UK Formula Renault - The Invisible Championship

[No 4]

It ist me or has anyone else noticed that there seems to be zero interest in this years UK FR championship?

[No 4]

I did of course mean to say "Is it me ...."

Too early in the morning and my spelling brain is not working!!!!!

[rdjones]

I have agree with you there, I have been trackside for all 6 rounds so far this year and they have all been a bit of a snore fest. But on the other hand Formula BMW, that is way better this year.

[Bob Pearson]

The grids look good, which suggests the people investing money in drivers see it as a worthwhile arena. I guess the fact that it is shown live on Sky helps that decision.

[Gaz]

I enjoy Formula Renault its just it doesn't appear to have to many fans on here so rarely mention it - I'm glad someone else finds it worthy though!

I think its a hugely succesful championship, it might not always produce the greatest racing but it attracts numbers and many succesful drivers have passed through its ranks.

This season i don't really see any stand out drivers though - most are drivers who have either struggled in other formulae and dropped back or are in their 47th year of racing the formulae!

In saying that Sam Bird has shown well thus far and Dean Smith hasn't done too lowsy a job.

[ems]

EuroCup and NEC are going great guns. NEC had a large crowd at Zandvoort this weekend.

[Knowlesy]

I watch all the races, on telly only at the minute sadly.

I enjoy it myself....it's not the most exciting championship in 2006, but there is some good racing.

Nobody ever seems to mention it!

[jondownunder]

I'm certainly still a follower, and I think it's as good a quality grid as ever this year. Been to 4 out of the 6 rounds so far, and the racing's often been processional, but that seems to be the norm from recent years. Looks like it could be close season-long for the championship.

[Bezzen]

Since it's one of the few international series Swedes seem to have enough money to compete in I'm following it to the extent that I can. Which means live-timing and if I'm lucky a download of the race a week or so late.

Hohenthal should hopefully be able to be in the title race all season and it will be interesting to see how Roos develops in Nexa. Hopefully he'll be someone to watch in '07.

[boycie]

Originally Posted by Gaz

This season i don't really see any stand out drivers though - most are drivers who have either struggled in other formulae and dropped back or are in their 47th year of racing the formulae!

In saying that Sam Bird has shown well thus far and Dean Smith hasn't done too lowsy a job.

drivers who have struggled? there are some great drivers in the championship this year and it's promising to be one of the most open in seasons.

when you're mentioning bird, there are a lot of other drivers worthy of note who don't have a great deal of experience in racing full stop.

[REALIST]

To be honest, I don't think it's attracting less interest than any other UK single seater series. In a straw poll, no-one had any idea what was happening in FBMW and, really, no-one knew anything about F3 at all. One guy questioned whether there was an F3 series in the UK this year!

[boycie]

you're right realist. in all fairness i think formula renault is still one of the strongest championships in the country from a competitiveness perspective, better than bmw for sure in my book and i don't really think f3 is all that great at the present time

[sceptic]

BMW this year has a very different tone from previous years.

In the past couple of seasons most of the field have had real F1 ambitions.
This year there are a lot of drivers with big chequebooks who are doing it for fun.


Formula Renault as a championship may not be invisible, but it appears that a couple of the cars were at Knockhill on Sunday as Daniel Roos ran into Peter Rees, and rolled over the top of him and James Sutton. In the pit lane.

[bella]

maybe frenault is attracting a different type of interest now. there's evidently quite a few armchair fans who watch it and fbmw on motorstv, and perhaps fewer that go to the circuit and watch from there.

i'm not watching it with quite as much interest as i used to (there are bigger, shinier cars that give me a fabulous excuse to escape the country for example), but looking at it without much focus it seems that there's no mindnumbingly brilliant talents like there was a couple of years ago.

basic logic says if a 3rd year driver (even in racing terms, taking into account people who are going back down to frenault) is winning then there's not much going on talent wise. granted, taking hamilton as an example is a little daft, but the pattern used to be impress in 1st year, win and championship challenge in the second.

where have the *drivers* gone?

[Gaz]

I agree with Bella *shock horror* - look back over the past five seasons and you see names such as Hamilton, Watts, Raikkonen, Green, Conway, Jarvis having come through the ranks and in most cases made an impact early on before moving onto bigger and better things (Watts probably being the one amongst that that doesn't really count for that point)

You look at it this year - the driver leading the standings is in his third year and who hasn't stacked up well against some of the bigger names during previous seasons - even when racing on an equal experience keel to them. Drivers such as Hohenthal, Metcalfe and Sutton have also been racing for 2-3 seasons in cars now and up to this season have never really showed anything like the form of drivers who could go on to become real stars like the names I mentioned at the start.

Drivers such as Josh Fisher are drivers who have struggled elsewhere and had to take a step back only to find they can't compete at this level either.

Sam Bird is someone I see potential in, he should have won BMW last season and clearly has come into this season with a point to prove and has adapted quickly and very well. Its only his second full season of car racing and he's already winning races and beating 3-year veterans and thats a positive sign.

Duncan Tappy I would also like to see racing for a team with experience or at least having a team mate to compare data with. He was sublime last season in Formula Ford (albeit against limited opposition) and with no real racing background behind him really stood out. Racing for a team new to Renault and with no team mate he's struggled this season though and I hope the decision to stick with Jamun doesn't come back to affect his future.

In terms as Renault as a whole I agree in the fact that its a championship again succeeding. Its got good TV coverage, a full grid and a good calendar supporting some strong series. I believe in 2-3 seasons time when the drivers racing in the formulae move on we'll begin to see that in terms of out right talent this years grid is thin on the ground.

