As the 2010 FIA Formula One entry list was published today, there was one major shock – and that is that a little team from the junior Motorsport series has been granted entry to play with the big boys in 2010 – they are Manor Motorsport
Manor Motorsport were formed in 1990 when John Booth retired from his own competitive race career, and began on new one in team ownership.
They instantly hit success when in that first season in Formula Renault they chalked up three victories.
Limited success followed over the course of the next decade until they made their championship breakthrough season in 1999, went they dominated all before them in the junior series.
Their drivers won titles all over the Britain, with Antonio Pizzonia who would go on to race in Formula One with Williams and Jaguar taking the British Formula Renault 2000 title, Marc Haynes who has raced everything from sports cars to touring cars took the British Formula Three Championship and won the prestigious Masters of Formula Three at Zandvoort in what was the teams first season in any Formula Three category.
Also in 1999, Manor Motorsport won the British Formula Renault 2000 Winter Series Championship, driven by a twenty-year-old Finnish driver by the name of Kimi Riakkonen.
Come 2000 more success followed, Riakkonen had moved into the main British Formula Renault 2000 series, and promptly won the title, and earning the admiration of Peter Sauber in the process. While Riakkonen was defending Manors title is predecessor was defending another title, as Pizzonia was promoted to British Formula Three and became champion at the first attempt.
Manor then had a few quiet years, victories kept coming but there were no more titles until 2003, when future World Champion Lewis Hamilton first major impact in Motorsport by becoming British Formula Renault Champion.
Hamilton stayed with Manor in 2004, and won the Formula Three Bahrain Superprix beating a field comprising some of the best Formula Three drivers of the day including Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakijima and team-mate Paul Di Resta.
Hamilton moved on to ART Grand Prix in 2005, where he would give fans a demonstration of pure domination like never seen before or since in the Formula Three Euroseries. His replacement was current GP2 front runner Lucas Di Grassi who despite only finishing third in the Formula Three Euroseries, took victory in the Macau Grand Prix beating drivers from all over the world.
Former A1GP Team Great Britain driver Oliver Jarvis, who now races in the DTM also joined Manor in 2005, and reclaimed the British Formula Renault title that the team lost in 2004.
In 2006 they failed to retain either title the won in 2005, but French driver Franck Mailleux made his impact in Britain by winning the British Formula Renault Winter Championship.
Manor Motorsport underwent a chance of ownership in 2007 with long-standing British Formula Renault team manager Tony Shaw purchasing that side of the operation from John Booth, and renamed it Manor Competition.
Since Mailleux won the British Formula Renault Winter Series in 2006 they have come close. In 2008 Alexander Sims scored more points than eventual champion Adam Christodoulou but lost the title on dropped scores. There was some consolation as he was named McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the year.
In 2009 Manor continue to compete in Formula Three Euroseries, British Formula Renault 2.0 and British Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series running some of the best young drivers in the world.
Their leading charger in Formula Three Euroseries is Roberto Merhi, who sits second against huge favourite Julies Bianchi and in British Formula Renault 2.0 they have Dean Smith in eighth place despite missing the opening few races.
Manor have a hugely successful history in the junior series, and I for one cannot wait to see how they perform in Formula One next year, they have built the careers of so many young drivers who have gone on to race Formula One, many more can now follow in their footsteps. And with McLaren and Ferraris entries only ranked as provisional so far a former driver reunion of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Riakkonen is a possibility.
Written by 6 on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:15:20
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