The Junior Series Thread

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 24 Jan 2014, 01:19

watka wrote:Looking at the confirmed drivers in GP2 for next season, you'd expect Vandoorne to murder them all if he is as good as McLaren think he is. Let's hope he doesn't do a Robin Frijns and go off the boil (at least he'll get to see the season out).

I really hope Mitch Evans gets a seat...surely his 2013 performances warranted a top drive.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 24 Jan 2014, 11:07

I don't know, Marciello in Racing Engineering could be a threat too.

What I am noticing is that an awful lot of FR3.5 drivers are jumping over to GP2, why is that? On balance GP2 is looking far stronger than 3.5 on the driver front this year! Certainly not the case the last few years.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 24 Jan 2014, 14:33

Shadaza wrote:I don't know, Marciello in Racing Engineering could be a threat too.

What I am noticing is that an awful lot of FR3.5 drivers are jumping over to GP2, why is that? On balance GP2 is looking far stronger than 3.5 on the driver front this year! Certainly not the case the last few years.

Far stronger? GP2 has confirmed Vandoorne and Marciello. FR3.5 has confirmed Stevens, Sirotkin, Gasly, Buller, Rowland, Sainz Junior.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 24 Jan 2014, 15:14

wsrgo wrote:
Shadaza wrote:I don't know, Marciello in Racing Engineering could be a threat too.

What I am noticing is that an awful lot of FR3.5 drivers are jumping over to GP2, why is that? On balance GP2 is looking far stronger than 3.5 on the driver front this year! Certainly not the case the last few years.

Far stronger? GP2 has confirmed Vandoorne and Marciello. FR3.5 has confirmed Stevens, Sirotkin, Gasly, Buller, Rowland, Sainz Junior.

GP2 in these past few years has been a series for a nobody. The last real talented driver that GP2 had that got to F1 was Grosjean.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 24 Jan 2014, 15:56

go_Rubens wrote:
wsrgo wrote:
Shadaza wrote:I don't know, Marciello in Racing Engineering could be a threat too.

What I am noticing is that an awful lot of FR3.5 drivers are jumping over to GP2, why is that? On balance GP2 is looking far stronger than 3.5 on the driver front this year! Certainly not the case the last few years.

Far stronger? GP2 has confirmed Vandoorne and Marciello. FR3.5 has confirmed Stevens, Sirotkin, Gasly, Buller, Rowland, Sainz Junior.

GP2 in these past few years has been a series for a nobody. The last real talented driver that GP2 had that got to F1 was Grosjean.

Nico Hulkenberg called. He'd like to have a word with you.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 24 Jan 2014, 16:03

[wsrgo"]

go_Rubens wrote:
wsrgo wrote:
Shadaza wrote:Far stronger? GP2 has confirmed Vandoorne and Marciello. FR3.5 has confirmed Stevens, Sirotkin, Gasly, Buller, Rowland, Sainz Junior.

GP2 in these past few years has been a series for a nobody. The last real talented driver that GP2 had that got to F1 was Grosjean.

Nico Hulkenberg called. He'd like to have a word with you.

I was talking about at what date they left GP2 for good. Hülk left after 2009, Grosjean left after 2011.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 24 Jan 2014, 16:06

go_Rubens wrote:
I was talking about at what date they left GP2 for good. Hülk left after 2009, Grosjean left after 2011.

Ah, I misunderstood that. Sorry :oops:

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 24 Jan 2014, 16:31

wsrgo wrote:Far stronger? GP2 has confirmed Vandoorne and Marciello. FR3.5 has confirmed Stevens, Sirotkin, Gasly, Buller, Rowland, Sainz Junior.

Definitely. Stoffel Vandoorne won F4 Eurocup 1.6, European Formula Renault 2.0 and had a great debut season in Formula Renault 3.5; Raffaele Marciello is a Ferrari junior, reigning FIA European Formula 3 champion (having been second in his debut year).

Will Stevens hasn't won anything, and hasn't even won a race in two seasons of Formula Renault 3.5; Sergey Sirotkin's only success has been Formula Abarth, I feel he was disappointing last year; Pierre Gasly is a class act, I'll give you that; William Buller's best result in a championship was 5th; Oliver Rowland I can't quite judge, but he seems okay based on his 2013 performance; Carlos Sainz, Junior is on his last chance with Red Bull, having had disappointing seasons in 2012 and 2013.

