The Formula Renault AsiaCup (formerly known as the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and AFR Series) is a Formula Regional championship held in Asia. The series debuted in 2002 and also held the China Formula Renault Challenge.

Formula Renault AsiaCup
CategoryFormula Renault 2.0 (2002-2019, 2022)
Regional Formula 3 (2024-...)
CountryAsia
Inaugural season2002
ConstructorsTatuus
Engine suppliersRenault
Drivers' championHong Kong Gerrard Xie
Teams' championHong Kong H-Star Racing
Official websitersasiamotorsport.com/formularenault/
Current season

The series is a part of the Formula Racing Development Limited (FRD) organization managed by Kenneth Ma to promote motorsport in Asia.[1] The FRD also runs the China Formula Campus and Clio Cup China Series.

The cars use Tatuus chassis and 2.0 L Renault Clio engines like other Formula Renault 2.0 series. After several seasons racing on Kumho tires, the series started using Giti tires from 2014.

About

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With the aim of providing a budget junior racing series around the Asian region, FRD, with the support of Renault Sport, imported a fleet of Formula Renault 2.0 race cars and first organized the Asian Formula Renault Series in 2000. The series attracted numerous young talents from the region.

From 2002 to 2005, the series held an invitational race during the Macau Grand Prix weekend. Future F1 drivers such as Kamui Kobayashi, Kazuki Nakajima, Bruno Senna and Red Bull Junior Team's Scott Speed all once took part in the event.

The Asian Formula Renault Series changed its name to the Formula Renault AsiaCup, commencing in 2020. Formula Renault AsiaCup aligned with the Formula Renault Eurocup running the Tatuus F3R-Spec car with a Renault engine (Formula Renault FR-19) and the FIA F3/2018 homologated chassis.

Regulation

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The main classification was the International Challenge, the winner of which was the overall champion of the series. From 2007 until 2013, Asian drivers also had a parallel category with the Asian Challenge. Another class, for Chinese events only, was the China Formula Renault Challenge, which was an entry-level series intended to reduce the championship cost. All series drivers and teams raced at the same time during the races in China but points were calculated separately.

The cars can be tested outside the race weekend on the Zhuhai International Circuit or Shanghai International Circuit.

The race weekend starts on Thursday and Friday with a 2-hour free practice session but with additional cost for drivers. On Saturday there are two 30 minute practice sessions and 20 minutes of qualifications. A warm-up (15 minutes) occurs on Sunday morning and two 10 lap races are held in the afternoon.

In 2013, the series changed its championship format to 3 classes, "International Class" as the main championship, "Asian Class" for rookie drivers of the region and "Masters Class" for gentlemen drivers who are at the age of 35 or older. The 3 classes have their own drivers' and teams' classifications and championship.[2]

In 2015, the series changed its championship format again due to the introduction of the current FR2.0 car, which debuted in 2013 in the European series.[3] Starting from this season, there are two classes, Class A for drivers and teams competing with the 2013 FR2.0 car, and Class B for drivers and teams using the FR2.0 old spec cars.[4]

Only drivers and teams that complete 75% of a race receive points. Points are awarded in each race as follows:

Drivers' Championship
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th 
Points 30 24 20 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 4 3 2 1
Teams' Championship
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th 
Points 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Champions

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Series Winners

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Season International Class Team Champion Asian Class (class B 2015 onward) Team Champion IFC Challenge/Masters Class Team Champion
2002   Cheng Congfu   FRD Team
2003   Rodolfo Ávila   Asia Racing Team
2004   Hideaki Nakao   FRD Team
2005   Hanss Lin   Shangsai FRD Team   Hanss Lin   Shangsai FRD Team
2006   Pekka Saarinen   Asia Racing Team   Alexandre Imperatori   Shangsai FRD Team
2007   Pekka Saarinen   M3 Racing Team   Jim Ka To   M3 Racing Team   Pekka Saarinen   M3 Racing Team
2008   Jim Ka To   PS Racing   Hong-Wei Cao Not Contested   Christian Chia Not Contested
2009   Alon Day   Asia Racing Team   Zhi Qiang Zhang   PTRS Team Not Contested
2010   Sandy Nicholas Stuvik   Asia Racing Team   Sandy Nicholas Stuvik   Asia Racing Team Not Contested
2011   Leopold Ringbom   PS Racing   Yuki Shiraishi   Champ Motorsport Not Contested
2012   Yosuke Yamazaki   Buzz Racing Not Contested   Wayne Shen   Modena Motorsport
2013   Julio Acosta   Champ Motorsport   Jason Kang   KRC   Leo Wong   Asia Racing Team
2014   Alice Powell   FRD Team   Qin Tianqi   Champ Motorsport   Guillaume Cunnington   PS Racing
2015   Dan Wells   BlackArts Racing Team   Andy Zheng   PS Racing Not Contested
2016   Josh Burdon   BlackArts Racing Team   Jasper Thong   Asia Racing Team Not Contested
2017   Charles Leong   BlackArts Racing Team   Hua Miao   BlackArts Racing Team Not Contested
2018   Daniel Cao   BlackArts Racing Team Not Contested
2019   Joey Alders   BlackArts Racing Team Not Contested
2020 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions
2021 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions
2022   Gerrard Xie   H-Star Racing

Macau Asian Formula Renault Challenge Winners

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Year Pole Position Winning Drivers Winning Team
2002   Jamie Green   Jamie Green   Team Meritus[5]
2003   Hideki Nadao   Hideki Nadao   Shangsai FRD GT TiresTeam[6]
2004   Kamui Kobayashi   Cheong Lou Meng   Champ Motorsport[7]
2005   Luca Persiani   Hiroyuki Matsumura   Asia Racing Team[8]

References

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  1. ^ FRD Motorsports, About us frdsports.com
  2. ^ 2013 AFR Series Guidelines frdsports.com
  3. ^ "Clio AFR Launch & 2015 race schedule". FRD Motorsports. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  4. ^ "2015 AFR Sporting & Technical Regulations" (PDF). FRD Motorsports. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  5. ^ http://archive.grandprix.gov.mo/gp2002/en/real_result_table.php Results 49th Macau GP
  6. ^ http://archive.grandprix.gov.mo/mgpc/public_html/gp50/en/index.php?cat=result&race=FRenault_RACE.csv#view Results 50th Macau GP
  7. ^ http://archive.grandprix.gov.mo/mgpc/public_html/gp51/en/index.php?cat=result&race=renault_r.csv#view Results 51st Macau GP
  8. ^ http://archive.grandprix.gov.mo/mgpc/public_html/gp52/en/index.php?cat=result&race=Formula_Renault_Race.csv#view Archived 2013-12-31 at the Wayback Machine Results 52nd Macau GP
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