The governing body of international motorsport, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has announced the 11 teams that will participate in the rebranded FIA FR World Cup (formerly the FIA F3 World Cup) that will take place in November this year.
According to FIA, the 11 teams providing entries for the event are: TOM’s Formula,
TGM Grand Prix, PHM Racing, MP Motorsport, Saintéloc Racing, SJM Theodore Prema Racing, Pinnacle Motorsport, Kiwi Motorsport, Evans GP, R-ace GP, and Art Grand Prix.
FIA said in a statement that the blue ribbon event on the junior single-seater calendar is continuing its long history as the ultimate test for young drivers breaking onto the international single-seater scene.
This year’s iteration of the Macau Grand Prix will, for the first time, utilize Formula Regional (FR) machinery, as previously reported by the Times. FIA noted that this has garnered attention from top teams in almost every FR Championship around the world, including the FR Japanese Championship, FR European Championship, FR Americas, FR Oceania, and FR Middle East.
The organizers noted that, with such a broad range of teams registered who are competing in many different series around the globe, the door is now open for talented young drivers to join them and begin to take on the challenge of the Macau Grand Prix.
Most of these teams are involved in championships of different categories, including FR, F4, and others, which can also contribute to a larger pool of potential candidates for a seat in the local GP grid.
Previously, FIA had advised that the grid would be able to accommodate a maximum of 27 Tatuus Formula Regional chassis equipped with Autotecnica-built Alfa Romeo engines.
As the Times previously reported, the FR specifications are for a type of F3 car that diverges from the F3 International Series cars in size and engine power.
While they weigh almost the same as the F3 International cars (680-690kg), they have about 30% less power, putting them closer in general performance to the F3 cars used until 2018.
The most significant difference, playing a very important role in FIA’s bid to make the motorsport junior series more accessible to a wider range of racers, is in the price tag. The FR cars cost around MOP920,000 per unit, whereas F3 International series cars are priced at about MOP2.2 million each.
