Photo: FNacional

The last two Renault Sport-affiliated Formula Renault series on the planet are being rebranded for 2022, and also undergoing technical changes.

Argentinian FR2.0 has an all-new look this season, changing its name to Formula Nacional Argentina and adding the halo cockpit protection device to the chassis it was already using.

It will make its delayed start this week at the Bahia Blanca circuit, that has returned to use in major competitions after a decade of no racing there. FNacional had previously planned for its season opener to be in February, and much of its 2022 calendar is still yet to be formally announced.

In addition to the extra weight from the halo, wider tyres will be introduced that will change the handling of the cars.

FNacional claims to be Argentina’s only single-seater series with national championship status this year, despite the presence of the FIA-endorsed Formula 4 championship that began last year. It too has an incomplete 2022 schedule.

Over in east Asia, the series that was given the FRegional Asia Series name (FRAS) for its cancelled 2021 season is now set for a comeback all in China.

From 2002 to 2019 the series was known as Asian FR and usually had all-Chinese calendars or would include one overseas trip to Malaysia’s Sepang circuit. In 2016 it visited South Korea and Thailand instead of Malaysia.

Two years ago the series renamed itself FR Asiacup as it attemped to mirror the FR Eurocup in switching from FR2.0 cars to Formula Regional chassis. However the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to those plans being undone, with a season that was supposed to start on the support bill of the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix ending up being cancelled entirely and rendering Renault’s prize of a Motorsport Games F4 Cup seat to the best Hong Kong-born driver in the points totally void.

The planned switch to FRegional had no take up, and so FR2.0 cars had to be let back in as a secondary class as it rebranded to FRAS for 2021. But the continuation of the pandemic and an extreme sports tragedy meant no racing occurred again.

Zhuhai, where many teams base themselves and where much of the series’ racing take place, established its own FR2.0 series without Renault support, but Circuit Hero Formula Race failed to run any races for the same reasons.

Formula Scout spoke to Renault Sport Racing’s customer racing director Benoit Nogier about the brand’s plans in Asia, and he was enthusiastic to get FRAS off the ground again with FRegional cars. This week Renault told Formula Scout that the series would go ahead with only a FRegional class.

A five-event 2022 season has been announced for what will now be the Alpine Formula Racing Asia series, with the first two rounds taking place at the new Zhuzhou circuit on May 21/22 and June 18/19. Xiamen, another new circuit, is provisionally set to host rounds three and four on July 9/10 and August 13/14, and the season will conclude at Formula 1 track Shanghai on September 17/18.

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Photo: FRAC

The Formula Regional Asian Championship and Formula Regional Asia Series are set to co-exist next year, after Asian Formula 3 has rebranded.

It was understood that a grandfathering in its contract with the FIA meant Asian F3 was allowed to use the F3 moniker through to 2022, although that deal came into question over summer due to two big changes.

The FIA homologation of the Tatuus T-318 car used changed the category name from Regional F3 to Formula Regional, then Jonathan Palmer’s MotorSport Vision company lost the British F3 name after having permission to use it for several years.

Last week the branding of Asian F3 changed to Formula Regional Asian Championship (FRAC), marking the end of the modern use of the F3 name for a category of cars as only the FIA’s own Formula 1-supporting F3 championship uses it now.

The FRAC name and logo brings it incredibly close to the Formula Regional Asia Series, which adopted the name at the end of 2020 as the Asian counterpart to the Renault-powered Formula Regional European Championship and was previously called Asian Formula Renault and then the Formula Renault Asiacup.

Formerly a FR2.0-based formula, the Renault Sport-supported FRegional Asia planned to switch to FRegional cars in 2020 before its season – which included a Vietnamese Grand Prix support slot – was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both it and Asian F3 had primarily raced in China, but the pandemic led to Asian F3 relocating its racing to the United Arab Emirates and condensing its new winter series format.

While Asian F3 successfully went ahead in full in 2020 and ’21, FRegional Asia stayed in China and recently had to cancel its last planned round of this year. It means it has not raced at all since its planned FRegional switch.

FRAC promoter Top Speed initially declined to comment about its name change when contacted by Formula Scout, but later responded:

“To align with the FIA’s re-naming of the previous F3 regional championships worldwide, the series is now known as the ‘Formula Regional Asian Championship Certified by FIA’, and remains the only official FIA championship for the category in the Asian region. We will continue to support the FIA’s successful programme for young driver development as the official Regional junior single seater series in Asia and a stepping stone to the FIA F3 Championship.”

Other FRegional championships do exist in the Asian region, with the Japanese championship also certified by the FIA and an Indian championship launching for 2022 – with a tie-up between FRAC and the Formula Regional Indian Championship to give the latter’s champion a prize FRAC drive.

Due to shutdown periods in eastern Asia, a response is not anticipated from FRegional Asia promoter Formula Racing Development until the start of 2022 and the series’ continued Renault support will be awaiting confirmation until then.

The series compared

The post Confusion reigns as two series adopt FRegional Asia name for 2022 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F3 Asian

Formula Regional Asia Series, previously known as Asian Formula Renault, could race this year after all after a month ago it looked like the season would be cancelled entirely.

The series ran for FR2.0 cars from 2000 to 2019, and last year planned to switch to Regional Formula 3 cars and adopt the Formula Renault Asiacup name. All but one round was cancelled due to the pandemic, although there was little pick-up of the new chassis anyway by local teams, and the season finale was lost to customs restrictions.

In December a six-round 2021 calendar and a rebranding to FRAS was announced, to be in line with its Renault-powered Regional F3 counterpart in Europe. The pre-existing Alfa Romeo-powered Asian F3 championship [pictured above], now based in the United Arab Emirates, is the only FIA Regional F3 series to have a contract to use the F3 name for the future.

FRAS’s calendar was not communicated to teams in time for round one, and the next two events were called off as China suspended motorsport following an extreme sports disaster. The round at Sepang on August 14/15 was also known to be off.

