FV8 3.5 WON’T CONTINUE AFTER LOW 2017 ENTRIES
Fortec and charouz have already confirmed they’ll switch to f2 instead
The final races of World Series Formula V8 3.5 took place at Bahrain last weekend after organisers decided the category will not continue next year.
It began originally as World Series by Nissan in 1998, before gaining prominence when Renault started supporting it from 2005. Past champions include F1 stars Robert Kubica and Carlos Sainz Jr.
But since Renault decided to withdraw support at the end of 2015 grid numbers have dwindled, culminating in just 10 cars at the Bahrain finale. With many single-seater series struggling at the moment, and with major changes for 2019 when the new F3 category is introduced, organisers felt now is the time to end the series – although a future revival has not been ruled out.
A statement from the series said: “Neither World Series Formula V8 3.5 nor any other top single-seater series in the world have reached the ideal number of participating drivers in 2017.
“The continuous and alarming drop in the number of driver entries in the main European single-seater series has forced Formula V8 3.5 to withdraw from the 2018 season racing calendar.”
Two of the current FV8 3.5 teams, Fortec and Charouz Racing, have already secured places on the Formula 2 grid for next season and Carlin, another ex-world Series team, will also return to the F1 support category. These will replace the Rapax and Russian Time outfits in F2 and an additional 12th team could be confirmed at a later date.
Next season will be the first time Fortec has competed in the category, but team boss Richard Dutton is saddened by the loss of FV8 3.5.
“We weren’t sure if World Series would or wouldn’t continue so we made the move to be prepared [for it disappearing] with F2,” said Dutton. “It’s a massive new challenge for us, and the World Series team will switch to F2. But it’s really, really a shame about the World Series.
“For me it’s a fabulous car and it’s produced so many good drivers – more than F2. We had drivers like Stoffel Vandoorne, Robin Frijns and Oliver Rowland – there’s been a lot of really good drivers in the last few years.”
Pietro Fittipaldi won the title last weekend, while Henrique Chaves and Rene Binder took the final race wins.