2021 Australian Formula 3 Championship

The 2021 Australian Formula 3 Championship is an Australian open-wheel racing series for FIA Formula 3 cars constructed and conforming to the regulations before and including 2016,[1] having previously been before and including 2011 the previous season. The season began on 5 March 2021 at Sydney Motorsport Park and was planned to finish on 5 December 2021 at The Bend Motorsport Park.[2] Organized by Formula Three Management Pty Ltd,[3] it is to be the 22nd season of Australian Formula 3, with the 2020 season having been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] This is also the first season where the championship winner would earn a prize S5000 test drive.[4] After the first round at Sydney the remaining rounds had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions being in place. Attention was then turned to the 2022 season.[5]

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the 2021 Australian Formula 3 Championship. All teams are Australian-registered.

Team Chassis Engine No. Driver Class Rounds
R-Tek Motorsport Dallara F307 Opel-Spiess 6 Australia Max de Meyrick[6] N 1
Dallara F307 Opel-Spiess 7 Australia Mitch Neilson[6] N 1
Dallara F311 Mercedes 8 Taiwan Ray-Yu Wang[6][7] C 1
McAlpine Motorsport Mygale M11 Mercedes 9 Australia Ross McAlpine[6] C 1
Gilmour Racing Dallara F311 Mercedes 17 Australia Roman Krumins[6] C 1
Ruff Racing Dallara F307 Mercedes 22 Australia Gerrit Ruff[6] N 1
Tim Macrow Racing Dallara F311 Mercedes 25 Australia Ben Taylor[6][8] C 1
99 Motorsport Dallara F311 Volkswagen 99 Australia Ryan Astley[6] C 1
TBA Dallara F307 Toyota 21 Australia Matthew Vanderburg[6] N 1
Icon Class
C Championship
N National
I Invitational

Classes

Competing cars were nominated into one of three classes:[3]

  • Championship Class – for automobiles constructed in accordance with the FIA Formula 3 regulations that applied in the year of manufacture between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2016. It was announced that new for this season, all cars entered would qualify for Championship Class.[9] However, this clearly has since been reversed.[citation needed]
  • National Class – for automobiles constructed in accordance with the FIA Formula 3 regulations that applied in the year of manufacture between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2007.
  • Invitation Category – for automobiles constructed in accordance with the FIA Formula 3 regulations that applied in the year of manufacture before 2002, as well as other open wheel ‘wings and slicks’ cars including Formula 1000, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Renault, Formula BMW, TRS, Formula 4, etc.

Calendar & race results

The series is to be contested over six rounds.[2] All rounds will be held in Australia.

Round 2 at Morgan Park Raceway was originally to be held on 11–13 April but was postponed on 31 March due to COVID-19 restrictions.[10] Again, Round 3 at Winton Motor Raceway was affected by similar regional COVID-19 restrictions, firstly being pushed back from the original date of 11–13 June to 16–18 July,[11] then being classified as a Non-championship round due to some entrants not being able to enter Victoria,[12] and finally being postponed on 15 July.[13] It was then rescheduled for 20–22 August[14] The AMRS announced the cancellation of the subsequent round at Queensland, previously to be held between 6–8 August, due to an inability to reschedule the meeting if it were postponed.[15]

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Championship Class Winner National Class Winner
1 R1 New South Wales Sydney Motorsport Park 6 March Australia Ben Taylor Australia Ben Taylor Australia Roman Krumins Australia Mitch Neilson
R2 7 March Australia Max de Meyrick Australia Ryan Astley Australia Mitch Neilson
R3 Australia Ben Taylor Australia Max de Meyrick Australia Ben Taylor Australia Max de Meyrick
Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[15]
N/A R1 New South Wales Wakefield Park N/A N/A
R2
R3
R1 South Australia The Bend Motorsport Park
R2
R3
R1 Queensland Morgan Park Raceway
R2
R3
R1 Queensland Queensland Raceway
R2
R3

Championship standings

Points system

Points for are awarded as follows:[3]

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th FL Pole
Race 1 and 2 12 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1
Race 3 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 1

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver SYD Pts
Championship
1 Australia Ben Taylor 4 5 1 42
2 Australia Ryan Astley 5 3 3 35
3 Australia Roman Krumins 3 7 4 31
4 Taiwan Ray-Yu Wang 6 6 5 25
5 Australia Ross McAlpine 7 8 Ret 12
National
1 Australia Max de Meyrick 8 2 2 40
2 Australia Mitch Neilson 1 1 7 37
3 Australia Gerrit Ruff 2 4 6 32
- Australia Matthew Vanderburg WD WD WD -
Pos Driver SYD 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)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest lap

References

  1. ^ a b "Dallara F312/17 coming for 2021". Australian F3 Championship. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "2021 Calendar Confirmed". Australian F3 Championship. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "2021 Australian Formula 3 Championship Sporting and Technical Regulations" (PDF). Australian F3 Championship. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  4. ^ "2021 Australian Formula 3 Champion to drive S5000". Australian F3 Championship. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Australian Formula 3 - News". www.formula3.com.au. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "2021 Preview-Young Guns set to take Centre Stage". Australian F3 Championship. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  7. ^ "DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT!!!". Facebook. R-Tek Motorsport Services. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  8. ^ "[untitled]". Facebook. Tim Macrow Racing. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  9. ^ "2021 Info Guide and Technical Regulations Released". Australian F3 Championship. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  10. ^ "ROUND 2 - MORGAN PARK - POSTPONED". Facebook. AMRS - Australian Motor Racing Series. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  11. ^ "AMRS Round 3 – rescheduled to 16–18 July". Facebook. AMRS - Australian Motor Racing Series. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  12. ^ "ROUND 2: Teams head to Winton for a Non-Championship weekend". Australian F3. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  13. ^ "AMRS WINTON ROUND POSTPONED". Facebook. AMRS - Australian Motor Racing Series. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  14. ^ "SET TO RACE IN ☝️ MONTH‼️". Facebook. AMRS - Australian Motor Racing Series. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ a b "AMRS Queensland Raceway Round Cancelled". amrseries.com.au. AMRS. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.