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42-610: The most prestigious F3000 series, International Formula 3000 , was introduced by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to replace Formula Two , and was itself replaced by the GP2 Series in 2005. While the International series is usually synonymous with F3000, other series racing to F3000 specification have existed. A small British Formula 3000 series ran for several years in

84-567: A 1.6 litre, 4 cyl Ford BDA engine which produced around 220 bhp (164 kW; 223 PS), also saw John Bowe win the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1984 and 1985 , while Australian Ralt importer Graham Watson used one to win the 1986 championship . In 1980, Honda asked John Judd's Engine Developments to develop an engine for Formula Two, which would be used by the works Ralt team. Tauranac had previously been associated with Honda through Brabham's introduction of

126-495: A further development for 1987 , again incorporating honeycomb elements in the monocoque; Honda continued to supply the works team, with Roberto Moreno and Maurício Gugelmin winning one race each. 1988 was to be Ralt's last year as an independent chassis supplier and team in F3000. The RT22 was its first carbon-fibre F3000 car, but with Lola and newcomers Reynard beginning to dominate the category, it achieved little success. In

168-568: A measure of success with these. RT31, the 1987 car, applied some of the honeycomb ideas from the RT21 F3000 car; it was fairly competitive but Bruce Cary 's experiments with lowering the engine showed the way ahead. RT32: for the 1988 season, Cary's modifications were incorporated and a honeycomb/carbon tub was adopted. The RT32 theme saw Ralt through to the end of Tauranac's time with them, subsequent RT33 (1989)- RT35 (1991) cars essentially being developments of this basic model. The 1992 RT36

210-646: A predecessor of Indy Lights , ran with March F3000 chassis (called Wildcats ) and Buick V6 engines, before turning to Lolas some years later. Japan persisted with Formula Two rules for a couple of years after the demise of F2 in Europe, but then adopted basically F3000 rules in 1987. Unlike European F3000, the Japanese Championship featured much competition between tyre companies, and tended to feature highly paid drivers (both local and European) in cars tending to be more developed and tested than those in

252-742: A race. Three past F3000 champions have won an F1 Grand Prix: Alesi, Panis and Montoya (who also won the Indy 500 ). Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars , founded by ex- Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone . Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the Ralt name (standing for Ron and Austin Lewis Tauranac). Tauranac won

294-562: A significant advantage. In the early years of the formula there was much concern about safety, with a high number of accidents resulting in injuries to drivers. There was one fatality in the International Championship - Marco Campos in the final round of the 1995 series. Formula 3000 races during the "open chassis" era tended to be of about 100–120 miles in distance, held at major circuits, either headlining meetings or paired with other international events. The "jewel in

336-413: A straight-six short-stroke BMW. This was converted into a sports car, however. The series saw occasional controversy. Definitive rules for the 1985 season did not appear until the championship was well under way. In 1987 questions were asked about the ability of some of the drivers, given the high number of accidents in the formula. In 1989 the eligibility of the new Reynard chassis was challenged, as it

378-543: A success. The RT40 and RT41 were Formula Atlantic derivatives of the later Formula Three cars; the RT40 was the last Ralt with which Tauranac was involved. Many Champcar World Series and Indy Racing League drivers past and present, honed their skills in these cars, including Jacques Villeneuve , the 1995 Indy 500 winner and 1997 F1 World Champion . After being phased out of the Pro Atlantic series in 1998 in favor of

420-465: Is complex, but can be summarised as - operated as March's customer car division for a couple of years, was part of a management buyout when the March Group board decided to divest itself of all its motor racing interests; bought by enthusiasts Andrew Fitton and Steve Ward in 1993. Tauranac left from the firm soon after. Fitton and Ward wound March up, but Ward continued operating Ralt independently -

462-932: The Swift 008a, the Ralt RT40s and 41s are still being raced competitively (2007) in the Sports Car Club of America , some 13–14 years after the RT40's debut, with Rennie Clayton winning the SCCA Championship in a Ralt RT-41 as recently as 2003. Originally equipped for Pro Atlantic racing with a highly tuned variant of the Toyota 4A-GE twin cam engine displacing 1.6 litres and developing approximately 250 bhp; several of these chassis have been converted both with bodywork to compete in SCCA C Sports Racer (CSR) and now Prototype 1 (P1) with other engine packages such as

