Hayes over to French F3

cos · 8 Jan 2002, 21:51 (Ref:195768)

He'll be driving for LD Autosport in the French F3 series...seemingly as all the best BritishF3 seats were taken...another home grown driver sent abroad (remember Paffett last year?), we really should support our local guys.

Takuma · 8 Jan 2002, 21:58 (Ref:195774)

Gary Paffett chose to race in Germany in 2001, in a team that was partially funded by The Mercedes/Mclaren. He was offered several competitive seats for the british series, however his management expected him to be "given" a "free drive". Something few if any team in F3 can afford to do.

cos · 8 Jan 2002, 22:07 (Ref:195778)

I thought he was going to be 'given' one of the Jag seats, dunno if it was 'free' or not...?

Jonny Apex · 9 Jan 2002, 09:17 (Ref:195901)

At £400,000 for a season in British F3 I'm not surprised a few are going overseas where costs are cheaper and by quite a fair margin.

Francesca · 9 Jan 2002, 12:39 (Ref:195950)

Surely you have to weigh up the expense against the benefits of the exposure.

Roughly how much cheaper are the other F3 championships? Do the prices vary that much?

Rennen · 10 Jan 2002, 23:11 (Ref:196822)

Jag budget was half the other top teams because they had team sponsors sorry 'partners' pity other teams don't employ commercial mangers! MH had every reason to expect to get that seat for Gary. But German politics played a part there me thinks. However Avanti or Duma had seats but at what price? MH is no sucker!

Isn't JC lucky to get Jag to pay for his Carlin seat! Now that was jammy Jamie!

Hayes good solid driver! but not very exciting no loss in my book!

Rennen · 10 Jan 2002, 23:23 (Ref:196829)

French champs was less than half UK price when I last asked about them 125k 2years ago.

Russfeld · 11 Jan 2002, 05:27 (Ref:196887)

Why such a marked difference in price? Gouging due to status of the British championship? More testing?

rlinter · 17 Jan 2002, 00:21 (Ref:199905)

Quote:

Originally posted by Russfeld
Why such a marked difference in price? Gouging due to status of the British championship? More testing?

Only 8 meetings (16 Races). According to a source within the Hayes Camp the cost is significantly less even with all 7 international events than a full UK season at say Carlin or Manor et al.

Given that they Hayes PR machine seems to have started up in the last week it would appear that Derek is serious about beingt he 1st brit to win the French F3 Championship.

I for one hope that Hayes does well.

Sid The Manager · 17 Jan 2002, 09:51 (Ref:200020)

So do I

nobody can deny that Derek has worked hard over the last few seasons, doing pretty well with virtually no budget.

**bella** · 17 Jan 2002, 10:31 (Ref:200029)

the prices are higher becuase it's more competetive for a drive. it's a really important series, more so than the german and french versions, so i guess loads of people compete for a drive. allegedly.

rlinter · 17 Jan 2002, 22:30 (Ref:200401)

Quote:

Originally posted by bella
the prices are higher becuase it's more competetive for a drive. it's a really important series, more so than the german and french versions, so i guess loads of people compete for a drive. allegedly.

There in lies the rub - British F3 is endanger of becoming the preserve of the rich kid... It is TOO Damn Expensive - £400,000 + vat + insurance + Travel + International Rounds.

Takuma · 18 Jan 2002, 05:48 (Ref:200501)

I thnk Andrew Ridgely was the last Brit to do a full season of French F3!

SILVERS95 · 18 Jan 2002, 06:29 (Ref:200504)

WAs that in 85 ?

Francesca · 18 Jan 2002, 23:35 (Ref:200948)

how well did Andrew Ridgely do?

Ren - Incidently regarding Gazza P, Duma offered a very decent deal - I can't say anymore on the subject.

Takuma · 19 Jan 2002, 00:17 (Ref:200964)

I think it's safe to say he was better at music than racing!

Francesca is right, the deal Duma offered Gary Paffet was very good, sadly his amangement thought Gary should have a totally free ride.

Paul Rayner · 20 Jan 2002, 17:17 (Ref:201731)

The reason that British F3 is so expensive can be seen when you look at the F1 grid, and Champ Cars as well.
Until Kimi came along, 50% of the drivers in F1 had driven in British F3. Every single one in 2000 had driven in some sort of F3, so the other championships, German, Italian, Japanese, French, had to share the rest. With stats like that it's going to be more expensive in Britain.
Then compare what drivers in the series have done.
Last British F3 driver to get to F1? Takuma Sato, last year's champion.
Last time before that? Juan Pablo Montoya, last year, and Button the year before.
Ryo Fukuda, French champion(?) got a BAR test drive deal, but so did Anthony Davidson, who only came second in Britain, and he's the number one test driver now.

It is too expensive, it's the best F3 series in the world, but it's a great feeder for F1, which is of course also driven by money.

Francesca · 20 Jan 2002, 18:03 (Ref:201756)

Quote:

Originally posted by Takuma
I think it's safe to say he was better at music than racing!

I've got to disagree with you there Takuma - Andrew Ridgely's driving ability was on a parr with his musical ability - both dire!

But comparing the two industries...music and motorsport. In music a record company seek out a talented band and then signs the band up. The band is given an advance (don't know what the average is these days but was quite often hundreds of thousands for an unknown band). The money was paid back by the band gradually as they recouped royalties, TV fees, tour profits etc.

Can't motorsport do something similar.

Takuma · 20 Jan 2002, 18:12 (Ref:201760)

Franchesca,

I bow to your better knowledge of Wham! not my sort of band i'm pleased to say.

On your serious point, it does happen, what do you think the Robertsons got involved with Kimi and Jenson for, the samw with Weber and the germans.

Sometimes the music industry pick the wrong band, just think how dangerous that could be with drivers.

Francesca · 20 Jan 2002, 18:27 (Ref:201766)

Quote:

Originally posted by Takuma

On your serious point, it does happen, what do you think the Robertsons got involved with Kimi and Jenson for, the same with Weber and the germans.

Well it should happen more often - I know it's a simplistic viewpoint but talent should rule, not money.

and yes sometimes the record companies do pick the wrong bands but then it's down to their talent spotting skills and after that their skills at making the band stars...and the companies that are best at that, make more money.

ABHIJIT ABRAHAM · 20 Jan 2002, 18:58 (Ref:201778)

but on the other hand history is full of talented british f3 drivers who didnt make it purely because they didnt stand out in a great field
while everyone knows ryo fu.......
now apart from being japense hes average put him in the british f3 field and they would have eaten him for breakfast i think
andre lotterer was supposed to be hot but despite a year racing in the german f3's his team mate chewed him up and spat him out

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