The new F3 car that has teams purring

The new weapon for Euroformula Open and Japan's Super Formula Lights represents quality for drivers, engineers and mechanics who will be working with it once motorsport returns after its coronavirus hiatus.

The Dallara 320 is more expensive than its alternatives, but it's arguably a more satisfying product than the equivalents at this level - Formula Regional and Formula Renault, both of which use FIA Regional F3 chassis.

The 320 is Dallara's update of the old Formula 3 philosophy, before the FIA gave the name to the old GP3 Series for 2019. As such, no series for these cars can use the 'F3' title, but traditionalists will doff their hats to Dallara for continuing to apply its historic F3 naming pattern to the 320 (F3/2020).

As many as 22 of the new cars could be racing in Euroformula this season, although realistically it will more likely be a figure in the high teens. Even that lower estimate, however, represents an impressive tally when everyone has had to buy new equipment for a series that is a non-starter compared to its Regional and Renault rivals as far as FIA Formula 1 superlicence points is concerned.

For Super Formula Lights (formerly the Japanese F3 Championship), 13 cars have been delivered via Dallara importer Le Mans Company - by contrast, when the previous-generation F3 Dallara was introduced in 2012, just five appeared on the grid in Japan during that first season.

"We had FIA F3 guys also doing Euroformula with us last year," says Timo Rumpfkeil, whose Motopark team dominated EFO in 2019, its maiden season in the series after crossing over from the defunct F3 European Championship.

"They were always so happy when they were able to get in the 'real' F3 car - or old-style, or whatever you want to call it - because they found it so much more satisfying to drive. In the end, it really rewards good driving and you learn how to make the differences.

"It's an educational car, it has a good calendar [seven F1 circuits, plus the postponed Pau Grand Prix and a return for 2020 to the Sicilian outpost of Enna-Pergusa] and a good race format [simply two qualifying sessions and two races per event]."

The trick for Dallara was to apply everything that was so good about the previous F312 generation of F3 car to the 320, while adding a halo for driver protection. By using titanium for the halo, it found that it could do so while adding a minimum of weight.

"We had no reason to look into the dimensions of the monocoque of an F3 Regional car, because it is not an F3 Regional car - it is a standalone thing" Jos Claes

When a series of FIA-requested safety updates were introduced to the F312 for 2017, the F3 championships went conservative - to Dallara's chagrin! - in raising their minimum weight limits. The upshot is that for 2020, even with the addition of the halo, the EFO minimum weight has been reduced from 580 to 575kg - 75kg lighter than the slower FRegional car, and 90kg below the FRenault...

"Our customers asked, 'Do you have something for us?', and we responded by designing a car for them," says Jos Claes (below), Dallara's long-time F3 project leader and all-round category guru.

"The idea came from the Japanese F3 Association and GT Sport [the Madrid-based company of Jesus Pareja, which promotes EFO]. At first I said, 'We don't have a Regional F3 car', and they said, 'We don't want a Regional F3 car - we want something better. Invent the car!'"

While the 320 had to be designed to FIA safety standards and homologated with the governing body, Dallara was no longer having to adhere to an FIA rulebook on F3 design, whereby theoretically it would be in competition with other constructors. EFO has always run to a spec-chassis format, but Dallara was also given word from the JF3A that it would not allow chassis competition either.

"We opted not for F3 regulations on safety, but for F1 safety standards because that gave a little more freedom in the design," continues Claes. "We had no reason to look into the dimensions of the monocoque of an F3 Regional car, because it is not an F3 Regional car - it is a standalone thing."

This also allowed Dallara to look for more performance.

"For 2012 we were designing an F3 car for an open market," points out Claes. "Now it is not an open market, and in a way the technical challenge has changed in character. We were suddenly free. We wanted extra downforce and we did it, not through 150 hours in the windtunnel, but through easy steps."

As a comparison, during 2010 and 2011 Dallara spent what Claes estimates to have been more than 800 hours in the windtunnel on the F312, but this was investment that could be recouped: "With most generations in the past we sold 100 cars. This time for sure we will not even reach half - we will reach 35 or 40. So the amount of money available to develop this car was limited."

One example of Dallara's freedom in building a spec car was changing the dimensions of the stepped floor. This was FIA-mandated in 1995 at 50mm and cost "a lot of efficiency", according to Claes.

"Now we don't need to repeat that, so we reduced it to 35mm and immediately gained back downforce. You can permit yourself this when you have freedom in design. It's not that we don't want to face competition - we enjoy it - but in this case it was our promoters who opted for single-make."

Cost has gone up for a rolling chassis from just below €120,000 for the F312-generation car to €138,800, although those with the older hardware can buy a kit to upgrade to the 320 for €85,950 - Claes says that around 50% of cars that will race this year are all-new; 50% are upgrades.

With regulations potentially locked in for several years, that represents a small depreciation per annum, but Rumpfkeil says: "Everything comes for a price. We kept our old [F312] cars for quite a bit, but it's romantic to look at racing a car for eight years. Our old monocoques were just standing in a workshop [and replaced by newer ones]. Over the circle of life you have to renew parts if you want to stay at the sharp end of competition."

