British F3 silly season 2010

[Last2LiftOff]

So how many cars on the grid so far then, combined? Are we at 30? (I haven't seen a number lately, but I'll scroll back.)

[Last2LiftOff]

Ah, 21 in testing (4 National Class). Still, a comparative number really.

[Richard B]

21 as you say,think this is upto date:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Br...a_Three_season

Still a few seats on offer

[brakedisc]

Has there been big changes at Double R ? Is Boyo still running things?

[jondownunder]

Lucas Foresti has switched teams from Hitech to Carlin:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82303

[strider]

Originally Posted by brakedisc

Has there been big changes at Double R ? Is Boyo still running things?

Boyo is still running things, but Malcolm Swetnam has been brought in as team manager, which seems to have helped.

There are 24 cars testing at Silverstone today, but I'm not sure if they are all intending to be season regulars. http://www.tsl-timing.com/?loc=major...eventid=101217

[bella]

i think it's worth pointing out that that's a pretty good sized field for a f3/gp3/whatever else there is level series.

[alias99]

Foresti leaves Hitech and apparently Buller is looking at his options. Dias is probably slower this year in testing than he was last year in a national class car. Does anyone know what is going on with this reformed team??

Also any news on Wayne Boyd or have a missed a discussion about this? He seemed set to run with HiTech at the end of last year.

[Valker]

Boyd was testing Italian F3 car for BMV/Target at Vallelunga in Tuesday.

[jondownunder]

Don't think it's been mentioned, but Autosport magazine last week said that Triple Eight Race Engineering will be entering this season, in some kind of partnership/arrangement with Teamcraft (whose team didn't really materialise, apart from testing with Dean Smith wasn't it?). Don't know when they're planning to turn up.

[runshaw]

Triple 8 have two cars available, was hoping to see either Riki Christo or Wayne Boyd pop up to test/race for them, but they seemed to have missed all the pre-season testing.

[strider]

Originally Posted by alias99

Foresti leaves Hitech and apparently Buller is looking at his options. Dias is probably slower this year in testing than he was last year in a national class car. Does anyone know what is going on with this reformed team??

I wouldn't be surprised to see Dias back at T-Sport, although they may say thanks but no thanks after being dumped by him earlier.

The word on the street at Silverstone today is that only four people from Hitech's successful team last year are still there now, which may explain a few things. It takes time for a team to gel.

[runshaw]

I was reading about Hitech in Autosport and it all seemed fine and dandy two weeks ago, Ryan Sharp stating that his 3 drivers will be at the front. He should take up Foresti's seat himself, he's a quick peddler! Buller put in a fast time today, hopefully they will gel despite the apparent problems.

[alias99]

I think the past has proven though to win this championship you have to be on it from the start. If they need to gel its going to take them a few races, Buller is most likely looking at f3 as a two year deal but Dias will be aiming at the title and this may hamper his progress.

Also Dean Smith still hasn't confirmed his plans for 2010, I reckon Manor might be a good option for him, however im assuming that they will be charging a slightly lower price as they wont be able to allocate all resources to the project.

[MKII]

Originally Posted by strider

I wouldn't be surprised to see Dias back at T-Sport, although they may say thanks but no thanks after being dumped by him earlier.

The word on the street at Silverstone today is that only four people from Hitech's successful team last year are still there now, which may explain a few things. It takes time for a team to gel.

HiTech had a big shuffle over the winter, lost their main engineer and have recently lost some long time mechanics. As you said, it'll take some time to gel with a new boss and things. But hopefully things will brighten up as Sharp is a great guy and hope things don't fall apart in front of him.

Originally Posted by runshaw

I was reading about Hitech in Autosport and it all seemed fine and dandy two weeks ago, Ryan Sharp stating that his 3 drivers will be at the front. He should take up Foresti's seat himself, he's a quick peddler! Buller put in a fast time today, hopefully they will gel despite the apparent problems.

There was better pace from both drivers today, think Dias would have hoped to be in front of him but it'll hopefully be sorted for the weekend.

[brakedisc]

"Boyo is still running things, but Malcolm Swetnam has been brought in as team manager, which seems to have helped."

Thanks Strider.

There seems lots of staff movement this year amongst the teams. Does anyone know why this is?. Are there any big changes at Carlin or will play into their hands?

[strider]

Originally Posted by brakedisc

There seems lots of staff movement this year amongst the teams. Does anyone know why this is?. Are there any big changes at Carlin or will play into their hands?

Carlin still look to be the top dogs.

They underwent some changes over the winter, too, but it was on the basis that the best people stayed, which is how it should be.

I'm quite surprised by the pace the the Fortec cars have shown, with Oli Webb being fastest yesterday. It's a random fact that despite having been regarded as one of the top teams for years, they have never actually won the title, despite having had some genuinely star drivers.

[runshaw]

Its a bit bizarre when you think they haven't won the title. Oli Webb will certainly be their lead driver this year, he has been impressive to say the least in Formula Renault. Fortec can lay claim to one British F3 title, courtesy of Dan Mackenzie in the National Class, but thats hardly as prestigious.

[wdj]

Originally Posted by MKII

HiTech had a big shuffle over the winter, lost their main engineer and have recently lost some long time mechanics. As you said, it'll take some time to gel with a new boss and things. But hopefully things will brighten up as Sharp is a great guy and hope things don't fall apart in front of him.



There was better pace from both drivers today, think Dias would have hoped to be in front of him but it'll hopefully be sorted for the weekend.

In fact, Hitech faced a lot of problems along the tests, some of them due to incredible lack of luck issues.
Nonetheless, they have the people, the resources, the drivers, they have the desire and they have the commitment. Last test Buller lapped just one tenth off in dry track and Dias lead almost all the way in damp conditions. They will get there.

[daallo]

Any idea if ART are racing in Spa?

[Vintage Aston]

Originally Posted by daallo

Any idea if ART are racing in Spa?

Art are racing and I think Prema also.

[brucelok2003]

What about ATS F3 teams? Van Amersfoot? Motopark?

[strider]

This seems the best place to put this, because it is pretty silly!

The pre-race test for the last race of the season at Brands Hatch in September was held on the GP circuit there yesterday. Quite why it could not be on the Friday before the race meeting has not been explained.

Anyway, here is a report and the times. Come September they will have to go straight into qualifying in what may be completely different conditions, but, to quote the old cliché, it will be the same for all of them.

[FFfan]

Originally Posted by strider

This seems the best place to put this, because it is pretty silly!

The pre-race test for the last race of the season at Brands Hatch in September was held on the GP circuit there yesterday. Quite why it could not be on the Friday before the race meeting has not been explained.

Anyway, here is a report and the times. Come September they will have to go straight into qualifying in what may be completely different conditions, but, to quote the old cliché, it will be the same for all of them.

Well at least the F3's have had a test on the circuit that they will race on all be it a couple of months early. Formula Ford doesn't have one at all and no General Test days are avaialble on the GP track. As you say "it will be the same for all of them" but 2nd season drivers will have driven the circuit last year.

[strider]

I was being pretty restrained in my first post. It's a monumental cock-up by SRO, because I believe it's in the regulations that there will be a pre-race test the day before. FOTA is also at fault to some extent, because they arrange other tests with MSV and they should have checked to ensure that the Brands test was scheduled. I'd guess that FOTA arranged the test yesterday as Plan B.

I didn't realise that Formula Ford are not having any testing at all. That's even worse and pretty inexcusable. So what is happening on the Friday, I wonder?