That left a provisional September start date at the Malaysian circuit, which Renault Sport Racing’s customer racing director Benoit Nogier discussed with Formula Scout:

“We are expecting to start now something in September, and I hope soon we will be able to announce the arrival of the new Formula Alpine as well in Asia,” he said. “To replace the FR2.0 Asia we had previously.”

Nogier added that Renault in Europe was “working on it” with FRAS promoter Formula Racing Development to make sure a second season in a row wasn’t lost entirely.

“We’ve always been linked with FRD in Asia. The situation in Asia is very, very complicated, but I can say we are working on a project to carry on what we did with FRD for 20 years. It’s a Renault project with them.

“With the Clio [Cup Asia], with the Formula Alpine. On both, we are working on two projects, we are working to have –  I believe, I will like before the end of the season to relaunch the championship. All the championships.”

The September 17/18 weekend could be the starting point of an on-track return, although Malaysia’s strict travel restrictions may put pay to that, and Formula 4 South East Asia has already said it won’t be racing there until October.

That could leave what was planned to be the season finale at Zhuhai on December 4/5 as the most likely location of a racing weekend this year, were the cars to at least have been seen in the hands of teams by September.

Previous plans had included attracting Asian F3 squads and swapping their cars’ engines for the duration of the FRAS season, while Tatuus’s latest orders on the continent have been for the planned Formula Regional India.

The post Formula Regional Asia on course for relaunch later this year appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: DPPI

It happened two years later than planned, but the Formula Renault Eurocup is now officially no more after last weekend’s Paul Ricard races. What does that mean for FRenault’s future, and what to make of its past?

The full history of Formula Renault stretches back 50 years to 1971, when French FRenault took the place of Formula France. It kept that series’ open-chassis formula, but with all designs having to fit a spec Renault engine in, and ran a 22-race inaugural season which incorporated three French Grand Prix venues.

Drivers in Alpine, Martini and Tecno cars won races that year, and it was Michel Leclere who won the very first race at Albi and then the title in an Alpine chassis. A relationship that had begun with the marque in FFrance continued into FRenault and then French Formula 3, where Leclere was 1972 champion, and he stayed with Alpine when he progressed to Formula 2.

Defecting to March for his second F2 season brought more success, but he then returned to Alpine and claimed a famous win from 19th on the grid at the Salzburgring in his Renault-powered car.

Alpine was influential at the start of FRenault’s life, and in Renault’s participation in all levels of single-seaters in the 1970s, and it’s influence has returned in 2020 as the Renault Formula 1 team rebrands itself to Alpine for next year. This was one of the accelerating factors in merging the Eurocup, which has run since 1991, with its Regional F3 rival Formula Regional European Championship for next year. In FREC’s new era, Renault’s engines will be used with an Alpine badge.

FRenault started off as a 1.3-litre formula, but boosted engine sizes to 1.6L for its second season in France, and then to 1721cc units in 1989. It adopted 2.0L regulations in 1995, and it was these road car-sourced engines that sent the category global, with FR2.0 the basis of 15 national championships in three continents, as well as the Eurocup’s Asian counterpart.

Alpine cars aren’t sold in Asia, where the last remaining official FR2.0 series is. Formula Scout can reveal that the Formula Renault Asiacup, which had already been reduced to a single round at Zhuhai in December by the coronavirus pandemic, has now been cancelled in its entirety for 2020 due to customs restrictions.

It tried to follow the Eurocup this year in leaving the FR2.0 category to instead cater for the FIA’s Regional F3 regulations, but didn’t make a success of it like the Eurocup did. The idea was for Asian F3 teams to use their Tatuus T-318 cars in the FR Asiacup during that championship’s off-season, swapping out their Alfa Romeo engines for Renault ones to do so, while grids also remained open to those with the latest generation of FR2.0 machinery.

The series landed a Vietnamese Grand Prix support slot, and the Renault ‘Road to Champion’ scheme evolved to reward the best Hong Kong-born driver in the points with a drive in the next Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup. COVID-19 put paid to all of that, with the introduction of F3 cars swiftly pushed back to 2021 after so little pick-up by Asian F3 or Asiacup teams.

The existing Asiacup teams had to sell their FR2.0 cars to afford the upgrade, but there wasn’t much of a market to sell to even before the pandemic, and the Asiacup had already conceded to allowing the older generation FR2.0 cars back in.

When Renault originally attempted to pull the plug on the Eurocup at the end of 2018 after losing out on the FIA’s tender to be the ‘official’ Regional F3 series in Europe – before deciding to crack on with a F3 series of its own anyway – it signed contracts with the Asiacup and Northern European Cup organisers to maintain their Renault Sport support for two more seasons.

The renamed Formula NEC looked like it would benefit strongly from the move, with the Eurocup vacating FR2.0 surely meaning drivers without the budget for F3 would flock there. It even had a support slot at the Pau Grand Prix. But there was no driver interest and the series closed its doors two months just three months after its season finale.

The series manager said to Formula Scout at the time that this left 40 race-ready FR2.0 cars with nowhere to go.

A 2019 season did go ahead in Asia, albeit with only five full-time entries, but the loss of the 2020 season doesn’t mean an end to Renault support. FR Asiacup told Formula Scout that not only will it have another two years of manufacturer backing, but it will also maintain the FRenault name. So if, as expected, the Asian F3 teams don’t come flocking in and the Asiacup teams don’t sell on their FR2.0 stock, then FRenault as a category will live on into a new decade.

All-time FR2.0 France/Western European Cup statistics

There’s also a new series in Europe that seems to have successfully catered for both of FRenault’s modern identities, but enough about the future. Back to the very beginning, and the drivers and circuits that put FRenault on the map…

The increase in engine capacity to 1.6L for French FRenault’s second season in 1972 had surprisingly little effect on the competitive order, with the Alpine and Martini runners still evenly matched in cars where getting the most out of the engine and having the right suspension contributed most to laptime as there were no aerodynamic appendages.

