Formula Enterprises or Formula SCCA is a class of open wheel race car sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America. A spec racing class, all chassis are produced by SCCA Enterprises in association with Van Diemen and include a sealed Mazda MZR powerplant. The chassis can also be fitted with closed-wheel bodywork and converted into a sportscar to race in C Sports Racer or the L3 class of IMSA Prototype Lites. For the 2012 season, the car was also accepted into the U.S. F2000 National Championship's National Class. According to the manufacturer's website, as of March 2010, 120 of the cars have been sold.
| Formula Enterprises | |
|---|---|
 Scott Rettich celebrates his Formula Enterprises victory at the 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs | |
| Motor racing formula | |
| Category | Formula racing |
| Country or region |  United States |
| Championships | SCCA Club Racing (2002-present) Formula SCCA (2004) IMSA Lites L3 (2007-2009) SCCA Pro Formula Enterprises (2010-2011) USF2000 National Class (2012-2013) |
| Inaugural season | 2002 |
| Status | Active |
SCCA Enterprises also produces the Spec Racer Ford chassis.
History edit
The SCCA Enterprises introduced the formula and sports racer in 2002. The formula car was allowed in the Formula Atlantic club racing class. In 2003 SCCA Pro Racing created Sports Racing Pro Series for the formula (FS) and sports racer (SRP) cars.[1] For the 2004 racing season the class was merged with the U.S. F2000 National Championship. Elivan Goulart won the Formula SCCA championship and Neil Tilbor won the SCCA Sportscar Championship. Due to the lack of entries for the 2005 season the series was canceled.
The sports racer was allowed in the IMSA Lites L3 class for the 2007 season. The first season was a reasonable success with 8 drivers competing of which 4 raced the full season. Richard Spicer won the championship with 7 wins out of 12 races. 2008 and 2009 saw a significant downfall in drivers with resp. 2 and 3 drivers competing. Therefore, the IMSA decided to drop the L3 class for 2010.
In 2010 SCCA Pro Racing launched the SCCA Pro Formula Enterprises together with the SCCA Pro Spec Racer class. The Formula Enterprises class raced with moderate success. At the end of the 2011 season it was announced that it would merge with the U.S. F2000 National Championship National Class. The national class also allowed Formula Continental cars. Sixteen-year-old Norwegian driver Henrik Furuseth took the championship for Cape Motorsports. For 2013 the National class only allowed Formula Enterprises cars.[2] However, National class saw poor car counts and the class was discontinued for 2014, again leaving no professional series using the formula.
In 2018 an updated Mazda 2.0L engine and Sadev 6-speed sequential gearbox were introduced to replace the aging 2.3L and 5-speed Elite. The new Formula Enterprises 2 (FE2) spec ran alongside original FE cars in national competition, with champions in each class crowned at the club’s yearly National Championship Runoffs in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, only the new FE2 spec was legal for SCCA National competition relegating original FE spec cars to regional-only competition.
Specifications edit
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| Van Diemen DP06 'Formula Enterprises' | |
|---|---|
| Engine | 2.0L Mazda MZR |
| Valvetrain | Twin cam, 16 Valves |
| Torque | 160 ft-lbs at 4700rpm |
| Horsepower | 185 hp at 5800rpm |
| Ignition system | electronic fuel ignition |
| Transmission | 6-speed sequential |
| Suspension | Push rod |
| Chassis | tubular steel spaceframe |
| Tires | Hoosier |
| Weight | Formula: 1270 lbs |
| Sports Racer: 1350 lbs | |
Notable champions edit
The Formula SCCA is raced in various SCCA national and regional events in the Formula Enterprises and C Sports Racer class. Below is an overview of the most important races and championships.
| Year | SCCA National Championship Runoffs | SCCA June Sprints | Formula SCCA | IMSA Lites L3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Elivan Goulart
| |||
| 2005-6 | No national class Formula SCCA/Enterprises | |||
| 2007 | Rusty Mitchell |
Richard Spicer
| ||
| 2008 | Mark Eaton |
Mark Eaton |
Chris Funk
| |
| 2009 | Nicholas Evans |
Scott Rettich |
SCCA Pro Formula Enterprises | Chris Doyle
|
| 2010 | Scott Rettich |
Scott Rettich |
Sean Rayhall
| |
| 2011 | Scott Rettich |
Matthew Mai |
Scott Rettich
| |
| 2012 | Patrick Gallagher |
Patrick Gallagher |
USF2000 National Class | |
 Henrik Furuseth
| ||||
| 2013 | Scott Rettich |
Scott Rettich |
Scott Rettich
| |
| 2014 | Scott Rettich |
Scott Rettich
| ||
| 2015 | Scott Rettich |
Scott Rettich
| ||
| 2016 | Scott Rettich |
Scott Rettich
| ||
| 2017 | Elliot Finlayson |
Dean Oppermann / Elliot Finlayson
| ||
| 2018 | FE: Mark Snyder FE2: Flinn Lazier |
FE: Scott Rettich (both races) FE2: Paul Schneider /  Mathias Soler-Obel
| ||
| 2019 | FE: James Libecco FE2: Rhett Barkau |
FE: Mark Snyder (both races) FE2: Liam Snyder / Scott Rettich
| ||
| 2020 | FE2: Liam Snyder |
FE2: Kenton Koch / Max Grau
| ||
| 2021 | FE2: Scott Rettich |
FE2: Scott Rettich / Bailey Monette
| ||
| 2022 | FE2: Bailey Monette |
FE2: Bailey Monette (both races)
| ||
| 2023 | FE2: Charles Russell Turner |
FE2: Caleb Shrader (both races)
| ||
References edit
- ^ "SCCA Pro Racing announces Sports Racing Pro Series". Archived from the original on August 11, 2003. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "USF2000 Makes National Class Changes for 2013". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2013.