STAX Racing
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| Full name | STAX Racing |
|---|---|
| Owner/s |  Christian Zoerner
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| Base |  Halifax, Canada
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| Key staff | Christian Zoerner
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| Year Joined | 2016 |
| Series Entered | 2016 World GT, 2016 ITC, 2017 FC, 2017 World GT, 2018 FC, 2018 World GT |
| Associated Teams | Epic Racing |
| Website | STAXRacing.com |
STAX Racing is a Canadian sim-racing team owned by Christian Zoerner that was established in 2015. For the 2016 season, the team has entered the World GT Series, marking their début in the GPVWC sim-racing community. Later that year, the team also entered the 2016 International Touring Cup.
At the 2016 GPVWC day it was announced that STAX Racing was allocated a spot in the 2017 Formula Challenge season. They also started in the 2017 World GT Series. 2018 will see the team compete in the 2018 Formula Challenge season and the 2018 World GT Series.
Contents
2016
STAX Racing made applications to join both the 2016 World GT Series and 2016 World Sport Series with their priority resting on the endurance World GT series. They received confirmation of their place on the World GT grid on the 26th of February, being allocated a pair of Aston Martin Vantages and racing with numbers 24 and 25.
On August 13th, the league administration awarded the team a spot in the 2016 International Touring Cup. STAX Racing will start in a Honda Civic with numbers 26 and 27.
World GT
The team announced on their Facebook page that Diego Carranza and GPVWC veteran Andrew Waring are their first ever driver line-up, with Formula Challenge racer Geoffrey Fournier taking up reserve duties. Carlos Andres Ladines was signed after Race One to be the team's new reserve driver, while Fournier stayed with the team as an emergency driver with an advisoral role.
The opening round was the Japanese GT Cup at Fuji. Since there were only days between the announcement of the participating teams and the first round, the team's goal was to of bring both cars home and gain valuable experience with the car. Fournier substituted for Waring, who had problems with power outages. He went on to score points on the teams' first ever race with P8, while Carranza finished P19.
Race Two, the Brazilian GT Cup, was held in Interlagos. The two STAX Racing cars were in points scoring positions at all time, until Waring experienced technical problems that forced him to retire. In the end, he was classified in P22 as he completed over 75% of the race distance. Carranza finished in P8, equaling Fournier's result from Race One.
Waring's technical problems persisted during practice for the third race, the inaugural Turkish GT Cup at Istanbul Park. After consultation with the team, he decided not to start in the race, which meant that Ladines would take over his seat for the race. He qualified in the Top 10 and held P8 during most of the race. Carranza qualified further back on the grid, but was able to steadily gain positions during the race. Both drivers benefited from the fact that the Ferraris had to do one pitstop. In the end, Carranza finsihed P11, his second consecutive point scoring position. Ladines, who, in the build up to the race stated "that he was not comfortable with the track at all", finished P3 in his first race at GPVWC. This also meant he achieved STAX Racing's first podium finish.
In the build-up to fourth race, the Belgian GT Cup at Spa-Francorchamps, it became apparent that Waring's technical problems could not be solved easily. He thus agreed to let Carlos Andres Ladines drive alongside Diego Carranza for the rest of the season. Andres Ladines qualified 2nd for the race, the best qualification result for the team so far. Carranza encountered heavy traffic on his qualifying run, resulting in him starting further down the grid in P22. The race saw Carranza steadily gaining positions through consistent laptimes and some great overtaking maneuvers. In the end, he finished the race in P7, extending his run of finising in the points to three races in a row. Carlos Andres Ladines lost a place at the start, but ran in the Top 5 for all of the race. Once again, the Ferraris had to pit for fuel, which meant that Ladines finished in P3, the same position he finished the race before.
The fifth race, the Czech GT Cup, was held at the Brno Circuit. Diego Carranza qualified in 9th position, while Carlos Andres Ladines qualified in P4. Diego Carranza had an eventful race on a track he didn't particularly like. In the end, he finished in P11, further extending his run of finishing in the points. Carlos Andres Ladines found himself in second position after a great start but lost one place to James Johnson during the race. Ultimately, he finished in third place, achieving a hattrick of finishing in P3 in just three starts.
After a frantic start, the two STAX drivers were running very close to each other in P6 and P7. As the field settled down, they gained another place and looked to continue the team's record of consistent finishes in the points. After forty minutes, Geoffrey let Carlos pass, since he was fighting for a good finish in the championship. With seven minutes to go, just as the first Ferraris in front of the STAX Racing cars were beginning to pit, the race was red flagged because of a mass disconnect. This meant that Carlos finished the cut-short race in P5, followed by Geoffrey in P6.
The final race of the 2016 season was held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Geoffrey Fournier substituted for Diego Carranza for the second race in a row, but had a back of the grid penalty from the previous race, which meant he had to start last in P16. During the race, he was slowly gaining places until he had an incident with Epic Racing's Christoph Lichtenstein. While Christoph showed good sportsmanship and allowed Geoffrey a re-pass, the gap to P11 was too big for Geoffrey to close down in the end and he finished the last race of the season in P12.
Carlos Andres Ladines was not expected to participate in the race. Prior to the race day he informed the team that he would be unable due to work commitments. However, in the last moment, some rescheduling meant that he was available to race, albeit with no practice beforehand. Nevertheless, he was able to qualify in P3 and after a stellar start, found himself in first place before the first corner. Thomas Jacobs however was following him very closely in the opening part of the race and Carlos was unable to gain a big lead over the TSA driver. Ultimately that lead to Carlos losing concentration and Jacobs was able to pass him on lap 7. In the following laps Carlos tried to follow Jacobs without consuming too much fuel, allowing him to lead by not more than 2 seconds. In the last third of the race, ST Racing's Borja Millan closed up to the leading pair, contributing to exciting last laps. Carlos tried one last attack on Jacobs, but to no avail. Shortly after the battle, the race was cut short by yet another server issue. In the end, Carlos was classified as having finished in P2, STAX Racing's best result so far in it’s short history. He also achieved STAX Racing's first ever fastest lap of the race.
