British Formula 3 2014 Rounds 1-3 Rockingham

[EastonNeston]

Results of today's testing, courtesy of TSL

http://www.tsl-timing.com/bf3gt/2014/141805bf3.pdf

1) Rao Fortec 1'19.045"
2) MacLeod Fortec +0.082"
3) Chang RR +0.524
4) Cao Fortec +0.550
5) Kaminsky RR +0.908
6) Powell Carlin +1.368
7) Li Carlin +1.895

Live timing link

http://livetiming.tsl-timing.com/141805

[Alessio]

This is so depressing to see.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Even 2012 had a good grid...

...this is small AND lacks quality...

[Alfaholic]

Only 6 in qualifying - Alice Powell's car still in the awning,wheels off, nobody around!

[andrewc]

Alice is doing a trial for Team GB downhill headfirst teatray racing this morning, but will race in the afternoon and tomorrow starting from the back.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Even with a 7 car field Matt Rao can still get a little air in a crash...

...this is even more depressing than what Alessio suggests...

[gomick]

A joke really, why would Fortec or Double R enter a series where there are 6 cars?

Organisers should cancel the series, they are disgracing the name with that many cars!

[wsrgo94]

Even more of a joke is how autosport continues to cover British F3. Do they seriously believe it is the best national F3 series?

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by wsrgo94

Even more of a joke is how autosport continues to cover British F3. Do they seriously believe it is the best national F3 series?

And yet they fail to cover British GT online...

...I love Autosport but this is one of those things...

[andrewc]

Originally Posted by gomick

A joke really, why would Fortec or Double R enter a series where there are 6 cars?

because Fortec, Double-R, Carlin are businesses. Drivers have paid for them to provide a racing car, so they are providing a racing car.

[davyboy]

As I said elsewhere this farce is not worthy of the title 'British F3 Championship'. It makes a mockery of what was arguably the world's greatest junior single seater series. It needs to be knocked on the head.

[Alessio]

Originally Posted by gomick

Organisers should cancel the series, they are disgracing the name with that many cars!

It would be wrong to blame SRO for this.

[BtccLee]

Renault cancelled FRenault 2.0 UK with ( I believe) 2 weeks to the start of the season in 2012 with 6 entries. BF3 only had 6 until the last week and yet still run the opener. Maybe grids will grow but it's not looking good. Didn't I read that the F3 Cup series is also struggling and wants to amalgamate grids?

[kipper]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

Didn't I read that the F3 Cup series is also struggling and wants to amalgamate grids?

F3 Cup is struggling for entries; however, I can't imagine that a merger will happen in the short term due to the divergence in regulations. In rectifying this, I can envisage some competitors being dissuaded from competing so I have some doubts that merging the two championships would necessarily generate a substantially bigger grid than what each championship currently has.

[andrewc]

Yes, there was something in Autosport about it.

F3 Cup: 25m q and 2x 20m races, 1 set of slicks
BF3: 30m q and 3x 30m races, 2 sets of slicks.

I'm fairly sure that an amalgamated grid would put off some f3 cup competitors at both back and towards front of the grid when suddenly on the same grid as teams whose budget for one race weekend may last some people two seasons.

[ivanalesi]

I believe there was a requirement sometime ago for the minimum number of entries for a championship? Surely 6 is below it. I thought it was 8.

[edenrace]

Stop going on about the numbers, Indy Lights had 9 at most rounds last year. No one went on and on about it .

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by edenrace

Stop going on about the numbers, Indy Lights had 9 at most rounds last year. No one went on and on about it .

Numbers matter. Surely you can't be happy with the status quo ? How low do they need to be before it's considered an issue - 2 cars ? 1 car ?

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Numbers matter. Surely you can't be happy with the status quo ? How low do they need to be before it's considered an issue - 2 cars ? 1 car ?

You only need two cars to have a race but you are more likely to have a good race with a larger number. The issue is the fact that we accepted a truncated season last year to ensure British F3 could get back on its feet.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB and Renault UK Clio Cup are going through a cycle of low grids which eventually grow after the introduction of a new car. FFord GB struggled last year and is now back (relatively speaking) on its feet.

The excuse with British Formula 3 simply is not there, whatever plan was put in place has not worked. This needs rectifying and one cannot help but feel that a full year off for a re-think would have helped.

I think this is a seperate issue entirely from the media coverage of British GT and F3 events, which is simply sad, for it is really lacking outside specialist publications.

Is it FIA F3 effecting entries. Possibly but I do not think that is the full story. If it aint broke, dont fix it. people say. In this case, it very much is broken.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

I believe there was a requirement sometime ago for the minimum number of entries for a championship? Surely 6 is below it. I thought it was 8.

The MSA does consider grid sizes when reviewing championship permits. I understand that this is on average level (that I can't recall off the top of my head) over a rolling period. There is some latitude in the system to enable notable championships to continue if they are below this level (e.g. historical significance, their regional nature or specific importance).

[kipper]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

The excuse with British Formula 3 simply is not there, whatever plan was put in place has not worked. This needs rectifying and one cannot help but feel that a full year off for a re-think would have helped

If the championship is put on hiatus for a year, I have significant doubts that it would return (as an aside, I'm still waiting for the resurrection of Formula Renault UK and British Formula 3000, which were initially postponed for one season) as there will also be a residual level of doubt that the championship will return. As a consequence, I'd imagine that drivers will prefer to focus their efforts (and money) on securing a good seat in a championship that they know will happen. This will mean that British F3 teams will struggle to secure drivers and the whole thing disappears.

I do have a lot of fondness of British F3 and as a consequence I hope it can return to something of its previous level. As a result, I think the best cause of action is to persevere with 2014 - however painful that may be - and review the situation at the end of the season to gauge if there is any upsurge in interest.

[wsrgo94]

Another thing is that all through the off-season we got to see in Autosport that teams like Scorpio, Performance, T-Sport etc. were wanting to return to the series. I wonder why none of those happened. Performance especially spoke of the interest very recently, saying that British F3 would be easier for them as they're based in the UK.

[Go_For_Pole]

No paying customers were willing to commit surely?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by kipper

I do have a lot of fondness of British F3 and as a consequence I hope it can return to something of its previous level. As a result, I think the best cause of action is to persevere with 2014 - however painful that may be - and review the situation at the end of the season to gauge if there is any upsurge in interest.

So do I, which is the reason why I believe it needs to be stopped now. To win a race, let alone a championship, in British F3 was a hell of an achievement. At one time, it marked you out as potential F1 material. BF3 2014 makes a mockery of all that's gone before it.

At the moment BRDC Formula 4 is the premier single seater category in the UK. It's where most of the strong domestic talent is - c.f. current world karting champion Charlie Eastwood. I would rather see that series given the prominence it deserves and for the teams and drivers interested in lifting a worthy domestic title gravitating there.

[EastonNeston]

Saying kill the series off may sound an easy option, but remember that the teams involved have invested time and capital into the series and their equipment, as well as employing staff that depend on their employment to support themselves and their families.
I know that the teams organisation (FOTA) and the teams are working hard to get more cars running. Last weekend there were also rounds of the FIA series and the German series, that runs the same spec engines as in the UK. The was also a round of the Spanish open formula series, that could supply cars and/or drivers.
It is expected that there will be 9 cars for the next round at Silverstone, an approx 28% increase in grid size.
To end the series now would, in my opinion, be a mistake.