MotorSport Vision wins F2 tender
MotorSport Vision, the company controlled by former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer, has won the tender to supply and promote the FIA"s proposed new Formula Two category. The company enlisted Williams F1 to design the chassis while Audi will provide a 1.8 litre turbo engine.
A statement issued by the FIA said: MotorSport Vision (MSV) has won the tender to supply chassis and engines for the new FIA Formula Two Championship, following a fax vote of the FIA World Motor Sport Council. As part of the winning tender it has been agreed that MSV will be the promoter of the Championship as well as the operating entity for all of the cars.
MSV has commissioned WilliamsF1 to design the car, which will incorporate a turbocharged 1.8 litre Audi engine and be built to Formula One-level safety standards. The first prototype car is on schedule for its testing debut in November 2008, with the Championship due to start in May 2009 and comprising 16 races over eight events. Performance levels will be between Formula Three and Formula One and the cost per competing driver will be less than €250,000.
Max Mosley, FIA President said: “The objective is to make top-level international single-seater racing available to drivers who at present have difficulty in raising enough money to demonstrate their talent. Formula One and other major championships will benefit by being able to draw on a far larger pool of drivers, while competitors from countries which do not yet have an established motor racing structure will find it easier to make progress.
“We hope to reveal talent that might otherwise never have emerged and we look forward to seeing drivers coming into Formula One with Super Licences gained in Formula Two.”
MSV, which is run by Jonathan Palmer, who won the penultimate FIA Formula Two Championship in 1983, has extensive experience in supplying race cars and promoting motor racing events. MSV owns and operates five circuits in the UK and has run the Formula Palmer Audi racing championship for the last 11 years. MSV is also the commercial and organisational rights holder for the British Superbike Championship.
