Fusion FM-301

The Fusion FM-301 is a car designed by Fusion Motorsports' performance division FM Engineering for the 2015 F3RWRS season. It is powered by Audi's F3-1 engine.

History

After Fusion were accepted into the F3RWRS they formed FM Engineering, their car design and performance affiliate. This was for the purpose of developing cars as the team grew; the FM-301 was the first car to be completely designed by the group.

Prior to the team's entry, Fusion principal and owner Jake Legge lobbied Audi for an engine supply citing the fact that the engine was noted as the middle ground for power and reliability. This also earned support from Aeroracing Engineering, who were the only Audi-supplied team and thus another team would have helped subsidise their engine costs. Getting the engine supplier early was instrumental in getting the car tailor-made for the engine, which meant that testing was less focused on weight distribution.

Fusion were only able to bring the FM-301 to one test where they managed to set times for 16th and 22nd. Most of the day was spent on gathering grip and downforce data as the car hadn't run with the Bridgestone tyres before. The car was then marginally revised to get the best trade-off between durability and grip from its tyres. FM Engineering also developed its own six-speed semi-automatic carbon titanium gearbox. Audi developed their own ECU to be the most compatible unit with the engine. Although the carbon forming was mainly done at Fusion Motorsports' base in Bath, Formtech were assigned as consultants to the operation; Fusion has five Formtech employees sub-contracted to the in-house carbon shop.

The first races were from the Round of Australia in Adelaide. Expecting nothing more than a midfield finish, the team were stunned by Marko Jantscher's 4th place in the first race. The second was less impressive; Jantscher finished 21st as Leandro Moreira retired in both races. At the next round in Turkey, Jantscher managed another 4th place in the first race as Moreira got his first points from the second race; coming 7th.

Monaco was the first "SuperPrix" event of the year; and thus teams were allowed to enter a 3rd car. F1RDS driver Jari Lappalainen joined Jantscher and Moreira as RDS drivers were allowed special dispensation to race due to the 3rd drivers not being eligible for points. Unfortunately for him, the Finn retired early on. However, Jantscher managed to take Fusion's first ever podium as he finished 3rd. Moreira rounded out the points scorers in 10th.

This proved to be the catalyst for a rich run of form for Jantscher; he managed to get a 2nd in the Laguna Seca feature race, and 3rd in the sprint having taken his first pole position. The Austrian was hotly tipped to win a race sooner rather than later due to his great run of form and the fact that the car was being developed well by a strong team of engineers.. This came in the sprint race at Brands Hatch; after finishing 2nd in the feature race Marko had the confidence to break into the lead in the second race and edged out Eric Swerts to get Fusion's first ever win in an RWRS category.

Despite Jantscher's excellent results, Moreira found himself out of a drive after having been completely outclassed by his teammate. After the vacancy was advertised, Niko Nurminen got in touch and allowed the team to sign Stefan Kuntz for the rest of the season. The German had an inauspicious start to the season at his home race; making contact with Jantscher who had his podium and points streak ended. However, Jantscher recovered to win again in the sprint race as Kuntz managed a point himself.

Complete F3RWRS Results

Year	Team	Engine	#	Drivers	1		2		3	4		5		6		7	8		9		10	Points	CC
2015	Fusion Motorsports	Audi F3-1			AUS		TUR		MON	USA		GBR		GER		BEL	ITA		JPN		SUR	73*	N/A*
			33	Marko Jantscher	4	21	4	9	3	2	3	2	1	21	1	5
			34	Leandro Moreira	Ret	Ret	14	7	10	37	15	Ret	18
				Stefan Kuntz										29	8	26