Will Open Wheel Merger in North America Help or Hurt Junior Formulas....?

[JOWT Blog]

Do you feel that the open wheel merger between Champ Car and the IRL will help or hurt the junior formula ranks in North America?

opinions....?

-JOWT Blog

[Driverdb]

The career path has been cut down to one (if the driver wants to stay in the U.S.), which could leave the Atlantics out in the cold. If Indy Car really goes for the 50/50 when it comes to road coarses and ovals perhaps the Atlantics could still have its place developing some good road racers, but I do fear we will see an Atlantics decline the next couple of years.

Formula BMW Americas only had 10 cars in their opening round at Laguna Seca. I wonder if that series will survive for another year. :(

[Fahad_H]

Formula BMW Americas only had 10 cars in their opening round at Laguna Seca. I wonder if that series will survive for another year. :(

They need to put more prize money :D http://www.formulabmwusa.com/season_prizepackage/

[FAlonso]

They need to put more prize money :D http://www.formulabmwusa.com/season_prizepackage/


Prize money doesn't cover the expenses for the gas. :drunk::lol:

[JOWT Blog]

Formula BMW Americas only had 10 cars in their opening round at Laguna Seca. I wonder if that series will survive for another year. :(

The other complaint is the age issue. Personally, I don't see the big rush... but many "racing dad's" want their kids in F1 before their teenage years are over. There are a lot of young drivers looking for a place to race and FBMW has some limitations on that.

[Fahad_H]

I checked with a team in Formula BMW USA, the age limit is 23 years and the weekend cost is similar to Star Mazda.
In Skip Barber and Star Mazda there are drivers in the 30's and 40's.

[Driverdb]

I think there needs to be more local/regional single seater championships that are a step above club level. A Formula Renault 2.0 Florida or something like that. No insane travel costs and a good place for the top karters to move into single seater racing.

In Europe you have many different junior formulas with high quality grids (where not half of the cars are driven by overweight 50-year-olds) right on your doorstep and you don't have to fly you for 10 hours to get to the next race.

[Fahad_H]

Skip Barber are doing a good job. Most of the American drivers have driven there.
Their national championship costs $40,000 and the winner will get a full time drive in Star Mazda. Regional championships cost $3,000 per weekend for the single seater and the MX5.

There is also a regional Star Mazda championship run by one team, but don't know much about it.

Travelling would still be an issue even if you are racing in one state. In Europe, if you live in centre of a country, you can drive to anywhere in the country within few hours, and even to different countries. But it's different in the US. For students and full time employees, it's very hard to manage racing on weekends and travelling.

I am not sure if Formula Renault and Formula Ford are still run in the US, but I remember few years ago, there were around ten cars in each race and only few of them were full time in the championship. Some of their weekends were only for one championship, so it was very boring.

[Driverdb]

Skip Barber are doing a good job. Most of the American drivers have driven there.
Their national championship costs $40,000 and the winner will get a full time drive in Star Mazda. Regional championships cost $3,000 per weekend for the single seater and the MX5.

Yes, but I still think it's too much of a club racing series, much closer to let's say Formula Palmer Audi than it is to European Formula Renault, if you know what I mean.

In order to get all those americans to replace the Brazilians in IndyCar I think the entry classes need to be much more competitive than they currently are. Get rid of all the gentleman racers and get the karting talents in there.

[JOWT Blog]

Yes, but I still think it's too much of a club racing series, much closer to let's say Formula Palmer Audi than it is to European Formula Renault, if you know what I mean.

In order to get all those americans to replace the Brazilians in IndyCar I think the entry classes need to be much more competitive than they currently are. Get rid of all the gentleman racers and get the karting talents in there.

I think we are starting to see an influx of talent in the Skip Barber National series.... at the pro level. Many of the top contenders are drivers out of the Stars of Karting Series. The series is the begining of the ladder system for Mazda and it should be used by young drivers (karters)looking to make the transition to cars. The Skippy cars in my opinion aren't true race cars, but they definately teach you car control and racecraft. One year in this series should be enough for most where as the ranks that follow should be a two year stop in my opinion.