Series Oschersleben preview

Packed 2009 ATS Formula 3 Cup starting grid

On the Easter weekend the Cup kicks off

On the Easter weekend, an impressive starting grid will kick off the 2009 ATS Formula 3 Cup season, with the Motorsportarena Oschersleben being the venue of the event. 25 single-seaters have been entered for Germany's fastest single-seater series, five of them for the internal category ATS Formula 3 Trophy. Once again, the series organised by the German Formula 3 Association, F3V, has succeeded in underlining its significant position in national motor racing.

This year, new teams will battle it out with the established squads such as HS Technik Motorsport, Van Amersfoort Racing or Jo Zeller Racing. Their names: Zettl Sportsline from Weng, Bavaria, or ZyXEL RRT from Moscow - while Russia's ArtLine Racing and Team ADRF from Finland will make their debut in the ATS Formula 3 Trophy. Meanwhile, the well established squad Swiss Racing is going to contest its first season with Mercedes engines and Performance Racing has joined the Volkswagen-engine camp. .

The situation in the engine area promises to be thrilling, anyway: the majority of the field relies on Mercedes power, two teams will use the 2-liter engines from Wolfsburg - and there are the Opel engines with their proven qualities.

The 2009 ATS Formula 3 grid features 10 Formula 3 rookies. They alone will have the chance of scoring points for the 'ZF-auto motor und sport-Juniorpokal' ranking. When the season is over, the driver who has won this ranking will be awarded with 10.000. Furthermore, the AvD Speed Cup also will be held again. Here, every fastest race lap and every pole position will be rewarded.

So, all the proven ATS Formula 3 Cup systems will remain. The only change: the distance of both qualifying sessions and races has been extended to 30 minutes. Nine two-race events, nearly all held within the scope of the new event package 'ADAC Masters Weekend' - that's the 2009 ATS Formula 3 Cup.

-credit: formel3.de