| Category | Formula Renault UK Open Wheel Racing |
|---|---|
| Country or region | United Kingdom |
| Inaugural season | 1989 |
| Drivers | 5 |
| Teams | 18 |
| Constructors | Tatuus |
| Engine suppliers | Renault |
| Drivers' champion | Alex Lynn |
| Teams' champion | Fortec Motorsports |
| Official website | Formula Renault UK |
| Current season | |
| Category | Formula Renault BARC Open Wheel Racing |
|---|---|
| Country or region | United Kingdom |
| Inaugural season | 1995 |
| Constructors | Tatuus |
| Engine suppliers | Renault |
| Drivers' champion | Dino Zamparelli |
| Teams' champion | Antel Motorsport |
| Official website | Formula Renault BARC |
| Current season | |
The United Kingdom has two Formula Renault championships: Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault UK championship and the British Automobile Racing Club's BARC Formula Renault championship. Generally, the UK series is recognized as the British Formula Renault.
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The "British Formula Renault Championship", was founded by the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) in 1989. Renault Sport UK took over the organization of the championship from the following year. This championship is currently recognized as "British Formula Renault", although the official name of the championship was changed to the "Formula Renault UK Championship" in 2005.
BARC organized a second championship in 1995. Since then two championships have existed existed in the United Kingdom. However, the BARC championship differs from the UK championship in that it is a mainly amateur series. The BARC championship's Club Class uses old chassis previously used in the UK series. Renault Sport UK also supports the BARC series.
Kimi Räikkönen, the champion of the UK series in 2000, made a successful debut in Formula One the next year. This event brought keen attention to the Formula Renault Championships and became a chance to found new championships in Italy, Brazil and Asia. Räikkönen went on to become Formula One World Champion in 2007.
Valtteri Bottas won three of the four races in the UK Winter championship 2007 (and placed second on the final race), but didn't gain any championship points, as he didn't have a license for the series.
The Renaultsport championship organises an annual regular series, supporting the British Touring Car Championship and UK round of the World Series By Renault, as well as a winter series. The regular series is the main championship and holds 20 races over 10 meetings a year since 2004. Originally the championship used engines of 1,721cc . Between 1995 and 1999 a 2,000cc 8V engine was used. Since 2000 it has used 2,000cc 16V engines. From 2005 the championship was named "Formula Renault 2.0".
The French tyre manufacturer Michelin has been the tyre supplier and the title sponsor of the series since 1992.
Several notable Formula One Drivers have raced in the series including Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta and Heikki Kovalainen.
The UK Championship has a Graduate Cup scheme aimed to help young drivers enter the championship. The highest placed Graduate Cup driver for each round receives trophy on podium. The overall Graduate Cup winner receives 25% discount on the entry fee for the Formula Renault 2.0 UK or Clio Cup UK. To be eligible to race in the Graduate Cup Class you must:
| Points System | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Fastest Lap | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | |
| 32 | 28 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Only the best 18 results count towards the championship | ||||||||||||||||||||
The current BARC championship began in 1995. The series was named "Formula Renault BARC Championship" to distinguish from the other series, the British Formula Renault Championship. Most of the regulation relating to the cars in the FR2000 class are the same as the UK series, but the car has fixed gear ratios, an intake restrictor to limit engine wear, and are limited to one new set of tyres per outing.
The final championship standings are established with the best 10 results of the season. A Privateer Club classification is also established for young drivers who participate in the same race as the FR2000 series
Point system : 32, 28, 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for 20th. In each race 2 points for Fastest lap and for Privateer Cup fastest lap.
Races are between 30 miles (48 km) and 30 minutes.
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