2014 British Formula 3 International Series Explained

The 2014 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series season was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across England, and one round in Belgium. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers competing in 2 litre Formula Three single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2014 season was the 64th and final season British Formula Three Championship. The series, promoted by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, began on 4 May at Rockingham Motor Speedway and concluded on 14 September at Donington Park after a 21 race schedule held at seven meetings.[1]

In a season that saw only four drivers contest the entire championship, it was Chinese driver Martin Cao who won the championship, driving for Fortec Motorsports. Cao started the season with a run of seven successive second-place finishes to a series of drivers, but his consistent finishing kept him towards the top of the championship standings. Cao took his first win at Thruxton, and went on to take four overall wins – plus a further two class wins behind drivers who were ineligible to score championship points – in the final three race meetings, to ultimately win the championship title by two points, ahead of team-mate Matt Rao. Rao won five races over the course of the season, with one fewer podium finish over the season, compared to Cao. Third place went to Camren Kaminsky, who took three podium finishes over his full season campaign.

Another Fortec driver, Sam MacLeod, finished fourth in the championship with four race victories, but he did not contest the whole campaign as his main focus for the season was in the German Formula Three championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. Marvin Kirchhöfer took two wins at Silverstone, when he was learning the circuit for the GP3 Series round at the circuit later in the season. Egor Orudzhev also won at Silverstone, while Roberto Merhi (two wins) and John Bryant-Meisner shared class victories at Spa-Francorchamps. Of the ineligible drivers, Ed Jones won all three races at Spa-Francorchamps, Santino Ferrucci won two out of three at Brands Hatch, while Sean Gelael finished second to Jones twice.

Drivers and teams

TeamChassisEngineDriverRounds
CarlinDallara F308Volkswagen1 Zhi Cong LiAll
2 Alice Powell1
Egor Orudzhev2
Sam MacLeod4
Fortec MotorsportDallara F312Mercedes HWA3 Marvin Kirchhöfer2
7 Matt RaoAll
50 Sam MacLeod1, 3
57 Martin CaoAll
Double R RacingDallara F312Mercedes HWA8 Wing Chung Chang1–4
9 Roberto Merhi4
16 Dan Wells6
18 Max Marshall5, 7
Dallara F3086
Dallara F31234 Camren KaminskyAll
ADM MotorsportDallara F311Volkswagen10 Kang Ling4
72 Nikita Zlobin4
MotoparkDallara F311Volkswagen11 Nabil Jeffri4
Dallara F30824 Indy Dontje4
nowrap Performance RacingDallara F310Volkswagen12nowrap John Bryant-Meisner4
Invitation Entries
Fortec MotorsportDallara F312Mercedes HWA10 Santino Ferrucci6
CarlinDallara F312Volkswagen20 Sean Gelael[2] 4
21 Ed Jones4

Race calendar and results

A seven-round calendar was announced on 23 September 2013. In a change of direction from recent seasons, the championship held only a single round outside the UK, in Belgium, supporting the 2014 24 Hours of Spa. The remaining six rounds were all held in England. The three race format used in previous seasons was retained for all rounds of the championship.[1] [3]

After appearing on the 2013 calendar, the international round held at the Nürburgring was dropped from the 2014 calendar. Donington Park, Rockingham and Snetterton all returned to the calendar after a one-year hiatus, while Thruxton returned to the calendar for the first time since 2010.

RoundCircuitDatePole PositionFastest LapWinning DriverWinning Team
11 Rockingham Motor Speedway4 May Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeodnowrap Fortec Motorsports
R25 May Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports
R3 Sam MacLeod Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports
2R4 Silverstone Circuit24 May Martin Cao Egor Orudzhev Egor Orudzhev Carlin
R5nowrap Marvin Kirchhöfernowrap Marvin Kirchhöfer Fortec Motorsports
R625 May Martin Cao Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer Fortec Motorsports
3R7 Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit21 June Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports
R822 June Sam MacLeod Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports
R9 Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Sam MacLeod Fortec Motorsports
4R10 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps25 July Ed Jones Roberto Merhi[4] Ed Jones Carlin
R11 Roberto Merhi Ed Jones Carlin
R1226 July Ed Jonesnowrap John Bryant-Meisner Ed Jones Carlin
5R13 Thruxton Circuit16 August Matt Rao Matt Rao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports
R1417 August Matt Rao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports
R15 Matt Rao Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports
6R16 Brands Hatch30 Augustnowrap Santino Ferrucci Matt Rao[5] Santino Ferrucci Fortec Motorsports
R1731 August Martin Cao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports
R18 Martin Cao Matt Rao Santino Ferrucci Fortec Motorsports
7R19 Donington Parknowrap13 September Martin Cao Matt Rao Martin Cao Fortec Motorsports
R2014 September Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports
R21 Matt Rao Matt Rao Matt Rao Fortec Motorsports
Notes

Championship standings

DriverROC
SIL
SNE
SPA
THR
BRH
DON
International Class
1 Martin Cao2222222RetRet11Ret5112212125285
2 Matt RaoRet415Ret3313864221423311283
3 Camren Kaminsky4546Ret44Ret412813Ret53655433161
4 Sam MacLeod11Ret121Ret56121
5 Zhi Cong LiRet7573Ret5Ret59Ret933576Ret544118
6 Wing Chung Chang3634Ret56327711103
7 Max Marshall4445Ret625293
8 Marvin Kirchhöfer31154
9align=left nowrap John Bryant-Meisner44353
10 Dan Wells34441
11 Roberto Merhi32DNS39
12 Egor Orudzhev1RetRet26
13 Indy Dontje5DSQ723
14 Nabil Jeffri6DSQ818
15 Alice Powell53Ret16
16 Nikita Zlobin10Ret106
17 Kang Ling139125
Guest drivers ineligible for points
Ed Jones111 —
Santino Ferrucci131 —
Sean Gelael232 —
DriverROC
SIL
SNE
SPA
THR
BRH
DON

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: SRO unveil new-look British F3 2014 calendar. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. British Formula 3 Championship. 23 September 2013. 20 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131021115149/http://www.formula3.co/news/sro-unveil-new-look-british-f3-2014-calendar. 21 October 2013. dead. dmy-all.
  2. News: Roberto Merhi back to Formula 3 for Spa British round and Macau. Simmons. Marcus. 24 July 2014. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 24 July 2014.
  3. News: British F3 adds Thruxton to expanded 2014 calendar. Simmons. Marcus. 23 September 2013. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 20 October 2013.
  4. Fastest lap recorded by Ed Jones, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point.
  5. Fastest lap recorded by Santino Ferrucci, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point.