If Mitch Evans does return for 2014 then in my opinion GP2 will definitely have the stronger grid for once.

The problem in GP2 though is that recently experience has been more valuable than raw driver skill (thus championships for Maldonado, Grosjean, Valsecchi and Leimer), so even with talent like Marciello and Vandoorne I worry that the season will be won by someone like Jolyon Palmer.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 24 Jan 2014, 17:47

I personally think Marciello is a bit overrated. Like Sainz, he is probably the fastest driver of his generation in terms of sheer speed, but he tends to make mistakes and be completely anonymous over the course of the weekend. He was beaten by then fellow FDA member Brandon Maisano in his first season in Abarths quite convincingly. He was beaten by the seasoned Sergio Campana and fellow rookie Michael Lewis in the 2011 Italian F3 season. 2012 was a very good season and I honestly felt with a bit more luck (like Juncadella punting him out at Norisring), he could have been closer to the Euro F3 championship.

2013 was good, he did win the champonship. But he beat Felix Rosenqvist by just over 30 points. Okay, he did have tough luck, like at the first weekend, where he was leading at Monza but the race was red-flagged and half points were awarded, at Brands Hatch where an incorrect gear ratio disqualified him from the race, and an engine blow-out at Vallelunga. But he was aided by the mid-season calendar switch from Le Castellet to Vallelunga (Prema's test track). Furthermore, it was clear that Prema had a very strong car, whereas Muecke had the second and sometimes even the third best car (behind Carlin) throughout the year. Weekends like Nurburgring, Hockenheim (1) and Brands cemented Marciello's legend, whereas Spielberg and Zandvoort were utter disappointments. He wasn't as consistent and reliable as Rosenqvist, who took some time to get up to speed after Wehrlein left.

But yes, there's no denying his sheer speed, something he demonstrated in post-season testing too. However sheer speed doesn't help in GP2 much. You need to be consistent, get a good understanding of Pirellis, and stay out of trouble, with an occasional dab of pace. Racing Engg. did well last year, but if Marciello is handicapped with an inexperienced/unhelpful teammate, it will be difficult for him.

Right now, my favourites for the GP2 title are Palmer in the DAMS and Dillmann in the RUSSIAN TIME (not yet confirmed). Call me a cynic, but I believe that's how GP2 works. ART will take time to get back to their 2012, 2010, 2009-esque levels I believe, with Racing Engg. not being too close to DAMS and RT.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 27 Jan 2014, 17:25

Backmarker wrote:Takuya Izawa is about the least inspired member of Honda's stable of drivers they could have promoted to GP2. He's 29, which means he's probably going to be the oldest driver in the series, and he's not exactly been a sensation in Super GT, excluding a decent 2009, and he was third in Formula Nippon in 2012. But they could have promoted Naoki Yamamoto, who was won Super Formula in 2013, and is at least 'only' 25.

EDIT: Just a thought, perhaps Izawa is being prepared/evaluated for Formula E? F1 isn't a serious possibility, but Honda could place him at Super Aguri.

I've never heard of this guy but surely he can't be any worse than Teixiera or Serenelli

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 31 Jan 2014, 23:25

Okay, to further my point I made a while back about GP3>GP2, here's a little activity I made called Who Would You Pick for Your 2014 F1 Team Based on Skill Alone. This is not how much potential they have, or if they'll eventually be champion, or whatever; this is about who is better right now, and who you would pick for your 2014 F1 team, factoring out any financial concerns. Normally, of course, the winner should be from GP2 most of the time, but let's take a look:

Fabio Leimer VS. Daniil Kvyat
Sam Bird VS. Facu Regalia
James Calado VS. Conor Daly
Felipe Nasr VS. Tio Ellinas

Or for something less telling but far more hilarious:
Fabio Leimer VS. Kevin Magnussen
Sam Bird VS. Stoffel Vandoorne
James Calado VS. António Félix da Costa
Felipe Nasr VS. Nico Müller

