Litespeed F3 is a Norfolk UK based F3 team formed by directors who have over 25 years of race experience at all levels up to and including Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 and Formula Three

Formula Three

Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...

. Its team principal is Nino Judge.

The car

Litespeed were developing an F3 car originally manufactured, in 2005, by the ATR Group in Italy as the SLC R1.

In 2006, the SLC R1 underwent a full aero upgrade, which produced good results particularly on high-speed tracks such as Nürburgring

Nürburgring

The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...

 in Germany, where it attained pole position. By having autonomy on suspension geometry and layout, the Litespeed R1 also claims a slow-speed cornering advantage due to its set-up capabilities.

In 2007, the car did not race and the car and design/copyright was acquired by Litespeed F3 owners Nino Singh Judge and Steve Kenchington. The car was converted from an Opel to Honda engine over the winter and early part of 2008.

It made its race debut at Snetterton

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Norfolk, England. Owned by MotorSport Vision, it is situated on the A11 road some 20 km north-east of the town of Thetford and 30 km south-west of the city of Norwich...

 in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 in June 2008 and despite no testing was pretty much on the pace driven by Callum MacLeod

Callum MacLeod

Callum MacLeod is a professional British race car driver who drove in the 2009 and 2010 European F3 Open Championship seasons, and currently drives in the 2011 GP3 Series season.-Racing career highlights:...

 but suffered expected teething problems. On only its second outing at Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 the car finished 2nd driven by Jonathan Legris. This was the breakthrough the Litespeed F3 team were looking for and now hope for a win by the end of 2008 and for a Championship victory in 2009.

F1 Entry

Litespeed announced its intention to enter Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 under the season's budget cap regulations. The team employed MGI Ltd., a company owned by former F1 designer Mike Gascoyne

Mike Gascoyne

Michael "Mike" Gascoyne is a designer of Formula One cars. He is currently the Chief Technical Officer of Team Lotus....

, in order to achieve this goal. When the budget cap was abolished the Malaysian backed team Lotus Racing negotiated with Litespeed to obtain their entry and enter under the Lotus Racing team name, who confirmed the continuing involvement of Mike Gascoyne.