Next year’s European and British Formula 3 calendars appear to have been finalised following the rejigging of several events.
DTM, who headline several rounds of the FIA European F3 Championship, have moved their mid-season event at the Norisring one week to July 14th to avoid a clash with the German Grand Prix.
Their round at Zandvoort has also been moved from its July slot, this time to late September in effort to detangle a number of logistical issues.
An early season visit to the Hungaroring in support of the WTCC has now been moved to the DTM round at the Hockenheimring.
The championship’s second visit to the Hockenheimring, originally booked for September, has now been moved to the third weekend in October, while the final round – previously TBA – will take place the following week at Paul Ricard, in support of the FFSA GT Tour.
In a spec of good news, it was reported in Autosport a few days ago that Signature Racing are considering a return to the European F3 fold for the 2013 season
Meanwhile the British F3 Series has also introduced minor calendar modifications, as well as National Invitation Trophy in an attempt to increase grids at certain events.
Twenty-six races are planned over nine rounds, starting at the often-wet Oulton Park in Cheshire, with each event holding three thirty-minute races, bar Pau which runs only two feature races. Visits to both Rockingham and Monza have dropped, while this year’s season closer at Donington has been reinstated.
Silverstone has been pushed back one week, while Snetterton has been moved forward and the Brands Hatch round – originally the October finale – will now run in mid-August.
Both calendar alterations also – thankfully from my perspective – ensure there are relatively few clashes during the season, although one or two were unavoidable.
The British F3 round at Pau falls on the same weekend the European Championship visits Brands Hatch, while the Norisring round of the European Championship now falls on the same weekend as the Zandvoort F3 Masters; however there have been rumours that the latter may also move to entice higher entry and better calibre potential.
In quite a positive initiative, five rounds have been opened up for older specification cars from other Formula 3 championships.
Entries from European F3 Open, German F3, the MSV F3 Cup and the recently departed Italian F3 Series will now be allowed to compete at Pau, Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring in an attempt to boost grids.
During the 2012 season, only two drivers entered the National Championship full-time, with three drivers entering very limited schedules later in the year.
Meanwhile, the British F3 reverse grid race has been touched up slightly. The winning driver from race one will still need to choose his starting position from a hat {note 1}, potentially dropping to either 8th, 9th or 10th for the Sunday morning event.
The points for race two have also been altered. Rather than maximum race points been awarded, the system has been pushed back downward and will register as 12-9-8-6-5-4-3-2-1-0.5 points. Alongside that, points for fastest laps have been abolished.
Finally, three drivers have thus far been confirmed for next years British F3 Series, with formula Pilota China champion Antonio Giovinazzi and series race winner Sean Gelael sealing drives with Double R Racing.
The 19-year-old Giovinazzi is set to compete in the International Class, while Gelael is entering the National Class. This year’s National Class champion Spike Goddard is – apparently – as good as signed with T-Sport for the International Class.
{note 1}
May not be an actual hat, but rather a velvet bag of some sort.
2013 FIA European F3 Championship calendar March 23-24 Monza, Italy April 13-14 Silverstone, UK May 4-5 Hockenheim, Germany May 18-19 Brands Hatch, UK June 1-2 Red Bull Ring, Austria July 13-14 Norisring, Germany August 17-18 Nurburgring, Germany September 28-29 Zandvoort, Netherlands October 19-20 Hockenheim, Germany October 26-27 Paul Ricard, France
2013 British F3 Series calendar March 30-April 1 Oulton Park, UK May 18-19 Pau, France (with NIT) May 25-26 Silverstone, UK (with NIT) June 15-16 Snetterton, UK June 29-30 Paul Ricard, France (with NIT) July 25-27 Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (with NIT) August 10-11 Brands Hatch, UK September 21-22 Nurburgring, Germany (with NIT) October 5-6 Donington Park, UK
Non-Championship events July 13-14 Zandvoort, Netherlands (Zandvoort F3 Masters)