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 01 Feb 2014, 01:38

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Okay, to further my point I made a while back about GP3>GP2, here's a little activity I made called Who Would You Pick for Your 2014 F1 Team Based on Skill Alone. This is not how much potential they have, or if they'll eventually be champion, or whatever; this is about who is better right now, and who you would pick for your 2014 F1 team, factoring out any financial concerns. Normally, of course, the winner should be from GP2 most of the time, but let's take a look:

Fabio Leimer VS. Daniil Kvyat
Sam Bird VS. Facu Regalia
James Calado VS. Conor Daly
Felipe Nasr VS. Tio Ellinas

Or for something less telling but far more hilarious:
Fabio Leimer VS. Kevin Magnussen
Sam Bird VS. Stoffel Vandoorne
James Calado VS. António Félix da Costa
Felipe Nasr VS. Nico Müller

Leimer v Kvyat/: toughie, but Kvyat has shown a steep upward curve whereas Leimer was content to win the championship driving as slowly as possible. Kvyat wins this one on account of his tremendous feedback ability.

Bird v. Regalia: Bird. End of story.

Calado v. Daly: Calado, lot more talent and a lot more mileage in an F1 car.

Nasr v. Ellinas: I'm calling a draw on this one, because Nasr showed in Singapore that he's prone to meltdowns when faced down by a faster teammate. Ellinas on the other hand, is as fast as Nasr and is far more relentless, IMO..but is very inexperienced still, with little knowledge of F1-spec Pirellis (GP2-spec is closer to F1 than GP3).

Leimer v. Magnussen: Magnussen, simply the faster of the two.

Bird v. Vandoorne: Vandoorne has the misfortune to go up against Bird, who is the most F1-ready driver outside F1. Vandoorne is too inexperienced, and so edge goes to Bird.

Calado v. Felix da Costa: Calado has shown more consistency throughout his career than FdC. A close fight, but I'll take Calado for his all-round ability over FdC's occasional blinding race pace.

Nasr v. Muller: Again, I'll have to call a draw. Muller is inconsistent but has a few tracks where he does well, and isn't affected by teammate hoodoo much. Nasr is a lot more consistent, but I've already spoken of his problems.

GP2 2-1 GP3
GP2 2-1 WSR

I guess the tilting factor is that drivers in GP2 are more ready than in other series.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 01 Feb 2014, 02:52

Fabio Leimer VS. Daniil Kvyat: Kvyat. He's young and fairly unproven, but at least he's shown potential, rather than just meh'ing his way to the title as everyone else wanted it less like Leimer did.
Sam Bird VS. Facu Regalia: Bird has been ready for F1 for years now, but 2013 was probably his worst junior series season to date. Still, I'm fairly unsure about Regalia, so I'd probably give them both a punt in the young driver test or a pre-season test and decide from there.
James Calado VS. Conor Daly: Calado was incredibly disappointing in 2013, he should've been a strong title contender, but was never really in the mix. I don't think Daly is quite ready for F1, though. I'd rather give each another year than have to pick between them.
Felipe Nasr VS. Tio Ellinas: Nasr has consistency, except for when he doesn't, and can't seem to win races or regularly score podiums in GP2. Ellinas is a bit more consistent, has a bit more trouble finding the podium, but can actually win races. I'd go with Ellinas.

Or for something less telling but far more hilarious:
Fabio Leimer VS. Kevin Magnussen: Magnussen. Not even a contest.
Sam Bird VS. Stoffel Vandoorne: Vandoorne. Not as easy, but Vandoorne was actually ahead of Magnussen in the standings until the Red Bull Ring - even then, he showed the kind of consistency Bird never did in 2013.
James Calado VS. António Félix da Costa: Both were incredibly disappointing in 2013. But I'd go with da Costa, for the same reason I supported Pastor Maldonado over Bruno Senna - it's a lot easier to get a fast but inconsistent driver to slow down than it is to get a slower but consistent driver to go faster.
Felipe Nasr VS. Nico Müller: Eh, I'm not that impressed by either, but Muller can win races. So I'll go with him.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 01 Feb 2014, 11:34

Fabio Leimer VS. Daniil Kvyat = This is not an easy decision, Kvyat has more potential whilst Leimer is at his peak so i'd pick Kvyat.
Sam Bird VS. Facu Regalia = Sam Bird no contest, Regalia had a good season and it will be interesting to see how he does, but Bird has been ready for F1 for years, something Regalia has not yet shown.
James Calado VS. Conor Daly = Daly DID drive in GP2 and would not have beaten Calado over the season, Daly has potential but for now Calado is stronger.
Felipe Nasr VS. Tio Ellinas = Both have consistency but lack that killer edge, I'd give it to Nasr though even though both should have done better last year.

