Sam wrote: I read that the Formula Renault series has been axed due to low number of entries. Any ideas on whether that will be replaced with something in time for this season?
There were only 6 entries received for the first round of FRUK..... and apparently 4 of them are from the same team.
It seems FRUK has priced itself out of the market with annual costs creeping towards £250,000 per season (based on not purchasing the car) Was the category not at one time the largest single seater category in the UK?
I was not aware of the confirmation that it had been dropped but with only 6 entries it is ridiculous to even consider it was ever going to happen. FR has become a bit boring of late as the cars improve. as to tyres, the downforce increases and the cars are basically underpowered. So the cornering speeds are often very high, with little increase in speed on the straights. Thus the actual ability to pass has become more difficult. They actually lap faster that BTTC I think, yet their straightline speed is much slower, so its down to qualifying and start. He who leads at the end of lap 1 will be almost impossible to pass unless a mistake is made.
I can tell you that some circuits had forseen the problem and I think it is Knockhill and Croft will be running the Classic Touring Cars as a support category. I think that they are a must at such meetings, and are always a sure fire winner with the crowds.
The similar class here was also once dragged into our (V8SC) Touring Car championship programme as a late replacement, and is now believed to be as much of a draw as the main programme. Certainly the post race polls indicate that. The racing is always great and here now many of the older names (now retired) from the main game love racing these for the kicks. Glen Seton, John Bowe, Jim Richards, and Andrew Medieke plus many more namesnow all run in the outright class, in Camaros, Falcon Sprints, Mustang GT500's plus all of the class cars, Alfas, 3 litre Capris , RS Escorts, through to the smaller Corollas etc. It is always one of the main televised events on the programme as well, such is their popularity, and the noise is pure music..
There has also been a huge resurgence of guys bringing out the old Group A and Group C cars to race in their now Historic categories. That includes the Rovers, XJS V12, BMW 635 and M3's, you name it. Plus from our Group C we have plenty of the old Commodores, Falcons. All of that category are genuine original cars from the period, in their iconic period liveries, now dragged out of their museum lives.
I know in the UK it is a super strong category, with cars such as the Jaguar Mk2s, Lotus Cortinas, and the grid numbers would be good. (We always have at least 40per race)
So that is what I know and have heard plus my thoughts on the replacement category.
Talking of V8SC this years Clipsal 500 had a dramatic drop in attendance this year, despite perfect weather and being back at season opener, it only attracted 250,000 people over 4 days, down on the c375,000 of recent years. The Grand Prix at Albert Park had well over 300,000 in only 3 days