GP3 Series Guide
After the sucess of the GP2 series it was only a matter of time before Bruno Michel and the team at GP2 Motorsport decided to create a new series which would be added to what is currently the best race package in Motorsport. New for 2010 was GP3 and after some initial concerns over grid numbers we got a full grid for the first race in Barcelona.
A quick visit to the GP3 website leaves no doubt over the aim of the series;
The goal of the new GP3 Series is to give young upcoming drivers a chance to develop their driving skills and jump to the next step: GP2.
The GP3 series supports all of the European rounds of the Formula One World Championship except Monaco, and building on the sucess of the GP2 series it’s clear that this alone is a huge draw for many drivers. When it was announced in October 2008, the series had a mixed reaction from both fans and industry professionals alike who were concerned that it would add to an already flodded market, but as soon as the details of the series became clear it was obvious to all that it wouldn’t be another one of the many failed international series. In its first season it’s had full 30 car grids and with popularity growing you wouldn’t bet against 30 more in 2011.
The appeal of the series is clear; relatively cheap racing on European Grand Prix circuits supporting Formula 1, something that no other series can boast and whilst the Formula 3 Euro series used to be known as the championship which visited the circuits that everyone wanted to race on, this hasn’t been the case in the last few years meaning that GP3 is the popular new kid that everyone wants to talk to, leaving the Euro series with grids of around 14, half of GP3′s.
In 2010, the 8 round GP3 series is visiting Barcelona, Istanbul, Valencia, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Hungary, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, racing on the same weekends as Formula 1 with a format that takes a very similar structure to it’s bigger brother GP2. With a 30 minute practice session on Friday with a 30 minute qualifying session and a 30 minute race on Saturday and a 30 minute race on Sunday with the grid being the finishing positions of Saturdays race with the top 8 reversed.
The Dallara designed and built car boasts Formula 1 safety with better than Formula 3 performance and utilising on Dallara’s experience with the GP2 series car, the car was built for overtaking and for keeping costs low. Each car has 3 sets of dry tyres and 2 sets of wet tyres supplied to it for each event by tyre provider Pirelli to keep a level playing field along with many other regulations that mean the driver and engineer can get a car working to a drivers liking whilst keeping the costs down and the competition high. The 2 litre, 4 cylinder turbo charged engine is designed by Renault to give 280 brake horse power and unlike other series GP3 cars have no overboost meaning that it’s driver skill that causes the overtaking.
GP3 took the decision early on to insist that all teams run 3 cars and as 10 teams signed up are all of a high calibre the decision payed off. With more cars per team the theory suggests that costs will be less per driver and with season budgets rumoured to be between £1,000,000 and £400,000 depending on when a driver signed for a team, the theory seems to have been proven correct.
GP2 and GP3, along with the other Formula 1 support series Formula BMW Europe seem to be taking a lead in international single seater racing and given that 2010 is GP3′s first year, the series will likely only go from strength to strength, removing some of the older, lesser series on it’s way.
Image Copyright: Drew Gibson/GP3 Media Service