2015 Formula Challenge Season Summer Break Review

The Summer Break is finally upon us! Drivers, Team Owners and League Management alike can sit back and relax for a bit before it's back to work. Still the minds work however. Is Driver X surplus to requirement? Should I look to be moving my team up next year? Should I be looking to move next year? Just how do I work the understeer out of this car?

All very valid questions I agree.

But one question I've been asking myself is this; how poor were my predictions at the start of the year? Well I'm going to be answering those questions in two articles where I look at the successes, failures and other goings ons of the class of 2015. Buckle up kids, it's going to get wordy.

Ice Cold Racing
Current Situation - 1st by 173 points
Last Used Drivers - Eric Stranne and Jesper Nielsen

A case of everybody knowing what would happen when the line-up was announced pre-season. No driver deviation, ruthless consistency mixed together to form a mighty campaign. It is no surprise that Ice Cold find themselves in such a position where the team behind them would have to essentially take maximum points from two race evenings whilst Ice Cold non-score in two race evenings in order for their grip on the Teams' title to be overhauled. Unless something goes horribly wrong the last seven rounds should be a mop-up job for the Norwegian outfit as they will likely be looking forward to the step up into Supercup for next year that is usually bestowed upon the Formula Challenge champions.

Team Proline
Current Situation - 2nd by 71 points from 3rd
Last Used Drivers - Sandeep Chodha and Bence Zsupanek

With only one round missed by Chodha, Team Proline (much like Ice Cold) have had very little to worry about on the driver front of things. Both Chodha and Zsupanek have won races with the team a strong 2nd. The selection of Chodha as the new full-time driver for SimCraft Racing in Supercup may have put a spanner in the works however and when the time does come where Chodha cannot compete for Proline anymore, the German outfit must surely be hoping that a decent replacement has already been selected and briefed. In my opinion though, if the aspiration is Supercup for next year however there shouldn't be too much worry. Thanks to the fall off of Bastvik Grand Prix's form.

MadCape Racing Team
Current Situation - Ahead of 4th by 94 points
Last Used Drivers - Lars Brugman and Gerarhd Batlle

First pie in face moment this article for me as MadCape and in particular Lars Brugman have defied all expectations to become Eric Stranne's closest rival for the Drivers' title. In truth, the Dutchman has carried the team with points on the other side of the garage only being delivered by guest driver Robert Wiesenmuller but that hasn't stopped them having an incredible campaign. Experimentation with the second driver has led to the most recent edition in Gerarhd Batlle who has the potential to score points. I'm certain they would be happy to finish 3rd and like those above them, could have an easy transition upwards for 2016.

Bastvik Grand Prix
Current Situation - Ahead of 5th by 22 points
Last Used Drivers - Wesley Morris and Tobias Olsson

The partnership of Salo/Olsson worked surprisingly well at the beginning of the year as the Finnish outfit took a surprise lead in the Teams' championship. Since then however Salo has declined in form and full out left the team and the slide since his departure following his latest win in Monaco has been worrying. Olsson continues to show promise but despite his first pole position at GPVWC has found scoring in both races difficult of late whilst new arrival Wesley Morris has not lived up to the potential he displayed in Open Series. With Racing Team Schroten and Centurion Grand Prix in a rich vein of form at this part of the season, Bastvik are still looking to do better than I predicted but 6th seems to be the damage limitation target.

Racing Team Schroten
Current Situation - Closing on Bastvik, Centurion closing in from behind
Last Used Drivers - Scott Berrisford and Geoffrey Fournier

Scott Berrisford has delivered as expected whilst the replacement of Tommi Ojala with Geoffrey Fournier has brought more points to the team than I first predicted in February. The team is in a good rhythm whilst they are consistently being pushed by the target of Bastvik ahead and the surging Centurion Grand Prix behind. Will finish higher than I expected in either 4th or 5th.

Centurion Grand Prix
Current Situation - Closing in on Racing Team Schroten and Bastvik Grand Prix
Last Used Drivers - Andrew Waring and Niels Brugman

Andrew Waring has made the difference as predicted for the South African outfit who stood their ground strongly as a mid-season transfer saga raged on with Draig Racing. With the addition of the brother to Lars, Niels Brugman, in the team the outfit arguably have a better line-up than their Supercup squad last year. 4th is not out of reach but a quick return to Supercup may be too far to stretch.