This time it was Martini-driving Jacques Laffite, already a factory Ligier driver and soon after a winner in the World Endurance Championship and then F1, who claimed the title ahead of Alpine runner Alain Cudini.

Such was French FRenault’s popularity that there was already a sister series that year, and Cudini struck back against Laffite in the first season of the Formula Renault European Challenge. This was the Eurocup before the Eurocup existed.

Four French rounds had been packed into the first two weeks of May before most of the paddock headed to Spanish Grand Prix venue Jarama for the first ever FR Euro Challenge race, which was won by Cudini.

He did it again a week later at Jyllandsringen in Denmark, a country never visted again by continental FRenault racing.

Laffite won round three at Hockenheim, but Cudini claimed the title by winning the Paul Ricard season finale. It was that circuit, on the same day, that Laffite beat Cudini to win the French title.

The French series was dropped for 1973 and ’74, the only times it would not be held until it folded in early 2010 (by then under the FR2.0 Western European Cup name) when the combination of an unpopular new spec car from Barazi-Epsilon, the global financial crisis and the closing of its two biggest teams led to a reported bankruptcy.

FR Euro Challenge had F1 support slots by its second season, and added Belgium, Italy, Great Britain and Monaco to its calendar. It remained a French driver’s domain though, with not a single international driver making the top 10 in the points during its six-season run.

Rear wings appeared on cars in 1975, with aerodynamics appearing ahead of the front wheels shortly after.

Rene Arnoux, who won the title on victory countback against future Ferrari F1 team-mate Patrick Tambay in 1973, and Didier Pironi were both double champions, and Alain Prost claimed the final series crown in 1977.

A year earlier Prost dominated the French championship, winning the first 12 rounds and only being beaten to victory once, by Patrick Piget in the Imola season finale.

Victor Rosso won the first Argentinian title in 1980, and a year later American Kurt Thiel became the first non-Frenchman to win in Europe with victory in a French round at the Nurburgring.

Six years later compatriot Ron Emmick also broke the top 10 in the points, and when FRenault UK was created in 1989 it meant there was finally another nationality other than France or Argentina on the top step in a FRenault race. Britain’s Neil Riddiford won most of the races, but South African Gino Ussi also took a victory.

This was end of France’s totalitarian grip on the category, as it was exported to Germany, the Netherlands and Spain in 1991 and the top drivers from the five national series got together for three races that marked the start of the FR Eurocup.

That start was immediately dominated by a Britain, with future British Touring Car Championship legend Jason Plato winning the first ever two races for Van Diemen, before France’s Pierre Derode struck back in his Alpa in the final encounter.

All-time Formula Renault European Challenge statistics

Wins (drivers)		Wins (makes)	Points
D Pironi 22	J Coche 2	Martini 79	Pironi 558	S Saulnier 213
R Arnoux 15	J Laffite 1	Alpine 9	Snobeck 504	Tambay 167
A Couderc 10	M Bochet 1	Lola 7	Dallest 405	Prost 157
D Snobeck 9	R Dallest 1	Eurocup	Sourd 359	Ragnotti 148
A Cudini 6		Tatuus 304	Arnoux 326	P Piget 147
P Tambay 6		Barazi-Epsilon 44	Couderc 300	C Michy 113
A Prost 6		Van Diemen 15	J-L Bousque 234	Bochet 92
M Sourd 5		Alpa 11	Cudini 231	P Langlois 92
J Ragnotti 4		Martini 8	Coche 223	X Mathiot 85
J Coulon 3		Mygale 3	Coulon 218	C Ethuin 67

British team Manor won the inaugural Spanish FRenault title with Antonio Albecete too, while Fortec Motorsports established itself as a single-seater force with back-to-back UK titles.

The Eurocup ran once again in a loosely connected three-race format in 1992, with Spanish champion Ricardo Galiano winning on home turn at Jarama, FRenault Germany runner-up Patrick Bernhardt did the same at the Nurburgring, and then Pedro de la Rosa being named overall ‘champion’ by defeating the best of the French runners at Estoril in Portugal.

As each series grew in stature, the decision was made to formalise the separate pan-European championship so it would visit all the countries now represented by their own teams.

The 1993 season kicked off at Barcelona, at that point still a fairly new venue, where Synergie Automobiles’s Olivier Couvreur started a run of wins that took him to the first ‘proper’ Eurocup title.

Two-race rounds were introduced in 1994, with Manor’s James Matthews sweeping the very first, also at Barcelona.

There was an even more important change to the series in 1995, as it became FR2.0. Two decades before becoming European Rallycross champion, Norway’s Tommy Rustad drove a RC Motorsport-run Tatuus to victory at Spa-Francorchamps, and that also marked the start of a new era as the Italian chassis builder grew in popularity.

In 1999 every winner used a Tatuus, and so it made logical sense for the marque’s next design to become the spec chassis for the Eurocup and its national counterparts.

That partnership lasted a decade in Europe, before Barazi-Epsilon took over in 2010. The French company only lasted three years in the position, with Tatuus making a popular return in 2013 with a car still used the world over today.

However, national FR2.0 series had all but gone by this point. The Dutch and German championships joined in 2006 to become FR NEC, the Swiss and Italian series merged to become FR2.0 Alps in 2011, and Estonia, France, Portugal, Scandinavia, Spain and the UK’s championships had all died out. FR2.0 mostly disappeared from the Americas too.

The Eurocup’s expanding calendar, and attractiveness, made contesting other FR2.0 series an unnecessary use of budget unless drivers were looking for additional mileage or an easier level of competition. All the more so when Renault decided drivers could only be registered for points in one series at a time.

In its final two seasons, FR NEC crowned champions with a best finish of third and eighth respectively, as the front of the field was occupied by drivers who were only totting up the points in their Eurocup campaigns.

FRenault 1.6 had also been created as a sub-category of FRenault by this point and had established itself across Europe as an entry-level formula for budding car racers. France called its series Formula 4 before actually adopting FIA F4 regulations in 2018, FR1.6 NEC ran to 2014, and Scandinavia actually continues to run its championship without Renault support – albeit after totally relaunching it last year following the bankruptcy of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship during winter.

