Now Whars 'Ol BOOGITY-BOOGITY-BOOGITY DW! To tell
Y'all that 'RASSCAR was Duh First to invent the ladder system... Honk-Honk!
Not sure how many, if at all? Know or care
'bout the once mighty Formula Renault 3.5 V-8 Championship, that I typically
think of as the World Series by Renault - which has promoted countless
youngsters into thou Pinnacle 'O Motorsports, nee Formula 1.
With the latest championship winner F1 graduate
being a reportedly new & improved Sharp lookin' man named Carlos Sainz, Jr.
in 2014.
And in a strange, somewhat symbiotic twist 'O
fate, having previously regaled Y'all 'bout the lack of any Brazilian's being
on the Formula 1 grid next year, Karmically it was one of Thar Countryman being
victorious.
As it was 20yr old Portuguese driver Henrique Chaves, making his World Series V-8 3.5 series
debut at the season finale in Bahrain with AVS, en route to becoming only the
seventh driver in series history to win his inaugural race.
As this once mighty alternative Feeder Series
which began life in Spain as the World Series by Nissan in 1998, before
becoming widely recognized as Formula Renault 3.5 (FR3.5) between 2005 to 2015
- has graduated multiple drivers to Formula 1, most notably being some Blokes
with the last names of Alonso and Vettel.
Robert Kubica was the Formula Renault 3.5 series
maiden champion in '05. With a rough 'N tumble lad named Kevin Bacon' Magnussen
being the 2013 series titlist.
In-between this duo was a shunned Rooskie'
named Mikhail Aleshin, who won the 2010 crown. While a Dutch phenom before the
"Baby-face Assassin" arrived in F1, named Robin Frijns won both the title and ROY honours in
2012.
Other Rookie Of the Year (ROY) winners have
included the likes of Daniel Ricky' Ricciardo, (2010) Stoffel Vandoorne, (2013)
and Pierre Gasley. (2014)
Along with some chap named Alexander Rossi in
2011. Hmm? Perhaps Y'all have heard of him? Although some Hoser from Up North
Eh! Now known simply as "Robby," formerly thee Young Wicky', aka
Robert wickens won that year's championship.
Yet unfortunately, after ten years of heavily
supporting the racing series, le reggie' pulled the plug upon its continued endorsement,
inevitably signaling the series Death Knoll, which floundered along for two
final seasons before the lack of entries for 2018 saw it's cancellation.
And although the sole series promoter had
arranged for the series to become part of the World Endurance Championship's
(WEC) supporting cast this year, netting Pietro Fittipaldi a tryout aboard an
LMP1 Prototype, the winning Porsche 919 Hybrid no less!
Nonetheless, it appears that the series,
which fell out of favour after Renault's departure, along with the FIA implementing
the "Verstappen Rule."
Y'all know, when massively revising its FIA
Superlicense requirements, most notably the minimum age, after that young
Niederlander teenage sensation Max joined F1...
Alas, it appears that the Formula V-8 3.5 series
was shunned in this new Superlicense points scheme, essentially a power grab by
Monsieur Todt's FIA organization, which now is apparently trying to streamline
the European Single Seater ladder system.
Whilst it's rightly noted some of the
realignment's foopah's; A la the absurdity of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen
Masters (DTM) champion Pascal Wehrlein being not given the requisite points to
initially grant him his mandatory Superlicense; CRIKEYS!
Yuhs know, the
current F1 Driver who should land Team Willys' second race seat, who's
comprehensibly outperformed favoured Swede' Sauber F1 Pilote Marcus Eriksson...
Although it'll be nice when there's a clear,
concise path to Formula 1, which will eventually see the pyramid being F4 to
F3, then F2 and finally F1 in the near future. Although this makes me wonder
how the remaining Renault Feeder Series will fit in?
Meanwhile, when perusing the Checkered Flag's
website for European Feeder Series fodder, thought I spotted; Err, heard
"My gal" Lucy' read me Somme-thun' about an F3 americas series; Huh?
which will now potentially make the more
Streamlined (MRTI) path to Indy Cars "Clear as Mud on a Rainy Day!"