect each stage of the pathway. An eligible karting driver can receive €42,000 towards entering Eurocup-5, while the eventual champion will earn €100,000 towards graduating to F4 Spain.
When Eurocup-5 begins in 2027, RFEDA will therefore add a new foundation to its national development structure, targeting 14 and 15-year-old drivers taking their first step from karting towards international single-seater competition.
