2014 British Formula 3 International Series

The 2014 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series season was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across England, and one round in Belgium. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers competing in 2 litre Formula Three single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2014 season was the 64th and final season British Formula Three Championship. The series, promoted by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, began on 4 May at Rockingham Motor Speedway and concluded on 14 September at Donington Park after a 21 race schedule held at seven meetings.[1]

In a season that saw only four drivers contest the entire championship, it was Chinese driver Martin Cao who won the championship, driving for Fortec Motorsports. Cao started the season with a run of seven successive second-place finishes to a series of drivers, but his consistent finishing kept him towards the top of the championship standings. Cao took his first win at Thruxton, and went on to take four overall wins – plus a further two class wins behind drivers who were ineligible to score championship points – in the final three race meetings, to ultimately win the championship title by two points, ahead of team-mate Matt Rao. Rao won five races over the course of the season, with one fewer podium finish over the season, compared to Cao. Third place went to Camren Kaminsky, who took three podium finishes over his full season campaign.

Another Fortec driver, Sam MacLeod, finished fourth in the championship with four race victories, but he did not contest the whole campaign as his main focus for the season was in the German Formula Three championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. Marvin Kirchhöfer took two wins at Silverstone, when he was learning the circuit for the GP3 Series round at the circuit later in the season. Egor Orudzhev also won at Silverstone, while Roberto Merhi (two wins) and John Bryant-Meisner shared class victories at Spa-Francorchamps. Of the ineligible drivers, Ed Jones won all three races at Spa-Francorchamps, Santino Ferrucci won two out of three at Brands Hatch, while Sean Gelael finished second to Jones twice.

Drivers and teams

Team Chassis Engine No. Driver Rounds
United Kingdom Carlin Dallara F308 Volkswagen 1 China Zhi Cong Li All
2 United Kingdom Alice Powell 1
Russia Egor Orudzhev 2
United Kingdom Sam MacLeod 4
United Kingdom Fortec Motorsport Dallara F312 Mercedes HWA 3 Germany Marvin Kirchhöfer 2
7 United Kingdom Matt Rao All
50 United Kingdom Sam MacLeod 1, 3
57 China Martin Cao All
United Kingdom Double R Racing Dallara F312 Mercedes HWA 8 Macau Wing Chung Chang 1–4
9 Spain Roberto Merhi 4
16 United Kingdom Dan Wells 6
18 United Kingdom Max Marshall 5, 7
Dallara F308 6
Dallara F312 34 United States Camren Kaminsky All
Italy ADM Motorsport Dallara F311 Volkswagen 10 China Kang Ling 4
72 Russia Nikita Zlobin 4
Germany Motopark Dallara F311 Volkswagen 11 Malaysia Nabil Jeffri 4
Dallara F308 24 Netherlands Indy Dontje 4
Sweden Performance Racing Dallara F310 Volkswagen 12 Sweden John Bryant-Meisner 4
Invitation Entries
United Kingdom Fortec Motorsport Dallara F312 Mercedes HWA 10 United States Santino Ferrucci 6
United Kingdom Carlin Dallara F312 Volkswagen 20 Indonesia Sean Gelael[2] 4
21 United Kingdom Ed Jones 4

Race calendar and results

A seven-round calendar was announced on 23 September 2013. In a change of direction from recent seasons, the championship held only a single round outside the UK, in Belgium, supporting the 2014 24 Hours of Spa. The remaining six rounds were all held in England. The three race format used in previous seasons was retained for all rounds of the championship.[1][3]

After appearing on the 2013 calendar, the international round held at the Nürburgring was dropped from the 2014 calendar. Donington Park, Rockingham and Snetterton all returned to the calendar after a one-year hiatus, while Thruxton returned to the calendar for the first time since 2010.

