Silly season perhaps? I for one am hoping for a thread for this series for 2017, so here we go.
This weekend, we have the 2016 Autumn Trophy taking place at Snetterton. The field is small as always, but, as usual, there is some real quality at what will almost certainly be the front of the field. Notably Joey Mawson, the 2016 ADAC F4 champion, is fielded by Douglas Motorsport, alongside British F4 race winner and former Ginetta Juniors champion Jamie Caroline. Carlin are fielding a race winner from this years' F3 series in Enaam Ahmed, alongside one of their F4 winners, James Pull (who made a cameo at Donington Park this year in this series) and USA F4 champion Cameron Das. Fortec Motorsports are fielding a pole winner in Ben Hingeley and a Formula Renault 2.0 race winner in Callan O'Keefe, and Double R have a certain Dan Ticktum as their lone driver, who I believe is making his return to racing.
Whilst I'm fairly certain some of those drivers will have their sights somewhere further up the ladder for 2017 (Mawson and Ticktum have tested F3 cars of late, Ticktum of course will be at Macau), Hingeley could be a rapid sophomore, whilst Pull, Das and Caroline may well be looking to step up into the series for 2017. Similarly, Hillspeed's 2 Autumn Trophy drivers, Omani Abdullah Al Rawahi and Thai driver Sasakorn Chaimongkol, could well be eyeing up the series for next year.
As for 2017 itself, P1 Sport will be entering the series, having bought cars from HHC Motorsport. (Very) young British driver Jordan Cane signed a deal with Hillspeed for 2017 a while back too, so look out for him on the grid. Currently the team line up for 2017 looks as follows:
Carlin
Chris Dittmann Racing
Double R
Douglas Motorsport
Fortec
Hillspeed (with Cliff Dempsey Racing)
Lanan Racing
P1 Sport
Sean Walkinshaw Racing
No drivers other than Cane are confirmed.
The 2017 calendar has been announced, with all but August's Snetterton date supporting the British GT championship.
Rd1-3 - Oulton Park (15-17 April)
Rd4-6 - Rockingham (29/30 April)
Rd7-9 - Snetterton (27/28 May)
Rd10-12 - Silverstone GP (10/11 June)
Rd13-15 - Spa-Francorchamps (7/8 July)
Rd16-18 - Brands Hatch GP (5/6 August)
Rd19-21 - Snetterton (26/27 August)
Rd22-24 - Donington Park (23/24 September)
Looks remarkably similar to the good old British F3 championship!!! 2016 had some real quality in the grid, perhaps no superstars (for the whole season
) but some very good drivers. Here's to another good year in 2017