Taking into account all of the official FR2.0 and FR1.6 series that have taken place over the last 50 years, who were the drivers that made the biggest impact?

While Matthews today only makes headlines for being married to the sister of a princess or his role in the new ownership of the Williams F1 team, his junior racing career was hugely impressive and he was the Eurocup’s most successful driver through the 1990s and 2000s.

He was also a four-time winner in the French series, and he scored more wins than anyone else during FR2.0 UK’s 23-year existence. His tally of 16 wins was three more than what was achieved by F1 great Lewis Hamilton.

All-time Formula Renault Eurocup statistics

Wins (drivers)		Wins (teams)	Points
V Martins 15	M Ammermuller 6	R-ace GP 44	Martins 846.5	Speed 370
K Korjus 9	K Kobayashi 6	Koiranen GP 33	Colombo 537	Shwartzman 360
D Kvyat 9	D Ricciardo 6	J Kaufmann 28	C Collet 511	Y Ye 345.5
S Fenestraz 9	J Aitken 6	Tech 1 24	Fenestraz 487	S Vandoorne 337
J Matthews 8	R Shwartzman 6	MP 23	M Defourny 471.5	Matthews 336
E Bernoldi 8	L Colombo 6	Manor 22	de Vries 445	S Pagenaud 336
S Speed 8	E Salignon 5	JD 22	Fewtrell 439.5	A Smolyar 312
N de Vries 7	J Lancaster 5	Motopark 22	Piastri 430	Salignon 304
M Fewtrell 7	V Bottas 5	SG Formula 21	Kvyat 389	Aitken 292
O Piastri 7	A Costa 5	Epsilon Euskadi 19	W Palmer 374	O Rowland 288

Javier Diaz was a two-time Spanish champion in the ’90s, but he didn’t race abroad like Matthews did so it was hard to judge his skill against that decade’s best.

Nyck de Vries took a long time to find the conditions for success, but when he did he broke records in FR2.0 Alps and notched up a lot of Eurocup wins. However, the wait for that success stands against him. Other Italy/Alps graduates include Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado, who had differing fortunes when it came to Eurocup success. Toyota junior Kobayashi’s comeback to win the 2005 title certainly made him stand out to the wider world.

Perhaps FRenault’s all-time great is 1977 French champion Joel Gouhier or his immediate predecessor Prost, who competed at the peak of the category’s Francophile period but still won a lot while at it.

The French theme isn’t just historic though, because the final ever Eurocup champion Victor Martins can also make a claim to be one of the best. He not only won as a rookie in a stacked field in the last year of FR2.0’s use, but he then mastered the series’ switch to Regional F3 rules and ultimately won 15 races in his three Eurocup seasons. Admittedly, this has come with the benefit of 20-race seasons in all three of those years.

Some drivers came through FR2.0 too quickly to build up impressive stats, with Robin Frijns for example turning up to FR2.0, winning the Eurocup title at his first attempt and getting the scholarship prize to step up to Formula Renault 3.5, where he won the title as a rookie too. That series fell in much the same way that FR2.0 and FR1.6 has, with the FIA’s own system of numerical junior formulaes taking over the market space.

Kimi Raikkonen did similar, winning the FR2.0 UK title as a rookie and then being picked up by Sauber to go straight to F1.

Despite the expansion of F3 and F4, teams have stayed loyal to Renault and its series. Manor’s 1990s success was followed by wins in the 2010s as a partner to MP Motorsport, and JD Motorsport was a regular winner in the open-chassis days.

It had a long winless spell, with some small reprieve via Chris van der Drift in 2006, but had to wait until the Regional F3 era to become a frontrunning Eurocup force again. It won the very first race under the new rulebook in 2019, and ran Spanish single-seater rookie David Vidales to a historic double win at Imola on his car racing debut this year.

Despite Vidales’ success coming at the very start of his career, the 18-year-old isn’t close to the top 10 list of youngest winners, with the record actually being held by Ugo de Wilde – who claimed JD’s sole 2019 win at Monza.

Seven other drivers have joined de Wilde in winning a Eurocup race before their 17th birthday, while Tom Blomqvist – son of World Rally champion Stig – was a FR2.0 Sweden winner aged 15 years, 8 months and 23 days.

Youngest ever winners of a Formula Renault Eurocup race

Ugo de Wilde, Belgium – 16 years, 4 months and 24 days
Lando Norris, England – 16 years, 5 months and 3 days
Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain – 16 years, 7 months and 15 days
George Russell, England – 16 years, 8 months and 4 days
Christian Lundgaard, Denmark – 16 years, 8 months and 30 days
Oscar Tunjo, Colombia – 16 years, 9 months and 15 days
Sacha Fenestraz, France/Argentina – 16 years, 10 months and 1 day
Enrique Bernoldi, Brazil – 16 years, 11 months and 27 days
Daniil Kvyat, Russia – 17 years, 0 months and 5 days
Esteban Ocon, France – 17 years, 0 months and 12 days
Victor Martins, France – 17 years, 1 month and 6 days
Franco Colapinto, Argentina – 17 years, 1 month and 14 days

JD’s tally of 22 wins puts it joint sixth in the Eurocup’s all-time table, with R-ace GP way out in front on 44 wins. In the days of open-chassis competition, there were wins from Mygale and Van Diemen’s factory teams, but they were often focused as much on car development as winning races.

Motopark had a spell of dominance before it was expelled from the category, while the Finnish Koiranen brothers claimed 13 titles from their 11 years racing in various series across Europe.

Hong Kong’s BlackArts Racing has been the team to beat in Asia for several years now, and had plans that never came to fruition to expand into FR NEC in 2018.

Racing for Spain had similarly international ambitions in the ’90s, taking its home talents to anywhere they could race and win, and it ended up winning back-to-back FR2.0 UK titles. For two decades, FRenault was the category for bringing young talents into the spotlight, before they progressed to the higher demands of F3. And while that can be celebrated, now it is already on the road to being just a footnote of the past.

