2006 British F3 Calendar Unveiled! - Page 2

Tainan · 20 Oct 2005, 10:56 (Ref:1438764)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

For any British series not to come to Knockhill is disgraceful, likewise if there was a suitable circuit in Wales.

Wasn't there an F3 round at Pembrey a few years ago ?

Rob29 · 20 Oct 2005, 11:00 (Ref:1438767)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tainan

Wasn't there an F3 round at Pembrey a few years ago ?

yes,there was,going back further,also at Cadwell Park.

F3lollipops · 20 Oct 2005, 21:39 (Ref:1439200)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

I'm appalled it won't be at Knockhill.

The "British" F3 Championship and all the UK races are in England.

Does this mean that you're actually going to race meetings these days instead of watching on telly

Andrew Kitson · 20 Oct 2005, 22:50 (Ref:1439245)

Cadwell was brilliant for F3, until the last one - was it '83 when Senna dropped it big-time at the top of the mountain? Don't let anyone say it is too narrow, confined or dangerous for modern F3 cars, they race at Pau, Macau and Monaco afterall. But I suppose the motorhomes don't look right in woodland Lincolnshire.
In '71 there was a round at Lydden I think.

RSportRacer · 21 Oct 2005, 00:26 (Ref:1439269)

F3 was at pembrey from 1992 through to 1999
these days i think the circuit management are more interested in testing, certainly the majority of teams use it for testing!

If only BARC put some decent management there and extended the track with some decent facilities then it would be one hell of circuit!

Rob29 · 21 Oct 2005, 07:33 (Ref:1439436)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Kitson

In '71 there was a round at Lydden I think.

A non-championship televised race in November. Also I remember going to Aintree for an F3 race in 1974.Then there was Crystal Palace of course...

sceptic · 22 Oct 2005, 09:57 (Ref:1440452)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

I have been to an F3 meeting at Knockhill, and thoroughly enjoyed it, although I wasn't available to go this year.

Anyway, whether I go or not is totally irrelevant, I still believe a) it's a better venue than Mondello for F3 and b) the series should have at least one UK round that's not in England

Well in that case, someone needs to build a circuit in Scotland which is good enough to host F3.

...because right now there are better facilities in third world countries like Mexico, Turkey and India than there are in Scotland.

sceptic · 22 Oct 2005, 09:59 (Ref:1440455)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

So the question then is - did the TOCA displays in Newcastle, Milton Keynes and the Forth Bridge get paid for by TOCA or by Croft, Silverstone and Knockhill?

If it was TOCA, that makes sense - but raises the question - surely F3 organisers should be doing more to promote their series rather than relying on the vagaries of individual circuits.

As far as I know, Forth Bridge was done by Knockhill, Newcastle was done by the City of Newcastle-Gateshead, and Milton Keynes was done by TOCA.

We Love Osella · 8 Nov 2005, 22:48 (Ref:1455742)

Well whenever the Croft round is I'll be there

**ScotsBrutesFan** · 9 Nov 2005, 14:45 (Ref:1456371)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sceptic

Well in that case, someone needs to build a circuit in Scotland which is good enough to host F3.

...because right now there are better facilities in third world countries like Mexico, Turkey and India than there are in Scotland.

Knockhill is a privately owned venture, for which the owners have recently spent a small fortune on improvements to allow better facilities and hospitality for the teams.

As for it being good enough to host an F3 event, it did very successfully this year. I totally enjoyed both Saturday and Sunday.

Circuits in Mexico, Turkey and India as you have mentioned all have something else in common too.......Government funding!

And as a BTW, I don't think the Government nor the people of Turkey would thank you for calling them third world.

sceptic · 10 Nov 2005, 01:43 (Ref:1456861)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Knockhill is a privately owned venture, for which the owners have recently spent a small fortune on improvements to allow better facilities and hospitality for the teams.

But they still don't have any pit garages, there is no spectator parking on site for the big meetings (which would be OK if there were any public transport links), the drainage and sewerage systems can't cope when it rains, it reportedly struggles to pass MSA track and safety inspections, the media centre can only hold about 30 people and has no fast internet access.

Quote:

And as a BTW, I don't think the Government nor the people of Turkey would thank you for calling them third world.

Turkey has the lowest GDP per capita of any OECD member country by a substantial margin. It is below the level of Latvia, Botswana or Belize.

beach · 13 Nov 2005, 20:11 (Ref:1459844)

Cadwell was great for F3s,while they were great at silverstone and the other tracks
there was something that bought out the driving skill of the drivers when they
visited Cadwell,great for Marshalling on .Adrian

Dr Venom · 13 Nov 2005, 21:54 (Ref:1459920)

no one goe's to the F3 rounds in main land UK (freebies excluded) so why should anyone fork out to go to overseas (sorry the english channel) to watch poor supported race.

**ScotsBrutesFan** · 13 Nov 2005, 22:37 (Ref:1459942)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sceptic

But they still don't have any pit garages, there is no spectator parking on site for the big meetings (which would be OK if there were any public transport links), the drainage and sewerage systems can't cope when it rains, it reportedly struggles to pass MSA track and safety inspections, the media centre can only hold about 30 people and has no fast internet access.

