Rodrigo Seabra from Portugal, is the first international driver that competes in the Swedish Aquila Formula 1000 series after having finished the Aquila Driver Academy International (ADAI), which is a part of the Aquila Driver Academy program.
This program is a project between Aquila Formula 1000 and the Racing Commission of the Swedish Automobile Sports Federation (SBF). Its purpose is to give international drivers the same opportunities as the native Swedes in terms of age, which is something that the Portuguese Automobile and Karting Federation has given its blessing to:
President Ni Amorim, states: “It was with special appreciation that we became aware of Rodrigo’s program for 2023, a young driver with a lot of talent and who we are certain will go far in his career. We know the importance and difficulties in moving from karting to competition in cars. The Aquila Formula 1000 series isn’t that well-known among us, but it seems to us to be quite interesting and a good alternative for drivers to develop and adapt to the new competitive reality. We will be cheering for Rodrigo’s success!”
The Aquila Driver Academy International program (ADAI) runs by the former Swedish Formula Star Alx Danielsson, where he acts both as an instructor and supervisor. Alx has developed a rigorous program for the youngsters that participates.
To be able to participate in ADAI you must have solid experience of international karting, just like Rodrigo.
- 2020 he finished National Rotax Champion in Portugal. The same year he also competed in the Benelux IAME championship plus the Italian IAME championship.
- 2021 he participated in the British Championship and also in IAME Euro Series Championship, finishing 6th place overall among 74 drivers. By the end of the year he went to the US and competed in “Super Nationals USA” in Las Vegas with the impressive result: 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the three heats.
- 2022 he became Rookie of the year in the German DKM Deutsch Kart Masters championship. He also raced the ADAC Kart Masters championship and was chosen by the Portuguese Automobile and Karting Federation to represent Portugal at the FIA Motorsport Games 2022.
A quite impressive track record for such a young driver!
“Through our ADAI program, we want to give young, but still very experienced international drivers an opportunity to, at an early stage, come to Sweden and start competing in a highly competitive Formula Racing series. The ADAI program, in combination with the cars we are using in the Aquila Formula 1000 series, is allowing us to accomplish that in a good manner.” says Dan Suenson, CEO of Aquila Racing Cars.
To be able to compete after completing the ADAI program, the Racing Commission of the Swedish Automobile Sports Federation is demanding contiguous progress reports from the Aquila Driver Academy program regarding Rodrigos development throughout the 2023 season. This is something supervisor and driver coach Alx Danielsson thinks will be without any problem for the lightning-fast Portuguese: “Rodrigo is a very determined, yet humble natural born driver and a very quick learner. I’m confident that he will complete this first year with an A-grade rating in the reports as well as being both safe on track and possibly quite far up the races.”
It will be very exciting to follow Rodrigos results and development during 2023!
