MSV F3 Cup

[Gary C]

Hi all have been very interested in this class for a couple of years now and it never seems to get discussed on any forums or am I just missing them. Is the class popular and is there many overseas competitors? Anyone able to guide in in the direction of the discussion on msvf3?

[andrewc]

Grids last year were quite healthy except for a one day meeting at Anglesey which many voted their displeasure and didn't enter. Anglesey isn't on the 2013 calendar.

There have been a number of overseas drivers - Frank Thomas from Belgium joined us for about half the season, whilst a couple of other drivers from Spain joined us for one meeting only. Also at the end of the year, we had Antonio Felix da Costa and Kevin Korjus join us as the meeting met the FIA's qualifying criteria for the Macau Grand Prix (which AFdC won)

[Stephen Green]

You could try discussing this directly with MSV

[ff90]

You can also look up the website www.F3cup.co.uk and Simon Davey is a great man to talk too. But for my part good crowd, great calender this year and probably one of the best uk single seater championships in pucka cars

[Stephen Green]

And they are all a very friendly and helpful bunch of people. This will be my third year working with them

[strider]

I think it's a very good formula, too, and I don't work for MSV nor ever have!

Seriously, Palmer found a niche that needed filling and promptly plugged the gap. I don't especially like the man, but I respect him for everything he has done since becoming a circuit owner.

[andrewc]

Certainly MSV have been prepared to champion the series and put some money into promoting it, far more than the BRSCC could be bothered doing with it whilst they were looking after it.

[Stephen Green]

There is a difference between British F3 and F3 Cup don't forget

[Gary C]

It seems to be a very good class and one I think is only going to get better. On average what are people paying per round for a self run car eg. Tyres fuel entry testing? For a dallara f304 and how much testing is there before each round

[andrewc]

There is no restriction on testing, so as much or as little as you can afford - generally there is Friday testing the day before each meeting, and I guess half the field tests regularly.

Tyres - you're only permitted one set of slicks per weekend. Spec compound from Avon, typically £ 800 per set. Front runners or those who can afford it will have a new set per weekend, but some will make them stretch over two weekends - or if they like to test they will do w/e 1 qual, race and race and w/e 2 testing.

Fuel - spec fuel from Sunoco. Seems to work out at about 0.8 litres per minute. 25 Litre containers =£94.80, 50 Litre containers =£174.00

last year race entries were £ 399 for all except BH GP at £ 499, Silverstone GP £ 450, £ 545 for Spa.

[jamesl]

My running costs are no different doing F3 Cup than to anything else I've done, and the series and cars great value for money.

Cars are realistically priced with prices ranging from circa £12,000 - £40,000. In fact you can currently buy the 2012 championship winning car and outright race winner for an asking price of £23,000.

Typical F3 Cup meeting costs are:

£400 entry fee - double header
£150 - 50 litres of F3 fuel
£700 - set of tyres (midfielders run on 2 x sets / year)

Driving standards are high too, very rarely do you see accidents or damage to cars.

[Gary C]

Originally Posted by jamesl

My running costs are no different doing F3 Cup than to anything else I've done, and the series and cars great value for money.

Cars are realistically priced with prices ranging from circa £12,000 - £40,000. In fact you can currently buy the 2012 championship winning car and outright race winner for an asking price of £23,000.

Typical F3 Cup meeting costs are:

£400 entry fee - double header
£150 - 50 litres of F3 fuel
£700 - set of tyres (midfielders run on 2 x sets / year)

Driving standards are high too, very rarely do you see accidents or damage to cars.

What car are you running? Is there a massive amount of setup in these cars between races or is it the same as other series? How often would you be changing wheel bearings and brakes?

[jamesl]

Ran a Masters (pre 96) car for 3 seasons, and now have a F300 with long life engine.

A set of pads can last me the season, whereas in FF it was every 3rd race. Never had a wheel bearing problem on anything. Set up is rock solid on these cars. We go on the scales mid season and the set up is the same after 6 meetings. Its almost worrying!

I was a bit cautious about going F3 Cup too, but its a myth they are difficult cars to run or maintain. They are brilliant cars to work with everything coming to pieces easily.

[poleman]

are there any teams (or owners) that could rent cars for this series ?
i was thinking perhaps one of the older cars , 99-01 type ..

[tristancliffe]

I have a 2007 car I could rent out. And I believe Chris Dittman Racing has a 99/01 car to rent (but it might already have been taken).

[scott19]

I'm going to be having a bash at this in 2013 in Jame's old car (TOMS). Cars obviously not competitive with modern equipment so will just do a few rounds for fun more than anything but just be nice to drive such a lovely car.

[Memus Racing Design]

Reading this article and it seems that the F3 Cup is the way forward,where else can you get a bloody good chassis that easily achieve's 2.5g cornering and engines that are bullet proof and last dare l say 2 seasons racing,answers please....... Anyway my point is there are cars and spares available if you browse for a while and looks like there own site offers good solid advice and car prices seem very good value for money and if l had £20k to spend l would have NO hesitation......