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504-422: The twin rotor 13b Mazda , Honda and Cosworth 1600. Ralt's 1988 Formula 3000 car was proving a challenge to develop; the works drivers' backers (for the first time, Tauranac was running paying drivers rather than paying his own) encouraged them to leave the team and not pay up; the company was also suffering from loss of its American markets for RT4s (Swift were upping the stakes dramatically) and RT5s (SuperVee

546-469: The 1954 NSW Hillclimb Championship in the Ralt 500. Built with the assistance of Tauranac's younger brother, Austin, in Australia. The Mk was powered by a 1,932cc pushrod Norton ES2 . Tauranac made his own flywheel , connecting rods , and cylinders . The Mk2 was a sports car built by and for Austin, with a Ford 10 engine, Standard 10 gearbox , and Morris 8 rear axle. The Mk3 was purchased from

588-679: The DFV; Cosworth responded with the brand new AC engine. Costs began to increase significantly. The first chassis from March , Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (AGS) and Ralt were developments of their existing 1984 Formula Two designs, although Lola 's entry was based on and looked very much like an Indy car . A few smaller teams tried obsolete three-litre Formula One cars (from Tyrrell , Williams , Minardi , Arrows and RAM), with little success—the Grand Prix and Indycar-derived entries were too unwieldy as their fuel tanks were about twice

630-607: The European series. The Mugen engine dominated this series, and was also competitive in European F3000. Japanese F3000 was renamed Formula Nippon in 1996, and completely split off from European racing in 2009 with the new Swift chassis. In Australia Formula 4000 continued to use old F3000 chassis (predominantly Reynard) until 2006, as had its predecessors Formula Brabham and Formula Holden. International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship

672-530: The Hooper brothers when they retired. Tauranac designed a new chassis for it, and the car was primarily driven by Austin. The Mk4 began as a special, using a Vincent-HRD 1,000 cc (61 cu in) V-twin and a de Dion rear suspension. The car took two years to develop in Tauranac's spare time. After just two events, somebody insisted on buying it, so plans were made for a production run of five. The Mk5

714-788: The Japanese marque to F2 in the 1960s, while Jack Brabham had co-founded Engine Developments with Judd. Between 1980 and 1984, Ralt's works F2 cars carried the RH6 designation: the RH6/80 and RH6/81 were developments of the RT2 theme, while the RH6/82, RH6/83 and RH6/84 were further developed around a new honeycomb tub. The cars proved very successful, winning 20 championship races and the 1981 , 1983 and 1984 championships with Geoff Lees , Jonathan Palmer and Mike Thackwell respectively. In 1985, Formula Two

756-524: The RT20 was developed - a cheaper, more economical car with a traditional aluminium tub that was easier to maintain. Honda returned as the engine supplier for the works team, while customers used Cosworths. The works team won one race with Thackwell, while Pierluigi Martini and Luis Pérez-Sala won four races between them in customer cars entered by the Italian Pavesi Racing team. The RT21 was

798-473: The Ralt name continues, and Ralt F3 cars have occasionally appeared. Tauranac remained involved with various aspects of the sport after departing from Ralt, including racing-school cars for Honda , a Formula Renault car, consulting work for the Arrows Formula One team, and continued his relationship with Honda that went back to their early Formula Two days as engine supplier to Brabham in

840-1030: The UK as Romans and SPAs. The RT2 also provided the basis for three cars in other categories: the RT3 in Formula Three, the RT4 in Formula Atlantic (which was also occasionally raced in Formula Two), and the RT5 in Formula Super Vee . The RT4 was the car of choice in Australian Formula 1 and Formula Mondial during the early to mid-1980s. Roberto Moreno drove an RT4 to win the Australian Grand Prix in 1981 , 1983 , and

882-464: The UK failed. An Italian series evolved into a second-level one, Euro Formula 3000 (now Euroseries 3000), running the previous generation of spec Lolas. An Italian national series started in 2005 with the arrival of the GP2 Series , but has now been merged with Euroseries 3000, running both B02/50 and B99/50 cars. As of 2010, it is renamed Auto GP , using old A1 Grand Prix cars and engines in place of F3000 regulations. The American Racing Series ,

