2016 Challenge Turkish Grand Prix

From GPVWC Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Flag of Turkey.png   2016 Challenge Turkish Grand Prix
Race details
Round 5 of the 2016 Formula Challenge season
Istanbul Park Circuit.png
Date 19th April, 2016
Event 2016 Challenge Turkish Grand Prix
Location Istanbul Park, Istanbul
Course Permanent racing facility
3.317 mi / 5.338 km
Distance 15 laps, 49.755 mi / 80.07 km (each race)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver England James Johnson MadCape Racing Team
Time 1:38.982
Race One Podium
First England James Johnson MadCape Racing Team
Second France Geoffrey Fournier Epic Racing
Third Netherlands Michel de Jong MadCape Racing Team
Race One Fastest Lap
Driver Netherlands Stephane Rouault Deltec Racing Team
Time 1:39.253
Race Two Podium
First Netherlands Stephane Rouault Deltec Racing Team
Second Austria Max Melamed Scuderia Basilea
Third England James Johnson MadCape Racing Team
Race Two Fastest Lap
Driver England James Johnson MadCape Racing Team
Time 1:39.800


The 2016 Challenge Turkish Grand Prix - the Fifth round of the season - took place at the Istanbul Park Circuit in Istanbul, Turkey on the 19th of April.

Report

Background

The fourth round of the season, taking place at Barcleona in Spain, saw Thomas Jacobs and Stephane Rouault register their first wins of the season, meaning there was now seven different race winners from the first eight races, it was also the single entry GPVWC Academy's first ever win, in the hands of Jacobs. The standings saw Johnson and Fournier take to the front of the driver's championship, a point separating the two.

In the driver's standings, James Johnson extended his lead at the top to 21 points over fellow Englishman Jonathan Holmes. Second placed Holmes and fifth placed Carlos Fernandez were separated by only 9 points, with Rouault and Geoffrey Fournier in third and fourth respectively. MadCape Racing Team maintained their lead in the team's standings.

Qualifying

MadCape's James Johnson secured pole position with a time of 1:38.982, making him the first driver to register multiple pole positions this season, his first being in the third round of the year at Sochi. However it wasn't nearly as dominant as expected with Scuderia Basilea's Max Melamed only 0.016s off pole, making a quite resounding return to the pace he showed in the season opener. Stephane Rouault maintained his fantastic form, taking third on the grid albeit over three tenths off the pace. The next eight cars after the top three were all separated by half a second.

Race One

James Johnson took home his second race win of the year, joining Carlos Fernandez as the only multiple winners of the 2016 season. The Englishman was over 11 seconds clear of his nearest challenge, Epic's Geoffrey Fournier after 15 racing laps, once again cementing Johnson as the title favourite with nearly a third of the season complete. Behind Fournier, Michel de Jong rounded off a fantastic result for MadCape by finishing on the podium for the second time of the year in third. Both Fanatec Draig Racing drivers completed the top five, with Matthew Chirgwin claiming his highest finish of the season in fourth, half a second ahead of team mate Cameron Brewster who returned to the top five after missing out in the previous two rounds.

Despite finishing a disappointing tenth after starting third, Stephane Rouault set the fastest lap with a time of 1:39.253.

Race Two

Stephane Rouault was drawn to pole position for race two after number ten was selected for reversal and the Dutchman made the most of it, storming to his second victory of the season, meaning Turkey was the first event of the year not to feature a new winner. He was able to manage a steady gap ahead of the rest of the pack to finish four seconds ahead of second placed Max Melamed, the Austrian returning to the podium for the first time since the season opening round in Australia and having the distinction of three of his four points finishes being either second of third. Race one winner James Johnson rounded off another competitive weekend with third place despite starting tenth. Jonathan Holmes and Michel de Jong rounded out the top five.

Johnson also set the fastest lap of the race, 1:39.800.

Post-race

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis dui est, viverra vitae sodales eget, rhoncus rhoncus sapien. Aenean egestas dui in lacus feugiat vitae mattis nibh bibendum. Phasellus ornare turpis a lacus vehicula a tempus ipsum fermentum. Quisque rutrum malesuada urna, sit amet pharetra diam porta varius. Nulla auctor tempor purus, in lobortis tellus ultrices sed. Cras placerat elit aliquam arcu pharetra dictum. Fusce tempor faucibus dui eget gravida. In hac habitasse platea dictumst.

Results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 England James Johnson 151
2 Netherlands Stephane Rouault 114
3 England Jonathan Holmes 112
4 France Geoffrey Fournier 108
5 Spain Carlos Fernandez 86

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 South Africa MadCape Racing Team 214
2 Wales Fanatec Draig Racing 151
3 England Epic Racing 150
4 South Africa Deltec Racing Team 130
5 England Arrow International Racing 128

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Image Gallery

External links

Preceded by:
2016 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix
GPVWC Formula Challenge season
2016
Succeeded by:
2016 Challenge Monaco Grand Prix