Most successful FRenault Eurocup graduates (Eurocup stats in italics)
Lewis Hamilton, Britain – 2008, ’14, ’15, ’17, ’18, ’19 &’20 F1 world champion, 5th in 2002, 12th in 2003
Valtteri Bottas, Finland – currently 2nd in 2020 F1, 2nd in 2019 F1, 3rd in 2017 F1, 2008 champion
Daniel Ricciardo, Australia – currently 6th in 2020 F1, 3rd in 2014 & ’16 F1, 5th in 2017 F1, 2nd in 2008
Charles Leclerc, Monaco – currently 5th in 2020 F1, 4th in 2019 F1, 13th in 2018 F1, NC in 2014
Robert Kubica, Poland – 4th in 2008 F1, 6th in 2007 F1, 12th in 2015 WRC, 2013 WRC2 champion, 7th in 2002, 14th in 2001
Andre Lotterer, Germany – 2011 Super Formula champion, 2006 & ’09 Super GT champion, 2012 WEC champion, 5th in 1999
Sebastien Bourdais, France – 2004, ’05, ’06, ’07 Champ Car champion, 17th in 2018 F1, 5th in 2020 IMSA, 10th in 1997
Simon Pagenaud, France – 2016 IndyCar champion, 2nd in 2017 & ’19 IndyCar, 2010 ALMS champion, 2nd in 2004, 3rd in 2003
Oriol Servia, Spain – 2nd in 2005 Champ Car, 4th in 2011 IndyCar, 6th in 2007 Champ Car, 19th in 2014-15 FE, 15th in 1995
Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland – 2014 & 2018-19 WEC champion, 2015-16 FE champion, 15th in 2011 F1, 11th in 2006
Jean-Eric Vergne, France – 2017-18 & ’18-19 FE champion, 13th in 2014 F1, 2nd in 2018 ELMS, 2nd in 2009, 6th in 2008

The post Where Formula Renault is headed next, and how it got there appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Joe Portlock / FIA F2 Championship

Areas of motorsport across the world, including many circuits, are returning to action while lockdown responses to the global COVID-19 pandemic ease up.

In China the pre-season testing schedule has been relatively uninterrupted despite the country being the origin point of the novel coronavirus, as circuits have remained open longer than in other nations.

However the Chinese Formula 4 championship is set to have its start delayed by a month. It was due to begin at Ningbo this month, but is now likely to begin at the end of June.

The Formula Renault Asiacup, which may postpone its planned introduction for this year of regional Formula 3 machinery, has created an Assetto Corsa-based Esports series for competitors that starts this weekend and runs through to July, while its real-world racing is set to kick off at Thailand’s Buriram circuit in early June.

Testing has also been fairly commonplace in Scandinavian countries, although racing has been put on a considerably delay, while France has eased its lockdown measures this week and enabled circuits to be used for testing again.

In addition to the circuits, factories have also reopened in many countries – including the hard-hit Italy. Different teams have set different return dates, and those competing in the Formula 1 support paddocks expect to be back at work next month.

The July 4/5 weekend is set to mark the start of the season (behind closed doors) for Formula 2 and FIA F3 Championship at the Red Bull Ring, with additional race for each series likely to take place mid-week at the same circuit in the following week.

Routine COVID-19 testing of paddock personnel will take place, and each driver will be limited to bringing one additional person with them to the track rather than the usual rosters that can include parents, coaches, sponsors and guests.

The post Circuits and series set for return to action as lockdown eases appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

The spread of novel coronavirus from Wuhan has led to several motorsport events across the globe facing threat following on from the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Formula 1’s sole race in China, where the global pandemic originated, was called off earlier this month and followed a domestic announcement that affected motorsport activities running up to April. As a result, the Chinese Formula 4 season opener had already been cancelled.

The rebranded Formula Renault Asiacup, which plans to use the same regional Formula 3 cars as Renault’s Eurocup series, has also had its highest profile round being called off.

A provisional calendar for the Asiacup had the series down as a support for the inaugural Vietnamese GP on April 5, two weeks before the original schedule date for the Chinese GP, but an update from the championship last week announced that the season-opening races would not take place and that all Chinese rounds have been rescheduled to take place after July.

The Eurocup could also have its Monza season opener cancelled, due to an outbreak of coronavirus in an area of Italy close to the circuit.

Stephane Ratel Organisation, which organises the GT World Challenge Europe series that the Eurocup is set to support, has already made provisions of a cancellation and has proposed a replacement event at Imola on October 31/November 1.

This would be two weeks before the Eurocup’s flyaway season finale in Abu Dhabi, and a championship source has told Formula Scout that there is no guarantee that the series will follow SRO’s plans.

Euroformula has already postponed its first Winter Series test at Barcelona, originally scheduled for March 6/7, due to the outbreak. A replacement date or location is expected for teams to gain mileage of the new Dallara 320 single-seater being introduced to the championship.

Formula 2 and FIA F3 Championship may also be affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with Bahrain’s civil aviation authority refusing entry to many inbound flights over the next few days.

Both series are set to visit next week for their single pre-season test, and those with connecting flights via the United Arab Emirates will have to make rearrangements to reach the Gulf kingdom.

The post Vietnamese GP support races cancelled due to coronavirus, Eurocup under pressure appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FIA Formula 3

ART Grand Prix’s FIA Formula 3 Championship signing Sebastian Fernandez will join Pinnacle Motorsport for Asian F3’s two visits to the United Arab Emirates this month.

The Venezuelan-Spanish driver will race at Dubai Autodrome this weekend, and at Yas Marina Circuit – venue of Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – on January 17/18.

He joins Haas F1 tester Pietro Fittipaldi and Red Bull junior Jack Doohan at the team, with the latter currently second in the standings after the season opener.

World Series Formula V8 3.5 champion Fittipaldi is contesting the series in pursuit of FIA Superlicence points before a return to Super Formula with B-MAX Racing by Motopark.