STAX Racing finished their first season as third in the Constructor's Championship. Despite not starting in the first two races, Carlos Andres Ladines ended the season in fourth place. In five races, he was able to finish on the podium four times (three times in P3, once in P2). Diego Carranza started five races as well, finishing four of those in the points. In the end, he wrapped up the season in tenth place. Geoffrey Fournier, the team's substitute driver, was called to action three times. It should be noted that every time his services were required, he finished in a points scoring position. In the final driver's championship table he was a creditable fourteenth. Andrew Waring started one race for the team, but computer problems forced him to retire in that race. One DNF in his only start means that he was classified forty-ninth out of fifty starters in the end results table.
International Touring Cup
The team decided to keep the All-Peruvian lineup with Diego Carranza and Carlos Andres Ladines for their inagural season in the International Touring Cup. They also had talks with Nico Barclay to be their reserve driver and officially signed him after Round One.
The first three races took place at Donington Park. Qualifying saw the two STAX Racing cars near the back of the grid, as Diego Carranza was unable to set a time and Carlos Andres Ladines qualified 24th with a gap of almost five seconds to the Pole sitter. Unfortunately, things didn't improve much during the first race, and the STAX Racing cars crossed the line in P23 and P24. In Race Two, both drivers gambled and put on wet tyres, but a drying track meant that they struggled to challenge for points. In the end, Carlos Andres Ladines finished in P19 while Diego Carranza was classified in P22. In Race Three, both drivers were able to make up two places compared to their starting positions, but ultimately the team left Donington Park without points on the table.
For Round Two at the Autódromo do Estoril, Nico Barclay substituted for Carlos Andres Ladines with very short notice. He qualified P12, while Diego Carranza started from P17. The team had high hopes to bounce back from the "pointless" opening round, however in the frantic first race they finished in P17 (Barclay) and P21 (Carranza), unable to score any points. With both drivers starting near the back of the grid, points would be hard to come by in race two. However, Nico Barclay had a race to remember, gaining 17 positions in an eleven lap race, finishing P7 and scoring the team's first points in the International Touring Cup. Diego Carranza had to retire after he took a curb too agressively and flipped the car. Connection problems meant that he did not start Race Three, while Nico Barclay scored more points by finishing in eight position.
The next round at Tor Poznań saw the team struggeling again. In the days before the race it became apparent that neither Diego Carranza nor Carlos Andres Ladines would be able to make it to the race because of work commitments. Since the team management was on vacation with limited access to the internet, it was unable to secure another substitute driver alongside Nico Barclay. This meant that for the first time ever, STAX Racing was unable to field two cars for a race. Nico himself reported issues with his internet connection prior to the Polish Touring Cup and had limited time to work on a setup, so expectations of scoring much needed points were low. Nico qualified in P15, starting in the midfield. Unfortunately, he had connection issues and, just as the race was about to start, he timed out. Race Two was a bit better, but not by much, as he timed out after driving 200 meters and right before the first corner. Subsequently, he decided against starting the third race.
Before the next rount at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Carlos Andres Ladines asked the team to find a replacement driver for him because he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to start any races in the second half of the season. With Rob Mason, the team was able to acquire the service of a driver with a history of regulary scoring points in the 2016 Formula Challenge season for Epic Racing. Diego Carranza was working abroad, so Nico Barclay once again started for the team.
Both drivers qualified in the midfield for Race One. After a good start, Nico made contact and fell back to P16 behind Rob, but finished the race in P11 because of some nice passes and some off-track moments of other drivers. Rob had some nice fights for positions, but later crashed with a competitor and had a major off. Nonetheless, he fought back and finished the race just outside the points in P16.
In Race Two, Nico was in ninth position for most of the time, but a overtake in the last lap meant he would finish eight. Rob had a more action packed race, as he crashed heavily into the track barrier after making contact going into a corner three-wide. After that he found himself in 21st position, but fought hard to finish P17 in the end.
The third and final race was action-packed for both drivers: Nico was able to take P6 in Lap 10, gaining P6 momentarely. However, after a sub-optimal corner-exit, Nico got a tap on his car's back, which sent him into the barriers hard. Nonetheless, Nico was able to finish in P10, which meant he finished all three races of this round in the points. Rob Mason lost control while trying to avoid a crash in the first corner, finding himself in P20. After some thrilling battles, he climbed as high as P14. With Rob finishing in P15, both STAX Racing drivers scored points in a race for the first time this season. After penalties were applied, Rob was classified in P13 for both Race 1 and 2, which meant he scored even more championship points on his debut for STAX Racing.
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In Race Two, Nico started from P9 and again gained some spots in the first few laps. He climbed as high as P5 until both Epic Racing cars were able to overtake him in Lap 9 and 11 respectively. In the end, he finished the race in P7. Rob started from P17 and also gained a few places in the first laps. He closed the gap to the driver in P15, but was unable to get into the points in this race.
The third and last race saw Nico start in P5. He was able to gain three spots in the first three laps. In the end, he finished the race in P2, the best result for STAX Racing in the 2016 International Touring Cup. However Rob Mason, starting in P16, had a race to forget. Lottermann, who was in front of him in the first lap, got carried out of a corner and rejoined the track without lifting, hitting Rob in the process. Rob crashed heavily into the barrier and found himself in last place. After flipping the car further into the lap, he drove into the pits to get his car repaired. However, he found the car nearly undrivable and, after flipping the car once more, decided to retire the car.
