2015 BRDC Formula 4 Championship

The 2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship[1] was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across England. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers competing in 2-litre Duratec single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2015 season was the third BRDC Formula 4 Championship organised by the British Racing Drivers' Club in the United Kingdom. The season began at Oulton Park on 4 April and ended on 27 September at Brands Hatch, after eight triple header events for a total of twenty-four races.

Will Palmer, running for the HHC Motorsport team, was a comfortable champion in the series; he wrapped up the title with one event to spare.[2] Having been a title contender in 2014, Palmer won exactly half of the races to be held in 2015 – a series-record twelve wins – and fifteen podiums in total saw him finish 137 points clear of the championship runner-up, team-mate Harrison Newey. Newey racked up eight podium finishes before he was able to take the first of two victories during the season, at Donington Park. He added a second win at Brands Hatch, taking a total of twelve podium finishes in 2015. Third place in the drivers' championship went to Chris Dittmann Racing driver Tom Jackson, who also won two races during the season – both coming at Snetterton.

Five other drivers won races during the season; Lanan Racing duo Rodrigo Fonseca (Rockingham and Silverstone) and Chris Mealin (Oulton Park and Rockingham) each won a pair of races, as did Jordan Albert of Sean Walkinshaw Racing, winning races at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch. The remaining races were won by Jackson's team-mate Omar Ismail at Snetterton and Michael O'Brien, who won the partially reversed-grid race at Rockingham for MGR Motorsport. Of the 23 drivers eligible to score points towards the drivers' championship, 17 recorded at least one podium finish.

Teams and drivers edit

All teams were British-registered.

Team No. Driver Rounds
Douglas Motorsport 2   Akhil Rabindra[3] All
24   Fernando Urrutia[4] All
HHC Motorsport 3   Will Palmer[5] All
33   Harrison Newey[6] All
37   Sisa Ngebulana[7] All
Chris Dittmann Racing 4   Omar Ismail[8] 3–8
11   Paul Sieljes[9] 2
12   Tom Jackson[10] All
94   Michael O'Brien[11] 4–5, 7
Hillspeed[12] 7   Faisal Al Zubair[12] 1–2, 4–6, 8
17   Riki Christodoulou[13][N 1] 3
51   Ameya Vaidyanathan[14] All
66   Sebastian Lanzetti[12] 1–3
77   Hernán Fallas[15] 6–8
Lanan Racing 8   Jack Bartholomew[16] All
9   Rodrigo Fonseca[17] All
10   Chris Mealin[18] All
Lang Sport 14   Jack Lang[19] All
Sean Walkinshaw Racing 18   Zubair Hoque[20] All
23   Jordan Albert[21] All
32   Marc González[22] 4
23 Racing[23] 44   James Reveler[23] All
MGR Motorsport 77   Hernán Fallas[24] 1–3
94   Michael O'Brien[25] 1–3
Graham Brunton Racing[26] 79   Ciaran Haggerty[26] All
JR Racing[27] 95   Joe Stables[27] 4–6, 8
Notes
  1. ^ Guest driver ineligible for any championship points.

Race calendar and results edit

The calendar was published on 26 November 2014.[28] The series supported British GT at six events, with stand-alone events at Snetterton in July and Brands Hatch in September.

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team
1 R1 Oulton Park
(International Circuit, Cheshire)
4 April   Will Palmer   Harrison Newey   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
R2 6 April   Jordan Albert   Chris Mealin Lanan Racing
R3   Harrison Newey   Jordan Albert Sean Walkinshaw Racing
2 R4 Rockingham
(National Circuit, Northamptonshire)
2 May   Harrison Newey   Rodrigo Fonseca   Rodrigo Fonseca Lanan Racing
R5 3 May   Tom Jackson   Michael O'Brien MGR Motorsport
R6   Rodrigo Fonseca   Chris Mealin Lanan Racing
3 R7 Silverstone Circuit
(Grand Prix, Northamptonshire)
30 May   Will Palmer   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
R8 31 May   Ciaran Haggerty   Rodrigo Fonseca Lanan Racing
R9   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
4 R10 Snetterton Circuit
(300 Circuit, Norfolk)
11 July   Omar Ismail   Harrison Newey   Omar Ismail Chris Dittmann Racing
R11 12 July   Will Palmer   Tom Jackson Chris Dittmann Racing
R12   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
5 R13 Brands Hatch
(Grand Prix Circuit, Kent)
1 August   Will Palmer   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
R14 2 August   Will Palmer   Jordan Albert Sean Walkinshaw Racing
R15   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
6 R16 Snetterton Circuit
(300 Circuit, Norfolk)
22 August   Will Palmer   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
R17 23 August   Tom Jackson   Tom Jackson Chris Dittmann Racing
R18   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
7 R19 Donington Park
(Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire)
12 September   Harrison Newey   Will Palmer   Harrison Newey HHC Motorsport
R20 13 September   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
R21   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
8 R22 Brands Hatch
(Indy Circuit, Kent)
26 September   Will Palmer   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport
R23 27 September   Will Palmer   Harrison Newey HHC Motorsport
R24   Will Palmer   Will Palmer HHC Motorsport

