View source for 2012 Challenge British Grand Prix

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{{Infobox Formula Challenge race report
| Race Flag      = File:Flag of the United Kingdom.png
| Event Name     = Challenge British Grand Prix
| Date           = 29th February
| Year           = 2012
| Image          = Brands Hatch Circuit.png
| image-size     = 175px
| Location       = [[Brands Hatch]], Kent, England
| Course_mi      = 2.613
| Course_km      = 4.206
| Weather        = Sunny
| Pole_Driver    = {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Emanuel Gaczella]]
| Pole_Team      = [[Storm Racing Team]]
| Pole_Time      = 1:25.548
| Feature_First_Driver   = {{flagicon|GRE}} [[Jim Parisis]]
| Feature_First_Team     = [[Torrent Motorsports]]
| Feature_Second_Driver  = {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Emanuel Gaczella]]
| Feature_Second_Team    = [[Storm Racing Team]]
| Feature_Third_Driver   = {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Janne Väänänen]]
| Feature_Third_Team     = [[Tiger Express Motorsports]]
| Feature_Fast_Driver    = {{flagicon|GRE}} [[Jim Parisis]]
| Feature_Fast_Team      = [[Torrent Motorsports]]
| Feature_Fast_Time      = 1:26.204
| Sprint_First_Driver    = {{flagicon|NOR}} [[Jarl Teien]]
| Sprint_First_Team      = [[Hené|Hené]]
| Sprint_Second_Driver   = {{flagicon|GRE}} [[Jim Parisis]]
| Sprint_Second_Team     = [[Torrent Motorsports]]
| Sprint_Third_Driver    = {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Emanuel Gaczella]]
| Sprint_Third_Team      = [[Storm Racing Team]]
| Sprint_Fast_Driver     = {{flagicon|GRE}} [[Jim Parisis]]
| Sprint_Fast_Team       = [[Torrent Motorsports]]
| Sprint_Fast_Time       = 1:26.194
}}

The '''2012 Challenge British Grand Prix''' - the first round of the season - took place on the [[Brands Hatch]] circuit in Kent, England on the 29th of February. 

==Report==
===Qualifying===

It was [[Emanuel Gaczella]] who took the first pole of the Formula Challenge history. With a 1:25.548 he was almost 0.4 seconds faster than [[Jim Parisis]], who completed the first row. The third place was for [[Adrian McNaughton]], who did a good job in the [[Storm Racing]] car. He was followed by [[Janne Vaananen]], who took the 4th place. [[Ari Nieminen]] took the 5th place, and [[Gasper Mozek]] took 6th place. That was a bit of a dissapointed for the [[FA Racing]] driver, who was fastest in all the practise sessions. The 7th place was filled by the first non-rookie. [[Roy Schroten]], the young dutchmen who stepped into the car after the original driver of [[Racing Team Schroten]], [[Marcus Sundstrom]], couldn't drive, took the 7th place. The 8th place was for [[Jon MacLean]]. The 5th row was for [[Jarl Teien]] in the [[Hené|Hené]] car and [[Alex Rolls]] in his [[Innervision]]. [[Simon Crain]] went to 11th place, and [[Ihab Abbas]] qualified as 12th. Then it was [[Alistair Brown]] (13th), [[Scott Moore]] (14th), [[Lee Davidson]] (15th), [[Mairo Lille]] (16th), [[Jack Mace]] (17th), [[Gary Allen]] (18th), [[James Charman]] (19th), [[Wopke Hoekstra]] (20th), [[Myles Dixon]] (21st), [[Dale Stones]] (22nd), [[Gavin Thomas]] (23rd). The last row was filled by [[Nikos Evangelidakis]] (25th) and [[Lee Massey]] (26th). [[Miguel Macedo]] was disqualified and had to start from pit lane.

===Feature Race===

It was the first time the lights went out and the first race of the Formula Challenge was a fact. It was Emanual who kept the lead, followed by Jim and Janne. Adrian went back to 4th. Gasper Mozek crashed shortly after the start. Roy had a bad start, and fell back to 8th. The big crash many drivers had feared for didn't come, and everybody was able to continue with minor damage.