The last round of the season was held at Interlagos. Nico Barclay had a five-slots grid penalty and started 10th. In an exciting race, he was able to overtake drivers such as Sven de Vries and Niki Đaković to finish eigth. Rob Mason started in P8. He lost some places at the start, but was then able to follow Nico Barclay closely for much of the race. In the final laps of the race, David Jundt was able to close the gap to Rob and put him under pressure, however a half-spin in the last corner meant that Rob finished Race One ahead of him in P12.
Race Two saw a close fight between Nico and the two Vod:Bul drivers. Nico was able to overtake Adam Taylor on the start-finish straight, almost scraping the pit wall. Then followed a thrilling three-way battle between him, Niki Đaković and Lewis McGlade. In the last lap, Nico was able to overtake Lewis, finishing in P6. Rob Mason had a déjà vu, as Jundt was again on his tail at the end of the race. After many defensive maneuvers, this time the Swiss driver was able to overtake him on the last lap. Rob finished the race in 12th position.
Nico Barclay started the third race from 5th position on the grid. Unfortunately, David Francic suffered from a technical problem which meant he lost all steering input. As his car drifted onto the racing line, Nico Barclay made contact, sending him crashing into the wall. Nico was forced to retire the car in the pits on Lap Two. Rob once again was close to Jundt and after some close fights he finished the last race of the season in P8.
All in all, it was a season of two halfs for STAX Racing. After stuggeling in the first three races, where the team only finished in the ponts twice from 15 starts, the second half was a huge improvement. In 18 starts, the drivers pairing Barclay / Mason only finished three times outside the points. In the end, STAX Racing was 10th in the Constructors' championship table, just one point behind Origin Front Row Racing.
2017
After starting in two championships organized by the GPVWC in 2016, the team planned to expand their scope in 2017. They participated in RaceDepartment's MINI Challenge Season 10 which ran from December 2016 until February 2017. They also entered two cars in WCSLeague's Formula 3 Season 1. However, the team's focus still lay on series organized by the GPVWC. After securing a spot in the 2017 Formula Challenge season, they also applied for a spot in the 2017 World GT Series season in March 2017, which they entered a Bentley Continental GT3 in.
Formula Challenge
At the 2016 GPVWC day it was announced that STAX Racing was allocated a spot in the 2017 Formula Challenge season. On January 15th 2017, the team revealed that Menno Klont (#36) and Chris Shepherd (#37) would drive for the team in its début GPVWC Career Ladder season [1]. In the first and only preseason test in Bahrain, both drivers reported that they were very pleased with the preparations before the first race. Each driver was able to do 70+ laps. Chris Shepherd was classified 2nd, followed by his teammate Menno Klont in 3rd position. The gap between the two drivers was just 0.008 seconds in the end.
The first round of the championship was held in Melbourne, Australia. In qualifying, the STAX Racing drivers locked out the second row with a respectable 3rd (Shepherd, +0.034 seconds) and 4th (Klont, +0.362 seconds). Both drivers were able to match the pace of the front runners, but driver errors in the first race meant that they would finish in P7 (Klont) and P24 (Shepherd). The latter was able to post the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately, the second race wasn't free of incidents, either. Both drivers were involved in crashes. In Shepherd's case this meant the end of the race while Menno Klont fought his way back to finisih 14th.
Menno qualified 5th for the second round in Russia. Chris started one row behind his STAX Racing teammate in seventh. On lap four, second placed Patryk Gerber spun directly in front of Menno who was able to just avoid contact with the Polish driver. Later that race, Menno had a long battle with Davidt Jundt for fifth place. In the end, he finished the race in sixth place behind the Downforce Racing driver. Chris had an equally action packed race. On the second lap, he got a tap from behind which spun him around. Miraculously, Chris was able to do a perfect 360 and continued the race without any damage. In the end, he finished the first race behind Menno in seventh place, scoring points for the first time this season.
The second race was very similar to the second race in Australia for both drivers. Menno started in tenth position, but gained four places in the first lap. However, still in the first lap, he was spun around and rejoined the race in P21. On lap five, he made a perfect Mark Webber imitation when he drove into the rear of Matthew Clipp and almost flipped the car. However, this didn’t stop Menno from fighting his way back through the field. He finished the race in ninth position. Chris’ second race that evening was very similar to his second race in Melbourne aswell. He started the race from ninth position, but lost his front wing after a tank-slapper in lap 4. Chris deemed the car to be too damaged to continue and decided to retire from the race.
For the first race of the third round in China, Menno started in P5. After a superb start, he was able to overtake two cars in the first corner and was in P3 for the rest of the race. While Roy Schroten was able to catch up to Menno in the last few laps, the STAX Racing driver was able to defend his position and achieved STAX Racing’s first podium finish in a GPVWC Career Ladder series. Chris had a more action packed race: After starting from sixth position, he lost one place in the first corner. After that, he enjoyed a long battle with Terence Grech and Patryk Gerber. In the second to last corner, Chris was able to overtake EJ Engineering’s Liam de Waal into fifth place.
The second race started with a bang when Roy Schroten swerved into Menno in the braking zone for Turn 6. Menno lost control of the car, went onto the grass and couldn’t slow down before entering the corner. As a result of the following pileup, he found himself in 15th position. From that moment on, he set out to do as much damage control as possible. Although he suffered from driving a slightly bent car, he was able to fight his way up to P10 in the end. Chris started the race from seventh position, but was able to overtake several drivers each lap. In the last few laps he was catching the two front running cars, but had no opportunity to attack them anymore. He finished the race in 3rd position which meant that STAX Racing left China with two podium finishes in the bag.