Championship standings edit

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top 20 classified finishers in all races.

Races Position, points per race
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th
Races 1 & 3 35 29 24 21 19 17 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Race 2 25 22 20 18 16 15 14

Drivers' championship edit

Pos. Driver OUL ROC SIL SNE BRH SNE DON BRH Points
1   Will Palmer 1 3 5 Ret 5 8 1 4 1 2 18 1 1 4 1 1 Ret 1 2 1 1 1 6 1 592
2   Harrison Newey 2 6 9 Ret 4 12 Ret 6 2 3 15 2 4 2 11 2 2 3 1 7 3 8 1 2 455
3   Tom Jackson 4 5 4 Ret 2 5 4 3 10 16 1 4 3 3 5 3 1 2 10 6 12 13 12 3 420
4   Rodrigo Fonseca 9 8 3 1 8 2 15 1 3 6 2 7 10 5 6 7 Ret 12 DSQ 9 2 3 3 4 409
5   Ciaran Haggerty 6 2 7 13 Ret Ret 2 14 6 7 4 3 2 6 3 4 6 5 4 4 5 4 5 8 406
6   Jordan Albert 18 16 1 5 3 Ret 3 5 4 5 5 Ret 7 1 9 13 5 7 8 8 9 5 4 7 359
7   Jack Bartholomew 5 4 6 6 9 4 6 8 15 Ret 3 11 Ret 11 4 12 8 6 6 2 8 9 8 10 329
8   Chris Mealin 7 1 2 4 6 1 16 DSQ 7 NC 6 10 8 8 7 9 DSQ 8 7 10 Ret 10 9 Ret 303
9   Omar Ismail 7 Ret 17 1 7 5 6 7 2 5 4 4 5 5 6 Ret 19 Ret 260
10   Jack Lang 12 9 Ret 3 Ret 6 Ret 15 16 14 8 6 5 Ret 18 10 7 10 Ret 11 11 7 2 6 244
11   Sisa Ngebulana 8 15 11 12 16 7 5 2 18 15 Ret 9 9 Ret 8 11 13 13 14 14 Ret 6 7 5 221
12   Ameya Vaidyanathan 16 Ret 12 2 17 Ret 13 16 14 12 9 16 Ret 12 14 16 Ret 9 3 3 7 11 13 9 217
13   Akhil Rabindra 11 10 15 11 7 15 Ret 11 8 8 13 12 11 Ret 10 8 Ret 14 9 16 10 14 14 15 203
14   Zubair Hoque 15 14 8 10 12 3 10 12 12 Ret 14 13 16 13 15 14 9 15 13 12 16 16 15 13 201
15   Fernando Urrutia 10 12 10 Ret 11 14 9 7 11 Ret 12 8 12 10 13 Ret Ret 16 Ret 15 14 2 10 Ret 194
16   Faisal Al Zubair 14 13 13 9 14 10 9 10 14 13 9 12 6 3 11 12 11 11 189
17   Michael O'Brien 13 11 14 8 1 Ret 12 10 13 4 11 15 17 Ret Ret 11 Ret 15 150
18   James Reveler 19 17 16 14 15 13 14 17 20 10 16 17 14 14 16 18 11 19 12 13 13 18 16 Ret 134
19   Hernán Fallas 17 Ret 17 Ret 10 Ret 8 Ret 19 17 10 18 15 17 4 15 17 12 103
20   Sebastian Lanzetti 3 7 Ret 15 Ret 9 11 13 9 89
21   Joe Stables 13 17 19 15 15 17 15 12 17 17 18 14 63
22   Paul Sieljes 7 13 11 34
23   Marc González 11 Ret 18 13
Guest drivers ineligible for points
  Riki Christodoulou Ret 9 5
Pos. Driver OUL ROC SIL SNE BRH SNE DON BRH Points
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup edit

The Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup was awarded to the driver who started from pole position most often throughout the season. Will Palmer was the winner of the Cup, starting 10 of the 24 races from pole position.

