Formula Renault Eurocup Explained

Category:Formula Renault 2.0 (1991–2018)
Regional Formula 3 (2019–2020)
Inaugural:1991
Folded:2020
Constructors:Renault[1]
Engines:Renault
Tyres:Hankook[2]
Champion Driver: Victor Martins
Champion Team: ART Grand Prix
Website:www.renaultsport.com

Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits.

It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault Sport offered a prize of €500,000 to the winner of the Eurocup until 2015. Following the 2020 season, the Formula Renault Eurocup merged with the Formula Regional European Championship due to COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

History

The series was established in 1991, as the "Rencontres Internationales de Formule Renault", before switching to the "Eurocup Formula Renault" name in 1993.

In 2000, renamed to Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 since 2005 used up to now, excludes the 2003 season named Formula Renault 2000 Masters.

While a support series of the Formula Renault 3.5 many drivers stepped up to the senior category, for example the 2006 champion Filipe Albuquerque, fourth-place finisher Bertrand Baguette and 13th-place finisher Xavier Maassen being the first to do so that on the full-time basis for the 2007 season. 2007 champion Brendon Hartley did not follow suit however, and instead moved firstly to British Formula Three Championship. Meanwhile, Charles Pic and Alexandre Marsoin joined FR 3.5 for the 2008. 2008 champion Valtteri Bottas moved to the Formula 3 Euro Series, and only Anton Nebylitskiy who was placed 20th, made his debut in FR 3.5 in 2009. 2009 was the first season when the champion received money to graduate to FR 3.5 and Albert Costa used this opportunity. He was joined in the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season by sixth-place finisher Nathanaël Berthon. Like Costa, 2010 champion Kevin Korjus and his rivals Arthur Pic, Daniël de Jong and André Negrão moved to FR 3.5 in 2011. 2011 champion Robin Frijns not only graduated to FR 3.5 in 2012, he also became the first driver, who won both Eurocup and FR 3.5 Series consecutively. Other 2011 Eurocup graduates, who moved to FR 3.5 were Will Stevens and Vittorio Ghirelli. 2012 champion Stoffel Vandoorne and his contender Norman Nato headed to FR 3.5 in 2013. Pierre Gasly and Oliver Rowland, who fought till the last race for the 2013 Eurocup title, both graduated to FR 3.5 in 2014. They was joined by Luca Ghiotto, Matthieu Vaxivière and Roman Mavlanov. Nyck de Vries dominated the 2014 championship and moved to FR 3.5 in 2015. Egor Orudzhev, Aurélien Panis and Gustav Malja moved to Formula Renault 3.5 as well.

Car specifications

The chassis was built at Alpine's Dieppe plant, a Renault subsidiary. The aerodynamic kit was designed by Tatuus.[1] All Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 cars use the same specifications.[4]

Champions

Prior Formula Renault Eurocup

Rencontres Internationales de Formule Renault!Season!Champion!
1991 Jason Plato Duckhams Van Diemen
1992 Pedro de la Rosa Racing for Spain
Eurocup Formula Renault!Season!Champion!
1993 Olivier Couvreur Synergie
1994 James Matthews Manor Motorsport
1995 Cyrille Sauvage Mygale
1996 Enrique Bernoldi Tatuus JD Motorsport
1997 Jeffrey van Hooydonk Tatuus JD Motorsport
1998 Bruno Besson Tatuus JD Motorsport
1999 Gianmaria Bruni JD Motorsport
Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup!Season!Champion!
2000 Felipe Massa JD Motorsport
2001 Augusto Farfus Prema Powerteam
2002 Eric Salignon Graff Racing
2004 Scott Speed Motopark Academy
Formula Renault 2000 Masters!Season!Champion!
2003 Esteban Guerrieri JD Motorsport
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0!Season!Champion!!Secondary Class Champion
2005 Kamui Kobayashi SG Formulanot awarded
2006 Filipe Albuquerque JD Motorsport
2007 Brendon Hartley Epsilon RedBull

Brendon Hartley

2008 Valtteri Bottas SG Formula

Andrea Caldarelli

2009 Albert Costa Epsilon Euskadi

António Félix da Costa

2010 Kevin Korjus Tech 1 Racing

Kevin Korjus

2011 Robin Frijns Koiranen Motorsport

Carlos Sainz Jr.

2012 Stoffel Vandoorne Josef Kaufmann Racing

Daniil Kvyat

2013 Pierre Gasly Tech 1 Racing

Pierre Gasly

2014 Nyck de Vries Koiranen GP

Dennis Olsen

2015 Jack Aitken Josef Kaufmann Racing

Harrison Scott

2016 Lando Norris Josef Kaufmann Racing

Lando Norris

Formula Renault Eurocup

SeasonChampionSecondary Class Champion
2017 Sacha Fenestraz R-ace GP

Max Fewtrell

2018 Max Fewtrell R-ace GP

Christian Lundgaard

2019 Oscar Piastri R-ace GP

Caio Collet

2020 Victor Martins ART Grand Prix

Alex Quinn

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Technical specifications. Formula Renault 2.0. Renault Sport. 14 April 2016. 22 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170122051724/http://www.renaultsport.com/renault-sport-series-formula-renault-2-0-technical-informations.html. dead.
  2. News: Allen . Peter . Abu Dhabi to host Formula Renault Eurocup finale in 2019 . 11 December 2018 . formulascout.com . Formula Scout . 11 December 2018.
  3. News: Smith . Luke . Formula Regional Europe merges with Renault Eurocup for 2021 . 31 October 2020 . Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com . 31 October 2020.
  4. Web site: Technical specifications. World Series by Renault. Renault Sport. 20 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924142611/http://www.worldseriesbyrenault.com/spip.php?page=tile-detail&id_article=3205&id_bloc=7. 24 September 2015. dead.