The topography of the circuit would mean monumental Earth movements in order to put in pit garages, and would I imagine seriously reduce the paddock area available to the support packages.

There is on-site parking for big meetings...I had my car on-site at the BTCC, F3GT, BSB, MRO and other smaller meeting this year. Other than the BSB and the BTCC the parking was free. There is also a very well run Park and Ride utilising Renne's of Dunfermline Double Decker busses for the larger meetings.
Public transport in general in this part of Scotland leaves something to be desired, but in Knockhill's case there is a plus side to it being a little off the beaten track namely that it has no noise restrictions that I know of and can be operated 7 days a week.

As I understand it drainage is being constantly improved, its expensive to do and is intrusive to the day-to-day events and so is a slow business.

I don't know anything about the MSA safety inspections, but what I can say is that the entire track has been resurfaced in recent weeks with the width of some sections of the track being increased by 3 metres.

The media centre is again something I can't comment on as I've never been in it, but I'm sure that it's on the list of things to do as more money becomes available.

sceptic · 13 Nov 2005, 23:03 (Ref:1459960)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

The topography of the circuit would mean monumental Earth movements in order to put in pit garages, and would I imagine seriously reduce the paddock area available to the support packages.

Depends how it was done. I don't suppose you have seen the pit garages at Paul Ricard, but they cope very well with being cut into the side of a hill.

Quote:

There is on-site parking for big meetings...I had my car on-site at the BTCC, F3GT, BSB, MRO and other smaller meeting this year. Other than the BSB and the BTCC the parking was free.

For the BTCC, onsite parking was for passholders and VIPs only... although I believe it was possible to buy VIP car passes for £10.

Quote:

There is also a very well run Park and Ride utilising Renne's of Dunfermline Double Decker busses for the larger meetings.

Yes, after a day standing in the rain watching the event, you can then queue for a bus to a field two miles away, then wait for someone to tow you out of the quagmire.

Quote:

I don't know anything about the MSA safety inspections, but what I can say is that the entire track has been resurfaced in recent weeks with the width of some sections of the track being increased by 3 metres.

I think the MSA's concerns were more about the size of gravel traps... and the strength of the barriers beyond them.

**ScotsBrutesFan** · 13 Nov 2005, 23:23 (Ref:1459969)

Never been to Paul Ricard, but given that it's owned (I believe) by Bernie Ecclestone or at least one of his companies, I'm sure money was no object in financing the pit buildings there. If only this were the case at Knockhill!

The BTCC and BSB parking passes were available to anyone who purchased tickets. Knockhill actually made contact with me about whether I would like to purchase a car pass (£10 - nothing VIP about them) since I had bought my tickets in advance.
Car passes were also available on a first come first served basis on-line from about 6-weeks before each event. The "car racing" Season pass includes parking at the BTCC in it's cost. The "Bike" Season pass works the same way for the BSB meeting. The all-in pass had parking for all events.

Gravel traps could be doubled or trebled in size at every circuit and there would still be arguements about their size..indeed some circuits are doing away with them so it's swings and roundabouts on that one. Not sure what you mean about the strength of the barriers as virtually the whole way around, the tyre wall is cut into slopes which carry on up behind the fence to become spectator viewing areas

luke · 14 Nov 2005, 00:28 (Ref:1459995)

Never the less, all the circuits this season are great, I can see why KB is a little upset that F3 is not going to his race next year and that the reast of the UK races are all in England but England is where the circuits are good enough to hold an event for British F3, if Scotland had a a circuit with much better facilities then I'm sure there would be more motor races up there....But as pointed out earlier, all of the stages for the GB rally are in Wales...

**bella** · 14 Nov 2005, 18:45 (Ref:1460566)

quite, luke. if knockhill was at say, brands hatch standards they'd have a race. fully understand why everyone wants one there, and i for one will miss it from the 2006 calendar (hands up those who fancy waving scottish flags at mondello?

). but you can't stay with a circuit on promises of future funding alone. and besides, the novelty of hitting dublin for nights out hasn't worn off yet

Redlake27 · 14 Nov 2005, 18:57 (Ref:1460578)

Croft appears to have a clash with Superbikes on the same date????

strider · 14 Nov 2005, 19:21 (Ref:1460594)

Yes, the BSB date will stay, but I wouldn't be surprised to see F3 there a couple of weeks later, on the August Bank Holiday.

Golly96 · 14 Nov 2005, 23:55 (Ref:1460900)

Anyone know who is running the F3/GT's in 2006, is it BRSCC again?

El_Gibleto · 15 Nov 2005, 17:43 (Ref:1461525)

Sadly yes.

Emma · 17 Nov 2005, 18:25 (Ref:1463353)

Nice to see they have Oulton Park, so much closer to home for me.
I'm glad Oulton is the first race. If they'd put it where it usually is I wouldn't be able to make it.

rdjones · 21 Nov 2005, 16:17 (Ref:1466606)

I see that they have ammend calendar, the Croft round has been moved back 2 weeks to 26/27th August.

DanFlag · 22 Nov 2005, 12:01 (Ref:1467361)

What aout the Spanish F3 calandar and F3 Euroseries, any clash?

Any drivers doing more than 1 at a time?

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