The United States Formula Three Championship was a short-lived

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...

championship contested in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. Sanctioned by the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

, the series lasted for two seasons, 2000 and 2001. All teams used

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

engines tuned by Bertils Racing Engines. The series was plagued by low car counts; no more than 6 cars contested races in the inaugural season. In 2001, fields were bolstered by

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 Fo ...

Formula Continental Formula Continental is a single seater, open wheel racing class in motorsport. It replaced Formula C as an SCCA racing class. Most Formula Continental's are Formula Ford 2000 (FF2000) models, which is a flat bottomed, steel tube frame open ...

, and even

Sports 2000 Sports 2000 is a restricted-rules class of two-seat, mid-engined, open-cockpit, full-bodied sports-prototype racecar used largely in amateur road racing. Sometimes known as S2000 or S2, the class was developed by John Webb, then of the Brands Hat ...

and historic

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

cars, as no race had more than 3 Formula Three cars on the grid. 14 of the series' 19 races were won by

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 ...

ian driver Luciano Gomide. A 2002 season was planned with 13 races, including a doubleheader supporting the

2002 United States Grand Prix The 2002 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 September 2002 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Background The race was noted as one of the rare times in which Bernd Mayländer was unable to drive th ...

, but was ultimately cancelled.

2000 season

The 2000 season was contested over 11 races at 6 race meetings. The schedule initially included two oval races at

Indianapolis Raceway Park Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It ...

and

Irwindale Speedway Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, ...

, but these were later cancelled. The round at San Diego was a joint race with the

Mexican Formula Three Championship Mexican Formula Three Championship is the name of a former Mexican Formula Three racing competition. In 2003 was changed to Mexican Formula Renault. Champions {, class="wikitable" !Season !Driver !Car , - ! 1990 , Carlos Guerrero , Reynard-A ...

, although the Mexican series ran with older, slower machinery. Stuart Crow won the championship by 5 points over Luciano Gomide. Gomide joined the series after the first 4 rounds, and won pole and the race at the final 7 events on the calendar.

Schedule and results

Points standings

One bonus point was also awarded to the driver completing the fastest lap during the race.

2001 season

An initial 13-race calendar was announced for the 2001 season, however after losing their financial backing, the series was re-arranged to a 15-race schedule with the addition of more rounds in

. With low car counts eminent, the series considered using

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 w ...

cars as a "Class B", but instead

and

cars filled out fields. No more than three Formula 3 cars participated in any race; five of the nine races were contested only by the

EuroInternational EuroInternational is a racing organization (which includes Italian division EuroInternational Srl and American division EuroInternational Inc.) owned by Antonio Ferrari, grandnephew of Enzo Ferrari, formerly known as Euromotorsport. History Origi ...

teammates Luciano Gomide and John C. Antonio. Gomide won all but one race and took the championship title.

Initial schedule

Schedule and results

Points standings

References

{{reflist, 2 2000 establishments in the United States 2001 disestablishments in the United States Formula Three series Defunct auto racing series Defunct sports competitions in the United States

2000 season

Schedule and results

Points standings

2001 season

Initial schedule

Schedule and results

Points standings

See also

References