British Formula 3000
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The British Formula 3000 championship, alternatively known as the British Formula Two Championship, was a competition for
Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...
held in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, active from 1989 to 1994 and in 1996. Several attempts to restart the series since then have met with failure.


British F3000

The original championship was started in 1989 as a national series for one-year-old F3000 single-seaters. Cars from both
Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola ...
and
Reynard Motorsport Reynard Motorsport was the world's largest racing car manufacturer in the 1980s. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vau ...
could be seen on the grid, with the predominant engine being the Cosworth DFY. Grids increased until the series reached its apex in 1991. The first two champions,
Gary Brabham Gary Thomas Brabham (born 29 March 1961) is a former professional racing driver and a convicted child sex offender from Australia. He is the son of three-time World Formula One Champion Sir Jack Brabham and the brother of Le Mans winners Geof ...
and
Pedro Chaves Pedro António Matos Chaves (; born 27 February 1965) is a Portuguese racing driver. Chaves was the second Portuguese Formula Ford Champion, in 1986, starting an international career in 1987 in the British Formula Ford Championship. In 1990 ...
, moved up to
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
but met little success, never qualifying for a race. In 1991, Paul Warwick, younger brother to then- Arrows F1 driver
Derek Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name ar ...
, dominated the first half of the series but died in a crash mid-season at
Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...
. He retained the lead through the final round and was awarded the title posthumously.


British F2

In 1992, the championship was renamed
Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...
, although it had nothing to do with the competition that had previously carried that name, continuing to be an actual Formula 3000 series. Grids kept dwindling and after mid-1993 less than ten cars appeared regularly on the grid.
Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...
won the title in 1992 before leaving single-seaters and moving to
touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mov ...
, but 1993 champion
Philippe Adams Philippe Adams (born 19 November 1969 in Mouscron, Belgium) is a racing driver. Career Early career Adams first began in motorsport at the age of twelve, racing karts, before beginning in car racing in 1984. In 1992, Adams competed in t ...
had a brief career in F1.
José Luis Di Palma José Luis Di Palma (born March 31, 1966), is an Argentine racing driver. He was born in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires province. Racing career Early career Di Palma began his professional career racing in the Argentine TC 2000 Championship in 19 ...
was champion the next year but competitive drivers were few. In 1995, an attempt to switch to a spec series with Reynard chassis and Cosworth engines failed to get off the ground when the series was cancelled after posting only one entry. In 1996 the series was resurrected and Gareth Rees dominated the action, and was the final champion.


UK3000 and Autumn Cup

A new British F3000 was introduced in 1997, now following the spec rules of the
International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become ...
series, featuring Lola T96/50 chassis and
Zytek Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson as "Zytek Engineering" in 1981. In 1981 Gibson founded the "Zytech Group" with two main divisions: Zytek Automotive, ...
engines, but the new championship was cancelled after the first round was contested by only three cars. In 1999, an attempt at creating the UK3000 Championship was interrupted at the last minute when the
FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...
decided against limiting the grid sizes and teams dropped the British series for the International one, finishing UK3000 before it started. An
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
-based national series met with more success, though. The BRSCC attempted to create a Formula 3000 Autumn Cup at the end of the 2000 season, with Lola B99/50 chassis, but although some International teams pledged to enter the series, a low number of entries made it impossible to start the series with any quality grids.


Champions


References


External links


British F3000 at Unofficial Formula 3000
{{British F3000 Seasons