A new one-make single-seater series has been launched in the United Kingdom. The new championship, called Formula UK, will be a winter series similar to that of the GP2 Series.
The series, which will be run by the new motorsport promotion and organisation group Chadwick Motorsport, will run from 3 December 2017 to 4 March 2018. It is designed to be a top level category run on UK soil, similar to Super Formula in Japan or IndyCar in the USA.
A weekend will all be run over a single day, with Formula UK featuring a qualifying session, two sprint races and a 50 minute feature race according to Motorsport.com. A calendar has not yet been announced either.
Using a Rodin RZed chassis (based on the Lotus T125), the series will use 4.0 Litre V10 engines churning 640hp. The size and power of the car shares similarities with the growing BOSS GP that features old Formula One cars and has grown in popularity in recent years.
There is concern over the role the series will fill, with a budget of £300,000 a season and no immediate promotion in place. Formula UK may see itself facing opposition from the more respected Formula E, a series that also runs during the winter and is run on a single day.
Open-Wheel non-Junior series have had varied success over the years. While the previously mentioned IndyCar, Super Formula and BOSS GP have found success, Auto GP, Superleague Formula and A1GP have all ceased in recent years after either because of a lack of interest or because they ran out of money.
A similar project, called Formula Thunder 5000 has recently been announced in Australia and it will be interesting to keep an eye on the two series as they look to establish a footing in motorsport circles.
