F3 drivers have had a chance to sample the new Dallara F3 2025 and in this edition of the Racecraft & Race Cars Roundup you will find out what they think. I also have details on Formula E driver Lucas Di Grassi’s approach to finding the optimum racing line, how female physiology affect women’s chances in motorsport and advice for your first track day. All this and more.
Racecraft Tips & Techniques
On-Track
Formula E driver Lucas Di Grassi explains how a unique experiment led him to determining the best way to find the optimum racing line.
“After two days of testing and hundreds—if not thousands—of laps, I empirically discovered an optimal path, or racing line, for the Formula 1 car I was driving. Later, I found that my empirical results had a theoretical basis, allowing me to develop a theory to support my findings.”
You can read his thoughts on how he did it here.
Apex Advisory Racing has two great articles that are worth reading on racecraft. The first revolves around the concept of racing mindfully and the second is concerned with pattern recognition in racing. You can read them below.
- “Race Mindfully”: My Key to Consistent and Competitive Racing
- Recognizing Patterns in Racing: The Key to Consistency and Improvement – |Apex Advisory Racing|
Whether you are giving or receiving racing driver feedback there are challenges. If you are providing feedback to an engineer, to your team or even just for your own records, it can be hard to know what to say. If you need the racing drivers views, how do you get the most useful information?
Luckily the common aim for all involved is to improve. You all want the package of racing driver and racecar to be competitive. You all want to see that package lap the track quicker and race faster than ever before. Read Samir Abid’s comments on the topic on his latest post at Your Data Driven. You can read it here.
In his column this week,Terrence Dove went down a rabbit hole with a bit of data, trying to figure out how his driver found 2 tenths in one corner. “I didn’t buy into it, I used video to try to verify it, exported the data to other software, and even started digging into the raw data to see if it was a GPS error.” Read the full post here.
Off-Track
Rob Krider on the SCCA website explains five things that you need to know about racing helmets. You can read them here.
So how are women to best prepare themselves for motorsport when it comes from the differences in their physiology? Maja Czarzasty-Zybert looks at this very issue in Hormones and Speed – does female physiology affect their chances in Motorsport?
“While skills and passion are undoubtedly crucial, it’s important to consider how women’s physiology may impact their performance in this high-stakes sport. With International Women’s Day upon us, it’s worth reflecting on whether hormones—particularly the menstrual cycle—truly influence women’s results in motorsport and how physical preparation can be adjusted to equalize these chances.”
Race Car & Series Developments
As Formula 3 prepares for its new season, drivers are also getting used to a new car, the Dallara F3 2025. Here are two articles that explain what the drivers think of their new mounts.
- How are F3 drivers finding the new Dallara F3 2025 after testing? (Feeder Series)
- ‘Very similar’ to ‘so different, you can’t even compare’: F3’s new car lands (Paddock Scout)
Nearly one year ago, Jeff Barrow joined the SCCA Staff as the Director of Road Racing. With an extensive motorsports background that included working at Staubli, Honda, Ligier, and more – not to mention his personal racing history with the Club – Barrow’s hiring brought a new perspective to SCCA’s Road Racing department. All of that said, while Barrow was experienced within the industry as a professional and enthusiast, there was little way he could be completely prepared for everything the SCCA – and its membership – could throw his way. Read his thoughts on hos new role here.
Race driver John Marcar has started a Ferrari Challenge Diary as he embarks on his first season in the series for Driven. | Chapter 1: ‘Ready 2 Race’
“Although the Ferrari Challenge Series is a customer racing programme, the cars used to compete are very powerful. The Ferrari 296 Challenge that I’ll be competing in for 2025 is a 690HP, 1300KG purebred racing car. Therefore, an amateur (like me!) can’t just jump in and drive one without the appropriate competition race licence and, crucially, six signatures awarded by the Motorsport Association (MSA) on the said licence.”
Read Chapter 1: ‘Ready 2 Race’ here.
Stephen Lickorish of Autosport explains why TOCA Junior has struggled to get off the ground.
“That was until the inevitable happened last week, when the plans for a 2025 campaign were embarrassingly dropped and a major revamp is now planned for next year. With the acceptance that teams were not on board with the idea, Beecroft and the category’s partners have decided to go down the centrally-run route. This does bring many benefits; it reduces the cost for drivers as they do not have to pay a sizeable price for the privilege of running with a team and enables far stricter controls to be implemented in terms of testing and other spending.”
Read the complete article at Autosport here.
