24 replies to this topic

[Volcano70]

With the launch of USF4 a week ago, the F4 community gets another series, adding on to the others in Europe and Asia.

Interested to see what mayhem may go on this low-tier category!

[HistoryFan]

On the same weekend the Benelux F4 was also launched...

[MontrealMark]

I really hope that this works out as I have always felt that North America should be better integrated into international racing. The Road to Indy is great but if Mazda ever pull out it will struggle to survive. On top of that, Star Mazda and F2000 are not very well perceived in Europe whereas F4 (and maybe eventually F3) of course are.

[Prost1997T]

I really hope that this works out as I have always felt that North America should be better integrated into international racing. The Road to Indy is great but if Mazda ever pull out it will struggle to survive. On top of that, Star Mazda and F2000 are not very well perceived in Europe whereas F4 (and maybe eventually F3) of course are.

 

Not very well perceived, yet drivers from over a dozen countries race in them.   If you mean by F1 teams, it's not an F1 ladder, hence the name "Road to Indy". Americans that do have the budget come over to race in Europe on F1 tracks in FIA series. It would be like MRTI putting a feeder series to Indycar in Europe, instead of offering a shootout to series champions around the world for an F2000 scholarship (which is what they actually do). What the FIA should be doing is offering an incentive to enter their ladder, instead of relying on the driver to bring millions to get to F1. You know, like scholarships in MRTI?

 

The SCCA don't exactly have a great track record in directly running a series (SCCA Lites had a whopping 6 cars), and pairing with low-profile series like PWC and Trans-Am is going to make it unattractive to sponsors.

Edited by Prost1997T, 24 September 2015 - 19:32.

[OvDrone]

Is anyone actually showing this series on tv?

[rhukkas]

I really hope that this works out as I have always felt that North America should be better integrated into international racing. The Road to Indy is great but if Mazda ever pull out it will struggle to survive. On top of that, Star Mazda and F2000 are not very well perceived in Europe whereas F4 (and maybe eventually F3) of course are.

 

The last thing American racing needs is to be like Europe.

[Prost1997T]

Is anyone actually showing this series on tv?

 

US F4? Not heard anything about any TV coverage.

[OvDrone]

That or any other F4 series.

[paulb]

If the series is paired with PWC and Trans-Am, since both of those are televised, its not far fetched to think USF4 will get tube time also.

[Prost1997T]

If the series is paired with PWC and Trans-Am, since both of those are televised, its not far fetched to think USF4 will get tube time also.

 

Both usually have delayed broadcasts on CBS Sports Network in midweek slots. That's below what a second tier series like Indy Lights gets (which is on NBCSN).

 

PWC didn't even have its finale broadcast live. I don't see any mention of media coverage in the SCCA and FIA Q&As, they just talked about cost\standards and what position they envision the series takes in the market.

Edited by Prost1997T, 25 September 2015 - 01:09.

[MontrealMark]

I never said F4 in America had to be like Europe. The package itself looks on the surface as being attractive based on costs and it would be nice to see an open formula in North America again. It all depends on the circuits and package. It would be great if they could team up with IMSA eventually.

 

Time will tell if this is truly a feeder to F2000 or not.

[Prost1997T]

I never said F4 in America had to be like Europe. The package itself looks on the surface as being attractive based on costs and it would be nice to see an open formula in North America again. It all depends on the circuits and package.

 

It isn't an "open formula" once a single manufacturer has been chosen (in this case Crawford, in Europe it's either Mygale or Tatuus). An open formula is F1600 (for example) in North America, where there are multiple manufacturers with development permitted. The east coast championship in the US has three chassis manufacturers and several models competing: http://f1600series.c...sey-race-1.html

[MontrealMark]

It isn't now but the intention is for it to be in the future. The single chassis is just being used to build up momentum for the various national series.

[Volcano70]

More USF4 news

http://www.motorspor...-u-s-formula-4/

[Volcano70]

Gachot name to return racing

http://www.motorspor...f4-team-664705/

[Ross Stonefeld]

And how the people rose up to gave thanks at this Christmas miracle.

[Prost1997T]

The Benelux F4 concept is no more; instead, the SMP F4 championship will incorporate rounds in the Netherlands: http://www.paddocksc...from-2016/32855

[Volcano70]

That is a good idea as I felt the SMP F4 would be empty running in Russia only as there are only 2 notable circuits IMO- Sochi and Moscow.

[Prost1997T]

That is a good idea as I felt the SMP F4 would be empty running in Russia only as there are only 2 notable circuits IMO- Sochi and Moscow.

 

Odd that they dropped both of the rounds in Finland though.

[Volcano70]

Oh, I didn't know they ran in Finland, my bad  

It is odd, they still want Russian circuits and non-Russian rounds, why didn't they keep Finland? Was the interest not there?

[Prost1997T]

Oh, I didn't know they ran in Finland, my bad  

It is odd, they still want Russian circuits and non-Russian rounds, why didn't they keep Finland? Was the interest not there?

 

No idea.    They had a Finnish champion after all.

 

For reference, the 2015 calendar: https://en.wikipedia...dar_and_results

Edited by Prost1997T, 08 January 2016 - 21:10.

[Volcano70]

I should've looked the schedule up before my posts 

I thought that some series ran at Auto24ring, and it was F4.

They could've dropped 1 Moscow round, 1 Auto24 round, and added 2(?) Dutch rounds, then every track gets 1 round.

*edit- after looking at 2016

Drop a sochi, add finnish round. Drop the standalone Zandvoort and make the finale Assen, and add the other finnish round in place.

Edited by Volcano70, 08 January 2016 - 21:17.

[Prost1997T]

MP Motorsport is interested in running some cars, so I guess that's the logic behind the extra Zandvoort round.

[Vepe1995]

I'm guessing the reason for dropping the finnish rounds was that the tracks here are in the middle of nowhere, except Ahvenisto, which on the other hand isn't really good for these cars.

 

A shame, I was looking forward to this season, not so much anymore...

 

EDIT: Looking at the calendar, the first thing to do is to have only one race at a track. And I also tried to avoid stand-alone events (Granted, some of these are a bit unrealistic)

 

15-17 April - Zolder (DSCC,Belcar, etc.)*

29-30 April - Sochi (F1)**
4-5 June - Zandvoort, Netherlands (TBC)*
23-24 July – Moscow Raceway, Russia (DTM)

5-7 August - Assen (DSCC)*
3-4 September – Anderstorp, Sweden (STCC)
10-11 September – Ahvenisto, Finland (Finnish Championship Series)***

TBC October – Zandvoort or Assen (F4 Festival)*

 

 

*Dutch (Benelux) F4 Throphy

** Could also be the opening round supporting WTCC

*** Replaced Parnu with Ahvenisto since it seemed to be a stand-alone, while on the same weekend the Finnish championship has a race weekend.

Edited by Vepe1995, 08 January 2016 - 22:02.

[kurski]

Odd that they dropped both of the rounds in Finland though.

It`s a shame that the Finnish event not on the calendar, but I will not surprised, why not amateurs tinkering with interest SMP F4. All eyes must probably Kymi Ring and the year 2017.