Menno drove the third fastest lap in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in Valencia. He once again had a brilliant start and gained one position as a result of that. Liam de Waal was able to overtake Menno on lap seven and shortly after that a battle for the last spot on the podium began between Menno and Roy Schroten. On Lap 13, Roy was able to pass Menno, but the STAX Racing driver regained third place in the next corner. After that, Menno was able to gain some time on Roy and finished the race in third position. Chris qualified in twelth position. On the first lap, he clipped the Armco barrier in the kink leading up to the bridge, causing a mass collision. He retired the car on the spot.
In the second race, Menno started from P10 and understeered into the wall on the second lap. His car suffered heavy damage and Menno had to come to the pits to do repairs. He rejoined the race in but needed another front wing after a crash in the third lap. Since he saw no chance of finishing in the points, he focused on driving the fastest lap instead. In the end, he finished in 21st place, ending his seven race streak of finishing in the points. Chris started the race in 26th position. After just one lap, he was in P16 already. In the following laps, he was able to gain even more places. In the last lap he was in P8, catching up to Roy Verzijl and Wesley Stefano infront of him. However, Roy had a suboptimal exit to the last corner, holding up Wesley in the process. Chris had no time to react and made contact with Wesley. The subsequent spin meant that Chris lost two places on the start / finish straight and was classified tenth in the end.
For the first race of the following Austrian GP, Menno Klont qualified in twelfth position. After he got tagged from behind in a chain-reaction collision in Turn 2 of the opening lap, he found himself in P27 and without front wing. After pitting for repairs, he rejoined the race in 29th position. From second to last position, he was able to string together some fast laps, picking up places as he fought through the field. In the end, he finished in P18. Chris Shepherd qualified on the front row in P2. He tried to overtake the race leader Roy Schroten going into the third turn, but the Dutchman was able to defend his lead. Behind Chris, Jayden Wright spun in the last corner and Liam de Waal was able to overtake him. There were no more overtaking maneuvers in the Top 3 until the end of the race.
For the start of the second race, Chris started in twelfth position while Menno began the race further back in P17. However, after a sensational start and another chain-reaction collision in Turn 2, Menno soon was in eleventh position. Soon, the two STAX Racing drivers were running nose to tail, as Chris was in tenth place by that point. Exiting the Rauch corner, the STAX Racing drivers made slight contact, but thankfully both drivers were able to continue the race without any issues. In the end, Chris finsihed the race in sixth position at the end of the race, while Menno was in P10.
Menno started the second race from 14th place. Unfortunately, he was spun around in the first corner and had to wait until most cars passed him before he could continue the race in P27. On lap six, he was back in P13, however was spun around by Jundt and Lindberg made contact with the STAX Racing driver. Menno suffered minor damage to the front wing but decided to stay out of the pits. Two laps later, Terence Grech spun before Casino and Menno crashed into him. This time, he had no choice but to pit for repairs and rejoined the race in 18th position. In the following laps he was able to overtake various drivers and ultimatevly finished the race in P13. He also drove the second fastest lap of the race. The only driver faster than him was his teammate Chris Shepherd, who started from second position. He was able to overtake Pole sitter Andriamiharisoa going into Nouvelle Chicane and build a lead of around one second per lap. Chris Shepherd dominated the race, driving the fastest lap of the race and finishing first with a gap of over 37 seconds in a 20 laps race. This means that he scored STAX Racing’s first ever win in commanding fashion.
STAX Racing announced on the day of the Canadian Formula Challenge race, that they would be sporting a special livery [2]: Not only was it the first race after their début win in Monaco, it also was their first ever home race as a team. Additionally, the year 2017 marks the 150th birthday of Canada, which is why the cars were showcasing a special Maple Leaf livery. Both races were affected by rain. For race 1, Menno started from fifth position. After some laps, the Dutch driver was in third position momentarily. However, a small mistake meant that he had his countryman Roy Schroten right behind him. On lap six, Schroten was able to use Menno's slipstream and overtook him before the final chicane. In the following laps, Schroten was able to pull away from Menno, who in turn had to defend from Mark Breslin, especially after overshooting the hairpin on lap 15. However, he was able to defend his position and finished fourth in Race One. Apart from one moment, Chris had a quieter race : After beating Maciej Mlynek to pole by .043 of a second, he soon was able to pull away from the field. At some point in the race, he was able to lap over one second faster than the rest of the drivers. The only "noteworthy" moment came on Lap 11 when he overshot the third corner. He narrowly escaped the wall and went on to win the race in dominant fashion.
The second race proved to be more action packed for both STAX Racing drivers. Menno started the race in seventh position. On lap 7, coming out of Turn 6, he couldn't avoid hitting the stranded car of Liam de Waal and he crashed heavily with it. Menno's suspension was severely damaged and he had to pit for repairs. He rejoined the race in 27th position and changed to dry weather tyres during the pitstop. While the racing line on the track still way very slippery, Menno's gamble paid off as he was .5 seconds faster than the drivers in the lead on a clean lap with little traffic. In the end, Menno finished the second race in P19. Chris had an eventful second race aswell. He started the race from tenth position. After some nice fights in the first few laps, he found himself in eight position. Nearing the end of the race, Chris gained a lot of space to the group of Jundt, Verzijl and Early battling infront of him. Jundt and Verzijl made contact going into Turn 3, forcing Verzijl onto the grass. When he rejoined the racetrack, the drivers were three-wide approaching Turn 5. Chris and Early touched, making further contact with Early. The ensuing chaos left Chris without Front and Rear Wing and he deemed the car to be too damaged to continue.
