In 2019, the series merged with the GP3 Series to form the FIA Formula 3 Championship. A planned relaunch as the Formula European Masters, intended to run in support of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, was cancelled ahead of its debut season due to a lack of competitors. The championship had been working with Dallara to design a new car for 2020, but was replaced by the GT4-based DTM Trophy as the successor series.
The championship operated as a spec-series, mandating chassis and engine manufacturers that all teams must use each season. Manufacturers were changed every three years. Dallara provided a specification chassis to all teams from the inaugural 2012 season. Teams were prohibited from performing engine or chassis modifications.
The Dallara F317 chassis featured an airboxless roll hoop with a left-side separated airbox on the upper sidepod, and was constructed from a carbon-fibre monocoque incorporating a honeycomb structure. It featured a bi-plane front wing, bi-plane rear wing, and a lower nose similar to contemporary Formula One cars. The chassis weighed 565 kg (1,246 lb) with a wheelbase of 2,800 mm (110.2 in), a length of 4,351 mm (171.3 in), and a width of 1,845 mm (72.6 in). Steering was power-assisted rack and pinion.
Cars were powered by naturally-aspirated 2.0 L (122 cu in) DOHC inline-4 engines with aluminium alloy blocks, a four-valve-per-cylinder valvetrain, and direct fuel injection (introduced in 2014). Engines were rev-limited to 7,400 rpm and produced over 240 hp (179 kW) between 5,000 and 7,400 rpm. The crankshaft was made of alloy steel with five main bearing caps; pistons were forged aluminium alloy; connecting rods were machined alloy steel. A CDI ignition system was used, with dry sump lubrication cooled by a single water pump. Engines were required to be built from a production model block and sealed by race organisers, preventing private tuning.
Mercedes-AMG (operated by Mercedes-AMG HPP) and Volkswagen supplied engines, with a maximum of three teams per manufacturer. ThreeBond Nissan and Neil Brown Engineering provided engines from 2012 to 2016 and 2014 to 2016 respectively, both departing at the end of 2016 as the competitor count fell to 19 cars.
Transmission used a semi-automatic 6-speed gearbox with paddle shifters, introduced for the 2012 season. The clutch was a CFRP 3-plate unit operated by foot pedal. A mechanical limited-slip differential was permitted; constant velocity joint tripod driveshafts were used. Transmission fluid was supplied by RAVENOL F3 Gear premium oil.
AP Racing supplied monobloc brake calipers, cast-iron brake discs, pads, and disc bells exclusively for all championship cars. ATS exclusively supplied magnesium alloy wheel rims from the inaugural 2012 season. Hankook was the sole tyre partner from 2012 until 2018, supplying bespoke compounds in smaller sizes: 180/550-R13 at the front and 240/570-R13 at the rear.
Driver seats were removable carbon-fibre shells with 6-point seat belts. Steering wheels were universally supplied by XAP Technologies, which also provided data display units from the 2012 season. Rear view mirrors were fully mandated. Cars carried a Bosch Motronic MS 5.8 electronic control unit; traction control and anti-lock brakes were prohibited. Live telemetry was available only for television broadcasts; data could be recorded from the ECU to a computer only when the car was in the garage.
Spark plugs were iridium units supplied exclusively by Bosch from 2012. Exhaust systems were of a silencer type, constructed from titanium with a three-way catalytic converter, supplied by Remus.
Cars used fossil unleaded racing fuel supplied by BP under their German Aral Ultimate brand, per agreement with ITR e.V. Since the 2005 Formula 3 Euroseries season, Aral Ultimate 102 RON unleaded gasoline has been the fuel standard. Lubricants were supplied by Ravenol. Fuel tank capacity was 45 litres (12 US gallons), constructed from a kevlar-reinforced rubber ATL safety tank to FT3 standard.
According to research and pre-season stability tests, the cars could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in approximately 3 seconds, with a top speed of over 160 mph (257 km/h) depending on circuit and gearing. This made it the fourth fastest European single-seater formula car, behind Formula 1, Formula 2, and GP3 Series.
Following two practice sessions, the first of two qualifying sessions was held on Friday afternoon. Race 1 started on Saturday morning, while Qualifying 2 was scheduled for the afternoon. On Sunday, Race 2 took place in the morning and Race 3 concluded the weekend in the afternoon. Each race lasted 33 minutes plus one lap and covered approximately 100 kilometres.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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