His season got off to a bad start with mechanical issues and no points-scoring finishes at Sepang.

?This is the series’ first time to visit the Dubai Autodrome, so it’s going to be a very interesting race weekend for everyone,” Pinnacle team director John O’Hara said.

“We are confident we can maintain our strong momentum and repeat our race victory in Malaysia especially with a new recruit joining us here in UAE.

“We’d like to welcome Sebastian Fernandez to Pinnacle Motorsport and we look forward to see him bring the fight to the front alongside his team-mates Jack and Pietro.?

Absolute Racing’s Daniel Cao, currently fifth in the standings with one podium, has forgone a title challenge by electing to miss the two UAE rounds due to school commitments.

The 18-year-old won two races for the team in Asian F3 last year and finished third in the points, and was the Asian Formula Renault and Formula 4 South East Asia champion in 2018.

AFR is undergoing a rebrand this year to become the FR Asiacup, and will introduce the Tatuus T-318 car currently raced in the FR Eurocup and in Asian F3.

Many of the AFR teams already compete in Asian F3, which uses the same chassis but runs Alfa Romeo engines rather than Renaults.

The switch to a European winter-based calendar means drivers and team will be able to compete in both without clashes, and claim superlicence points from both.

Reigning AFR champion and BlackArts Racing driver Joey Alders is Asian F3 points leader, and only recently confirmed his presence at the next two rounds after facing budget difficulties.

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The 20-year-old Dutchman won eight of the 12 races in 2019 with BlackArts Racing, and was set for a clean sweep of pole positions before rival Bruno Caneiro topped qualifying for the season finale.

PS Racing’s Elias Niskanen, the 2018 Finnish Formula Ford champion, won the first race of the season at Zhuhai, as Alders finished a penalised eighth due to a jumped start after crossing the finish line in second.

Alders faced a penalty for an identical offence in race two, leading from lights-to-flag but having to concede the winner’s trophy to Georgian team-mate Sandro Tavartkiladze, who left as championship leader.

The return trip to Zhuhai was more fruitful for Alders, beating Asia Racing Team’s Carneiro to pole and then taking his first win of the season ahead of team-mate Tavartkiladze. Carneiro struck back in race two to beat Alders by 0.445 seconds.

The third and fourth rounds of the season were triple-headers at Sepang.

Alders kicked off the first visit with a lights-to-flag win over Brazilian driver Carneiro, who did the same in race two. Carneiro snatched the lead on the opening lap of the third race though, and held on for his second win.

AFR regular Stephen Hong (BlackArts) rounded out the podium in race one, with Tavartkiladze finishing third in the other two races.

Alders was untouchable on the second Sepang visit, and beat Niskanen to win the first race by 15.778s. He was five seconds clear of Carneiro in the second encounter, and then 6.394s ahead in the final race of the season.

That success gives Alders a free FRenault Eurocup test, as it did too with Hong for being the top Chinese driver in the standings.

Two podiums for Carneiro in the final round at Zhuhai secured him the runner-up spot in the championship over Tavartkiladze, with Niskanen a distant fourth ahead of Hong.

2019 Asian Formula Renault round-up

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Photo: BlackArts Racing

BlackArts Racing’s Daniel Cao won the 2018 Asian Formula Renault title with a race to spare at Sepang, his second championship triumph of the year.

Cao won the 2017-18 Formula 4 South East Asia crown back in April, after stints in the British and Chinese series, and was a winner on his AFR debut last year with the rival Asia Racing Team.

?There have been many ups and downs this season. From the beginning of the season in Zhuhai, to this last AFR weekend, I have learned a lot about racing and racecraft,” Cao told Formula Scout.

“I am especially happy about winning the 2018 title with my victories this weekend. In six rounds and twelves races, I had six wins.?Tomorrow is China?s National Day, and I am really happy to offer this special gift of a championship to our country!

“Thanks to my sponsors, my parents, and especially my race engineer and coach from BlackArts Racing Team, and, of course my race car, which served me so well this season.?

It was Spanish team-mate Antolin Gonzalez who started the season with victory at Zhuhai, with Cao finishing third from fifth on the grid. In the second race things went downhill, as the pair collided while fighting for second and failed to finish.

Cao upped his game for the second round of the season at Shanghai, taking the championship lead with two wins, two poles and a fastest lap. Reigning champion Charles Leong returned for the third round of the season at Ningbo with Asia Racing Team, but torrential rain in the opening race caught out several drivers and led to a surprise victory for S&D Motorsports’ Luo Kai Luo.

Leong was able to prove his class in the dry second race, winning by over 13 seconds ahead of Minang and Cao. The second trip to Zhuhai was also Leong-dominated, with the Macanese driver signing off his time in the championship with another two wins. Cao made another podium appearance, enough to keep him five points clear of Minang.

The final two rounds took place at Sepang, where Cao won his F4 SEA title, and the Chinese driver was simply unbeatable. He took pole, win and fastest lap both times in August, then almost did the same again this weekend. He won the title with another dominant performance in the first race, then was beaten to race two pole and fastest lap by Gonzalez, who also looked set to win until a last lap pass by Cao.

Two podiums was enough for Gonzalez to beat Luo to second in the standings, while BlackArts won the teams’ title on the first Sepang trip.

2018 Asian Formula Renault round-up

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Photo: AFR Media

An underlying trend in motor racing is the lack of overseas success for east Asian drivers.

The Asian peninsula has historically struggled to make an impact, and bar the powerhouse of Japan, there has been little productivity in the eastern and southern areas of the continent. B. Bira, Prince of Thailand (think the Ferdinand Habsburg of his day) made his mark on grand prix racing in the 1940s and ’50s, but only Malaysia’s Alex Yoong and Indonesia’s Rio Haryanto have competed in Formula 1 in the 21st century.

One country that has noticeably failed to produce a driver of Formula 1 standard is China. As its population continues to increase, the chances of one of its 1.41 billion citizens being the next Lewis Hamilton should be doing the same.