The next round of the championship was held at the Silverstone Circuit. Menno started the first race from P8 while Chris qualified in fourth position. After a multi-car pileup at the start, the STAX Racing drivers found themselves in P4 (Chris) and P5 (Menno) respectively. Both drivers were able to overtake Tuomas Koriala a few laps later. On lap 9, Roy Schroten spun out going through Maggots / Becketts which meant that Chris was now in second position, followed by Menno. They finished the race in exactly these positions, gaining more valuable points in the process.
Menno started the second race from P9. After making contact at the start, Menno had to pit for a new front wing and rejoined the race in 27th position. When, on lap 7, it suddenly began to rain, Menno gambled and headed for the pit for intermediate tyres. While he was able to drive comparable laptimes to the leaders, the rain only lasted for a couple of minutes, which meant that Menno was out on track with the wrong tyres. Because of that he struggled to keep the car ontrack and finished down in 22nd position. Chris started from tenth position, however after the first lap he was in fourth place already. Unfortunately, he lost a couple of places when he tried to overtake Verzijl going into Brooklands Corner on lap 3. He rejoined the race back in tenth position. On lap 5, Wildt and Mlynek made contact, which in turn spun around Koriala. Due to that, Chris was now in seventh position. He gained another spot when Wildt lost control of his car going into Becketts. In the following laps he overtook the two TR Bluvos Motorsports cars of Grech and Verzijl to finish in P4.
In Hungary, Menno started the first race from 11th position, while Chris started further up the grid from P6. Chris had a tankslapper coming out of Turn 2 and made contact with Philipp König which meant that he entered Turn 3 in a 90 degrees angle. Most drivers were able to dodge the stationary STAX Racing car, but unfortunately there was the slightest of contacts with Menno which sent the Dutch driver spinning out aswell. Both drivers had to wait until the whole field passed them and rejoined the race in P26 (Shepherd) and P29 (Klont). What followed was an epic comeback from both drivers. They overtook many cars and by Lap 13, both STAX Racing cars were back in the points. After Mike Kwint crashed in the pitlane and Roy Verzijl had an unforced spin with one corner to go, Chris finished in P10, closely followed by Menno in P11.
For the second race, Menno started from pole position with Chris starting from P2. Both drivers had a good start, but there was a multi car pileup further down the grid. Subsequently, the race was red flagged and restarted. Menno was able to defend the lead at the restart, but Chris lost P2 on the rundown to the first corner to Klemens Wildt. Both drivers again made contact before Turn 2 and Chris lost several more places. On lap 5, he was able to get by Wildt in Turn 2 but entered the next turn, a fast right corner, side-by-side with Bastian Paisler. The two drivers made contact and Chris crashed into the barriers. He retired the car on the spot. Meanwhile, Menno was still in the lead. He was closely followed by YTF1’s Johan Lindberg and had to defend his position time and time again. In the end, Menno was able to keep the lead from start to finish. This meant that Menno netted his first win for STAX Racing right before the midseason break.
STAX Racing entered the second half of the season trying to defend their second place in the Constructors’ Championship and were eager to improve on Menno Klont’s fifth and Chris Shepherd’ fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship. “At the Nurburgring, there are only two kinds of weather: either it is raining or it is about to rain.” True to the old saying, the whole race event was dominated by wet weather. Menno started the race from 13th position, while Chris started from P6. Chris lost a couple of places in the beginning of the race and was in 11th position after the first lap. This only motivated the Englishman and in the next couple of laps he was able to gain back P8. Menno, too, was gaining a couple of places in the first few laps, and then closed the gap to his his STAX Racing teammate by lap 8. Two laps later, he unsuccessfully tried to overtake Chris under braking for the NGK – Chicane. Menno went onto the grass and lost a place. Another two laps later and now it was Chris that had an off-track moment: In the last corner, he had a snap oversteer moment, went wide and lost a couple of places. On lap 14, Menno was able to overtake Chris. In the end, Menno finished the first race in P11, while Chris finished in P12.
Menno started the second race from P4. He lost one position at the start, but was able to retake it some laps later. Later the race, he lengthy battles for position with Paisler and Grech and ultimately finished in sixth position. Chris started the race from P3. He was able to defend his position in the first few laps, but lost a position to Butcher on the third lap. For most of the race he was able to stay close to the Top 3, but during the later stages he had to defend his position from Paisler. He finished the second race in P4.
In the days after the race, Chris informed the team that he had problems with his pedals and that it looked unlikely that he could take part in the upcoming race at Spa-Francorchamps. The team therefore signed Liam de Waal as his replacement.
Menno qualified sixth for the first race. After passing Eau Rouge for the first time, he was in P4 already. However, his rFactor 2 crashed on the second lap. He later rejoined the server and resumed the race, but of course had no chance of a competitive finishing position. In the end, he was classified as having finished 25th after setting the fastest lap of the race. Liam de Waal had a “Back of the Grid” penalty from when he drove for EJ Engineering earlier in the seaon. After a good start, he was in 18th position already when he made contact with Zimmermann. After a trip through the gravel trap he rejoined the race in 20th position. On lap 4, he made contact with Paul Joseph after the Mighty Forth driver was involved in a mass carambolage at Les Combes. From that moment on, Liam had a damaged car and finished the race in P14.
