Photo: Dutch Photo Agency
An upgraded engine and a new compound of tyres will feature in the Formula Renault Eurocup this year.
The championship, which enters its 30th season in 2020, switched from FR2.0 regulations to regional Fomula 3 last year and there were broad changes across the championship as a result.
Late delivery of the Tatuus T-318 chassis led to a hasty pre-season, and there were complaints shared with Formula Scout during the opening few rounds about car characteristics and a desire for additional engine power to compensate for the increased weight.
Some of these concerns have been addressed, with Renault confirming that the turbocharged 1.8-litre engine used in the series will feature several upgrades and new mapping that “rebalances the power in accordance with the federal authorities requests”.
Lubrication brand Castrol is now a partner of the Eurocup, and it is hoped that using its latest products will extract more from the engine too.
Hankook replaced long-time supplier Michelin as the official tyre brand for the series last year, and the South Korean brand has developed a new compound that it believes, coupled with the engine upgrades, will generate improvements of “up to two seconds per lap” after considerable on-track testing.
The latest driver signing in the Eurocup has also been revealed, with Petr Ptacek moving from Bhaitech to R-ace GP.
The Czech rookie finished eighth in the 2019 points with the debuting Italian team, and intends to improve on his tally of two podiums with title-winning French outfit R-ace.
He joined R-ace, via its technical alliance with MTEC Motorsport, in this year’s Toyota Racing Series and finished an impressive fifth in the standings. Ptacek completes R-ace’s line-up alongside Renault Formula 1 junior Caio Collet and Kush Maini.