[boycie]

[QUOTE=Gaz]You look at it this year - the driver leading the standings is in his third year and who hasn't stacked up well against some of the bigger names during previous seasons - even when racing on an equal experience keel to them. Drivers such as Hohenthal, Metcalfe and Sutton have also been racing for 2-3 seasons in cars now and up to this season have never really showed anything like the form of drivers who could go on to become real stars like the names I mentioned at the start.QUOTE]

you're so wrong! hogan only started racing at all the year before his renault debut so the argument about his three seasons in the championship is totally incorrect to my mind.

how can you measure just three or four years of racing to drivers like hamilton and green who have an immense amount of experience from karting before even making the step into cars with, don't forget, huge budgets?

hohenthal, metcalfe and sutton are great drivers too. i feel certain all three will go on to much bigger things. maybe hohenthal should have won more races but that doesn't have any bearing on his potential, the same goes for sutton.

metcalfe is only in his second year of cars and his first was with a team who never gave him a car capable of top 15 let alone anything else. look what has happened since as he got his hands on some quality kit?

[Gaz]

I agree that the team your in makes all the difference and maybe Metcalfe has been stifled in the past but still - he's had 1-2 good meetings but he's never looked a dominant driver.

Hogan might not have the background but he's had 3 full years in Renault which is a hell of a lot of time and even now he's still not winning every weekend and getting outshone by drivers with much less Renault experience i.e. last weekend at Knockhill.

Sutton was poor in BMW and was poor last season. I believe the only reason he's running anywhere near the front this year is due to the lack of strength at the front of the championship.

I don't believe that the drivers mentioned are absolute no hoping tuggers but to me I've seen nothing outstanding and no driver that I can see really going to the top and winning in this sport be it at F1, Champ Car or Indy levels. Le Mans winners of the future then maybe!

Hohenthal's a baffling one - he always seems to flatter to deceive. He's get pace there and its witnessed now and again and when it is he proves blindingly quick but those events aren't anywhere near consistent enough. This season he should be winning week in week out.

[bella]

i think sam bird might be his own worst enemy, but that's just a stab in the dark without knowing the lad. he was good in fbmw, that i'll agree with (seriously gaz, this is wrong! ).

josh fisher i'd disagree with slightly, he isn't proving to be that bad in frenault, and he wasn't that bad in the national class either. granted, he'll not be a f1 driver but i think the instant dismissal is a little unfair.

boycie's right to defend hogan, but i think if you compare him to bruno senna in terms of experience (forget financial backing for a moment), then bruno would ahead again. i don't think that there's any drivers in formula renault at the moment who will be being looked at by f1 teams in the near future.

i think maybe frenault is suceeding in everything but the theoretical reason that renault set it up in the first place - to bring on new talent. part of it is the marketplace is a bit flooded with alternatives at the moment, and the hamilton years were a bit of an anomoly, but look back at a 2002 timesheet and you're down to 15th or 20th on the grid before you reach a level where you can honestly say that one of today's drivers would qualify.

but as gaz points out, the series is very successful otherwise, and you can't fault them for getting a tv deal, and terrestrial highlights, and a big crowd (if only by association). but renault are the masters at that, aren't they?

[REALIST]

Originally Posted by bella

i think sam bird might be his own worst enemy, but that's just a stab in the dark without knowing the lad. he was good in fbmw, that i'll agree with (seriously gaz, this is wrong! ).

josh fisher i'd disagree with slightly, he isn't proving to be that bad in frenault, and he wasn't that bad in the national class either. granted, he'll not be a f1 driver but i think the instant dismissal is a little unfair.

boycie's right to defend hogan, but i think if you compare him to bruno senna in terms of experience (forget financial backing for a moment), then bruno would ahead again. i don't think that there's any drivers in formula renault at the moment who will be being looked at by f1 teams in the near future.

i think maybe frenault is suceeding in everything but the theoretical reason that renault set it up in the first place - to bring on new talent. part of it is the marketplace is a bit flooded with alternatives at the moment, and the hamilton years were a bit of an anomoly, but look back at a 2002 timesheet and you're down to 15th or 20th on the grid before you reach a level where you can honestly say that one of today's drivers would qualify.

but as gaz points out, the series is very successful otherwise, and you can't fault them for getting a tv deal, and terrestrial highlights, and a big crowd (if only by association). but renault are the masters at that, aren't they?

You sure about that? The cars were updated in '04 and were much quicker than before so I would doubt that.

At Brands April '04, the top ten qualifiers were between 44.057 and 44.393. This year between 44.194 and 44.595. say 1-2 tenths slower.
In the races,- '04 44.968 to 45.321; this year 44.425 to 44.958.

I haven't seen any evidence to show that this year's drivers are slower than '04 and '05 yet, and you can't really compare earlier years.

[boycie]

very true realist

[bella]

i wasn't talking literally, i was talking theoretically.

and anyway, i know what i mean and it's my opinion. throw your numbers at it all you like, but i do honestly believe it ain't what it used to be. guess it's just a phase things are going through.

[Bezzen]

I'd say the biggest difference between the 02 field and this years is that the 02 guys have come four years further in their careers.

[boycie]

with all the comparisons between drivers of different years, how long was danny watts in formula renault?

[Gaz]

3 years I believe although I may be wrong.

Sure he won the title in 2002 and started racing alongside Kimi Raikkonen in 2000 at Manor but feel free to prove me wrong!

[REALIST]

Originally Posted by Gaz

3 years I believe although I may be wrong.

Sure he won the title in 2002 and started racing alongside Kimi Raikkonen in 2000 at Manor but feel free to prove me wrong!

Correct