What happened to Masters of Formula 3?
During the upcoming Masters of Formula 3 weekend at Zandvoort, the ADAC GT series is the headline event and F3 no longer is. ADAC GT is a great series and with all different brands more appealing to the average visitor. But what happened to the Formula 3 series? In the 90’s and 00’ the yearly Masters of Formula 3 was a big thing with 40 or more entries that had to pre-qualify to even take part in the race. It was considered the unofficial ‘World Championship’ of Formula 3. All upcoming talents from the German, British, European and Italian series and independents were competing that weekend on the same tyres. The German series is no longer, only the European series has any meaning these days. In the last years it was at an all-time low in 2014 with 11 entries. Maybe it has to do with the other series like Formula Renault, F4 that have more support.
The Masters of F3
David Coulthard, Jos Verstappen, Tom Coronel, Max Verstappen, they all won the F3 Masters title. In those early days the race was broadcasted live on TV, and most of the F1 bosses would check on the results to spot their new test driver candidates. Winning the F3 Masters was something special, and during the time of Jos Verstappen and Tom Coronel, 40.000 or more visitors would be at the track to watch them race. When Max was driving F3, little people knew about it. And I visited many of these events over the years, especially in the 90’s it was a well-organized event with backing of Marlboro. You could feel the excitement of F3 but also the supporting races and the special demo’s. One of which was a demo of the Ferrari F1 V12, you could hear the engine at the other side of the track when it was fired up. During those days the Moto GP, rally and F1 teams that were supported by Marlboro would be present and do a demo run. Also the local hero (Dutch) in Formula 3 would get a Marlboro livery for that race and would appreciate a lot of media attention. But, that time has gone.
New Spirit on historic ground
Overall the last 5 years autosport racing has been in decline, also in Zandvoort. The track had new owners since this year, and they are planning to upgrade the track. We can’t expect it to become a ‘new generation’ F1 track, but hopefully the changes will bring the facilities up to 2017 acceptable levels. One of the promises they made, was to increase the value and experience of the main headliners of the calendar. DTM, Masters F3, ADAC GT, Blancpain GT and Historic GP, are on the calendar of 2017. Hopefully we will see the first changes to the track and the event management by then, and with the help of the ‘ Max Verstappen’ effect they are able to get back on track. And hopefully with a recovering economy, new major sponsors will get involved to support international race series.
More info: www.cpz.nl/
The Masters of F3
David Coulthard, Jos Verstappen, Tom Coronel, Max Verstappen, they all won the F3 Masters title. In those early days the race was broadcasted live on TV, and most of the F1 bosses would check on the results to spot their new test driver candidates. Winning the F3 Masters was something special, and during the time of Jos Verstappen and Tom Coronel, 40.000 or more visitors would be at the track to watch them race. When Max was driving F3, little people knew about it. And I visited many of these events over the years, especially in the 90’s it was a well-organized event with backing of Marlboro. You could feel the excitement of F3 but also the supporting races and the special demo’s. One of which was a demo of the Ferrari F1 V12, you could hear the engine at the other side of the track when it was fired up. During those days the Moto GP, rally and F1 teams that were supported by Marlboro would be present and do a demo run. Also the local hero (Dutch) in Formula 3 would get a Marlboro livery for that race and would appreciate a lot of media attention. But, that time has gone.
New Spirit on historic ground
Overall the last 5 years autosport racing has been in decline, also in Zandvoort. The track had new owners since this year, and they are planning to upgrade the track. We can’t expect it to become a ‘new generation’ F1 track, but hopefully the changes will bring the facilities up to 2017 acceptable levels. One of the promises they made, was to increase the value and experience of the main headliners of the calendar. DTM, Masters F3, ADAC GT, Blancpain GT and Historic GP, are on the calendar of 2017. Hopefully we will see the first changes to the track and the event management by then, and with the help of the ‘ Max Verstappen’ effect they are able to get back on track. And hopefully with a recovering economy, new major sponsors will get involved to support international race series.
More info: www.cpz.nl/