Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
) or Formula Volkswagen is a popular
open wheel, single-seater junior
motor racing
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...
formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to
Formula Ford
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...
.
On the international stage,
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
,
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
,
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
and
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...
, all
Formula 1 champions, and
Scott Dixon
Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...
a six time
IndyCar champion raced Formula Vees in Europe, New Zealand, or America at the beginning of their careers. In Australia,
V8 Supercar
The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport.
Supercars events take place in all Australian ...
drivers
Larry Perkins
Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia.
Biography Early years
Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Eddi ...
,
Colin Bond
Colin John Bond (born 24 February 1942) is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found succ ...
,
John Blanchard
John Blanchard is a Canadian television director and producer.
He is best known for his directorial work on the sketch comedy series '' SCTV'', ''The Kids in the Hall'', ''CODCO'', ''MADtv'' and the talk show '' The Martin Short Show'' for whi ...
,
John Bowe,
Jason Bargwanna
Jason Eric Bargwanna (born 26 April, 1971) is an Australian motor racing driver. Best known as a Supercars Championship competitor, Bargwanna raced in the series for 25 years, the pinnacle of which was winning, with Garth Tander, the 2000 Bath ...
and
Paul Stokell
Paul Stokell (born 8 March 1968 in Tasmania) is an Australian racing driver. Highly decorated in every category he has competed, Stokell has been a race and multiple championship winning driver in open wheel, sportscar racing and tarmac rallyin ...
were also racers in Formula Vee.
Formula First, raced in the US and New Zealand, employs the same chassis, but with upgraded motor, brakes and steering. Australia’s modern Formula Vee car rules are the definition for formula first in these countries
Description
The class is based on a pre-1963
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
, utilizing a collection of the stock parts to form a competitive race car around a purpose-built tube frame and racing tires. The VW engine, transmission, front suspension, brakes and wheels are stock or modified stock parts. The chassis is a tube frame design and the body is fiberglass or carbon fiber. The intention of this class is for the average person to build and maintain the car.
![Jeff Loughead FV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Jeff_Loughead_FV.jpg)
Over the years, the rules have evolved to improve performance, lower cost, or to allow replacement of discontinued parts. In 2003, ''
Grassroots Motorsports
''Grassroots Motorsports'' (GRM) is an American print and digital periodical devoted to hardcore sports cars, driving skill improvement, technical advice, and amateur motorsports such as road racing, autocross and rallying. It was established in ...
'' presented Formula Vee with the Editors' Choice Award.
A top-running Formula Vee will go and corner at about 1.6 g. It weighs a minimum of without driver or with driver as raced in the Australian specification.
Purchasing and running a Formula Vee car is relatively affordable compared to most motorsport categories. In 2022, a brand-new race car for the Australian Formula Vee series was estimated to cost approximately "50-55,000 Australian dollars" (approximately $US 37,000), with competitive second-hand cars costing much less. Renting a car for a race meeting was estimated at $A1000 (approximately $US700).
Each year, Formula Vee is one of the classes at the
SCCA Runoffs
The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the ...
, which awards a national championship. While it is primarily a class in the
Sports Car Club of America, many other organizations have adopted the Formula Vee as a class.
Variants
Variants of the Formula Vee rules exist in the Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Germany and New Zealand.
Particularly notable is Formula First, raced in the US and New Zealand, which employs the same chassis, but with later model Beetle parts, a larger motor (New Zealand uses the variant) and other upgraded components such as disc brakes rack and pinion steering.
(
Formula Super Vee
Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe wa ...
, although initially similar, soon moved to water-cooled VW four-cylinder engines for higher-tech and faster cars).
SCCA Runoffs Winners
Michael Varacins has the most titles with seven.
† Denotes President's Cup Winner
List of Formula Vee championships and Events
See also
*
Formula Vee at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs
*
Super Vee
External links
*http://www.nefv.org/ Northeast Formula Vee USA https://www.facebook.com/groups/nefv.org
Challenge Cup Series (US, South Africa & Brazil collaboration)Formula First USAformulaveeracing.org (US)formulavee.us (US)ApexSpeed.com (US)Formula Vee (Ireland)Australian Formula Vee WebsiteAustralian Formula Vee SpecificationsNew Zealand Formula First (née Formula Vee)Formula Vee (UK)750 Motor Club (UK organising club)Formula 1200 – Canada*
Formula Vee South AfricaHistoric Formula Vee in AustraliaHistorische Formel Vau Europa
References
{{Class of Auto racing
Vee
Sports Car Club of America
Motorsport categories in Australia
Volkswagen Beetle modifications
Volkswagen in motorsport