Formula Renault Eligibility
A Statement from the Board
Due to some recent forum comments on the decision making Formula Renaults (Tatuus 2006 & 2008 BARC cars) ineligible for the MonoF3 class, the board offers the following information.
Formula Renault were allowed in to Monoposto as it was felt that there may be a number of cars available to race with us. Since 2011 we have had very few cars and in reality there have only ever been a couple of cars each season at most. There have been technical issues and requests for changes to allow greater performance from the cars, also suggested on the forum. These are a “spec” car that are a newer specification than other allowable 2L cars and if allowed to run unfettered could well beat our existing F3 Cars.
On the 14th July 2015 the board made a decision, on balance, to remove the FR eligibility for MonoF3 class and duly published this. There were no prospective FR cars for 2016 season. This decision was fully supported by the Sporting Services Manager at that time. Other class change decisions were also made last year, not everyone likes them when they happen but we just move on and accept that they were made.
As with any motorsport regulation decision giving notice of a change, reversal is difficult as this can upset the stability of the regulations. It was decided to allow a further year of FR eligibility till the end of the 2016 season. No contact was made to board members from any FR drivers and the matter was not questioned at the 2016 AGM. We have not been presented with any proposals for future Formula Renault car eligibility to consider.
Recently there have been some forum posts about “banning FR cars” which is not what has occurred. The earlier cars will become eligible in 2017 to run in MonoF3 when fitted with a mono compliant engine. To clarify, this is due to the MonoF3 date moving forward to allow up to and including 2007 commercially available chassis and bodywork in this class, as already published. The special case allowed for FR cars, which are fitted with the F4R FRS engine, did not warrant further extension as the numbers were not entering and with the chassis package being in date it should be encouraged that these cars fall in to the normal Monoposto requirements next year.
Every year the board review and update the regulations, we don’t just make it up as we go along. To the majority of the board the presence of FR cars on the grid makes little difference to them on race days as they are not in the same class.
As previously advised, any proposals for Formula Renault cars should be directed to Terry Clark and Kevin Couling.
Whilst making this statement we would like to highlight that the forum is not the correct place to contact the board. Every race meeting, there are board members in the paddock and there are specific class reps as well. If you want something considered, we are always willing to listen. We then discuss and look at in more detail to come to a decision in time for inclusion in the next year’s regulations. Please remember that the board is a collective and individual decision making is not democratic in this respect. We can’t just make a statement on the forum, it has to be agreed between us (and we don’t always agree, and this often takes time) and we have to consider any confidentiality before anything significant can be published. This is precisely why we only publish official statements on Startline.
The Board
August 2016.
