Friday, December 16, 2016

Shooting Starz' 2016 Eurocentric edition rumbles on 'N on...



Ro-Ro! Per usual here in Nofendersville, I got carried away and this tome stretched on 'N on, as there's just too many Damn Feeder Series with Formula 1 links these Dazes...


Formula V-8 3.5 Series
Arguably the most gripping season finale NOT seen by many, or at all here Stateside; Chirp-Chirp, Bueller! With the totally unknown Frenchman Tom Dilman snatching victory in the final race outing!

And to think that nobody's willing to step up as title sponsor to a Open Wheel Racing series that has a long lineage 'O current 'N former Formula 1 drivers on its rolls, with a few current F1 Teams involved, with the likes of;

Force India F1
Alfonso Celis Jr.: AVF
Another aspiring Mexican racer hoping to emulate the likes of Senor's Perez and Gutierrez, Ci! As Alfonso's apparently made the move sideways to Formula V-8 this season after two years in GP3 with a best finish of twelfth overall.

Renault Sport F1
Louis Deletraz: Fortec
Almost past this driver by, whom I spotted when plowing thru the various F1 Junior Driver Rolls, for which the young Swiss Hot Schue was part of the swelling Reggie' ranks.

Yet the name sounded vaguely familiar; Hmm? Oh Yeah now I know, he's the son of former F1 driver Jean-Dennis Deletraz who made three Grands Prix starts as a woefully off-the-pace Pay Driver for Larrousse and Pacific between 1994-95.

As the young Louis is probably still in shock right now, as the championship seemed assured to him, leading by six points from the front row with his title rival languishing down in P7 before Alfonso's AVF team-mate tom Dilman miraculously snatched the title away from him with his first win since April! As NO idea where thou younger Deletraz will go from here?

Deutsch Tourenwagen Masters (DTM)
Although this isn't the typical feeder series to Formula 1, nonetheless two of Mercedes bright stars have made the leap from Tintops, along with the likes of Paul di Resta, Gary Paffet and Bernd Schneider.

Manor Racing
Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon
What can I say 'bout these two impressive Young Guns who've both graduated to Formula 1. Other than Wehrlein won the title in 2015 with Ocon taking his seat - before being fast tracked to the pinnacle 'O motorsports as Wehrlein's second half team-mate - with great things expected from both by Mercedes.

Balardi Auto Racing/ART Grand Prix
Felix Rosenqvist (Mercedes Junior Driver)
I briefly know 'bout this promising Swede from his partial season this year in Indy Lights, where he won three races for Balardi Auto Racing before being recalled by Mercedes for European racing action.

Most notably as Ocon's replacement in the ART Grand Prix DTM squad alongside longtime F1 tester Gary Paffet. With Felix having now been signed as one of Mahindra Racing's Formula E pilots for the current 2016-17 season, who'll perhaps become the next Silver Arrows reserve driver?


European Formula 3 (F3)
Part of the DTM Support Series, albeit the lone single seater category supporting the Tintops.

Williams F1
Lance Stroll: Prema Powerteam
Upon winning this year's title convincingly with 14-wins, and the might of Papa's Bank Account, we know now that Lance will become the first KuhNuck in Formula 1 since Jacques Villeneuve's departure.

Force India F1
Nikita Mazepin: Hitech Racing
Another of the multitude 'O Russian drivers aspiring for glory in Formula 1, as think Force India just wanted his Rubles, a la gladly taking Celis's Peso's above.


Scuderia Toro Rosso
Nico Kari & Sergio Sete Camara: Motopark Academy
Know absolutely Nothing 'bout these two series rookies, other than they're part of the countless aspiring Red Bull Junior Drivers cadre, who'd better produce el Pronto or else Der Helmet will toss 'em out when refilling the bathtub's luke warm water. As just ask thou sniveling Monsieur Gasley!

OTHERS
And as Y'all can tell, if you're still reading? This story just kept growing 'N growing, mushrooming out to a ridiculous seven pages! Hence why I broke I-t into two part Harmony, as your humble No Fenders scribe Tomaso's growing sleepy...

Yet before falling asleep; Hya! I did notice a further trio 'O second generation names I recognized whilst endlessly purusing the various Feeder Series Teams and Drivers combinations included the likes of Giuliano Alesi, (GP3) Pietro  Fittipaldi, team-mate to the forlorned Deletraz, and AurĂ©lien Panis at Arden Motorsport, both in Formula V-8 3.5.

Not to mention FV-8 3.5 runner-up Louis Deletraz, (above) which chronicling the never ending count of these Sir-names is another story for some other time...