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924-739: The autumn of 1988, Tauranac sold Ralt to the March Group . The Ralt name reappeared in F3000 in 1991 , when the RT23 was manufactured under the March Group's auspices. Jean-Marc Gounon won at Pau in an RT23 entered by Mike Earle's 3001 International team, but otherwise the car was unsuccessful. An updated version, the RT24, was built by Nick Wirth 's Simtek company for 1992 , but soon after, Ralt withdrew from F3000 for good. Second-hand Ralt F3000 cars were used extensively in Australia's Formula Holden category from its introduction in 1989, fitted with

966-403: The calendar was combined with that of Formula One, so the series became support races for the Grand Prix. Several Grand Prix teams established formal links with F3000 teams to develop young drivers (and engineering talent); these relationships varied from formal "junior teams" (such as the one McLaren set up for Nick Heidfeld ) to fairly distant relationships based mostly upon shared sponsors and

1008-713: The crown" of the F3000 season was traditionally the Pau Grand Prix street race, rivalled for a few years by the Birmingham round. Most major circuits in France, Italy , Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom saw the series visit at least once. In 1996, new rules introduced a single engine (a detuned Judd V8 engine, re-engineered by and badged as a Zytek ) and chassis ( Lola ), to go along with tyre standardization ( Avon ) introduced in 1986. The following year

1050-558: The final AGP in 1984 before it became a round of the Formula One World Championship in 1985, while Alain Prost also drove one to victory in the 1982 Australian Grand Prix . Other F1 drivers to drive a Ralt RT4 in Australia during this period included Jacques Laffite and Andrea de Cesaris , as well as World Champions Alan Jones , Nelson Piquet , Keke Rosberg and Niki Lauda . The RT4, generally powered by

1092-419: The formula's 3.8-litre Holden V6 engine . Rohan Onslow won the 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship in an RT20, while Simon Kane won the 1990 championship in an RT21. RT3 has a long history - a 1979 ground effect Formula Three car which was enhanced every year until 1984, becoming the dominant car in the formula. Ayrton Senna won the 1983 British Formula Three Championship driving an RT3 . RT30

1134-578: The late 1980s and early 1990s, usually using year-old cars. Founded in 1989 as the British Formula 3000 Championship, the series was renamed the British Formula Two Championship in 1992, but grids diminished quickly and it was ended after the 1994 season. It was restarted in 1996 and cancelled once more the following year, after one race had been held with only three cars. Two other attempts at restarting F3000 racing in

1176-655: The ranks. Müller became a BMW driver in WTCC touring car racing after having been a test driver for the BMW- Williams F1 project in 1999 as well as a racer of the BMW V12 LMR Le Mans winner. Sospiri attempted to qualify for one Formula One race but failed to make it, as part of the disastrous MasterCard Lola team. He later had a successful career in sportscars. Wirdheim was third driver in practice sessions for Jaguar Racing , but never participated in

1218-758: The revival of the Can-Am series. For 1980 Toleman built its own car, the TG280 , which was based somewhat on the RT2 design; this was later built under licence by Lola as the T850 and further modified by Docking-Spitzley as the DS1. Two of the original Toleman RT2s were later raced in Can-Am, while the third ended up in South Africa, where copies called Lants were made. Related cars have appeared in hillclimb and sprint events in

1260-526: The size of those needed for F3000 races, and the weight distribution was not ideal. The first few years of the championship saw March establishing a superiority over Ralt and Lola—there was little to choose between the chassis, but more Marches were sold and ended up in better hands. In 1988, the ambitious Reynard marque entered with a brand new chassis; Reynard had won their first race in every formula they had previously entered, and did so again in F3000. The next couple of years saw Lola improve slightly—their car

1302-418: The use of the 'parent' team's name. The series grew dramatically through the late nineties, reaching an entry of nearly 40 cars - although this in itself was problematic as it meant many drivers failed to qualify. In 2000, the series was restricted to 15 teams of two cars each. However, by 2002 expenses were once more very high and the number of entries, and sponsors, rapidly dwindled. International Formula 3000

Formula 3000 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1344-527: Was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One . Formula Two had become too expensive, and was dominated by works-run cars with factory engines; the hope was that Formula 3000 would offer quicker, cheaper, more open racing. The series began as an open specification, then tyres were standardized from 1986 onwards, followed by engines and chassis in 1996. The series ran annually until 2004, and