The 320's first shakedown was undertaken at Varano - just across the gates from the Dallara factory - by two-time Macau Grand Prix winner Dan Ticktum. Dallara needed an engine, so Double R Racing brought a Mercedes-derived HWA powerplant, and added into the bargain a pilot who team boss Anthony 'Boyo' Hieatt describes as "one of the fastest F3 drivers ever to walk the planet".

Ticktum had a 150km whisk in the older car at Pembrey before making the trip to Italy. "He said the 320 felt like the old car, which was good news," says Claes.

That has been echoed among the teams, which conducted limited testing of the car before Europe shut down owing to the coronavirus pandemic, but have already found it to have a small edge on performance over its predecessor.

"It's a lovely car, built really well, and it's been produced lighter than the old car, so that's quite an achievement. Hopefully the racing world will wake up to what this car offers" Anthony 'Boyo' Hieatt

Fortec Motorsport shook down its two chassis at Valencia with 2019 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Johnathan Hoggard, who is tipped to add an EFO programme with the team to his Asian Carrera Cup campaign.

"It was fast out of the box," says Fortec team manager and engineer Mick Kouros. "It's by far the best car Dallara have ever built. It's easier to work on because there's more room around the chassis, and they've improved a lot of things. The bodywork fit is really good now, for example.

"You get what you pay for, and if you see this car in the flesh and work on it you appreciate that."

Hoggard's former British F3 rival Ayrton Simmons (below) is already confirmed with Double R, and has driven the 320 at Silverstone.

"It's a very similar feel to the old car," says Hieatt. "We haven't done enough running with it to know if it's better in the high-speed, but his lap times were very competitive. It's just incredible how late these things brake!"

"It's a lovely car, built really well, and it's been produced lighter than the old car, so that's quite an achievement. Hopefully the racing world will wake up to what this car offers."

"It takes the same style of driving as the old car," remarks Rumpfkeil, whose Motopark team crammed in four days at Estoril before the coronavirus curfew hit.

"It's the same philosophy - there's a fair amount of carryover, and the rear suspension is the same as last year. Dallara did a good job of bringing in what was necessary to satisfy the latest FIA regulations on safety, but the car is more aero-efficient and quicker than the older one by up to a second, depending on the circuit characteristics."

"It's pretty much like the older car, and that's why it's for us pretty cool," echoes Van Amersfoort Racing chief Frits van Amersfoort, whose team ran Alexandre Bardinon for two days at the Alcarras test track in Catalonia.

This is VAR's return to this arena, having been a European F3 regular up to 2018.

"The changes are not so big - the biggest difference is the tyres basically," adds van Amersfoort. "Without pointing a finger at Hankook [the old Euro F3 supplier], I can already say that the Michelin [for EFO] is a lovely tyre to drive, with more feeling and response."

Driver-wise, apart from those already mentioned, VAR will run FIA F3 refugee Andreas Estner and the German's younger brother Sebastian, of whom the team has high hopes after running him in Formula 4.

Other continental F4 converts include Ido Cohen at Carlin, Niklas Krutten at Motopark, and Spanish series runner-up Glenn van Berlo at EFO loyalist Drivex. Reigning British F4 champ Zane Maloney makes a sizeable step with Carlin, while ex-British F3 racers Manuel Maldonado and Pavan Ravishankar are in the Motopark stable.

The series operates very few testing restrictions which could prove crucial to survival of the teams, whose season budgets are often at or close to their costs

Two of last season's EFO frontrunners are set to stay on and dovetail this series with FIA F3: Cameron Das at Motopark; and possibly Lukas Dunner with new entrant Manor Competition (as an offshoot of MP Motorsport).

Intriguingly, ex-Formula Renault Eurocup star Yifei Ye is expected to line up with Motopark after a miserable year in FIA F3.

Carlin is tipped to retain 2019 Pau Grand Prix winner Billy Monger for another season.

Motopark found itself with six drivers signed at a fairly early stage of the off-season, meaning a tricky situation as teams are limited to a maximum of four in EFO. It was reminiscent of the Carlin conundrum in British F3 of several years ago - you'd like to think that drivers would be redistributed among other teams, but there's a strong chance that they could be lost to the series completely if they were unable to join the dominant squad.

The solution is an additional team that Rumpfkeil says "we will support in the best possible manner. We will have a technical cooperation with those guys."

The only other gripe concerning EFO's new era is, says Kouros, that "Bosch have put the prices up considerably of components" - from €23,000 for the electronics/gearshift package to just shy of €40,000, although for those opting for the update kit on the Dallara 320 the existing electronics can simply be transferred.

Still, that's a lower-percentage mark-up than we're experiencing in the toilet-roll panic-buying pandemic. And the current Italian lockdown means Dallara has had to close its doors for now.

"There is still one of our cars in the workshop and it's out of reach!" bemoans van Amersfoort.

Thankfully, enough spares have been shipped out to Japan for testing to be able to continue there. Other than that, the future of EFO looks strong, particularly as the series operates very few testing restrictions.

That could prove crucial to survival of the teams, whose season budgets are often at or close to their costs.

"Jesus Pareja is smart enough to know that you don't limit testing, because that's how teams earn their money," remarks Hieatt.

And with the quality of the 320, there should be no shortage of customers for that.