Menno started the second race from P25. After another good start from the Dutchman, he made up 6 places already coming down the Kemmel Straight. However, at Les Combes he had to take to the runoff area to avoid contact. Rejoining the track, he made contact with Wildt, spun and resumed the race in 23rd position. In the following laps, Menno was able to gain a lot of positions. By the end of the third lap, he was in 13th position already. Later that race, he went into Eau Rouge side-by-side with Marquard. In the end, Menno finished the second race in P10. A great result, considering he started from the second-to-last row. Liam had a much quieter race than his Dutch teammate. He started from P2, but lost a position to David Jundt early in the race. Both of them were able to overtake Breslin going into Les Combes. By lap six, Jundt was still leading, followed by Liam and Stefano. The latter made a mistake in Lap 9, handing third place over to Maciej Mlynek. The Polish driver gained time on Liam and, on the last corner of the last lap, was able to pass the STAX Racing driver for second position.
Right before the race, Chris Shepherd had some great news for the team: He got himself a new set of pedals and was able to start in Italy. This meant that the races in Belgium would likely be the only round Liam de Waal would be starting for STAX Racing. However, his performance didn’t go unnoticed and he was immediately signed by the Storm Racing Superleague team.
Menno started the first race from P8. After the first start was red-flagged due to a multi-car pilup at the first chicane, Menno made up two positions after the first lap of the restarted race. He had a battle for positions with Roy Verzijl and David Jundt for most of the race and finished in P5 after Vertijl made an error on lap 12 of 13. Chris started the race from P25. On the runup to Turn 1, Steven Platt got squezed into Chris’ car and the Englishman made contact with the barrier. He had some minor damage but soldiered on and even gained some positions in the opening laps. On lap 4, he was in 14th position already. Entering the Curva Parabolica, Paisler lost control of his car. Chris tried to avoid the spinning Holland Racing Team car and made contact with the wall himself and lost his front wing. He pitted, but there was no chance of scoring a point in the first race. In the end, he finished the race in P20.
For the second race of the evening, Menno started from P8. Verzijl and Brambilla had a major crash in Curva Parabolica on Lap 1, gifting Menno two places. However, both Butcher and Lindbergh were able to pass Menno on the following Start / Finish straight. Menno lost another place to eventual race winner Maciej Mlynek one lap later. On Lap 4, the two STAX Racing cars made contact. Menno spun and rejoined the race in 17th position. However, in the remaining laps, he was able to fight his way back to finish 12th. Chris started the race from 19th position. After after a magnificent first lap, he was was in 10th position and was gaining ground on his teammate, until they made contact on the fourth lap. Chris didn’t loose too much time and was able to continue his pursuit, this time chasing down Matthew Clipp. On Lap 6, both Clipp and Chris were able to pass Gerber before Curva Parabolica, not unlike Hakkinen’s pass on Schumacher in 2000’s race in Spa. After Chris gained two more places in the following laps, he tried to pass Lindbergh on the outside just before Variante Ascari. However, the Swede shut the door, forcing Chris onto the grass and through Variante Ascari’s gravel trap. Eager not to get stuck, Chris rejoined the track just in front of Lindbergh, who rear ended the STAX Racing driver. Chris spun and lost a lot of positions to finish in eleventh position.
Menno started the first race of the Singapore Grand Prix from 25th place. After a couple of corners, he gained a lot of places and was in 17th position when, not for the first time this season, he suffered from a disconnect. He later resumed the race, but finished down the grid in 23rd place. Chris started the race from third position and gained one spot in the opening lap. After that, he was able to gain some space to the guys behind him and finished the race second behind Maciej Mlynek.
Menno started the second race of the evening from 23rd position and was involved in a crash at Turn 1. He was able to continue and was 16th after the first lap but unfortunately was victim of yet another crash in Turn 1 in the second lap. He had to pit for a new frontwing and rejoined the race in 23rd position, ultimately finsihing in 17th place. Chris started the race from P11 and gained six places in the first lap. He was able to lap almost a second quicker than anyone else and gained a place every few laps. Later on, he was also able to take advantage of spins from Gerber and Schroten on lap 8 and 10 respectively to finish on the top step of the podium.
At Suzuka, Menno started the first race from P13 and was able to overtake Matthew Clipp on the first lap. After that, he had a battle with Bruno Sousa Ferreira that lasted multiple laps while gaining some more positions. During the last few laps, he got pressure from behind from Roy Schroten, but he was able to finish the first race in P6. Chris started from fifth position. On the second lap, he made contact with Lindbergh going into Turn 1 and gained one position. One lap later, Butcher spun infront of Chris. On Lap 6, second-placed Marquard had an offtrack moment, and Chris was able to take his place. He finished the first race in second position.
Menno started the second race of the evening from tenth position. He overtook Clipp and Andriamiharisoa during the first two laps and gained two more positions when Sousa Ferreira and Schroten crashed on lap 3. On lap 8, Menno was able to pass Paul Joseph and, on the follwing lap, Dabrowski spun directly infront of Menno. The Dutchman finished the race in fourth position. Chris started the race from P14 and lost a couple of places during the opening lap. On lap 2, Michal Galka missed the final chicane and crashed into Chris when he re-entered the track. After a 360 degree spin, Chris was able to resume the race in 19th position. At the end of the fourth lap, the Englishman was in P15 already and he had some intense battles in the midfield. On the ninth lap, he had a spin in the S-Curves and he ultimatevly finished the race outside the points in P17.
World GT
For the season opener in Fuji, Nico qualified in 4th position behind Risto Kappet, Argo Teder and Chris Shepherd. While the two Estonian Eval drivers were able to build a sizable gap during the first few laps, an exciting race-long battle began between the two Bentleys driven by Nico and Chris. In the end, Nico finished 3rd.
