Australian Formula 3

Australian Formula 3
Category Open Wheel Racing
Formula 3
Country Australia
Inaugural season 1964 (first era)
1999 (modern era)
Folded 1977 (first era)
Drivers 23
Teams 10
Constructors Dallara
Mygale
Engine suppliers 2.0 litre Inline 4
Tyre suppliers Kumho Tires
Last Drivers' champion Australia Simon Hodge
Official website formula3.com.au
Current season

Australian Formula 3 has been the name applied to two distinctly different motor racing categories, separated by over twenty years. The Australian Formula 3 Championship is the current series for Australian Formula 3, a motor racing championship for FIA Formula Three racing cars. Growing out of Australian Formula 2 racing into a series for the first time in 1999, it has grown into the premier Australian Open wheel motor racing category. The Australian Drivers' Championship is the premier series run under at Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships events and is the oldest motor racing championship in Australia, and one of the oldest awards after the Australian Grand Prix and the intermittently awarded Australian Tourist Trophy.

The original Australian Formula 3 was created in 1964 as a 1000cc engine capacity formula based on the FIA Formula 3 of the period and was intended as a cost-efficient open wheel category to run at state level for amateur racers.

History – The First Era

Elfin 623 AF3 car of 1972–1974

The Australian Formula 3 category was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1964 as the fourth tier of formula car racing in Australia, below the Australian National Formula, the Australian 1½ Litre Formula and Australian Formula 2. Initially the formula was as per FIA Formula 3,[1] with cars restricted to using production based engines of under 1000cc capacity with overhead camshafts not permitted.[2] For 1969 the engine capacity limit was increased to 1100cc and the prohibition on overhead camshafts was removed. 1972 saw the engine capacity limit lifted to 1300cc. 1977 was to be the last year of the first era of Australian Formula 3 as the category was discontinued at the end of the season.[3] Formula 3 was never run under national championship status, although there were State Championships and the Stillwell Series.[4]

History – The Modern Era

Bruno Senna drives a Dallara F304 F3 car during a support race at the 2006 Australian GP

The modern era began when 2 Litre Formula 3 cars were introduced into Australia in 1999, competing alongside 1600cc Australian Formula 2 cars in the Australian Formula 2 National Series. [5] In the following year CAMS introduced FIA specifications for Formula 3 cars in Australia and Formula 3 drivers now had their own Formula 3 National Series.[6] Agreement was reached with CAMS to grant National Championship status to the Formula 3 Series for 2001 [7] and it officially became the Australian Formula 3 Championship in that year.[8] By the 2005 season CAMS had decreed that Australian Formula 3 was now Australia’s premier open-wheel racing car class (displacing Formula 4000) and as such the Australian Drivers' Championship title (and the associated CAMS Gold Star) would be awarded on the results of the Australian Formula 3 Championship.[9]

List of Champions

Following the running of a National Series in 1999 and 2000, official national title status was granted by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport from 2001 onwards. From 2005 to 2014 the winner of the Australian Formula 3 Championship was also awarded the CAMS Gold Star and the Australian Drivers' Championship title.

National Series

Ben Clucas (Dallara F304), winner of the 2006 championship
Ben Barker (Dallara F307), winner of the 2010 championship.
Ricky Capo (Dallara F311) won the 2015 Championship
Season Series Winner Vehicle Team
1999 Australia Paul Stephenson[10] Dallara F396 – Toms Toyota Titan
2000 Australia Paul Stephenson[11] Dallara F396 – Toms Toyota Titan

Australian Formula 3 Championship

Season Champion [8] Vehicle Team
2001 Australia Peter Hackett Dallara F301 – Alfa Romeo Piccola Scuderia
2002 Australia James Manderson Dallara F301 – Spiess Opel Team BRM
2003 Australia Michael Caruso Dallara F301 – Novamotor Fiat Piccola Scuderia
2004 Australia Karl Reindler Dallara F301 – Spiess Opel Team BRM
2005 Australia Aaron Caratti Dallara F304 – Sodemo Renault Insight F3
2006 United Kingdom Ben Clucas Dallara F304 – Sodemo Renault Team BRM
2007 Australia Tim Macrow Dallara F304 – Spiess Opel Cooltemp Racing/Scud Racing
2008 United Kingdom James Winslow Dallara F307 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz Astuti Motorsport/Team BRM
2009 United Kingdom Joey Foster Dallara F307 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz Team BRM
2010 United Kingdom Ben Barker Dallara F307 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz Team BRM
2011 Australia Chris Gilmour Dallara F307 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz Gilmour Racing
2012 United Kingdom James Winslow Dallara F307 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz R-Tek Motorsport
2013 Australia Tim Macrow Dallara F307 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz Team BRM
2014 Australia Simon Hodge Mygale M11 – HWA-Mercedes-Benz Team BRM
2015 Australia Ricky Capo Dallara F311 – Mugen Honda Ricky Capo Racing

List of constructors in Australian Formula 3

AF3 Cheetah Mk6

Cars built by the following constructors have raced in Australian Formula 3

Historic Era

Modern Era

References

  1. ↑ CAMS Official Organ, Racing Car News, December 1963, page 23
  2. ↑ Australian Motor Manual, May 1965, pages 31&34
  3. ↑ The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 172
  4. ↑ Chequered Flag, May 1981, page 33
  5. ↑ 2 LITRE ENGINES VINDICATED – 31/5/1999 Retrieved from Internet Archive on 21 October 2008
  6. ↑ FIA FORMULA 3 ACCEPTED IN AUSTRALIA – 30/4/2000 Retrieved from Internet Archive on 21 October 2008. .
  7. ↑ CHAMPIONSHIP AGREEMENT REACHED – 18/3/2001 Retrieved from Internet Archive on 21 October 2008.
  8. 1 2 Australian Titles Retrieved from CAMS Online Manual of Motor Sport on 21 July 2009.
  9. ↑ FORMULA 3 TO RACE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2005 Retrieved from Internet Archive on 21 October 2008.
  10. ↑ F2/F3 NATIONAL SERIES TO BE DECIDED AT PHILLIP ISLAND Retrieved from Internet Archive on 21 July 2009
  11. ↑ NATIONAL SERIES WRAPPED UP AT THE ISLAND – 26/11/2000 Retrieved from Internet Archive on 21 October 2008

External links

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