International Formula Master 2010

[jondownunder]

Preparations for next year have begun with testing at the Hungaroring. Three of the F.Renault Tatuus cars in the new "IFM Light" class were in the field. Good to see Conor Daly out there, though the series will surely struggle with F2 and GP3 on the scene...

http://www.formulamaster.net/eng/readnews.asp?id=827

Testing Day 1 - Overall
1. Nico Muller (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#7), 1:37.713
2. Cesar Ramos (BRA), JD Motorsport (#2), 1:37.860
3. Conor Daly (USA), AR Motorsport (#31), 1:38.092
4. Mikkel Mac (DEN), Iris Project (#8), 1:38.446
5. Phillippe Frommenwiler (SUI), Iris Project (#9), 1:38.600
6. Gary Thompson (IRE), Jenzer Motorsport (#6), 1:38.618
7. Philip Forsman (SWE), AR Motorsport (#32), 1:38.692
8. Andrea Roda (ITA), Cram Competition (#11), 1:39.126
9. Kevin Giovesi (ITA), Cram Competition (#10), 1:39.152
10. Riccardo Galli (SUI), JD Motorsport (#3), 1:39.175
11. Kelvin Snoeks (DEN), AR Motorsport (#32), 1:40.882
12. Natalia Kowalska (POL), JD Motorsport (#4), 1:41.135
13. Kevin Korjus (EST), TT Racing (#53), IFM Light, 1:45.399
14. Jara Marinsek (SLO), AK Plantek Sport (#51), IFM Light, 1:47.067
15. Matevz Habjan (SLO), AK Plantek Sport (#52), IFM Light, 1:48.353

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

Preparations for next year have begun with testing at the Hungaroring. Three of the F.Renault Tatuus cars in the new "IFM Light" class were in the field. Good to see Conor Daly out there, though the series will surely struggle with F2 and GP3 on the scene...

http://www.formulamaster.net/eng/readnews.asp?id=827

Yup, I feared he was on his way to no man's land back here in the States. Good to see him back up on his horse. Also, did the entire field move on? I don't recognize most of those names.

[ptclaus98]

.....

[Ozzab]

This was a rookie evaluation mainly so the teams focused on getting new drivers in the cars. Andrea Roda and Kelvin Snoeks were there though and they both drove in 2009.

[META4]

good to notice that the fastest of this test, Nico Muller (Jenzer), got a Formula Master car, offered by the organisators of the championship as prize money of his performance.

[Francis Albert]

JD Motorsport is leaving International Formula Master.

According to Italiaracing they will line up in the new Formula Abarth championship in Italy, as well as in Italian F3 possibly with a Mygale chassis.

This is bad news for IFM. It's a shame, IMO it is a championship with lots of possibilities and a very good car.

[Valker]

Were the "IFM Light" cars running on Yokohama F3 tyres in Hungaroring tests or were they in FR2.0 spec?

[NaBUru38]

2010 International Formula Master calendar :

May 29-30 - Monza or Imola, Italy
June 19-20 - Zolder, Belgium
July 3-4 - Algarve, Portugal
July 17-18 - Brands Hatch, United Kingdom
July 31-August 1 - Brno, Czech Republic
September 3-4 - Oschersleben, Germany
September 18-19 - Cheste, Spain

All are WTCC support races. No European WTCC round is missing. Spa was replaced by Zolder, Pau was lost and no French circuit replaces it.

[NaBUru38]

No news since December 1... this doesn't look very good for the category.

[META4]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

No news since December 1... this doesn't look very good for the category.

I believe it is the end of the story for the formula master yes

Most of the teams moved already on other racing series

Cram and JD Mororsport to Italian F3 and Formula Abarth
Jenzer to GP3
ISR to WSbR
even Euronova who was rumoured to come back in Formula Master annunced last week they will join AutoGP.

I think the problems with formula Master were

-Disastrous first season with mechanical failures
-Promise of a Honda F1 Test for the winner of the championship in 2008, then Honda F1 decided to pull-out of F1 so it never happened.
-now this new GP3 appears, not enough drivers for so many racing series.

Wait and see anyway ....

[gomick]

You'd think that they would say "its over" - A1GP never said anything either. Its not that hard... Wait & see as you say!

[jondownunder]

It certainly looks a hopeless situation for them. I hope the series does die gracefully, as at least that's one fewer championship to dilute the driver talent pool. IFM provided some great racing in the first two seasons, but let's face it, D'Ambrosio, van der Drift and Leimer have looked decidedly average when they've stepped up the ladder.

