2011 British F3 off Season/Silly season news etc (merge)

[alias99]

Based on Red Bulls current stable of drivers only Sainz Jr and Kyvat would be heading there unless they pick up someone new which I think is unlikely. Both of those drivers did a few eurocup 2.0 races which could hint at where they will be next year.

[bella]

they're also doing the uk winter series with one of the finnish eurocup teams which would also back up that theory. (off topic - both kvyat and sainz jnr have gone well - javier tarancon has also come in from fbmw and done some eurocup and nec rounds with a fair amount of success)

press release here: http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=1432

[strider]

Don't forget that Jack Harvey signed with Carlin a while a ago with funding from the Racing Steps Foundation.

It looks as though he will be making race début with the team in Korea, which will take him out of the Rookie equation in BF3 next year.

[Richard B]

A number of drivers were testing last week at Silverstone including:

Carlin: Carlos Huertas and Jack Harvey
Raikkonen Robertson: Bart Hylkema and Pipo Derani
Sino Vision Racing: Kevin Zhu
Hitech: Pietro Fantin
Litespeed: Tom Blomqvist

Don't suppose anybody has the times?

[strider]

No, the teams would be able to give you an idea, but there would be nothing official.

[alias99]

Alex Sims tested at Silverstone for RR. Possible that he will do a full British Campaign?? Definite title contender for next 2011 if it happens.

[dave not neil]

Originally Posted by alias99

Alex Sims tested at Silverstone for RR. Possible that he will do a full British Campaign?? Definite title contender for next 2011 if it happens.

I wouldnt get to exctied. Just prepring for Macau I'd say, as he is running with RRR, as ART aren't going...

[osborn]

I interviewed Harvey a couple of weeks ago where he talks pretty positively about his 2011 BF3 chances. http://www.skiddmark.com/2010/11/05/...-335i-m-sport/

Can't wait for the season to begin!

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by strider

SRO have released a provisional calendar for 2011 today. You can read about it in full here, but the brief details are:

MONTH  CIRCUIT  CHAMPIONSHIPS
March  Silverstone, UK  Media & Test Day
April  Monza, Italy  GT Endurance Series
April  Oulton Park, UK  British F3 & GT & UK support package
May  Donington Park GP, UK  British F3 & GT & UK support package
June  Brands Hatch GP, UK  British F3 & GT & UK support package
July  Paul Ricard, France  FIA GT1 World Championship
July  Spa-Francorchamps  Spa 24 Hours
August*  Nürburgring*, Germany  GT Endurance Series
September  Rockingham, UK  British F3 & GT & UK support package
September  Snetterton 300, UK  British F3 & GT & UK support package
October  Silverstone Arena, UK  GT Endurance, British F3, GT & supports

VW racing cup provisonal dates are as follows, assuming they support the British F3 series in the UK..........

Volkswagen Racing Cup with Fuchs Lubricants Provisional calendar 2011
25 April Oulton Park
15 May Snetterton 300
19 June Brands Hatch GP
02 July Zandvoort (NL)
04 September Rockingham
25 September Donington Park
09 October Silverstone Arena

[strider]

This is quite exciting, I guess: http://www.fota.co.uk/news.php?actio...Article&params[id]=1426

And this is an interesting development, but logical in the big picture: http://www.fota.co.uk/news.php?actio...Article&params[id]=1427

[strider]

The British F3 calendar for next season has now been confirmed with specific dates and Cooper Tires have also confirmed that they will remain as the Series' title sponsor for another four years. http://www.fota.co.uk/news.php?actio...Article&params[id]=1429

This is all good news as it gives the Series the solid base it needs if it is to continue to prosper as the best F3 Series/Championship in the world.

[bella]

the links of the official site don't work properly cause of the dodgy square brackets in them - when you paste them next time can you make sure you get the url tags around the whole thing? ta

incidentally, bf3 and fr3.5 visit 5 of the same venues, and 4 are the same as f1.

the jewel in the crown so to speak has to be the spa 24 hour support races, not sure about monza in april though, good luck with it not raining

[MikeHoyer]

Can't be any worse than 2008.

[strider]

Originally Posted by bella

the links of the official site don't work properly cause of the dodgy square brackets in them - when you paste them next time can you make sure you get the url tags around the whole thing? ta

Sorry about that, don't understand that as the site is still giving me same link but, as you say, it doesn't lead to the right page.

I've broken the stories into two with these links:

Calendar confirmation.

Sponsorship renewal.

[strider]

Great news in this week's Autosport.

Kevin Magnussen has been testing with Carlin to mutual satisfaction and looks likely to sign with them for next season. The only snag is that he is part of the McLaren Young Driver Programme and they might try to point him elsewhere, but I don't think the F3ES is what it used to be.

Kevin is the 18-year-old son of '94 champion, Jan, who still holds the record for the number of race wins in a season at 14, which was incredible considering that there were just 18 races back then. Even the highly-rated Jean-Eric Vergne could only muster 13 wins from 30 races this season.

[bella]

it really helps maintain credibility (both for drivers and for the series, imo) that well thought of future talent still goes to british f3 to learn the ropes. it'll be interesting to see who else follows.

[dave not neil]

Originally Posted by bella

it really helps maintain credibility (both for drivers and for the series, imo) that well thought of future talent still goes to british f3 to learn the ropes. it'll be interesting to see who else follows.

But he's 'learned the ropes' in German F3...

I'll put him down as an early favourite for the title. He was one of 5 incredibly talented drivers in 2010 German F3, and I think he might expose how over rated and under talented the British Championship actually is.

[bella]

he did some euroseries races too, didn't he? it's still better than going off to f2

[strider]

He won a Race 2 in the Euroseries and you're right, it's a win-win situation if drivers like him come to the UK.

Interesting fact. Several Euroseries teams are buying Cooper tyres for winter testing. Wonder why that could be...

[bella]

made for the british climate and thus better able to cope with the unseasonably cold weather we're all having in europe this side of christmas?

but seriously. that's interesting.

[jondownunder]

Great news. I'd rather see an F3 Euro Series than GP3, but if it's going to die then BF3 2011 will be a seriously good championship

[Mr Pink]

What are the other top German F3 drivers doing next year? Will we maybe see the guys like Dusseldorp, Abt or Rosenqvist in BF3 next year too?

[ivanalesi]

I was surprised Abt wasn't listed in Red Bull Junior, he's w/ Signature & VW power. So far following the VW route & obviously they would prefer to race him in F3ES.

[strider]

Originally Posted by bella

made for the british climate and thus better able to cope with the unseasonably cold weather we're all having in europe this side of christmas?

but seriously. that's interesting.

I suppose I'd better come clean before people get too excited.

The first reason is exactly the one bella mentions. The Avon/Cooper tyres always have performed better in the cold weather than the Kumhos.

The second is that they're less expensive.

For all that I can't help but think that there's a bit of contingency planning involved as well.

[bella]

aren't they changing the compound for the euroseries for 2011? in which case, it's odd that they're not keen to get their hands on that.