How can we improve British F3?

[BarryCrocker]

Ok you lot, you all seem pretty clued up on the state of the British F3 championship so..........what should be done to improve the series?

[noweels]

Take away all team passes, and make it difficult to enter the circuit

[BarryCrocker]

Should there be pit stops?, refuelling? Sprint racing? 1 lap qualifying?

[superMINI]

Leave the actual racing alone, it's fine.

What it needs is:
_• more F3 friendly people running it (seems everyone is trying to sabotage it just now)
• a central hospitality tent that is welcoming and professionally run (like last year)
• considerably better promotion including INCENTIVES TO GO TO THE RACES LIKE FOR EXAMPLE FREE TICKETS JONATHAN PALMER. Like what Seat did for their championship and had 40,000 people there at Rock.

[Just one attendance like that is enough to raise the profile (word of mouth is a powerful thing) to the point that people might go, and pay, of their own accord. At the moment that's not happening. ]

• A less snotty attitude,
•_more even driver promotion (lets promote them all, pitlane walkabouts, driver appearances, chartity fundraisers).
_•_And finally, put it back on the Grand Prix bill at Silverstone.

[superMINI]

Whoever is in charge of F3 can pay me £20k a year to take over the media, marketing and hospitality and I can guarantee I'll turn it around. It's not brain surgery, it's logical, and other championships manage it.

:confused:

[Russfeld]

An awesome TV deal.

[superMINI]

Which will only happen if the rest falls into place first.

At the moment, what spectacle are they going to televise? A couple of hundred people standing on a hill? The racing is fine, but people want glamour, showmanship and awe from their televisual viewing. This is the part not being grasped by the old school element of british motorsport.

[noweels]

100% correct sM. F3 was fine for many years. Good crowds,good support races and as stated before decent hospitality for sponsors,drivers and teams

[BarryCrocker]

What about 5 points for pole position as F3 is all about qualifying? Maybe a point for each lap led?

[Russfeld]

if its all about qualifying, then being pole is the advantage. Giving points for pole only works in a series like NASCAR where you can win from any position on the grid and strings of poles are a rare and impressive thing.

[Woolley]

NOT pitsops, please.

Everyone seems hooked up on it 'omproving the show' but it doesn't. It breaks up the race and confuses the spectators, it encourages drivers to wait, it means a great driving performance can be ruined by a pit error, and a poor one can be improved by it, it requires personnel that the team wouldn't otherwise need, it adds danger to the pit lane with people diving in and out en masse, and it requires additional marshals. Otherwise they're fine(!)

If anything, the races are too short, being more like FFord sprints rather than a tactical excercise, and a poor qualifying performance is difficult to recover from and places excessive emphasis on testing.

Make the races 45 minutes with a free practice session of 30 minutes and a single qualifying session of 20 minutes. Start the second race according to best lap set in the first race so someone who has had a problem has something to aim at.

[bella]

it's fine as it is!! just let's get some people in to watch and it'll be even better...

[littleman]

F3 is often described as a scaled down version of F1 and there-in lies the problem.All the current difficulties facing F1 are virtually identical to those affecting F3.Excessive costs,shrinking audiences,follow-my-leader racing,difficulty overtaking and unlimited testing.None of this actually makes for exciting TV viewing, but F1 has the advantage of having someone like Bernie Ecclestone on board who recognises these shortcomings and is moving fast to address them.He knows that TV coverge is the absolute key to the on-going fortunes of F1 - it would be like a fish out of water without it.What F3 needs, is a very astute commercial brain brought in who can package the series properly and secure the all important TV coverage.

[flexible-flyer]

longer races i feel would help as far as the racing is conserned. but first you gotta get this 'leadership' out of the way. they are not f3 fans they like the ................gts..........zzzzz. pair f3 with something better and shove it back where it belongs ona grand prix weekend bill.

[Chucky]

What sort of TV does Brit F3 get in the UK at present?

By the sound of it, even Australian F3 is run better!

[bella]

it gets a saturday morning show on channel 4, the saturday or so after the race. my mum is a religious viewer.

[gomick]

i think it has lost its edge because of the euro series being #1.... think the british series will be just like the spanish, italian, japanese etc.... - unless someone offers a better deal than the euro series

[climb]

Basically the problem is not depending on TV deals or friendly welcoming; the very cause is the crisis of British auto industry.
Unfortunately the main actors of F3, i.e. the engine manufacturers are mostly based in the Euroseries native domain (Merc, Opel, Toyota-Europe, Renault), and by consequence there goes the money.
Not an easy task to undertake.

[JimW]

Try not putting the race on at 1900 as the last event of an over-long day! Apart from the dedicated enthusiast who already knows about it, every other normal person will have gone home long before.

Many others will have looked at the length of the programme and not gone there in the first place (but that is a wider point. )

Regards

Jim

[superMINI]

The late race in the case of Snet is an exception, to be fair.

I've said this before, but I wonder it the 'leadership' are aware of the discontent, or know what's being discussed. We should bring it to their attention, who ever they are...

[Jonny Apex]

Originally posted by superMINI
The late race in the case of Snet is an exception, to be fair.

I've said this before, but I wonder it the 'leadership' are aware of the discontent, or know what's being discussed. We should bring it to their attention, who ever they are...

Who is 'we' and how would you do this? What discontent?

[Jonny Apex]

Originally posted by gomick
i think it has lost its edge because of the euro series being #1.... think the british series will be just like the spanish, italian, japanese etc.... - unless someone offers a better deal than the euro series

Euroseries, certainly in terms of quality of driver, is not a match for British F3, IMO.

[F3lollipops]

Originally posted by superMINI
The late race in the case of Snet is an exception, to be fair.

You've obviously not seen the Donington ETCC timetable then superMINI - we'll be strapping torches on the front wings and giving our boys Horlicks on the podium

[bella]

i've had reports that at least 3 drivers have had to have their bedtime curfews extended by an hour or more to enable them to take part at donington.

more news when we hear it...

[Mathias]

Just to clarify for our Oz readers... the "Saturday morning" TV slot on Channel 4 (terrestrial TV) is not at a sensible time like 11.30, but at 7.30!!! And it only lasts 25 minutes to cover 2 races, and is subject to some weird changes every now and then.

To be fair, they do a fantastic job within those constraints, but it's not enough to attract new fans for the sport (mainly because you have to be a dedicated fan already to be up at that time or remember to set your video recorder), and for most existing fans of the sport it can be pretty disappointing.

The other week, following some similar discussions on another thread, I started drafting a ten-point plan for improving British F3. I might post it up for discussion...,

Perhaps if we can achieve some sort of consensus among ourselves we could send our ideas off to Jerry M'Lord and Stephanie Rattle. And Jonathan Palmgreaser too.