Formula Renault AsiaCup

The Formula Renault AsiaCup (formerly known as the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and AFR Series) is a Formula Renault 2.0 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)
Regional Formula 3 (2020-...)
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

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

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

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

Macau Asian Formula Renault Challenge Winners
Year Pole Position Winning Drivers Winning Team
2002 United Kingdom Jamie Green United Kingdom Jamie Green Malaysia Team Meritus[5]
2003 Japan Hideki Nadao Japan Hideki Nadao China Shangsai FRD GT TiresTeam[6]
2004 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Macau Cheong Lou Meng China Champ Motorsport[7]
2005 Italy Luca Persiani Japan Hiroyuki Matsumura China Asia Racing Team[8]

References
  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 Results 52nd Macau GP
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