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Tech Corner

At Brian Stewart Racing, our drivers have piloted a number of different types of racing cars across the finish lines of North America.

Formula Vee

Formula Vee is a popular single-seater open-wheeled racing car.

The class is based on a 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 1200cc 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.

A top-running Formula Vee will go 120 mph (190 km/h) and corner at about 1.6 g. It weighs a minimum of 1,025 pounds (465 kg) with driver.

Brian Stewart (in 1969), Jim Honsberger (1972) and Scott Maxwell (1984) have all won the Canadian Formula Vee Championship in BSR cars.

Formula Ford

A Formula Ford car is one of the more distinctive-looking single seat, open-wheel racing cars because it does not have wings to create aerodynamic downforce. Handling is entirely down to mechanical grip, and the lack of wings ensures that cars following another are not aerodynamically disadvantaged, allowing close racing with plenty of overtaking.

Series' rules may permit slick tires or treaded tires. Since the rules limit modifications, all cars are relatively equal and produce close racing results. Formula Fords do allow for suspension and braking bias changes.

Formula Ford cars which are generally made by Van Diemen in the UK, weigh 410/420 kg (1000 lb), so their 1600cc Ford engines, are capable of propelling them from 0-100 km/h in less than five seconds, reaching top speeds of nearly 235/220 km/h (150/140 mph).

Brian Stewart (1972) and Scott Maxwell (1986) have both won the Canadian Formula Ford Championship in BSR cars.

Formula Ford 2000

Formula Ford has given birth to several other categories of racing: Formula Ford 2000 is another single seat, open-wheeled race car that evolved in the 1970s. Although it uses a chassis similar to the Formula Ford, the use of slicks and wings is permitted. The Formula Ford 2000 is generally made by Van Diemen in the UK and is seen as a natural step up from the Formula Ford 1600cc series.

Formula SuperVee

Formula Super Vee is a single seat, open-wheeled racing car with wings and slicks. The idea for Formula Super Vee is generally attributed to Joe Hoppen, who worked as the Special Vehicles Manager for Volkswagen of America. It was Hoppen who sold the idea for the new formula to the SCCA (the sanctioning body in the USA), who in November 1969 decided to launch a championship for the new car for the following year, despite the fact that no cars existed at that time.

Cars are powered by a Volkswagen 1600cc full race engine that generally puts out between 185 and 195 horsepower.

Ultimately the most developed version of Super Vee was to be found in the USA, since they continued with a Super Vee series years after the formula had died away elsewhere. Indeed by the mid-80s Super Vee in the USA had taken over from Formula Atlantic as the feeder formula for Indy cars, often being referred to as the "Mini-Indy" series.

Formula Atlantic

The history of Formula Atlantic begins with the SCCA Formula B class, created in 1965 for single-seat formula cars with engines not exceeding 1600cc in capacity. Formula Atlantic as a class evolved in the United Kingdom in 1971 from the US Formula B rules, with 1600cc production-based twin-cam engines (initially Lotus-Ford twin-cams but then Cosworth BDA and BDD, however other engines like Alfa Romeo were also eligible).

The first professional races run under Formula Atlantic rules in North America were conducted in 1974 by the CASC in Canada (now ASN Canada), drawing much attention and large fields due to its national television coverage. IMSA in the United States took advantage of the large number of teams and organized their own series in 1976.

During these years, the series attracted guest drivers from Europe, including Formula One, particularly at the Trois-Rivières street race in Quebec, Canada. Guest drivers included James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Riccardo Patrese, Patrick Depailler, Jacques Laffite, Didier Pironi and Vittorio Brambilla.

In 1977, the SCCA sanctioned the US events and in 1978 the CASC and SCCA series merged, and conducted the series jointly until 1983, when it ran as the Formula Mondial North American Cup; Michael Andretti won the championship. The series could not sustain the success of earlier seasons and was cancelled for 1984.

Indy Lights

The original Indy Lights series was formed as an open-wheeled racing series that acted as a developmental circuit for CART from 1986 to 2001. It was founded in 1986 as the American Racing Series (ARS). The series was renamed Firestone Indy Lights in 1991.

Firestone Indy Lights racing cars are single seat, open-wheeled cars that are built by Dallara in Italy and are powered by a 450 horsepower, 3 ½ litre racing engine.

Paul Tracy (1990), Eric Bachelart (1991) and Wade Cunningham (2005) have all won the Firestone Indy Lights Championship in BSR cars.