Formula Vee

Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in Brazil and Germany) or Formula Volkswagen is a popular open wheel, single-seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford or Formula BMW.

Olympic Formula Vee racing at Nürburgring in 1969
2008 Formula Vee 45th Birthday Party at Roebling Road Raceway

On the international stage, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg, all Formula 1 champions, raced Formula Vees in Europe or America at the beginning of their careers. In Australia, V8 Supercar drivers Larry Perkins, Colin Bond, John Blanchard, John Bowe, Jason Bargwanna and Paul Stokell were also racers in Formula Vee.

Formula First, raced in the US and New Zealand, employs the same chassis, but with upgraded motor, brakes and steering.

Description

The class is based on a pre-1963 Volkswagen Beetle, utilizing a collection of the stock parts to form a competitive race car around a purpose-built tube frame and racing tires. The VW engine, transmission, front suspension, brakes and wheels are stock or modified stock parts. The chassis is a tube frame design and the body is fiberglass or carbon fiber. The intention of this class is for the average person to build and maintain the car.

2004 SCCA National Championships Runoffs Winner Jeff Loughead

Over the years, the rules have evolved to improve performance, lower cost, or to allow replacement of discontinued parts. In 2003, Grassroots Motorsports presented Formula Vee with the Editors' Choice Award.[1]

A top-running Formula Vee will go 190 km/h (120 mph) and corner at about 1.6 g. It weighs a minimum of 465 kg (1,025 lb) with driver or 500 kg (1,100 lb) with driver as raced in the Australian 1,600 cc (98 cu in) specification.[2][3]

In 2008, a brand new ready-to-race car would cost about US$15,000. The car could be bought as a kit for about US$8,000, minus the Volkswagen parts. It costs approximately US$700 per race to maintain.

Each year, Formula Vee is one of the classes at the SCCA Runoffs, which awards a national championship. While it is primarily a class in the Sports Car Club of America, many other organizations have adopted the Formula Vee as a class.

Variants

Variants of the Formula Vee rules exist in the Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Germany and New Zealand.

Particularly notable is Formula First, raced in the US and New Zealand, which employs the same chassis, but with later model Beetle parts, a larger 1,600 cc (98 cu in) motor (New Zealand uses the 1,200 cc [73 cu in] variant) and other upgraded components such as disc brakes rack and pinion steering.

(Formula Super Vee, although initially similar, soon moved to water-cooled 1.6-litre (98 cu in) VW four-cylinder engines for higher-tech and faster cars).

SCCA Runoffs Winners
DriverYear(s)
Lewis Kerr1964
Dan Fowler1965
Bill Campbell1966, 1967
Bill Scott1968
James Killion1969
Harry Ingle1970
Garret Van Camp1971
Dave Weitzenhof1972
Rollin Butler1973
Harry MacDonald1974
Mike Frangkiser1975, 1977
James Brookshire1976
Don Courtney1978, 1981
Wayne Moore †1979, 1980
Bill Noble1982, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994
George Fizell †1983, 1984, 1986, 1988
Scott Rubenzer1985
Stevan Davis †1987, 1992
Skip Streets1991
Jon Adams1995
Jaques Lazier1996
Jonathan Rufener1997
Brad Stout †1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008
Roger Siebenaler1999, 2000, 2011
Stephen Oseth2003, 2006, 2007
Jeff Loughead †2004
Rick Shields2010, 2014
Michael Varacins †2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Andrew Whitston2019

Michael Varacins has the most titles with seven.

† Denotes President's Cup Winner

List of Formula Vee championships and Events
Country Series/Event Name Active Years Additional Information
Australia Formula Vee Australia Series 1965–present
 Canada Formula 1200 Championship Series 1965–present
Challenge Cup Series 2015–present Also competes in the United States of America.
Autumn Challenge Cup Series 2013–2014 Also competed in the United States of America. This series became the Challenge Cup Series.
Ireland Selco.ie National Championship Series Unknown-present
New Zealand Formula First New Zealand Championship Series Unknown-present
South Africa Formula Volkswagen South Africa Championship 2008–2013
 United Kingdom Formula Vee Championship Series 1967–present
750 Motor Club Formula Vee Championship 1979–present
 United States Formula Vee at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs 1964–present Oldest Formula Vee event in the world.
Challenge Cup Series 2015–present Also competes in the Canada.
Northeast Formula Vee Championship Series Unknown-present
Autumn Challenge Cup Series 2013–2014 Also competed in Canada. This series became the Challenge Cup Series.

See also

References
  1. http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com
  2. (SCCA GCR 2010 specs) Archived 2008-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2013-07-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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