Where now for Formula 3000?

Was the 2003 F3000 championship good or what? Sorry, that's not a rhetorical question, I'm really asking, was it good or not? I mean it's not as if I've had access to any meaningful coverage.

Once upon a time, my dusty satellite decoder got Eurosport for free, ah those were the days but it soon became British Eurosport and Sky wanted to squeeze more money out of me for the pleasure. Eurosport once boasted a superb schedule of motorsport with in-depth coverage of practice and qualifying, magazine programmes not only for the elite F1 but for the 'feeder' F3000. But come 2002 I was wise to their inconsistent scheduling, mainly due to my CART loving friend who would send fiery emails and make emotional phonecalls to me proclaiming the Eurosport programmers to be 'born out of wedlock' as the CART coverage was mysteriously misplaced or what was due to be live coverage got caught in a time vortex. With my knowledge I decided against parting with my hard earned pennies and have been proved right.

Had I wished to sit and enjoy the F3000 courtesy of Eurosport I'd have be sadly disappointed. 2002 coverage proved to be patchy with a number of races joined live at formation lap stage and others shown on a delay of a few hours. This thought was better than this year's coverage. Eurosport managed to show no F3000 races live in 2003, indeed for fans it became somewhat of a treasure hunt to find when coverage would be, varying from early Saturday evening to the wee small hours of Sunday.

Of course I could have relied on the ITV coverage, that would be the coverage that by the time it was shown some of the drivers concerned were drawing their pensions. I'm being facetious, but sometimes with a delay of six weeks and somewhat staid coverage you are led to wonder why they bothered, surely the ITV programmers would get better revenues from repeating 'Celebrity House DIY Invaders Swap From Hell.'

I could of course bring myself up to date by reading one of the motorsports journals, but I am a confirmed flicker at the news stand. And then there is the internet, the great information highway which once on I discover the greatest coverage is usually provided by the die hard amateurs whom also deride the loss of decent coverage and we are back to square one.

I know at pitpass we would love to bring you dedicated and in-depth coverage of series such as F3000. Sadly time and money do not permit at present but we recognise the need for such an outlet and the huge commitment and strain placed on the young talent making their way in the sport and so have always striven to support and celebrate young talent.

Pop quiz: Who won the F3000 this year and who was runner up? Of those of those of you who don't know I wonder how many of you would like to know and would like to have seen some coverage?

I mean am really asking too much for some timely coverage of what is meant to be one of the main feeder classes to Formula One? Wouldn't it be nice if even for ten minutes before the F1 on ITV we could have quick reportage of the F3000 event. I could easily make ten spare minutes by cutting the incessant in show adverts for football and cutting any interviews Beverly Turner has with c-list celebrities. Of course this would be a broadcasting nightmare and involve wrangling of rights, oh silly me for thinking of such a simple idea in the first place.

This aside, after hunting what F3000 news I could, and in a world where time is of an essence, I admit my knowledge of recent F3000 is shaky to put it mildly and this saddens me. Having talked to others who have followed the series with much more gusto I am led to believe the series is as precarious as its coverage.

Will there even be F3000 next year is one question. With a dwindling grid people are asking whether F3000 retains any function in modern motorsport. Who has it given us in recent years? Is the title actually worth anything anymore? Mmmm, dwindling grids and poor coverage - a bit of a chicken and an egg situation isn't it?

I did speak to a few people involved in F3000 and the mood has been for some time, sombre. One of the major gripes which struck me was it felt very much as if it was race on Saturday afternoon and then a rush to pack up as they were herded away. Wham, bam, thank you F3000, you filled a bit of gap now bog off. F3000 is in danger of being the ignored middle child in the motorsports family.

Of course, the powers that be will tell you that F3000 remains a very important series in the sport and serious steps are being taken to ensure its survival. It is being touted that if the grid falls to 12 cars and below races will be cancelled and a grid of 18 is set as a minimum target. 12 is a benchmark the series is all but straddling having seen just 13 cars compete in some races in 2003 with a number of teams known to be in serious trouble. At one point a merger with Euro3000 was mooted but with Euro3000 announcing a new title sponsor deal and plans for 3 car teams this appears a non-starter.

Obviously it is time to bring out the big guns. It's time for serious action. Yes, it could mean.. a name change. International F3000 will be ditched for 2005 and it will be renamed F2 is the persistent rumour. What a marvellous idea, if they really want to make the series popular again why not rename it Formula Harry Potter; there, there, all better.

I'm not being glib though, honest. I have no better ideas. In fact I will admit that when I first heard F3000 was to support the F1 I thought it was a marvellous idea. I expected increased coverage, better networking for the drivers and teams, increased popularity. I think we can agree this has not happened. All too often I get complaints that spectators who would like to see the F3000 care put off by or cannot afford the inflated F1 Saturday prices. I have heard complaints from those who have attended events on tours only to find they can't stay to watch the F3000 action as operators or other visitors do not want too. And as I said before, many in F3000 itself have felt pushed out after their stint.

No, stand alone F3000 events may never have strained the turnstiles but perhaps it was a case of quality over quantity for the event and a chance for the F3000 to shine in its own right. Whether run on the Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning (an idea which has not been implemented) of a Grand Prix I think it is fair to assume F3000 will always be cold in F1's shadow (never to have sunlight on its face - come on everyone, join in). Perhaps this is what would be title sponsors have recognised.

So where have we got to? F3000 is a series shrouded in negativity, receiving no terrestrial coverage lounging in F1's shadow on race weekends hence unattractive to sponsors, the title is often sniffed at by those who think it is meaningless and holds some bizarre spell over those who like statistics and point out no winner of the F3000 title has won the F1 title. Rather depressing reading, I apologise and urge a new age spread of positively for F3000.

Yes, F3000 is needed with the full and unequivocal support of the FIA. The marketing and promotions people of the FIA need to send in a task force that doesn't reappear until the series receives the coverage that will in turn attract the almighty dollar and most importantly a dedicated title sponsor. The specifications for F3000 (and in future F2) must remain notably higher than the surge of other series biting at the heals if it is to survive and build back a strong reputation.

F1 drivers have to come from somewhere, let's not give up on F3000 as a training ground yet.

By the way, this year's title was won by Bjorn Wirdheim and the runner up was Ricardo Sperafico.

©Rebecca Hobbs

(c)RH PR 2007