1386-539: Was a popular choice, having been made obsolete in Formula One by the adoption of 1.5 litre turbocharged engines. The rules permitted any 90-degree V8 engine, fitted with a rev-limiter to keep power output under control. As well as the Cosworth, a Honda engine based on an Indy V8 by John Judd also appeared; a rumoured Lamborghini V8 never raced. In later years, a Mugen-Honda V8 became the unit of choice, eclipsing

1428-678: Was competitive with the Reynard in 1990—and March slip, but both were crushed by the Reynard teams, and by the mid-90s, F3000 was a virtual Reynard monopoly, although Lola did eventually return with a promising car and the Japanese Footwork and Dome chassis were seen in Europe. Dallara briefly tried the series before moving up to Formula One , and AGS moved up from Formula Two but never recaptured their occasional success. At least one unraced F3000 chassis existed—the Wagner fitted with

1470-451: Was designed by Andy Thorby and lightly revised by Tauranac for 1993 as the RT37. These cars were not particularly successful in Formula Three (in part because many teams switched to Dallara chassis and therefore did not develop them) but the basic monocoque continues to be extremely successful as a hillclimb car nearly fifteen years later. The Ralt 94C was designed by Chris Radage and was not

1512-816: Was experiencing tough competition with cheaper formulae, such as European F3000 (using ex-FIA 1999 and 2002 Lola chassis), World Series by Nissan (also known as Formula Nissan) and Formula Renault V6 Eurocup . By the end of 2003, car counts had fallen to new lows. The 2004 season was the last F3000 campaign, due in part to dwindling field sizes. In 2005 it was replaced with a new series known as GP2 , with Renault backing. Three past F3000 champions (Müller, Junqueira and Wirdheim) have never been entered in an F1 race. Montoya and Bourdais became Champions in North American open-wheel ( CART and Champ Car ) respectively, with Fittipaldi, Moreno, Junqueira and Wilson also becoming race winners, and Danner and Wirdheim making

1554-424: Was introduced for the flat-bottom rules coming into effect in 1985. This was notable mainly for being very asymmetric - it had only one sidepod containing a radiator, and a deformable structure panel on the other side. The RT30 was, like many Ralts, developed over several seasons, evolving by the 1985–6 seasons into a highly competitive car, although some teams converted their old RT30s into flat-bottom cars and enjoyed

1596-483: Was on its last legs in the US as a major category). Reynard's aggressive marketing was cutting into the F3000 and F3 markets. Tauranac was looking to sell the company and ultimately ended up selling out to March for just over a million pounds; they had concentrated on high-value bespoke racing cars and allowed their customer cars to atrophy so the merger appeared to be a good move. The subsequent history of Ralt as part of March

1638-652: Was planned by Austin as a Peugeot-engined car, but abandoned so he could assist Tauranac with the production Mk 4s. Tauranac founded Ralt in 1974 and the first product was the RT1 , a simple and versatile car used in Formula Two , Formula Three and Formula Atlantic racing between 1975 and 1978. In 1979, the RT2 was developed for Formula Two, with three cars being built for the Toleman team. Later, three more cars were built for private owners, including one exclusively for

1680-532: Was raced with a different nose to the one that had been crash tested. This season also saw problems with driver changes - the cost of F3000 was escalating to the point that teams were finding it difficult to run drivers for a whole season. A rule limiting driver changes to two per car per season meant that some cars had to sit idle while drivers with budgets could not race them. In 1991, some Italian teams started using Agip 's so-called "jungle juice" Formula One fuel, worth an estimated 15 bhp, giving their drivers

1722-508: Was replaced by the new Formula 3000 category. Ralt's first F3000 car was the RB20, essentially a further development of the RH6/84 but fitted with a Cosworth DFV engine. (The 'B' in the designation stood for Bridgestone , Ralt's tyre supplier and major sponsor at the time.) The car won four races of the inaugural International F3000 Championship with Thackwell and John Nielsen . For 1986 ,

Formula 3000 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1764-529: Was replaced in 2005 by the GP2 Series . The series was staged as the Formula 3000 European Championship in 1985, as the Formula 3000 Intercontinental Championship in 1986 and 1987 and then as the Formula 3000 International Championship from 1988 to 2004. Formula 3000 replaced Formula Two, and was so named because the engines used were limited to 3000cc maximum capacity . Initially, the Cosworth DFV

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