WHAT THE TEAMS SAY

display_0957d51541

WHAT THE TEAMS SAY

Richard Dutton is team principal of Fortec Motorsport, which has won eight drivers’ titles in Formula Renault 2.0 UK since 2002. “It’s a great championship, and it’s in a good place between Formula Ford and Formula 3. At the moment the British championship isn’t that

strong, but it will improve with the new three-race format. The Eurocup is very strong, but I’m sure that’s benefitted from Formula BMW stopping and those drivers needing somewhere to go.

“The cars are actually quite difficult to set up, but much of it is attention to detail and hard work. You also do a lot of work with the drivers on simulators, you look at masses of data and past films. The more effort you put in, the better you’ll be. You’ve got to be good every weekend, though, as winning these championships isn’t about being on the pace one week and not the next you’ve got to be there every weekend.”

Trevor Carlin is the director of Carlin Motorsport. The team runs in British Formula 3, GP3, GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5. Jean-Eric Vergne who currently leads the 3.5 championship drives for Colin.

“GP2 really is the only alternative to Formula Renault 3.5. The Renault championship is much cheaper, but both teach you the same sort of thing. Some people want to be on the Fl support grid, while others want to get more mileage in Formula Renault 3.5. They both deliver quality drivers if you win either championship then you’re very good.

“In terms of being quick it’s the same as most categories it’s a case of getting the car right on any given day. The beauty of Formula Renault 3.5 is that you get plenty of track time on Friday to fine-tune the set-up. When you get to Saturday though the drivers have to be really on it, as they get two new sets of lyres and have to go for it.”