Or for something less telling but far more hilarious:
Fabio Leimer VS. Kevin Magnussen = Mags hands down.
Sam Bird VS. Stoffel Vandoorne = Vandoorne would have the beating of the other 3 GP2 drivers easy but Bird is trickier, I would test both in an F1 car but if forced to pick right now...Vandoorne
James Calado VS. António Félix da Costa = If I was in charge of an F1 team I would hire Calado no question, there are too many question marks over Da Costa, but Da Costa is potentially the better driver in the long run so give him another year in junior series.
Felipe Nasr VS. Nico Müller = Very tricky, both would do a capable job in F1 but neither scream champion. I'd gut reaction take Nasr but I want it to be a draw.

So
GP2 beats GP3 3-1
and FR3.5 and GP2 tie 2-2.

But there are a lot of metrics to consider, GP2 is a good series to mature drivers (despite what critics would say) so taking a kid in GP3 and thrusting him into F1 is a bigger risk. The reason teams seem to be doing this isn't because they think GP3 is a stronger series, but because teams like to take a younger drive and mold them into their team when they are younger, think about the teams doing this:
Red Bull have their Toro Rosso junior team as a safety net to test out new recruits, they can take bigger risks with driver selection. Williams took Bottas because they saw the opportunity for growth there and had time to put him testing for a year.

watka · Post by **watka** » 02 Feb 2014, 17:28

I think the trouble with GP2 is that its one too many rung on the ladder. Drivers going into GP2 generally have built up a reputation from winning in GP3, FR3.5 or less often FR2.0 or F3. Its formally accepted to be the doorstep to F1, but F1 teams now scrutinise drivers from such a young age (a trend start by Red Bull) that they arrive into GP2 with a strong reputation already that only by winning the championship first time out can they maintain the interest of those teams. Everyone else in the GP2 championship is treated as a benchmark for the graduates stepping into GP2 and are not respected for their own abilities. Hence why when Fabio Leimer, a 24 year old in his 4th year in the championship wins the title, its assumed that everyone else is tosh if they've let this guy win. Leimer has quietly been accumulating experience, getting better every year and is more prepared for F1 than say Kevin Magnussen. But he will never get the chance because he didn't display blinding raw speed in a lower formulae. In short, Formula 1 teams have pretty much made up their minds whether they will take on a driver in the future long before they step foot in a GP2 car, which makes GP2 irrelevant as a proving ground.

For me, the structure should be:
Formula 1
GP2/FR 3.5
Continental F3/FR 2.0
National F3/Prominent one-make series
Affordable entry-level open wheel championship
Karts

That takes out at least 1 if not 2 steps to F1 and gives meaning back to GP2.

Post by **Londoner** » 05 Feb 2014, 13:17

Sad news from Russian Time

RIP Igor.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 05 Feb 2014, 13:49

East Londoner wrote:Sad news from Russian Time

RIP Igor.

This could potentially have ended the careers of several driver..Dillmann, Markelov, Kirchhofer, Bernstorff, and goodness knows who else?

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 05 Feb 2014, 17:15

It's very sad to hear about the untimely passing of Igor Mazepa. He was very ambitious as a team owner, with Russian Time expanding to GP3 in 2014 and ambitions to step into Formula One at some point in the future, and was also shrewd enough to have an established team (Motopark Academy) actually run the effort. One also has to credit him for being willing to run talented drivers short on money in a GP2 dominated by deep pockets, and was repaid with instant success. My thoughts are with his family during what must be a very difficult time.

Hopefully his team will be able to continue without him funding the effort, though I worry that it won't last beyond 2014.

girry · Post by **girry** » 05 Feb 2014, 18:00

RIP...such a shame, as Backmarker said there weren't too many teams that field talent. WOuld have been nice to see his team in F1 at some point.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 05 Feb 2014, 18:02

giraurd wrote:RIP...such a shame, as Backmarker said there weren't too many teams that field talent. WOuld have been nice to see his team in F1 at some point.

Plus 1.