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team
1 R1 United Kingdom Rockingham Motor Speedway 4 May United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R2 5 May United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R3 United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
2 R4 United Kingdom Silverstone Circuit 24 May China Martin Cao Russia Egor Orudzhev Russia Egor Orudzhev United Kingdom Carlin
R5 Germany Marvin Kirchhöfer Germany Marvin Kirchhöfer United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R6 25 May China Martin Cao Germany Marvin Kirchhöfer Germany Marvin Kirchhöfer United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
3 R7 United Kingdom Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit 21 June United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R8 22 June United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R9 United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Sam MacLeod United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
4 R10 Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 25 July United Kingdom Ed Jones Spain Roberto Merhi[N 1] United Kingdom Ed Jones United Kingdom Carlin
R11 Spain Roberto Merhi[N 1] United Kingdom Ed Jones United Kingdom Carlin
R12 26 July United Kingdom Ed Jones Sweden John Bryant-Meisner[N 1] United Kingdom Ed Jones United Kingdom Carlin
5 R13 United Kingdom Thruxton Circuit 16 August United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao China Martin Cao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R14 17 August United Kingdom Matt Rao China Martin Cao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R15 United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
6 R16 United Kingdom Brands Hatch 30 August United States Santino Ferrucci United Kingdom Matt Rao[N 2] United States Santino Ferrucci United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R17 31 August China Martin Cao China Martin Cao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R18 China Martin Cao United Kingdom Matt Rao[N 2] United States Santino Ferrucci United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
7 R19 United Kingdom Donington Park 13 September China Martin Cao United Kingdom Matt Rao China Martin Cao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R20 14 September United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
R21 United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Matt Rao United Kingdom Fortec Motorsports
Notes
  1. ^ a b c Fastest lap recorded by Ed Jones, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point.
  2. ^ a b Fastest lap recorded by Santino Ferrucci, but he was ineligible to score the fastest lap point.

Championship standings

Pos. Driver ROC
United Kingdom
SIL
United Kingdom
SNE
United Kingdom
SPA
Belgium
THR
United Kingdom
BRH
United Kingdom
DON
United Kingdom
Pts
International Class
1 China Martin Cao 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Ret Ret 11 Ret 5 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 5 285
2 United Kingdom Matt Rao Ret 4 1 5 Ret 3 3 1 3 8 6 4 2 2 1 4 2 3 3 1 1 283
3 United States Camren Kaminsky 4 5 4 6 Ret 4 4 Ret 4 12 8 13 Ret 5 3 6 5 5 4 3 3 161
4 United Kingdom Sam MacLeod 1 1 Ret 1 2 1 Ret 5 6 121
5 China Zhi Cong Li Ret 7 5 7 3 Ret 5 Ret 5 9 Ret 9 3 3 5 7 6 Ret 5 4 4 118
6 Macau Wing Chung Chang 3 6 3 4 Ret 5 6 3 2 7 7 11 103
7 United Kingdom Max Marshall 4 4 4 5 Ret 6 2 5 2 93
8 Germany Marvin Kirchhöfer 3 1 1 54
9 Sweden John Bryant-Meisner 4 4 3 53
10 United Kingdom Dan Wells 3 4 4 41
11 Spain Roberto Merhi 3 2 DNS 39
12 Russia Egor Orudzhev 1 Ret Ret 26
13 Netherlands Indy Dontje 5 DSQ 7 23
14 Malaysia Nabil Jeffri 6 DSQ 8 18
15 United Kingdom Alice Powell 5 3 Ret 16
16 Russia Nikita Zlobin 10 Ret 10 6
17 China Kang Ling 13 9 12 5
Guest drivers ineligible for points
United Kingdom Ed Jones 1 1 1  —
United States Santino Ferrucci 1 3 1  —
Indonesia Sean Gelael 2 3 2  —
Pos. Driver ROC
United Kingdom
SIL
United Kingdom
SNE
United Kingdom
SPA
Belgium
THR
United Kingdom
BRH
United Kingdom
DON
United Kingdom
Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References

  1. ^ a b "SRO unveil new-look British F3 2014 calendar". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 23 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  2. ^ Simmons, Marcus (24 July 2014). "Roberto Merhi back to Formula 3 for Spa British round and Macau". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  3. ^ Simmons, Marcus (23 September 2013). "British F3 adds Thruxton to expanded 2014 calendar". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 October 2013.