MOTORSPORTIMAGES/ISHI
HARAMOTORSPORTIMAGES/ISHI
HARAPIT + PADDOCK22 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 7S5000 None other than ex-Formula 1 World Championship runner-up Rubens Barrichello is the first driver confirmed for the inaugural race for Australia’s
new Formula 5000-inspired category: S5000. The event, at Sandown on 20-22 September, will be the first single-seater exploits for Barrichello since his
2012 IndyCar campaign. The Onroak/Ligier-built S5000 spec chassis is powered by a 560bhp Ford Coyote engine, and is built to 2018 FIA safety standards.
FORMULA 3
The Japanese Formula 3 Championship has
committed to Dallara’s new update of its
‘traditional’ F3 car from 2020, with the
series renamed Super Formula Lights.
Dallara recently unveiled the 320, which
features a halo and will also be used in the
Euroformula Open series. The Japanese
organisers, whose F3 championship runs
on the undercard of the country’s top-level
Super Formula contest, weighed up the FIA’s
Regional F3 formula before finally plumping
for continuing the heritage of a series that
dates back to 1979, using the lightweight
F3 chassis and open engine competition.
With FIA homologation of the existing
Dallara F312 generation of chassis running
out at the end of this year, the Japanese
series – which offers 10 superlicence points
to its champion – has to drop ‘F3’ from its
title in 2020. The new name puts it into
closer alignment with Super Formula, where
Japanese F3 champions and frontrunners
traditionally graduate.
Dallara is set to give the 320 its initial
shakedown at the Vairano test track in
northern Italy at the end of August, where
it will be powered by an HWA engine.
Former Renault Formula 1 protege Sacha
Fenestraz wrapped up the Japanese F3 title
at Motegi last weekend, with the double-
header finale at Okayama still to come. The
Franco-Argentinian (both pics, right) won
two of the three races at Motegi in his B-Max
with Motopark Dallara-Spiess, and is now
out of reach of TOM’S-run Toyota protege
Ritomo Miyata, who won the other race.
Fenestraz, 20, is also runner-up in the
GT300 class of the Super GT Championship
in a Kondo Racing Nissan GT-R, which he
shares with Kazuki Hiramine. They lie 4.
points adrift of Honda pair Nirei Fukuzumi
and Shinichi Takagi with three races to go.
His target for 2020 is GT500 and Super
Formula. “That’s the dream ticket,” said
Fraser Sheader of ADD Motorsports, which
manages Fenestraz. “His focus is Japan, and
we’re assessing our options with all three
manufacturers [Honda, Nissan and Toyota].
It’s about summing up the best GT
scenario and dovetailing that with the
best Super Formula option.”
MARCUS SIMMONSJapanese choose new Dallara for renamed F