From: pete@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: Minor Formulae
Date: 13 Aug 92 18:11:32 GMT
Reply-To: pete@minster.york.ac.uk (Pete Fenelon)
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England

As promised in my previous posting on formulae here's some more details of
a few minor single seater formulae seen in the UK -- brief details of
the type of cars, engines, etc. etc. There's no particular ranking to
these, I'm just typing them in as they occur to me.

Formula Ford 1600	(worldwide, current)

	1600cc Ford engine (~110bhp), 4-speed box, standard road tyres 
	and wheels.  Single-seater space frame cars. 

	For 1996 the new 1800cc Zeta engine is to be used in the major FF
	championships, this will gradually filter down to the minor FF
	championships as used Zeta-engined cars become available.

	The world's finest training ground for racing drivers.

Formula Ford 2000	(UK, North America, Europe)

	Pinto (2-litre) engined cars, similar to FF1600 in construction but
	with wings and slicks. Has almost died out in the UK, except for a
	Pre-83 championship, plus FF2000 cars used in other series. 

Formula Renault		(UK, Europe)

	1721cc Renault engine, production gearbox, wings, slicks. Basically
	another competitor in the 2l wings and slicks arena, but the cars
	are nice and the racing is good. In the UK there is an FR90 class
	for two-year-old cars. British cars run slightly different regs to
	European ones.

Formula Vee		(UK, US?)

	In the UK FVee is for cars with highly modified 1300cc-engines. 
	Must use various other bits of VW provenance, but cars range from
	homebuilt specials and converted FF cars right through to some quite
	modern purpose-built affairs (Predator etc.)

Formula VW		(Eire)

	The Irish equivalent of FVee. Similar chassis rules, but a tamer and
	larger engine (1500cc?). Performance is similar to British FVee, and
	there have recently been meetings at which Irish FVWs and British FVees 	have competed.

Formula Super Vee	(Defunct?)

	Died out in Europe by the early '80s and tailed off in the
	States recently. Basically F3-like cars with closely-specified
	VW engines. (what happened to the SCCA's proposals to run F3 in the
	USA a couple of years ago?)

Formula Forward		(UK)

	A rather pointless spec-car formula. 2-litre Ford engines (as found
	in some Sierras and Granadas) in a spec chassis from Van Diemen.
	Very pretty cars, but underpowered and not a popular formula despite
	a relatively huge prize fund in the UK.

Formula First		(UK)

	Escort XR3i engines in the ugliest spec chassis I've ever seen.
	Designed to be an introduction to racing but why not just buy an old
	FF1600? More fun and more races!

Formula Vauxhall Lotus/Opel Lotus/GM Lotus	(Worldwide)

	Known by different names wherever it goes depending upon which bit
	of GM is doing the business there. GM's excellent two-litre engine
	teamed with a nice Reynard-designed chassis (although this has been
	taken over by Schlubel Mototsport for next season), slicks and
	wings. Series in the UK, Germany, Benelux, Ireland etc. etc. There's
	also a popular EuroSeries which supports several GPs and other major
	races. Cars were re-bodied at the beginning of this season and
	are slightly slower than last year; also run catalytic
	converters!

Formula Vauxhall Junior		(UK)

	Slightly odd formula designed to appeal to kartists and to provide
	new cars for JRRDS. 1.6l Nova GSi engine in a Van Diemen chassis
	(basically the FForward mentioned above) without wings but still no
	slicks. Produces some interesting characters, but there aren't
	enough of them about and there's only one series catering for them.

Formula Atlantic/Pacific	(US, Aus/NZ)

	1.6l full-blooded racing engines (formerly BDAs, now Toyotas), 
	ground effects, wings, slicks; fast and technically advanced!
	It's a pity we don't have Atlantic in this country any more; it
	would certainly make up for our rather technically dull F3.

	I think there was a South African FAtlantic which used Mazda rotary
	engines at some point in the dim and distant past (around 1980). If
	anyone cares to dig these facts out I'd appreciate seeing any info.

American Racing Series/Indy Lights	(US)

	The American equivalent of F3000 - training ground for Indycars.
	3.5l Buick V6 in a March 85B F3000 chassis, re-bodied and termed a
	Wildcat. Lola will get the contract for the next generation of Indy
	Lights, which will presumably be similar to _their_ F3000 cars.

Formula 5000	(UK, Europe, US, DEFUNCT)

	Sadly defunct. 5 litre stock-block V8s in F1/F2-like chassis,
	generally quite a wild and exhilarating form of racing to
	watch. Series used to be held in Europe, North America and
	Australia/New Zealand from about '69 to '76. One of the last
	incarnations of Can Am was for F5000 cars with ``sports car''
	bodies.

Formula 500	(UK)

	A modern attempt to revive 500cc racing. Tiny cars with motorcycle
	engines and the tiniest wheels you've ever seen... Great on the
	hills, less so on circuits... Not a success. Similar to American
	F440?

Zerex/Barber Saab	(US)

	Saab turbo engines in rather antiquated but nicely turned out
	chassis (old Mondiale design if I'm not mistaken). 

Formula 2	(Mexico)

	2.2l Chrysler engines in copies of old Ralt FAtlantic chassis.
	Descended from Mexico's previous Formula K.

Super Formula	(Mexico)
Formula Reynard	(Mexico)

	I can't remember the details.

Oh well. Time to go again.
Pete
--

*Peter Fenelon -- Research Associate -- Software Safety Assessment Procedures*
Dept. of Computer Science, University of York, York, Y01 5DD (+44/0)904 433388
EMAIL: pete@minster.york.ac.uk `There's no room for enigmas in built up areas'
From: boell@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Donald P Boell)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 18:55:02 GMT
Subject: Re: Winning F1 at Hungary
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server