THE HISTORY

THE HISTORY

Formula Renault 2.0 series run all over the world, but the start of the first Formula Renault championship can be traced back to 1971 when the Cdterium de Formule Renault was held in France.

The Formula Renault UK Championship dates back to 1989 when it was founded by the BARC. Although the BARC Formula Renault series has run since 1995, Renault took over the main championship in 1990 and has looked after it ever since.

Formula Renault 3.5 has morphed out of the Spanish Formula Renault Championship that ran between 1991 and ’97. Japanese manufacturer Nissan took the reins in 1998 and carried it through to 2004, crowning the likes of Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen as champions along the way. In 1999 Nissan Motors and Renault SA entered into the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which involved the French manufacturer buying part of the ailing Japanese make. This in turn led to Renault’s involvement in the World Series by Nissan in 2005. Its existing Formula Renault V6 Eurocup combined with the series to make Formula Renault 3.5, and a Renault V6 replaced the Nissan powerplant. There are plenty of changes on the horizon, as Renault has announced

a brand-new car for 2012. The new racer which will follow in the wake of the latest GP2 car introduced this year will feature a chassis built in conjunction with Dallara, new tyres from Michelin and a new engine from Zytek. The specially designed 3.4-litre V8 will churn out 530bhp compared to the current V6’s 425bhp and the new racer is expected to be two seconds a lap faster than the existing machine.