The Swedish Motorsport Federation has announced that there will be no STCC season in 2025 and that their efforts will be moved to 2026 instead. “We have investigated the conditions for the 2025 STCC season but realised that there is not enough time to produce a season worthy the official Swedish Title in 2025. That is why we instead aim for the championship to return stronger in 2026,” said Anna Nordkvist, managing director of the Swedish Motorsport Federation.
Entries are now open for the 2025 season for both the Monoposto Championship and the Reprise IT Tiedeman Trophy Championship. You can enter either via a PDF entry form or the online entry form. Please find details of how to enter here.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Toyota Racing Series, which has run under the Formula Regional Oceania banner since 2023. Feeder Series spoke to Nicolas Caillol, the manager of FR Oceania, and Tony Quinn, the owner of the Tony Quinn Foundation, at Highlands Motorsport Park about how the series and the New Zealand racing scene as a whole have developed over the past two decades. Read the feature here.
German drivers and teams competing in TCR competition will be able to do battle for a new award after WSC announced the launch of the new TCR Germany Trophy. The trophy will be open to drivers of German nationality, as well as those who are driving for teams that are operating under a licence handed out by the German Motorsport Authority. Touring Car Times has all the details.
With the introduction of the new Toyota V35A 3.5 V6 Twin Turbo engine for the LMP3 category, four of the six rounds in the 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup will become 120-minute races, replacing the 110-minute races, which were introduced in 2022 when the uprated Nissan V8 engine was first used for the LMP3 cars. Get all the details here.
The path to doing wheel-to-wheel racing in SCCA is easier than ever, thanks to SCCA Race Experience. The program is open to, “Anybody,” says Jon Krolewicz, SCCA Senior Management of Program Development. “The target audience is someone who says, ‘I want to try or start my wheel-to-wheel journey. Maybe that’s the person who is going to get their racing license. Or it’s the person who says, ‘This is on my bucket list. I can rent a car and not worry about getting medical or ton of paperwork done.’” Read more at Grassroots Motorsports.
The 2025 FIA TCR World Tour will expand to a total of 20 rounds over its previously announced eight race weekends as the three-heat race weekend format returns for the first time since 2023. The race weekends in Australia, Mexico, South Korea and Spain will feature three races per weekend while the remaining rounds will feature two races. Touring Car Times has all the details.
Millions of motor sport fans across the globe will see the unrivalled action of the FIA World and European Rallycross Championships return in 2025 as the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) confirms that it will take over the operation of the series with immediate effect.
SRO Motorsports Group’s national and continental GT2, GT3 and GT4 championships will use the new generation of Pirelli P Zero DHG tires from 2025. The slick racing tire features numerous innovations which go beyond pure performance compared to the previous DHF construction introduced in 2022. For example, the natural rubber component of this new family of tires is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in line with the Pirelli range, which as from last year was developed for Formula 1. Read all the details at the SRO website here.
From the Sim Racing Roundup
The impact of esports on motorsport sponsorship is one of the topics covered in last week’s Sim Racing Roundup. Read on for some concrete examples that you can take inspiration from. You will also find details on a driver development program that welcomes sim racers, how the Prodigy Racing League is breaking barriers in motorsport and why Penske Autosport updated their sim rigs.
Track Days
Maserati’s first limited-run special since the Enzo-based MC12 may have racecar looks; what it does well on a track, it does better on the road. The Robb Report takes the car for a track test.
While driving on racetracks is AMAZING, doing your first track day can be stressful…but it doesn’t have to be that way. These six simple tips from the SCCA will ease your mind by preparing you for what’s ahead, allowing you to hit the track without unnecessary pre-event jitters distracting you from the #funwithcars you’ve dreamed about.
Racing & Testing Opportunities
FF Corse has announced details of the 2025 Ferrari Club Challenge UK season. Join a unique driving club reserved exclusively for owners of Ferrari Challenge cars. Test your skills on track behind the wheel of your own Challenge car at 5 historic UK race circuits. Enjoy talking to fellow Club Challenge entrants and members of the FF Corse Team whilst you and a guest enjoy Ferrari Hospitality.
Club Challenge UK, exclusively supported by FF Corse, is an event focused on honing driver skills and measuring advancement through timed laps; your only rival is yourself. Learn proper racing lines, braking points and safe handling at high speeds, and as your precision and car control improves, you’ll really enjoy the potential of your Ferrari in its natural environment, the track.
Full details can be found here.
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
