JANUARY 19, 2004

Renault announces GP2

Renault has announced its plans to run a Formula 3000-level series to be called GP2 at every Grand Prix in 2005.

Renault has announced its plans to run a Formula 3000-level series to be called GP2 at every Grand Prix in 2005. The FIA has responded by saying that the Renault GP2 cars can run during FIA Formula 1 World Championship weekends, subject to making the necessary commercial arrangements with Formula One Management, the commercial rights holder of Formula 1 but adding that the FIA has not yet received any proposed technical or sporting regulations for the planned series.

The Renault announcement was timed to go out at the same time as the announcement that the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship will go ahead in 2004, the FIA having received applications from 10 teams. The entry includes Arden, Durango, Super Nova, Team Astromega and BCN Competition. There will also be entries from Coloni Motorsport and European Formula Racing Ltd but there are not yet details of what these teams will be called and there are new entries from Ma-Con Engineering from Germany, Spero IE Engineering from Italy and Equipe Giovanardi Monaco. The drivers in the series will not have to be nominated until two weeks before the first event.

The GP2 series will feature Dallara chassis with Renault engines built by Mecachrome. These are believed to be the old F1 engines from the late 1990s which were later sold on to Mecachrome.

It had been thought that the new series would use the name Formula 2 but it seems that Renault has other ideas.