2014 British F3 Silly Season

[Alessio]

Egor Orudzhev will drive for Carlin in the car Alice Powell drove in Rockingham.

[steve_r]

Sorry for arriving at the party late, but I just settled down to watch the opening round of F3 which I had recorded off TV. Oh my my word. I'm shocked - 7 cars. Usually F3 is one of the hilights of the british calender along with BTCC. What a shame. Formula Ford ain't what it used to be, and now F3 is dieing too.

[wsrgo94]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Formula Ford ain't what it used to be

You mean with wings and stuff?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by wsrgo94

You mean with wings and stuff?

I think he means the pervasiveness/popularity/competitiveness rather than the addition of wings.

[Juntos]

Formula Ford or 4?...Some seek the comfort of loved ones. And some try to keep away the gloom by painting things bright.

Perhaps it is time for FOTA/SRO to bring the old chaps back, starting from Performance and T-Sport.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Perhaps it is time for FOTA/SRO to bring the old chaps back, starting from Performance and T-Sport.

Maybe I'm developing dyslexia but every time I read the title of this thread I keep seeing 'Silly 2014 British F3 Season'. The whole thing's a farce and should be stopped now.

[Juntos]

Are you suggesting to cancel the series after one event? So it seems to be.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Are you suggesting to cancel the series after one event? So it seems to be.

No, I'm suggesting that it's championship status be withdrawn. What we have this year is not worthy of the title 'British F3 Championship'.

[Juntos]

Can you specify why? Is it cause there are 50% chances of being a Chinese to win the British crown?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Can you specify why? Is it cause there are 50% chances of being a Chinese to win the British crown?

I think it's fairly obvious why... and it's nothing to do with nationality of the competitors.

[peebee2]

The five regulars and this week's two one-offers covered by 10 seconds in qualifying. Sounds like some thrilling racing in store around the 5+ km track!

[wsrgo94]

Originally Posted by peebee2

The five regulars and this week's two one-offers covered by 10 seconds in qualifying. Sounds like some thrilling racing in store around the 5+ km track!

Well, British weather. These things happen.

[tux]

Only 3 cars finished race 2 at Silverstone.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by tux

Only 3 cars finished race 2 at Silverstone.

It's not inconceivable that there'll be a 'race' with no finishers ! Shame on the MSA for allowing this farce to carry on.

[Juntos]

davyboy, when the when the going gets tough, the tough get going. But now that you have a Chinese leading far in front of the quickest Brit I wouldn't be surprise MSA would pull the plug.

[Moneyseeker]

Sorry, but stop it now. This is not British F3 and is an insult to the former champions that the winner of this farce will be acclaimed as the BF3 Champion!

As davyboy says where are the MSA, I thought they were supposed to be clamping down on series that had virtually no cars on the grid?

[Alessio]

They can't stop it now, it's too late. Drivers have organised their funding and paid etc.

Way too late now. I reckon they'll wait until the winter off-season and see the interest in the championship before SRO decide whether to close up the BF3 or keep it going.

Incredible that of all the F3 series, British is somehow doing the worst.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Alessio

They can't stop it now, it's too late. Drivers have organised their funding and paid etc.

They can stop it any time they want. The MSA has cancelled series in a similar predicament to this in the past - c.f. British F2 and Formula Renault.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by davyboy

They can stop it any time they want. The MSA has cancelled series in a similar predicament to this in the past - c.f. British F2 and Formula Renault.

From memory British F3000 and Formula Renault UK (in addition to a host of club championships that were canned mid season) were cancelled by the organising club as opposed to the MSA. Although the MSA sets minimum grid sizes for the retention of championship permits there are exceptions to this for competitions that are of significance (e.g. history, international recognition or local status). This meant that in the early 2000s, the BTCC retained its championship status.

[Alessio]

Originally Posted by davyboy

They can stop it any time they want. The MSA has cancelled series in a similar predicament to this in the past - c.f. British F2 and Formula Renault.

Budgets are quite a bit higher in British F3.

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

Sorry, but stop it now. This is not British F3 and is an insult to the former champions that the winner of this farce will be acclaimed as the BF3 Champion!

As davyboy says where are the MSA, I thought they were supposed to be clamping down on series that had virtually no cars on the grid?

I never remember the MSA saying anything about grid sizes although, A:I probably missed it and B: It would be logical. Does that count for just MSA backed championships like Brit F3 or other series like the Porsche Carrera Cup of Great Britian?

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

I never remember the MSA saying anything about grid sizes although, A:I probably missed it and B: It would be logical. Does that count for just MSA backed championships like Brit F3 or other series like the Porsche Carrera Cup of Great Britian?

I believe that originally the MSA set a minimum grid size of 18 cars for championship status to be maintained, but as mentioned above with the usual caveats, I'm sure the MSA don't fancy tapping on Porsche or Renault's door and canning their championships...

Similarly for BF3, no doubt the heritage of the championship allows it to continue, although this is the very thing that is damaged by the current situation.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

I'm sure the MSA don't fancy tapping on Porsche or Renault's door and canning their championships...

To be fair, the MSA did issue the SEAT Cupra Championship with a 'yellow card' (i.e. a last warning with regards to the lack of cars); so the MSA has some degree of previous in taking action against more high profile championships. However, as the SEATs were canned fairly soon after (by the organiser), it is open to conjecture as to how far the MSA would have pursued this one.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

To be honest, I'm hoping that with the economy slowly finding its feet and the reintroduction of a British-based FR2.0-or-equivalent series (in BRDC F4) with a good grid, we can get a grid of 10+ cars for the 2015 opener. Just look at how many FR UK drivers entered British F3. As soon as that series was canned, the shock would be felt at the next highest tier after 2 seasons - 2013 - which is when it was. Given that 2 seasons is the minimum, expect the grids to slowly grow, even if the series is unimportant on a global scale.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Sam MacLeod will return for Snetterton, and Motopark will run their 3 German F3 drivers at Spa.

Couple that with Tincknell and Lynn's Thruxton cameos and maybe there is a future, but it relies largely on talented drivers making one-offs...