The number of drivers from China and the surrounding nations entering international championships has increased, and they are achieving considerably more success, but not to the levels predicted 20 years ago.

Despite being the second biggest economy in the world (according to a 2017 IMF forecast), the People’s Republic of China is still considered a developing country. Its GDP per capita is considerably less than that of developed countries, not assisted by the fact that over one-sixth of the population lives in poverty. It is also behind on its market reforms, although this has not harmed its influence in the global economy, which has come off its rapid economic ascendance since 1978.

In 1999, the economy was growing at 7.1%. Since then the GDP/capita has almost tripled, and 14 permanent and temporary motor racing circuits have appeared on the mainland. The Shanghai International Circuit has hosted F1 races since its inception in 2004, while two other tracks have hosted events with world championship status.

Permanent circuits built in China since 2000 that meet FIA Grade 4/capable of hosting F4

Goldenport Park Circuit – 2001 – Grade 3
Shanghai International Circuit – 2004 – Grade 1
Shanghai Tianma Circuit – 2004 – Grade 4
Chengdu Goldenport Circuit – 2007 – Grade 2
Guangdong International Circuit – 2009 – Grade 3
Ordos International Circuit – 2010 – Grade 2
Jiangsu Wantrack International – 2014 – Grade 4
Zhejiang International Circuit – 2016 – Grade 2
Ningbo International Speedway – 2017 – Grade 2

While some circuits have not been realised as imagined, often wishful real estate projects for wealthy investors, there have been others such as the recently opened and Geely-owned Ningbo International Speedway that have already earned a reputation for the driving challenge they present.

Ningbo cost approximately 900 million yuan to build, over £102 million using the most recent currency exchange rates, and has hosted China’s Formula 4 and touring car championships, and a round of the World Touring Car Championship.

With a bit of everything, it’s one of the best tracks for drivers to learn their craft. It’s also less than a five-hour drive from Shanghai, the equivalent of travelling to Croft Circuit from London. An easy tick for the accessibility box.

Chinese F4 visited twice in 2017, and will do so three times this year. The Asian Formula 3 Championship will be visiting twice, and the Asian Formula Renault championship once. Outside of these occasions, the chances of drivers visiting the circuit in 2018 could be slim, with complaints of high testing costs and poor communication from circuit management, while the track doesn’t exist on popular simulators yet.

Weather conditions can also be an issue. Many drivers who travelled to Asia over the winter of 2017/18 were met by several inches of snow. In the summer, there’s a chance their track time may be interrupted by a monsoon.

Simulators have almost acted as safety nets for budding drivers lacking in funds, as they can undertake preparation and improve their driving without the cost of visiting a track, and potentially crashing a car in difficult conditions, although access to them isn’t free either.

With an average monthly income in its biggest cities that looks similar to Eastern Europe, detailed at-home simulators aren’t common, and it should then be no surprise that there are still few Chinese drivers who are making a start in single-seaters.

Foreign drivers that have the money occasionally do race in the junior branches of Asia. Sauber’s 2017 stand-in Antonio Giovinazzi learnt his craft in Formula Masters China thanks to the assistance of Sean Gelael’s father Ricardo, which evolved into the recognisable ‘Jagonya Ayam’ support that several drivers receive today.

Prices are cheaper than Europe too. Belgian teenager Ugo de Wilde said the relative low cost of F4 South East Asia was ‘too good to pass up’ after making his debut this year. The same can’t be said for most of the locals.

Zhuhai, the first of the Chinese tracks and where most teams are based, is the de facto circuit to use for testing. It’s close to Hong Kong, assisting international drivers, is open at least three days every week for testing, and is the cheapest as there is no shipping, travel or hotel costs for the teams. It’s not the most representative track though, and is used primarily for car development due to its brake-heavy nature.

Times are changing. The 13th ‘Five Year Plan’ for the Chinese economy began in 2016, and should make motorsport a pursuable path for a greater percentage of the population.

The lack of single-seater drivers cannot solely be blamed on economic mismanagement. For a start, it’s the huge growth of the Asian Tigers economies and newly industrialised countries that has enabled motorsport to have a modern presence in the region in the first place.

There is no motorsport heritage in East Asia. Despite the talk of manufacturers, investors and Liberty Media on the importance of the Asian market, it’s a trickle down system of investment.

Geely, which owns Volvo, does have a hand in Chinese F4 (and China Formula Grand Prix), and Renault runs the ‘Road to Champion’ scheme as well as supporting AFR. Formula Masters, Asian F3’s predecessor, has also benefited from Audi’s investment in GT racing on the continent.

BMW coupled its early 21st century involvement in F1 with Formula BMW, and the Pacific series helped launch the careers of several drivers. Between 2005-’08, the best FBMW drivers from across the globe were invited to the World Final, which offered a prize F1 test and far greater exposure than Asia alone could offer. Once BMW pulled the plug on its F1 team, the writing was on the wall for its junior championships, and FBMW Pacific lasted two years without manufacturer support before folding.

Photo: McQueeny

Another beneficiary of rapid industrialisation and economic growth in the late ’90s and early ’00s was Malaysia, despite being hit by the Asian Financial Crisis. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was able to invest in a series of large infrastructure projects, one of which was the Sepang International Circuit.

Sepang was the first track to be designed by Herman Tilke, and there was disappointment when the Malaysian Grand Prix vacated its spot on the F1 calendar at the end of 2017 due to high hosting fees and low ticket sales.

One man who wasn’t surprised was Alex Yoong, Malaysia’s first and only F1 driver.

“It has been a 20-year marketing exercise and marketing exercises have shelf lives. So I’ve felt for a few years now it was coming to its end,” Yoong told Malaysian news last year.

If it doesn’t serve as a marketing exercise, what are the tangible benefits?

“Do you get enough money from gate receipts or do you get enough money sponsorships to justify the fee that F1 charges. The answer to that is no,” he explained.

