
Formula Asia, also known as Asian Formula 2000, was a class of
open wheel
An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...
formula racing
Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. A "formula", first devised by FIA for its post–World War II single-seater races, is a set of regulations for ...
. The formula used an
Argo chassis coupled with a 16-valve Ford Zetec 1,800cc engine.
There was only one championship held in Asia from 1994 until 2002, organized and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd. It was established to assist young Asian drivers make the transition from karting to European formulae such as Formula Ford and Formula Renault. Rounds were held in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. A special invitation race was also held annually at the
Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...
. It was replaced by
Formula BMW
Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...
Asia in 2003.
Japanese female driver
Keiko Ihara finished third in the AF2000 race at the 2002 Macau Grand Prix, becoming the first woman on the podium in the event's 50-year history.
Drivers who have taken part in Formula Asia include:
Michael Vergers,
Narain Karthikeyan,
Alex Yoong,
Ananda Mikola,
Bagoes Hermanto,
Takuma Sato
is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 a ...
,
Mark Goddard
Mark Goddard (born Charles Harvey Goddard; July 24, 1936 – October 10, 2023) was an American actor who starred in a number of television programs. He is probably best known for portraying Major Don West in the CBS series ''Lost in Space'' (1 ...
,
Parthiva Sureshwaren,
Karun Chandhok,
Denis Lian,
Jim Ka To and
Danny Watts.
The cars were later used as a support class with the
Asian Formula Three cars.
Past champions

*1996
Narain Karthikeyan
*1997 Bagoes Hermanto
*1998 Ben Walsh
*1999 Nattapong Horthongkum
*2000 Ng Wai-Leong
*2001
Karun Chandhok
*2002
Denis Lian
Macau Asian Formula 2000 Challenge winners
*1999
Takuma Sato
is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 a ...
*2000
Philippe Descombes
*2001
Philippe Descombes
*2002
Danny WattsWatts Turns on The Power on His Way to Asian Formula 2000 Challenge Victory
49th Macau Grand Prix. Retrieved on 28 October 2011.
References
{{Class of Auto racing
Formula racing
Recurring sporting events established in 1994
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2002
One-make series