2016 Challenge British Grand Prix

**2016 Challenge British Grand Prix**
Race details
Round 8 of the 2016 Formula Challenge season

Date	31st May, 2016
Event	2016 Challenge British Grand Prix
Location	Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire
Course	Permanent Racing Facility 3.667 mi / 5.901 km
Distance	13 laps, 48.78 mi / 76.713 km (each race)
Weather	Wet
Pole position
Driver	James Johnson	MadCape Racing Team
Time	1:54.179
Race One Podium
First	James Johnson	MadCape Racing Team
Second	Jonathan Holmes	Arrow International Racing
Third	Wopke Hoekstra	GPVWC Academy
Race One Fastest Lap
Driver	James Johnson	MadCape Racing Team
Time	1:51.799
Race Two Podium
First	James Johnson	MadCape Racing Team
Second	Stephane Rouault	Deltec Racing Team
Third	Geoffrey Fournier	Epic Racing
Race Two Fastest Lap
Driver	Wopke Hoekstra	GPVWC Academy
Time	1:50.146

The 2016 Challenge British Grand Prix - the Eighth round of the season - took place at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom on the 31st of May.

Report

Background

Championship frontrunners James Johnson and Stephane Rouault remained atop the standings but it was a far from perfect Round 7 at Montreal, Canada with Johnson only scoring points in the first race with a second place finish. However things were even worse for Rouault who came into the event with three wins on the bounce, however a retirement in race one made any points from race two a tough ask and sure enough, he could only manage 19th, meaning he left without a single point scored. Jonathan Holmes was able to capitalise on their misfortune by moving to a point behind the Dutchman whilst Carlos Fernandez reignited his season with a superb double win, bringing him up to fourth place in the standings.

Qualifying

Qualifying took place on a wet but drying Silverstone circuit and with a high number of home drivers in the field, it promised to be competitive throughout the field. Indeed it was, apart from one position - pole position. On his home circuit, James Johnson absolutely demolished the field, posting a time of 1:54.179, nearly one and a half seconds clear of his nearest rival. That driver was a returnee to the series, GPVWC veteran Wopke Hoekstra who was chosen to drive for GPVWC Academy on the back of his performances in the Open Series. With his participation, Hoekstra remained the only driver to compete in every season of Formula Challenge since it's incarnation in 2012 and second place on the grid was a fantastic way to celebrate the achievement. Johnathan Holmes rounded off the top three, sharing row two with Mark Hutchinson who once again showcased his prowess in wet conditions. A surprised Rob Mason took fifth for Epic Racing.

Race One

The rest of the field had not bothered showing up, such was James Johnson's dominance in this race. Ran in wet conditions over only thirteen laps, the Englishman was able to build a lead of nearly 49 seconds! Matthew Chirgwin, who finished in thirteenth place, was the final car on the lead lap just giving Johnson's performance the exclamation point, if ever it needed it. Behind him, the race for second was a thrilling one with a number of drivers holding the position throughout the race, however it was Jonathan Holmes who once again took to the second step of the podium, his fourth such occasion. Wopke Hoekstra continued his celebrations with a fine third place in his first race with the new rF2 cars whilst Stephane Rouault recovered from tenth of the grid to finish fourth and start to make up from his disastrous round last time out. Epic Racing returned to form, completing the top six with Geoffrey Fournier just ahead of the impressive Rob Mason.

Unsurprisingly, Johnson also set the fastest lap at 1:51.799 - almost a second faster than anyone else.

Race Two

Only the top eleven were drawn for reversal, meaning Dutch racer Mike Kwint took pole for Scuderia Basilea. However he, like the rest of the field, just could not keep up with James Johnson who again dominated proceedings despite having to climb up through the top ten full of very fast drivers. Although his winning margin wasn't as big as his race one effort, he still had 19 seconds spare as he took the chequered flag. Stephane Rouault completed a damage limitation race meet with second place whilst Geoffrey Fournier once again graced the podium in third. Basilea still managed to get a car into the top five but it was in the hands of team manager David Jundt who once again had to step in to drive for his own team, securing his best result of the year with fourth place. Jonathan Holmes took home fifth, keeping pace with Rouault in the championship standings.

Johnson's perfect race meet was snatched away at the end of the race when Wopke Hoekstra set the fastest lap. He had to pit for a new front wing, taking on new tyres at the same time and was able to set a time of 1:50.146

Post-race

The top three in the drivers standings all held position, but with his perfect 50 points scored, James Johnson had managed to pull a gap out to second placed Stephane Rouault and third placed Jonathan Holmes, both of whom are only separated by a mere three points. Carlos Fernandez and Geoffrey Fournier round off the top five but are rapidly losing touch with the top three. In the team standings, MadCape are now over a hundred points ahead of second placed Deltec, however the fight for second has bunched up with Deltec, Fanatec Draig, Arrow, Epic and Tēafor all seperated by only eleven points as we go into the halfway point in Austria.