The short-lived Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix can be seen in the same light: a marketing exercise designed for short term gain. Although a rather harsh description of Yoong’s motorsport achievements, his presence in F1 was an extention of that marketing exercise.

East Asian stars of the past

B. Bira – 8th in 1950 F1, 1947 & ’54 Frontieres GP winner, 1948 Stockholm & Zandvoort GP winner, 1946 Ulster Trophy winner, 1937 & ’38 Campbell Trophy winner
Alex Yoong – 20th in 2002 F1, 5th in 2005-06 A1GP, 10th in 1999 Auto GP, 16th in 2001 Super Formula – 7th in 1999 Macau GP, 2nd in 1995 FAsia
Rio Haryanto – 24th in 2016 F1, 4th in 2015 GP2, 5th in 2010 GP3, 7th in 2011 Auto GP – 2009 FBMW Pacific champion, 3rd in 2008 FAsia 2.0, 6th in 2008 AFR
Andre Couto – 7th in 2002 FV8 3.5, 11th in 2001 Super Formula, 11th in 1998 Int. F3000, 2nd in 1997 Italian F3 – 2000 Macau GP winner, 5th in 1997 Macau GP, 6th in 1995 Macau GP, 7th in 1998 Macau GP, 8th in 1996 Macau GP
Jazeman Jaafar – 8th in 2015 FV8 3.5, 10th in 2014 FV8 3.5, 2nd in 2012 British F3, 7th in FIA F3 Int. Trophy – 8th in 2011 Macau GP, 2007 FBMW Asia champion, 3rd in 2006 AFR
Ho Pin Tung – 18th in 2008 GP2, 2006 German F3 champion, 3rd in 2005 German F3 – 2003 FBMW Asia champion
Fairuz Fauzy – 2nd in 2009 FV8 3.5, 4th in 2008 GP2 Asia, 5th in 2005-06 A1GP, 12th in 2004 British F3
Marlon Stockinger – 9th in 2014 FV8 3.5, 10th in 2012 GP3, 8th in 2010 FR2.0 UK – 8th in 2008 FBMW Pacific
Sandy Stuvik – 17th in 2015 GP3, 2014 EF Open champion, 2nd in 2013 EF Open – 2010 AFR champion, 2010 AFR Winter Cup champion

What doesn’t make sense is the continuous deficient investment in Malaysia and its neighbours, whether that be on young racing drivers or the car industry in general.

According to market research from 2014, car ownership in Malaysia is above 93 percent. The preferred form of entertainment on wheels though is motorcycle racing, which pulls in capacity crowds every year for its grand prix.

Future F1 drivers are recommended to start their careers in karts, while aspiring motorcyclists learn their skills on a motorbike. The lack of quantity and quality in the karting arena is a symptom of this trickle down, marketing-led investment system.

Renault’s Road to Champion scheme was set up in 2016, and provided the best Chinese driver in the final three rounds of AFR a scholarship, provided by the Renault F1 team, for a full season of racing in Europe. Winner Marcus Song was still doing AFR a year later, and so the 2017 prize wasn’t as grand as what the previous year’s had promised.

The entry requirements also changed, with the required age of entrants expanding to encompass 12 to 55-year-olds. The top prize was now a paid drive in AFR or Renault Clio Cup China, as well as an invite to the FR Eurocup rookie test, with a separate system of prizes and rewards for top karters at all participating karting clubs in the country.

Although it wasn’t helping drivers to Europe anymore, there was now a legitimate incentive for young Chinese to enter karting, even if Renault’s proactivity to find ‘the first Chinese F1 driver’ is simply a marketing ploy.

Driver development, support and exposure is lacking. Firms don’t want to invest in the next Lewis Hamilton, they want to put their money in the finished product.

For those that do overcome all the difficulties mentioned above, and have proven themselves as talented drivers, why is it that they still fail to make an impact in Europe?

It’s the culture shock.

Despite its status as a global superpower, China still has an issue with multiculturalism. Historically, there has been mass segregation, including to an extent the “lost generation” that arose from the Cultural Revolution. In more modern times, it is the lack of integration of foreign communities that has really pegged back China’s desire to be a global country.

In Guangzhou, China’s second biggest city, the African community is often dubbed “Chocolate City” by the locals, and almost 50% of the city’s population are migrants. Nationwide this kind of percentage isn’t common as religious and cultural freedom is limited.

The hostilities mean these communities scarcely exist outside of international trade hubs, and many young Chinese people have little experience of other cultures outside of holidays.

It would be harsh to say nothing is being done about this, as the Party continues its push to improve China’s international image, but in real terms it’s what is to be attributed for Chinese drivers struggling with the culture shock if and when they make the switch to Europe.

Junior single-seaters in Asia can often be better described as for ‘gentlemen’

Asian F3 team BlackArts Racing is working to improve things, and is providing support for Asian drivers at home and abroad.

Josh Evans, general manager at BAR, has been leading the team’s expansion into Europe, which has been delayed a year as the team concentrates on its new Asian F3 programme.

“I think it’s really to give a bit more of a clear pathway for drivers in Asia to get to Europe,” said Evans of BAR’s European expansion.

“Everyone wants to get to Europe, to get into F1 or professional motorsport. It’s a big step, coming from the other side of the world: different culture, different climate. If we can try and break down some of those barriers, so a young driver in Asia could start with us in F4, go to AFR, [then] step up to FR NEC.”

At the time of the interview, BAR and 2017 AFR champion Charles Leong intended to move together to FR NEC with a Silverstone base. The arrival of Asian F3 has since changed both their plans, but BAR still intends to compete in regional F3 or FR2.0 in Europe.

“This makes it a little bit easier, more streamlined. You know, they can already feel comfortable with the team, the people they’re working with, the coaches, that help them.”

The coaching line-up at BAR includes Super Formula driver and European F3 winner Nick Cassidy, and former AFR champions Dan Wells and Josh Burdon. Higher quality driver coaches has led to a stronger belief in Asian drivers making it to F1.

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