Zdeněk Chovanec

Zdeněk Chovanec López (born 9 October 2004), otherwise known as Zdeněk Chovanec Jr. or simply Zdeněk Chovanec, is a Czech-Portuguese-Venezuelan racing driver, who most recently competed in the 2023 Ultimate Cup Series with TS Corse, and the FIA F3 Championship with Charouz Racing System.

He 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. Chovanec has previously competed in the 2020 Italian Formula 4 championship.

Originally from the Czech Republic but born in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, Chovanec started karting professionally in 2018 at the age of 14, fairly late compared to other drivers.

In early 2020 Chovanec made his car racing debut, competing with Xcel Motorsport in the 2020 Formula 4 UAE Championship. He was 7th 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 18 points.

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.

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. 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.

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.

*Season still in progress.