Epic Racing Team
Current Situation - Losing ground to top five, falling back into clutches of Draig Racing and Karjala Racing
Last Used Drivers - Jack Mayor and Rob Mason

Wopke Hoekstra was, barring Lars Brugman, surely the most savvy of the season. The Dutchman was having an incredible campaign - though one which drew in too much notice. The Measuric Racing reserve driver is now the Measuric Racing primary driver and Epic are left to lick their wounds with Rob Mason a decent replacement but not in the points as deeply or consistently as Hoekstra. The English outfit has had a great return to GPVWC this year but in Formula Challenge eyes must surely be cast back to Draig and Karjala who will be eyeing good ends to disappointing campaigns.

Fanatec Draig Racing
Current Situation - Closing on Epic Racing Team
Last Used Drivers - Marcos Riffel and James Kirk

A team that was touted for high expectations, Draig has fallen foul of driver instability. The relationship with Balint Hammer went sour, James Kirk has struggled early season whilst missing two rounds, Martin Lepassar has only seen one appearance whilst latest signing Marcos Riffel leaves the team to join Edonis Engineering in Superleague. Just who Draig will sign next is anyone's guess but a recent upturn in form with Kirk will give the Welsh outfit hope that the points will continue to roll in.

Karjala Racing
Current Situation - Recently lost 8th to Draig Racing
Last Used Drivers - Alexander van der Woude and Lewis McGlade

Another team with a slightly disappointing campaign, Lewis McGlade has proven to be a strong signing but hasn't had the sort of results to tackle the sharp end of the grid whilst Ari Nieminen has backed up his decision to move down to Formula Challenge with a bipolar campaign no-shows, strong comeback drives and bad luck. If they can stay in touch with Draig they could still challenge for 7th but if the goal was to move up to Supercup next year, optimism must be curbed by now.

Cosmo Autosport
Current Situation - Recently moved into the top ten
Last Used Drivers - Hansko Mebius and Patrick Wannemuller

Now a long way away from Karjala in 9th, Cosmo has been solid if unspectacular in their first full time Career Ladder campaign. Hansko Mebius has not shown the sort of form that helped Enterprise GP to 3rd in the Teams' championship last year but he is still scoring alongside his new team mate Patrick Wannemuller who has shown to have quite the pace on his day. By this point, maintaining 10th will surely be the target towards the end of the year.

Dogecoin Racing
Current Situation - Just fallen out of top ten
Last Used Drivers - Thomas Jacobs and Ben Warren

Another team with relatively little driver deviation, Dogecoin will be slightly disappointed with their campaign so far as both Thomas Jacobs and Ben Warren have fallen underneath the levels of competitiveness expected for 2015. Warren has found better form of late whilst Jacobs can always be relied upon to deliver points so to retake 10th from Cosmo Autosport isn't out of the question but will require some work.

Viking Racing
Current Situation - Within reach of 10th
Last Used Drivers - James Ross and Eduard Batalla

James Ross and Eduard Batalla have been going about their business quietly but effectively this season. Batalla, the latest addition to the team, has proven quite a nice signing with points arriving every so often. At this stage they have improved on last year but the work must continue to maintain 12th with 10th not too far out of sight either.

YTF1
Current Situation - Maintaining position outside of top ten
Last Used Drivers - Johan LIndberg and Matthew Allington

The tale of two Teemus came to a trickily end as Toikka was unceremoniously dismissed and Valkeejarvi after such a strong Australia bombed and left with reputation soured. Johan Lindberg, promoted from Open Series, has done a nice job to score points for the English outfit however but the second seat remains in flux with team owner Matthew Allington stepping into the void in Hungary only to record two retirements. Surely a second driver who could score points would see YTF1 a little more optimistic towards the end of the season; for now though eyes may be looking behind to the ever improving Katana Motorsports

Katana Motorsports
Current Situation - Improved up the 14th
Last Used Drivers - Philipp Konig and Nicholas Harrson

At the start of the season my hopes were not high for Katana with Olli Pelkonen and Justinas Ribelis hardly a line-up to be excited about and my worries were justified early season with only one points score in Bahrain from Pelkonen. However, team owner Tom van der Voort has done an admirable job in replacing the two misfires with proving points scorer and Formula Challenge race winner Philipp Kong and Open Series promotee Nicholas Harrison. Points are now slowly but surely coming in with Konig securing top ten results in the last two rounds. If Harrison can find the points more often then a late surge to 10th could be on the cards.

