F1000: THE REAWAKENING OF THE JEDI BATTLERS

It is somewhat fitting that the cars in the F1000 Championship are called Jedis. The category is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and yet organisers have had to display some warrior-like resilience to enable the series to survive throughout that period – and now it is thriving once more.

Championship manager Frazer Corbyn describes F1000 as now being “the best it’s ever been”, but it has taken a lot of hard work for the category to be a major force once again. Back when it launched in 1997, the British Racing and Sports Car Club-administered division was known as Formula 600, with the nimble slicks-and-wings Jedi mated with a 600cc motorbike engine. It proved a hit and future British Touring Car racers Mat Jackson and Tony Gilham were among the early recruits. A class for the faster 1000cc engine was later introduced and it was not long before this became the motor of choice. Throughout this time, the long-standing ethos of offering competitive singleseater racing at an affordable price remained. And yet the financial crash of 2008 brought momentum to a clattering halt.

“When the credit