USF2000 announced last week that the SCCA Formula Enterprises Van Diemen cars will now be legal to race in the Professional Series starting in 2012. The cars will compete in the National Series part of the program.
"I am so excited to see this development" Mick Robinson owner of Robinson Motor Sports said. "This is a great opportunity for the cars to get out in front of thousands of race fans and show then what these cars can do! There will be a lot of up and coming drivers getting into these cars now that there is a major Pro Series for the cars to race in" he continued.
The Formula Enterprises, commonly called the "FE", was designed by Van Diemen for SCCA Enterprises. The car uses the Mazda 2.3 litre engine that is fuel injected and runs off a sealed engine management system with the parameters set by SCCA Enterprises. The car uses a sequential shifting transmission with 5 speeds. The FE is a spec car with all of the engines sealed by SCCA Enterprises. All of the cars use the same brake pads, rotors, wheels, body parts and wings. Suspension adjustments and wing angles can be made to set the car up for the driver. In-car brake bias and front sway bar adjustments are available to fine tune the car during sessions if needed.
With the FE being a spec class, the cars are very equal. The driver's ability is one of the main factors in winning, the other being car prep. In the SCCA regional and national races where the cars have mostly raced, the field is not separated by more than a second or two.
The FE will be able to compete at a lower cost than the Championship cars in the series. Due to the spec nature of the FE, the operating costs are lower than that of the Championship cars. "It's a great way for younger drivers to learn the professional series in with an eye on moving up to the Championship cars in a year or two of racing" Mick states. "The drivers can rent cars from teams, we have 2 cars available for the 2012 season, so the buy in is much cheaper than purchasing your own car if you are passing through on the way up the Mazda ladder race program. We will provide the cars, equipment and crews for those that want to drive and leave the mechanics of the cars to us. We offer great driver coaching, data and video accessories in the cars so the drivers can learn quickly" Mick continued.
Any interested and properly funded driver should contact Mick through the "contact us" link on the Robinson Motor Sports web site. We will be able to send information on the series and the cost to rent one of our winning FE's for the 2012 season. We will be able to offer one off weekends with the cars if the full season is not in the driver's plans.