Triple Twenty
Current Situation - Leaped up into 15th following Hungary
Last Used Drivers - Daniel Cziranku and Arjan Zijlstra

Second pie in face moment this article. I had such high hopes for Triple Twenty with Jayden Wright and Arjan Zijlstra after their pace in pre-season testing looked lightning. Both have been incredibly disappointing this season however with Jayden Wright now axed from the team. Daniel Cziranku has been tested and seems to be one for the future having had both contact in races but also big results such as his podium in Race 2 of Hungary. That said, having been driving on an emergency contract, could it be that his future lies elsewhere such as a continued campaign in Open Series? Triple Twenty surely wouldn't hope so.

Deltec Racing Team
Current Situation - Remains as highest of the bottom teams
Last Used Drivers - Denis Mitchell and Adam Ozgur

I take my cap off to Deltec. Both drivers have scored points and they find themselves 30 points away from last having only just been overtaken from 15th by the jump-started Triple Twenty. How far can they go? I'm really not too sure. With their current line-up I think maintaining 16th will be a nice achievement.

Scuderia Basilea
Current Situation - Languishing in 17th
Last Used Drivers - Bruno Sousa Ferreira and Jari Bruppacher

The rut has not been stopped unfortunately. Sousa Ferreira has not found the form which attracted interest in him last season and though Bruppacher has had much more important things to worry about in life than Formula Challenge, he has never looked to trouble the points in truth. Stand-in driver Tomeu Cabrer looked a much more sharp option in Monaco though evidently a contract was never struck up beyond Monaco. Another damage limitation year for Basilea then it seems.

Downforce iZone Racing
Current Situation - Fallen to 18th
Last Used Driver - Nicolas Hillebrand

It was always going to be an uphill struggle for Downforce but they have gone about their task admirably. A decent points streak between Bahrain and Turkey however has been followed up by a slew of retirements - such is the way of how guest drivers go. I predicted 18th at the start of the year and I reckon that is where they will finish.

Arrow International Racing
Current Situation - Lack of points in 19th
Last Used Drivers - Kenneth Ragland and Dave van Gils

There are not many ways it could have gone worse for Arrow on their debut in the Career Ladder. Sam Jones has gone from inconsistent points scorer to backmarker whilst Mike Bell, the only points scorer for the team, has left to take up a reserve role in Superleague. Dave van Gils has looked more likely to score points on occasion but has yet to do so. I don't see them overtaking Downforce but I do see them keeping Zedderick behind.

Zedderick Racing
Current Situation - Creeping up on Arrow ahead
Last Used Drivers - Andrejs Pestovs and Tim Straub

I wasn't expecting many points from Zedderick this year and once again fears have been confirmed. That said, signs of improvement from Ben Willis means he is on the cusp of points more often than not and only one more point at the time of writing will take Zedderick ahead of Arrow. Surely that in itself would be a huge psychological boost. Either way, above 18th would be a glorious result for the team who had such a strong start in Formula Challenge last year.

BackMarker Brigade
Current Situation - Bottom with brief moments of point scoring potential
Last Used Drivers - Simon Smith and Rolf Baas

It seems to be the same case every year unfortunately - BackMarker Brigade living up to their name. Andreas Wauters is now gone, replaced by Dutchman Rolf Bass who to be fair has been close to scoring. Unless big changes happen soon however, survival into 2016 may be a big worry as newer outfits line-up with the potential to move onto rFactor 2.



Comparison - Kirk's Predictions To Current Situation

1: Ice Cold Racing =
2: Team Proline =
3: Karjala Racing +6
4: Fanatec Draig Racing +4
5: Centurion Grand Prix +1
6: Racing Team Schroten -1
7: Bastvik Grand Prix -2
8: Triple Twenty +7
9: Dogecoin Racing +2
10: Epic Racing Team -3
11: YTF1 +2
12: Cosmo Autosport -2
13: MadCape Racing Team -10
14: Viking Racing +2
15: Arrow International Racing +4
16: Katana Motorsports -1
17: Scuderia Basilea =
18: Downforce iZone Racing =
19: Zedderick Racing +1
20: Deltec Racing Team -4
21: BackMarker Brigade =