11 replies to this topic

[petefenelon]

Thinking about racing series that didn't really "catch on", did the very abortive 1997 British F3000 championship actually count as a championship in any meaningful way?

(I mean, there was only one round held, and only three cars started it, and the race was shortened due to terminal lack of interest..... For what it's worth, Dino Morelli (whatever happened to.....) won it, so does he count on the list of British F2/F3000 champions?

Or was the whole thing "null and void"? - is about 20 minutes round Brands enough to count as any form of championship?

Puts one in mind of the 1926 French GP really, except that was a considerably longer race ;)

[Graham Clayton]

Petefenelon,

Here is a summary of the "championship":

http://www.oocities....ishf3000_97.htm

Unlike the 1926 French Grand Prix, at least all 3 cars finished

I am unaware of any other championship series that consisted of only one race.

The 1953 NASCAR Speedway open-wheeler divison was cancelled after 3 races.

Are there any other examples of a championship series being abandoned in mid-stream due to poor fields?

[Rob29]

Petefenelon,



Are there any other examples of a championship series being abandoned in mid-stream due to poor fields?

I can think of a couple.1983-'British Open' After a motley collection of 12 assorted F1,F5000 & F2 cars started first round-the Oulton Park Gold Cup-the remining 5 rounds were cancelled.1961 FIA Intercontinental Formula-just 2 rounds held with about 18 cars + Indy 500 with Jack Brabham only driver in all 3.Championship was declared void.

[Rob]

Or was the whole thing "null and void"? - is about 20 minutes round Brands enough to count as any form of championship?

Do you not usually have to have a certain amount of entrants for a race to count as points scoring?

[David McKinney]

1961 FIA Intercontinental Formula - just 2 rounds held with about 18 cars + Indy 500 with Jack Brabham only driver in all 3.Championship was declared void.

I don't recall any 1961 Intercontinental Championship, FIA or otherwise, and can't think Indianapolis would have been included if there had been.
In fact five Intercontinental races were run in 1961 (excluding Indianapolis)

[nmansellfan]

I went to the first Oulton Park round of the 1996 British 'Formula 2' championship, and I remember there were only 5 or 6 cars on the grid. Being F3000 cars in all but name, I remember them being mighty fast for Oulton, probably at the limit or even beyond what the track could cope with in tems of track safety against the speed that the cars could achieve. One advantage of the small grid was that you could hear the cars very clearly without them being drowned out by each other - I was spectating on the inside of Lodge at the start, and as the cars went off on their warm up lap, one of the cars wouldn't start, and there was a mad rush to get him fired up on the grid and catch the pack up before they came cack round to the grid. They were half a lap around when the car finally fired, and the driver did a full racing start as he got away from the grid on his own. Now I know that some people may class a mid 90's F2/F3000 engine as boring to listen to, but to this 17 year old at the time who hadn't heard a much else live trackside in the way of a bespoke racing engine, it sounded like nothing else on earth, and had the required decibels to match!

Edited by nmansellfan, 20 July 2011 - 12:03.

[Lee Towers]

[quote name='petefenelon' date='Jan 29 2005, 03:30' post='1908942']
For what it's worth, Dino Morelli (whatever happened to.....) won it, so does he count on the list of British F2/F3000 champions?

I think it was Morelli who had a really big accident torrential rain at the Nurburgring in an F3000 race in about '97, '98. He ended up heading down to the first corner with no front wheels and the throttle stuck open I think, and consequently went through the barrier, making a terrible mess of his feet.

[LucaP]

yes, it was that Morelli ... indeed, whatever happened to him? did he return to racing after that shunt?

[Lee Towers]

yes, it was that Morelli ... indeed, whatever happened to him? did he return to racing after that shunt?

I;ve had a look around and it seems he came back to F3000, but never managed a full season, just the odd race or string of 4 or 5 races here and there until circa 2001. Sadly it seems (and this is only by looking at race results) he wasn't quite the same driver again. He was with some half decent teams post accident too, like Coloni and Astromega.

Was Gonzalo Rodriguez in that lone 1997 Briitsh 3000 Championship race too, or have I imagined that??

[Geoff E]

At the top of the forum list, there is a "sticky" thread The book thread: In memory of Pete Fenelon ... sadly, Pete died in 2008.

[Rob29]

I don't recall any 1961 Intercontinental Championship, FIA or otherwise, and can't think Indianapolis would have been included if there had been.
In fact five Intercontinental races were run in 1961 (excluding Indianapolis)

Scheduled FIA championship was 6 rounds.
May- Silverstone Intl Trophy
May 30 Indy 500
June- Monza Lottery
Aug- Brands Hatch-Guards Trophy
Sept -Turin
Oct -Watkins Glen
Indy 500 counted for World Drivers championship 1950-60 but was never for F1.So 1961 transferred to ICF but not for ICF cars either
Monza & Turin cancelled
Watkins Glen transferred to F1
Non-championship ICF races;
Mar- Snetterton
Apr-Goodwood
July-Silverstone-British Empire Trophy

Edited by Rob29, 20 July 2011 - 16:59.

[bsc]

Was Gonzalo Rodriguez in that lone 1997 Briitsh 3000 Championship race too, or have I imagined that??

Yes. He finished second in a Redmand & Bright entered car. Tommy Field was the other entrant and was team mate to Morelli. Once the series was canned, Morelli and Rodriguez switched to the International F3000 series, whilst Field moved to British F3.