Pos. Driver Poles
1   Will Palmer 10
2   Harrison Newey 4
3   Jordan Albert 2
  Akhil Rabindra 2
5   Hernán Fallas 1
  Rodrigo Fonseca 1
  Omar Ismail 1
  Chris Mealin 1
  Sisa Ngebulana 1
  Michael O'Brien 1

2015 BRDC Formula 4 Autumn Trophy edit

References edit

  1. ^ "BRDC F4 Championship gains new title sponsorship from DUO". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. ^ Kalinauckas, Alex (13 September 2015). "Will Palmer secures BRDC Formula 4 crown with a round to go". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  3. ^ David, Gruz (13 March 2015). "Akhil Rabindra enters BRDC F4 to race for Douglas Motorsport". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Fernando Urrutia re-signs for BRDC Formula 4 with Douglas Motorsport". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 23 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  5. ^ David, Gruz (16 December 2014). "HHC retain Palmer for 2015 BRDC F4 title assault". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  6. ^ Allen, Peter (13 November 2014). "Harrison Newey commits to full BRDC F4 programme in 2015". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  7. ^ Allen, Peter (25 February 2015). "HHC complete 2015 BRDC F4 line-up with South African Sisa Ngebulana". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (12 January 2015). "Omar Ismail secures BRDC F4 debut with Chris Dittmann Racing". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Sieljes returns to Duo BRDC Formula 4 with Chris Dittmann Racing". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  10. ^ Allen, Peter (23 February 2015). "Tom Jackson stays with CDR for second season in BRDC F4". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Title battle recommences at Snetterton". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015. Michael O'Brien rounds out the top-10 as he switches to competing for Chris Dittmann Racing and the 20-year-old will be looking to add his second win of the year at Snetterton.
  12. ^ a b c Khorounzhiy, Valentin (8 January 2015). "Hillspeed confirm Al Zubair and Lanzetti for 2015 BRDC F4 season". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Palmer tops opening wet practice session at Silverstone". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Rookie Vaidyanathan completes Hillspeed's BRDC F4 line-up". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 23 March 2015. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Fallas to race with Hillspeed at Snetterton". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 20 August 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  16. ^ David, Gruz (7 January 2015). "Bartholomew joins BRDC F4 with team champions Lanan". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  17. ^ Allen, Peter (29 January 2015). "Rodrigo Fonseca joins Lanan for second BRDC F4 season". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  18. ^ "Mealin completes Lanan Racing line-up for Duo BRDC Formula 4". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  19. ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (5 February 2015). "Jack Lang enters BRDC F4 for 2015 season". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  20. ^ Allen, Peter (19 January 2015). "Zubair Hoque signs with SWR for 2015 BRDC F4 season". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  21. ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (4 March 2015). "SWR retain Albert for a second BRDC F4 season". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Spanish Teenager Gonzalez to Make F4 Debut with SWR at Snetterton". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  23. ^ a b "James Reveler becomes 20th driver on the BRDC Formula 4 grid". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  24. ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (10 March 2015). "Hernan Fallas announced as MGR's first 2015 signing in BRDC F4". Paddock Scout. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  25. ^ "O'Brien joins Mark Godwin Racing in BRDC Formula 4". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  26. ^ a b "Haggerty to race in BRDC F4 with Ecurie Ecosse and support of Indy 500 winner Franchitti". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 23 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  27. ^ a b "Stables Joins 2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 Grid with JR Racing". BRDC Formula 4 Championship. British Racing Drivers' Club. 11 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  28. ^ Mitchell, Scott (26 November 2014). "BRDC Formula 4 replaces Formula 3 on British GT package for 2015". Autosport. Haymarket. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.

External links edit