Unfortunately, Thomas' race wasn't as succesfull. After joining the server in the last seconds of qualifying, he was forced to start from the back of the grid. During the opening laps of the race, he was able to gain various places, but not without suffering some damage to the car or being spun round by competitors in the process. After one contact too many, he retired the car.
The second race of the season was held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos. The mod used for this season was updated after the first race, adding a new car with the Porsche 991 GT3-R to the grid. Because of this, the league made it possible to switch cars for the rest of the season. Nico Barclay did some test runs and STAX Racing decided to switch to the Porsche for the remainder of the season. For this race, the team had no livery ready which is why they ran with a basic temporary livery. For the next round, the team has submitted their final livery (see below).
Nico had a Back of the Grid penalty from the first race and thus started from last position. His teammate Thomas Hinss qualified in sixth position. Both drivers had a good start to the race: Nico was in P9 after the Senna-S and gained two more places by lap 3. Thomas also gained a position in the first lap. After David Jundt and Chris Shepherd crashed due to lag, the STAX Racing drivers were in third and fourth position, closing the gap on Philip Morby ahead of them. However, the race went downhill from there. Nico had major tyrewear issues and had to pit early on lap 15. He rejoined the race in sixth position. Two laps later, Thomas suffered a disconnect while running in third position. He would eventually rejoin the server but was now in tenth position. After Philip Morby and David Jundt made their pitstops, Nico was in third position, however he still suffered from a high tyre wear rate and found it difficult to keep the Porsche on track. He later told the team that it was like driving on ice for most of the race. Morby was able to overtake him on lap 37 and Nico lost another position to Osvaldo Angelone after spinning on lap 37. In the end, he finished the race in fifth position. Thomas was able to gain another spot after David Jundt retired and was three laps down when he finished in ninth place.
However, Nico was able to gain a lot of places and found himself in P6 after the first lap. He gained two more places when Osvaldo Angelone spun on Lap 4 and after overtaking David Jundt on Lap 5. Slowly, there was a dry racing line developing. After frontrunner Risto Kappet and his teammate Argo Teder decided to pit for dry tyres, Nico was in second position. After pitting, he rejoined the race in 7th position and started to close the gap to Bret Metcalf infront of him. However, when he tried to overtake the TTF driver on lap 9, Nico lost control of the car and suffered a bent suspension after crashing into the wall. He had to pit for repairs twice. A place on the podium was highly unlikely now, but that didn’t stop Nico from chasing down the cars infront of him. On Lap 15 he was able to pass his teammate Thomas Hinss, and he gained another two spots from other drivers’ mistakes or pit stops. In the end, Nico Barclay finished in sixth place and set the third fastest lap behind the two Eval drivers.
Thomas Hinss started in 15th position from the pitlane and immediately began chasing down the field. By Lap 5, he was in 9th position already, but then he got passed by Chris Shepherd who also started from the pitlane and followed the Aussie driver closely from the start. After both Scuderia Basilea cars spun on Lap 11, Thomas was in 7th place already. Shortly afterwards, he decided to pit and rejoined the race in P8. On Lap 15, Thomas let Nico pass, but was then able to follow the his Peruvian teammate closely for most of the race. Ultimately, Thomas finished the race in seventh place.
For the next round at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Nico Barclay qualified in third position behind Risto Kappet and Chris Shepherd. Uncharacteristically, he lost two spots at the start. On the third lap, Nico managed to overtake Lance Garrasino and, three laps later, he also passed Morby. On Lap 13, Chris Shepherd, who attempted to do the full race without a pitstop, made a driving error which enabled Nico to get close to the Englishman and pass him on the long Mistral Straight. When Nico pitted on lap 17, Risto Kappet was already leading by 13 seconds. After his pitstop, Nico rejoined the race in sixth position. After Thomas Hinss pitted, Nico was able to pass Mark Fuller and Rauno Muru into third place on lap 20. At that moment, race leader Chris Shepherd had a gap of 25 seconds to Nico. However, Barclay was lapping much quicker than the Epic Racing driver, thanks to newer tyres. Kappet was able to regain the race lead when he passed Shepherd, who struggled with worn tyres, in the second to last lap. The last lap provided even more drama: Shepherd spun in Turn 1 and rejoined the track right infront of Nico. The two battled nose to tail on the Mistral Straight, and in the end Chris was able to finish the race 0.391 seconds infront of the STAX Racing driver.
Thomas Hinss qualified in seventh position and stayed there for the opening laps. He gained two places when Morby spun on the tenth lap and Garassino retired the following lap. After Argo Teder pitted on Lap 15, the Aussie was in P4. He gained another spot when his teammate Nico entered the pits on Lap 17. The next lap, he came into the pits for fresh tyres himself and rejoined the race in seventh position behind Teder. On Lap 25, he passed TTF’s Rauno Muru and gained another spot when Teder blew up his engine while downshifting. He then chased down and overtook Mark Fuller to finish in P4.
Thomas Hinss started from fifth position. On Lap 5, Philip Morby spun in Turn 1. At the same moment, Thomas made the slightest of contacts with Angelone under braking. The STAX Racing driver later reported that he didn’t feel any impact and thus thought the resulting half-spin of Angelone was an unforced error. After his pitstop, he rejoined the race in sixth position but gained back two places when Fuller and Angelone pitted in the following laps. While he was able to catch Chris Shepherd by about 1 to 1.5 seconds per lap, the Epic Racing driver had a gap of roughly 26 seconds. Meanwhile, Thomas had to defend his position from Osvaldo Angelone. On lap 22, the Cosmo Autosport driver was able to overtake Thomas. However, in the second to last lap, Angelone missed the apex of Turn 1 and Thomas was right behind the McLaren driver again. Both drivers were running nose to tail through the following corners. The fight for the last step on the podium came to an end when Thomas tried to overtake Angelone on the outside of Turn 6. He touched the grass which resulted in a spin. Fortunately, Thomas had enough of a gap to Rauno Muru to finish the race in P5.