RIP Mazepa.

Post by **Ataxia** » 07 Feb 2014, 13:27

Two bits of news from Hilmer Motorsport.

Firstly, Facu Regalia will partner Daniel Abt at the team (which I'm quite pleased about, he deserved a shot in GP2) and secondly they've announced a tie-up with Force India.

The car will allegedly look something like this:

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 07 Feb 2014, 14:14

Ataxia wrote:The car will allegedly look something like this:

Shame, I liked the blue and orange livery Hilmer ran in 2013. Despite his disappointing debut season Daniel Abt deserves another chance in GP2, and I'm glad that Facundo Regalia will be making the step up, as he wasn't too far away from beating Daniil Kvyat last year.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 07 Feb 2014, 14:49

This means that Hilmer now have the services of the last two GP3 vice champions..

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 07 Feb 2014, 16:36

wsrgo wrote:This means that Hilmer now have the services of the last two GP3 vice champions..

The exact same situation ART were in last season!

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 07 Feb 2014, 17:20

Backmarker wrote:
wsrgo wrote:This means that Hilmer now have the services of the last two GP3 vice champions..

The exact same situation ART were in last season!

Ah wow, yeah..

I'm hoping Calado can get a Mercedes drive for DTM. He and Wickens can be teammates and the 2010 and 2011 GP3 vice champions will be reunited!

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 08 Feb 2014, 01:43

I think both Calado and Wickens should be in F1 right now. I feel they're ready quite honestly. Although maybe another year for Calado.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 08 Feb 2014, 06:54

go_Rubens wrote:I think both Calado and Wickens should be in F1 right now. I feel they're ready quite honestly. Although maybe another year for Calado.

Wickens should've been in F1 3 years ago - he did beat Vergne to the FR3.5 title. As for Calado, well, my feelings on anyone who was in GP2 last year should be well enough known by now.

watka · Post by **watka** » 08 Feb 2014, 12:18

Salamander wrote:
go_Rubens wrote:I think both Calado and Wickens should be in F1 right now. I feel they're ready quite honestly. Although maybe another year for Calado.

Wickens should've been in F1 3 years ago - he did beat Vergne to the FR3.5 title. As for Calado, well, my feelings on anyone who was in GP2 last year should be well enough known by now.

Yes he didn't really properly challenge for the GP2 title, but if the driver market had been a bit more stable this year I could imagine that Force India might have taken a punt on Calado. They didn't really want to keep Sutil or di Resta and were suitably impressed with Calado's testing from what I heard. It's only that so many good drivers became available at once that they ended up with Hulkenberg and Perez.

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 17 Feb 2014, 04:08

ATTENTION, ALL REJECT USERS!!

Japanese driver Kimiya Sato, who finished runner up in Auto GP last year (to Vittorio Ghirelli, the man who took GP2 team Lazarus's only point in the second half of the year), will drive for Campos in the upcoming GP2 season.

Why is this so important? Because this is apparently the meeting point of three of Formula One's most celebrated..you guesses it..REJECTS! One of them, you may have already guessed..yes, Adrian Campos, the boss of Campos Racing..

It turns out that an important element in the talks was the boss of Sato's Auto GP team Euronova...it's Vincenzo Sospiri of MasterCard Lola fame!!

But this story takes a new twist...the most important element of a deal is always the manager of the driver, right? Well, Sato's manager is....wait for it...the one and only

TAKI INOUE

I'm not kidding...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 17 Feb 2014, 08:13

wsrgo wrote:ATTENTION, ALL REJECT USERS!!
Japanese driver Kimiya Sato, who finished runner up in Auto GP last year (to Vittorio Ghirelli, the man who took GP2 team Lazarus's only point in the second half of the year), will drive for Campos in the upcoming GP2 season.
Why is this so important? Because this is apparently the meeting point of three of Formula One's most celebrated..you guesses it..REJECTS! One of them, you may have already guessed..yes, Adrian Campos, the boss of Campos Racing..
It turns out that an important element in the talks was the boss of Sato's Auto GP team Euronova...it's Vincenzo Sospiri of MasterCard Lola fame!!
But this story takes a new twist...the most important element of a deal is always the manager of the driver, right? Well, Sato's manager is....wait for it...the one and only
TAKI INOUE
I'm not kidding...

