AUGUST 31, 1998

Junior Team fever

SEVERAL Grand Prix teams are expected to enter teams in the Formula 3000 series next year, when it is expected to be renamed as the F1 Junior World Championship.

SEVERAL Grand Prix teams are expected to enter teams in the Formula 3000 series next year, when it is expected to be renamed as the F1 Junior World Championship. The plan is for there to be 15 two-car teams in the series, with chassis to be supplied by Lola and engines by Zytek. In the days leading up to the Belgian GP, teams were instructed to put down deposits on 1999 cars if they wished to be considered for entries.

We understand that no fewer than 24 teams have said they wish to be involved and that most of the existing operations have paid their deposits. In addition we believe that Portman Racing - Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows Junior Team - and Richard Dutton's Fortec Motorsport, which has been linked with junior team projects with both British American Racing and Benetton, have also put down their money.

We hear that three of the big Formula 3000 teams contrived to miss the deadline which will mean that they will probably have to buy one of the teams which does have cars if they wish to get into the series.

In addition we hear that RSM Marko (which is being linked with a deal to run a Sauber Junior Team), Bertram SchaferÊRacing, KMS Racing and Kid Jensen Racing all want to run teams but have been unable to secure chassis.

At the moment McLaren and Prost are both overtly involved in F3000 with Williams funding some of the program for championship challenger Juan-Pablo Montoya with the Supernova team.