[jamesl]

Draft 2013 regs now available:

http://www.f3cup.co.uk/compete.aspx

[kipper]

It will be interesting to see how Alice Powell gets on this year's championship.

[REALIST]

Originally Posted by kipper

It will be interesting to see how Alice Powell gets on this year's championship.

So was it interesting? After a reasonable start she has looked very ordinary over the last few rounds and occasionally not very good at all.

Also appears to not like taking responsibility, it always seems to be someone else or something else to blame.

To look like an average GP2, 3 or WSR candidate she needed to blitz this but she hasn't, not at all.

F1? Really?

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by REALIST

So was it interesting? After a reasonable start she has looked very ordinary over the last few rounds and occasionally not very good at all.

Also appears to not like taking responsibility, it always seems to be someone else or something else to blame.

To look like an average GP2, 3 or WSR candidate she needed to blitz this but she hasn't, not at all.

F1? Really?

Not sure I understand this comment.She is still leading the championship? Was best of 3 females in 2012 GP3 series.
BTW does anyone know what happened to Kate Impey who was doing this series two years ago-her website has not been updates since then?

[andrewc]

Kat had a very limited budget which was stretched to breaking point when an engine let go (goodbye approx £ 17k), and I believed used the collateral value of her car to finance racing, and the car is now owned by Lanan.

She also struggled with stamina and strength, especially on the busy circuits where there is no long straight to at least relax slightly before the next complex of corners.

She also had more than her fair share of bad luck.

A big shame as she was very quick and exciting in a Jedi.

She currently instructs and does driving experience work for Porsche and misses racing terribly.

---

Most people in F3 Cup were expecting Alice to waltz away with the title and it looked like that at the start of the season and her early season points advantage has been whittled away race by race.

Since then all the other drivers have raised their game considerably and are now matching and beating her on a regular basis, often on a fraction of her budget.

[REALIST]

Originally Posted by Rob29

Not sure I understand this comment.She is still leading the championship? Was best of 3 females in 2012 GP3 series.
BTW does anyone know what happened to Kate Impey who was doing this series two years ago-her website has not been updates since then?

I don't think she is leading any more, no.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by REALIST

So was it interesting? After a reasonable start she has looked very ordinary over the last few rounds and occasionally not very good at all.

I think it has been interesting in that it demonstrates the strength of the F3 Cup field (although it could probably do with a few more cars...), in that a driver with a reasonable CV (i.e. a couple of years in Formula Renault, GP3) hasn't been able to dominate proceedings.

Originally Posted by Deemun

To illustrate a point she has also been campaigning in FF1600 in Souley Motorsport Ray GR07 without any success what so ever. Scott Malvern recently turned up and jumped in the same car at a Champion of Brands event & went straight out in qualifying and put it third on the grid and damn nearly won the race

From memory Alice Powell raced in the FF1600 races at Donington and Silverstone and took a second, fourth and two retirements, which are quite reasonable in my view. Probably not indicative of future F1 stardom, though.

Originally Posted by REALIST

I am amazed that she could be considered for the AYDA. That would indeed be laughable and seriously devalue the award for me.

The nominations have yet to be announced, although she is eligible. I do think that the nominations this year will be quite weak compared to previous seasons, which I suspect will be is due to the fragmentation of single seater racing and the current economy.

Originally Posted by Rob29

Was best of 3 females in 2012 GP3 series.

Given the calibre of the other two female drivers, I'm not sure how much of an accolade this is.

[Deemun]

Originally Posted by REALIST

So was it interesting? After a reasonable start she has looked very ordinary over the last few rounds and occasionally not very good at all.

Also appears to not like taking responsibility, it always seems to be someone else or something else to blame.

To look like an average GP2, 3 or WSR candidate she needed to blitz this but she hasn't, not at all.

F1? Really?

Alice will grab headlines because she is female. That is not a sexist remark; just reality. There are so few female drivers that they will naturally attract attention. There is no reason why a female shouldn't be successful in motor racing and I genuinely believe there must be a super talented female racer out there somewhere that can go all the way but we are yet to see it.

She is currently being talked about as a candidate for this years McLaren Autosport Young Driver Award. Quite frankly that is a joke. To illustrate a point she has also been campaigning in FF1600 in Souley Motorsport Ray GR07 without any success what so ever. Scott Malvern recently turned up and jumped in the same car at a Champion of Brands event & went straight out in qualifying and put it third on the grid and damn nearly won the race (photo finish into 2nd place) and was within a smidgen of the lap record on very old tyres. Alice had campaigned the same car half a dozen times or more and had done quite a lot of testing and hadn't got anywhere near a result like this.

All she ever seems to do on her Twitter feed etc is blame the equipment. If I were running her I'd find this insulting!

But as Sky Sports F1 will have you believe she is of course one of Britain's next F1 stars......... LOL