[Petrol Head]

Originally Posted by META4

I believe it is the end of the story for the formula master yes

Most of the teams moved already on other racing series

Cram and JD Mororsport to Italian F3 and Formula Abarth
Jenzer to GP3
ISR to WSbR
even Euronova who was rumoured to come back in Formula Master annunced last week they will join AutoGP.

Interesting points! I had heard rumours that FM might be on its last legs, and that certainly seems to be corroborated by this team news. Would be a shame to see it go but to be honest it's not a great surprise given their form last season...

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

It certainly looks a hopeless situation for them. I hope the series does die gracefully, as at least that's one fewer championship to dilute the driver talent pool. IFM provided some great racing in the first two seasons, but let's face it, D'Ambrosio, van der Drift and Leimer have looked decidedly average when they've stepped up the ladder.

Have to disagree with you there, all three of those drivers have been quite good IMO.

[runshaw]

I was thinking the same thing. D'Ambrosio has been amongst the top half drivers in both GP2 seasons and GP2 Asia seasons he's competed in, nothing sensational but a genuine frontrunner scoring podiums, with some great overtaking IIRC. And give Leimer a chance, he's literally only just stepped out of IFM, and did qualify 3rd on his GP2 Asia debut!! I think all 3 are quick, no doubt about it.

[jondownunder]

I must apologise, I was way out of line regarding Leimer. Of course he hasn't had a decent chance yet to prove himself! The fact he hasn't scored yet in GP2 Asia (probably the reason he was under my radar) doesn't mean much: I'd overlooked the 3rd in qualifying in round 1 and the 6th in practice for the last round. Certainly looks quick for a rookie.

I wasn't convinced by D'Ambrosio, and had the feeling from GP2 he was "nothing sensational", to quote runshaw. Some good performances, but often mired down in the pack, and both main seasons seemed solid but unspectacular. But his earlier part season of Euroseries 3000 was impressive, and then of course he was dominant in IFM. I'm sure if he was with a better team than DAMS then he would have been more of a regular GP2 frontrunner. He certainly showed he can race wheel to wheel in IFM and GP2. Let's see how he gets on in his third year at DAMS, hopefully they can find some of their GP2 Asia kind of form. So yeah, it's probably unfair of me to call D'Ambrosio average!

As for van der Drift, he was pretty good in GP2 Asia but I don't remember thinking he looked too special in WSbR last year; a few good results but most often in the midfield from memory. Though I'm sure Epsilon Euskadi aren't the team they used to be. Certainly a respectable performance, and his career up to his IFM title was very impressive.

Anyway, thanks for putting me right, I was harsh with "decidedly average". The point I meant to make was that all 3 dominated IFM against fields struggling for much strength in depth. I'd rather see it go than become totally irrelevant.

[HitMan13]

big of you to apologize. I can't speak for two of them, but Leimer i feel is seriously impressive. Some of the things he could do in that race car were baffling. And i watched enough in-car video and looked at enough data traces to see that his performance envelope was well past that of many other drivers'. Not to mention his mental growth since his first season in FR 2.0. What a cocky little punk he was!! Shame about the Asia results, but i'll definitely be watching out for him in GP2 this year.

[jondownunder]

No mention of IFM at WTCC/F2 Brands Hatch in the MSV Fixtures guide...

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by http://www.formulamaster.net/eng/

1 Dec 2009

ROSSI IS FIRST IFM DRIVER TO TEST IN F1

Another toast, right?

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

No mention of IFM at WTCC/F2 Brands Hatch in the MSV Fixtures guide...

How do you access this guide? All I can get from link is title screen/front cover of printed booklet? Have not seen one for years- used to get them anually from the 60s.

[jondownunder]

It's working for me still, though it won't let me flip the pages by dragging the corner with the mouse as it should do. But the arrows next to the page number (=1 for the cover) still allow you to change page and flip through it.

Edit: Actually, just click on the bottom right corner of each page and it turns. I was trying to drag it like other applications of this kind.

I'm using Firefox as my browser, with Adobe Flash Player 10 installed.

I got a printed one in the post a while after the digital one was released (have done for the past 2-3 years).

[p-matt]

I noticed in Autosport's preview of the GP2 field that it described Leimer as "the final Formula Master champion". So I guess it is dead, even if nothing official has been said