Inter continental driving opportunities for amateur racers

[Jean-Sebastien Stoezel]

At the end of a racing season, one thing a racer may get asked is "so what will you be doing next?". For the big majority of amateur racers, the answer will sadly (or luckily) be "do the same next year". In most cases there is nothing more grandiose planned or affordable.
As mentioned at the annual banquet, Formula Vee has been seeing a worldwide revival lately, with newer cars coming up and large fields forming in many countries.
In Canada and the US particularly there is community that built around the "Challenge Cup Series":

https://www.facebook.com/groups/155486181454972/
http://challengecupseries.com/

The group started organising a championship that took place both in Canada and the US. The goal was to bring down the cost of competitive racing by banning expensive engine parts and using a street legal spec tire (in fact the rules match the current FV rules we use with WCMA).
Lately the group has enabled amateur racers (including Canadians) to cross race FV in other continents. The first event took place in South Africa were Canadian Rob Murray raced at Killarney and Zwartkops (http://challengecupseries.com/south-african-formula-vee-50th-anniversary/).
This past week-end another group including Canadian David Taylor raced in Brazil at Interlagos with the FVee Brazil group (https://www.facebook.com/FormulaVeeBrasil/?fref=nf)
Here's a neat article if you read Portugese: http://f1mania.lance.com.br/outros/brasil-vence-1a-formula-vee-intercontinental-cup-em-interlagos/
They had live national TV covering the event.

 

Next stop for the Challenge Cup Intercontinental races will be England, and there has been rumours of races scheduled in both Australia and New Zealand. The 2017 season will bring the group to some of the most interesting tracks in North America including Mosport, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Watkins Glen International.

We are lucky in Manitoba to have one of the, if not the cheapest and fair opportunity in North America of open wheels road racing with the WCMA FV class. The WCMA rules allow MB cars to compete equally with any other cars that are entering Challenge Cup Events.

If you are interested in the opportunities the Challenge Cups brings to Canadian amateur racers, please get in touch with the WSCC FV group.