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 17 Feb 2014, 10:05

KIMIYA SATO?! YEAHHHH

Now I support both Sato and Haryanto

Finally have extra reason to watch GP2

Also I prefer GP2 to gave extra 2 tires for the weekend, and 60 minutes practice session please

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 17 Feb 2014, 14:39

Not good times for RUSSIAN TIME

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 17 Feb 2014, 14:57

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Not good times for RUSSIAN TIME

Terrible news.

RUSSIAN TIME will now need to search for some other operation to run the team.

What's worse, this is probably a death knell to the careers of Marvin Kirchhofer, Tom Dillmann and Jimmy Eriksson...

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 17 Feb 2014, 17:09

wsrgo wrote:ATTENTION, ALL REJECT USERS!!

Japanese driver Kimiya Sato, who finished runner up in Auto GP last year (to Vittorio Ghirelli, the man who took GP2 team Lazarus's only point in the second half of the year), will drive for Campos in the upcoming GP2 season.

Why is this so important? Because this is apparently the meeting point of three of Formula One's most celebrated..you guesses it..REJECTS! One of them, you may have already guessed..yes, Adrian Campos, the boss of Campos Racing..

It turns out that an important element in the talks was the boss of Sato's Auto GP team Euronova...it's Vincenzo Sospiri of MasterCard Lola fame!!

But this story takes a new twist...the most important element of a deal is always the manager of the driver, right? Well, Sato's manager is....wait for it...the one and only

TAKI INOUE

I'm not kidding...

Hory shet... May Kimiya have better career than the trifecta of rejects behind him.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 18 Feb 2014, 06:15

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Not good times for RUSSIAN TIME

Oh man

Since the founder died, the team is literally breaking down :shock:

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 19 Feb 2014, 12:04

Hooray (I hope!), Mitch Evans and Artem Markelov announced as 2014 Russian Time drivers.

I really hope for Mitch's sake that the team are as competitive as last year...

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 19 Feb 2014, 15:08

AustralianStig wrote:Hooray (I hope!), Mitch Evans and Artem Markelov announced as 2014 Russian Time drivers.

I really hope for Mitch's sake that the team are as competitive as last year...

They should be, if iSport have taken over operations..while not an ace team like Motopark, they're competitive nonetheless.

I feel sad for one Marvin Kirchhofer. The 19-year-old German stepped up to German F3 from the entry-level ADAC Formel Masters (which he won on his first try) and blew away the competition...his teammates Artem Markelov and Emil Bernstorff. What's more impressive was that his competitors were more experienced..Markelov was a series sophomore having finished 7th in his debut season in 2012, while Bernstorff was stepping down from F3 Euroseries (where he had finished 10th in 2012).

Unfortunately, while Markelov moves up to GP2 with RUSSIAN TIME (to big a jump for him IMO) and Bernstorff takes the more traditional route to GP3 with Carlin, Kirchhofer's chances are dimmed. He was earlier linked with a RUSSIAN TIME seat in GP3, but his chances took a hit when Motopark pulled out. His manager being Timo Rumpkfeil, Motopark's team principal, didn't help matters. His best chance now is at an European F3 seat with mid-gridders Fortec in a series choc-a-block with talent in 2014.

Post by **Ataxia** » 19 Feb 2014, 17:02

I'm happy for the team, but very disappointed that they've left Dillmann out in the cold. I'm hoping he can find a seat somewhere, but the grid is slowly filling up...

OsellaFA1L · Post by **OsellaFA1L** » 21 Feb 2014, 05:54

According to Facebook Beitske Visser had a test with the AV Formula FR3.5 team. I will be hoping she was competitive and gets a drive as a result>

wsrgo · Post by **wsrgo** » 21 Feb 2014, 11:27

OsellaFA1L wrote:According to Facebook Beitske Visser had a test with the AV Formula FR3.5 team. I will be hoping she was competitive and gets a drive as a result>

There's a chance she will be testing with the team in either of the 2.0 or 3.5 categories (or both) in the upcoming official collective test at Motorland. She's been pretty busy in the off-season, she also tested an F3 car with van Amersfoort and a Euroformula Open (formerly European F3 Open, or the Spanish F3 championship) with Campos. In the latter, she was second fastest on two days of testing.