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

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

Race calendar and results

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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   Rockingham Motor Speedway 4 May   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Fortec Motorsports
R2 5 May   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Fortec Motorsports
R3   Sam MacLeod   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   Fortec Motorsports
2 R4   Silverstone Circuit 24 May   Martin Cao   Egor Orudzhev   Egor Orudzhev   Carlin
R5   Marvin Kirchhöfer   Marvin Kirchhöfer   Fortec Motorsports
R6 25 May   Martin Cao   Marvin Kirchhöfer   Marvin Kirchhöfer   Fortec Motorsports
3 R7   Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit 21 June   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Fortec Motorsports
R8 22 June   Sam MacLeod   Matt Rao   Fortec Motorsports
R9   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Sam MacLeod   Fortec Motorsports
4 R10   Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 25 July   Ed Jones   Roberto Merhi[N 1]   Ed Jones   Carlin
R11   Roberto Merhi[N 1]   Ed Jones   Carlin
R12 26 July   Ed Jones   John Bryant-Meisner[N 1]   Ed Jones   Carlin
5 R13   Thruxton Circuit 16 August   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   Martin Cao   Fortec Motorsports
R14 17 August   Matt Rao   Martin Cao   Fortec Motorsports
R15   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   Fortec Motorsports
6 R16   Brands Hatch 30 August   Santino Ferrucci   Matt Rao[N 2]   Santino Ferrucci   Fortec Motorsports
R17 31 August   Martin Cao   Martin Cao   Fortec Motorsports
R18   Martin Cao   Matt Rao[N 2]   Santino Ferrucci   Fortec Motorsports
7 R19   Donington Park 13 September   Martin Cao   Matt Rao   Martin Cao   Fortec Motorsports
R20 14 September   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   Fortec Motorsports
R21   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   Matt Rao   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

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Pos. Driver ROC
 
SIL
 
SNE
 
SPA
 
THR
 
BRH
 
DON
 
Pts
International Class
1   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   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   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   Sam MacLeod 1 1 Ret 1 2 1 Ret 5 6 121
5   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   Wing Chung Chang 3 6 3 4 Ret 5 6 3 2 7 7 11 103
7   Max Marshall 4 4 4 5 Ret 6 2 5 2 93
8   Marvin Kirchhöfer 3 1 1 54
9   John Bryant-Meisner 4 4 3 53
10   Dan Wells 3 4 4 41
11   Roberto Merhi 3 2 DNS 39
12   Egor Orudzhev 1 Ret Ret 26
13   Indy Dontje 5 DSQ 7 23
14   Nabil Jeffri 6 DSQ 8 18
15   Alice Powell 5 3 Ret 16
16   Nikita Zlobin 10 Ret 10 6
17   Kang Ling 13 9 12 5
Guest drivers ineligible for points
  Ed Jones 1 1 1  —
  Santino Ferrucci 1 3 1  —
  Sean Gelael 2 3 2  —
Pos. Driver ROC
 
SIL
 
SNE
 
SPA
 
THR
 
BRH
 
DON
 
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

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  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.
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