For the sixth round of the season at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Nico qualified third behind Risto Kappet and Chris Shepherd in a field of just seven starters. He was the only STAX Racing driver for this race as Thomas Hinss wasn't available for this round. At the start, Nico attacked Chris going into La Source but was unable to overtake the Epic Racing driver. However, he was able to use Chris' slipstream on the Kemmel Straight and overtook him on the outside going into Les Combes. In the following laps, he was able to defend second place from Shepherd while following Risto Kappet. However, the Peruvian was not happy with the balance of his Porsche 991 GT3-R. He later told the team that the car was very understeery and he had to pit on lap 11 since he could make the tyres last for only about 20 minutes. He rejoined the race in fifth position, behind Geoffrey Fournier and Rauno Muru and infront of Mark Fuller. Muru pitted the next lap and Nico set out to close the gap to Geoffrey. In the following laps he was up to 2.5 seconds faster than Geoffrey and on lap 17, after the Frenchman made a small mistake and went wide in Pouhon, he overtook the Epic Racing driver. Eight laps later he finished the race in third position behind Risto Kappet and Chris Shepherd.
On June 17th, the GPVWC announced that the rest of the 2017 World GT Series got canceled because the number of participants were declining for some races now [3]. This decicion meant that STAX Racing finished second in the Constructor’s Championship, behind EVAL Simracing and ahead of Epic Racing. In the Drivers’ Championship, Nico Barclay came third behind Risto Kappet and Chris Shepherd while Thomas Hinss finished the season in eight place.
2018
Despite finishing second in the 2017 Formula Challenge season, STAX Racing decided not to apply for a promotion to the 2018 Supercup season. The team, and especially the driver Chris Shepherd, felt that there was still unfinished business to attend to in Formula Challenge. For 2018, their goal was to challenge for the title. On January 28th 2018, the team announced that Adrian Campfield (#36) would be Chris Shepherd's (#37) teammate in Formula Challenge. Chris Shepherd also drove for the team in the 2018 World GT Series, with Nico Barclay as his teammate.
Race Results
Formula Challenge
2017
| Driver | AUS
|
RUS
|
CHN
|
ESP
|
AUT
|
MON
|
CAN
|
GBR
|
HUN
|
GER
|
BEL
|
ITA
|
SGP
|
JPN
|
USA
|
MEX
|
BRA
|
UAE
|
Points | WDC | Team | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Menno Klont 
|
7 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 21 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 23§ | 19 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 310 | 4th | 2nd |
Chris Shepherd 
|
24 | DNF | 7 | DNF | 5 | 3 | DNF | 10 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 1 | DNF | 2 | 6 | 10 | DNF | 12 | 4 | - | - | 20 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 19 | DNF | - | - | - | - | - | - | 243 | 5th | |
| Liam de Waal
|
- | - | - | - | 6* | 1* | 2* | 8* | 3* | 4* | 11* | 10* | 6 * | DNF* | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 131 | 16th | |
Mateusz Ziubiński 
|
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7** | 4** | 10 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 75 | 22nd | |
* Driving for EJ Engineering
** Driving for GPVWC Academy
2018
| Driver | AUS
|
CHN
|
AZE
|
ESP
|
MON
|
CAN
|
FRA
|
AUT
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
BEL
|
ITA
|
SGP
|
JPN
|
USA
|
BRA
|
UAE
|
Points | WDC | Team | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian Campfield
|
2 | 21 | 6 | 3 | DNF | 8 | 12 | DNF | DNF | DNS | 3 | DNF | DNF | DNS | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 78 | 7th | 2nd |
| Chris Shepherd
|
6 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 199 | 2nd | |
International Touring Cup
2016
| Driver | UK
|
POR
|
POL
|
FRA
|
UAE
|
BRA
|
Points | WDC | Team | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Diego Carranza 
|
23 | 22 | 20 | 21 | DNF | DNS | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 40th | 10th |
| Carlos Andres Ladines
|
24 | 29 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 33rd | |
| Nico Barclay
|
- | - | - | 17 | 7 | 8 | DNF | DNF | DNS | 11 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 6 | DNF | 91 | 13th | |
| Rob Mason
|
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 15 | DNF | 12 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 23th | |
World GT
2016
| Driver | JPN
|
BRA
|
TUR
|
BEL
|
CZE
|
GBR
|
USA
|
Points | WDC | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diego Carranza
|
19 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 11 | - | - | 27 | 10th | 3rd |
| Geoffrey Fournier
|
8 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 12 | 22 | 14th | |
| Carlos Andres Ladines
|
- | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 79 | 4th | |
| Andrew Waring
|
- | 22† | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 49th |
2017
| Driver | JPN
|
BRA
|
ITA
|
FRA
|
GER
|
BEL
|
GBR
|
USA
|
Points | WDC | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nico Barclay
|
3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | C | C | 89 | 3rd | 2nd |
| Thomas Hinss
|
DNF | 9 | 7 | 4 | 5 | DNS | C | C | 40 | 8th |
2018
| Driver | MAL
|
AUS
|
JAP
|
USA
|
ITA
|
GBR
|
AUT
|
BEL
|
Points | WDC | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Shepherd
|
6 | DNF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 70 | 4th | 1st | ||
| Nico Barclay
|
7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 72 | 3rd |
Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap. (key)
† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.
§ Drivers finished the Grand Prix, but were not classified as they completed less than 90% of the race distance.
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