After about ten laps Jim closed the gap to Emanuel. Behind them it was still Janne who could followed the two leaders at 5 seconds. Ari followed in 5th, shortly followed by Roy, who overtook everybody easely. Jon McLean spun from 5th and lost much positions.

Because Emanuel had such a good top speed, Jim 'wasn't able to overtake him so he did an early pit stop. Emanuel managed to drive for another 7 laps before he enetred the pit. The situation hadn't changed, with jim still short behind the back of Emanuel's car. Janne still managed to drive 3rd, while Roy had overtook Ari and now drove 4th. Jarl Teien did a great job driving 5th. Ari drove 6th.

It was Emanual who then made a small mistake and Jim was able to overtake him.

At the finish it was still Jim who lead, taking the first win in the Formula Challenge history and in his GPVWC career. Emanuel shortly followed him in 2nd. Janne was 3rd, while Roy did a grand job finishing 4th. Ari Nieminen finished 5th, and Ihab Abbas, who came from the back of the field, finished 6th. Alex Rolls finished 7th. James Charman finished 8th, with Adrian McNaughton short behind him. Jarl Teien spun in the last few laps and drove over the start-finish lina as 10th. Mairo Lille finished 11th. Gary Allen finished 12th while Alistair Brown took the 13th place, the exact same place he started at. Jon MacLean took the 14th place after several spins. Miguel Macedo managed to drive his car from the pit to the 15th place, taking the last point.

===Sprint Race===

At the Sprint race the top 15 of the feature race was reversed. It was Miguel Macedo who started as first. When the light went out the field speeded up to the fast righthander and to the hairpinn, but no major crashes were made. It was Roy Schroten who once again had a bad start, nothing for him. While the top drivers behind him amnaged to overtake him, he drove 19th. It was Jarl Teien who took the pole. Jim Parisis managed to stay in front of Emanuel Gaczella. Alistair went strait at one of the fast right handers at the back of the track, with the result that his [[Racing Team Schroten]] car was destroyed. That made space for Janne who took the 4th place, followed by Adrian McNaughton at the 5th place. Janne crashed at the middle of the race, and had to complete the last laps with a badly broken car.

At the finish it was Jarl Teien in the [[Hené|Hené]] car who took his first win for him and the team. Jim Parisis and Emanuel Gaczella couldn't catch up on him and finished as 2nd and 3rd. Adrian McNaughton made up his result of the feature race and finished 4th. Roy Schroten managed to drive his BMW to the 5th place. Scott Moore did a good job taking the 6th spot, followed by Ihab Abbas as 7th. James Charman finished 8th, while Janne Vaananen could drive his damaged car to 9th place. Lee Massey and Wopke Hoekstra finished as 10th and 11th. Mairo Lille, Ari Nieminen and Alex Rolls filled the 12th, 13th and 14th place. Nikos Evangelidakis took the last point and finished as 15th.

==Results==

* {{FCResult|718|Free Practice}}
* {{FCResult|719|Qualifying}}
* {{FCResult|720|Feature Race Result}}
* {{FCResult|721|Sprint Race Result}}

==Standings after the race==

{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}
;[[2012 Formula Challenge season#Drivers standings|Drivers' Championship standings]]
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! width=200| Driver
! Points
|-
! 1
| {{flagicon|GRE}} [[Jim Parisis]]
| align="right"| 47
|-
! 2
| {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Emanuel Gaczella]]
| align="right"| 42
|-
! 3
| {{flagicon|NED}} [[Roy Schroten]]
| align="right"| 34
|-
! 4
| {{flagicon|NOR}} [[Jarl Teien]]
| align="right"| 31
|-
! 5
| {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Janne Vaananen]]
| align="right"| 28
|}
{{col-2}}
;[[2012 Formula Challenge season#Constructors standings|Constructors' Championship standings]]
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! width=200| Constructor
! Points
|-
! 1
| {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Storm Racing Team]]
| align="right"| 68
|-
! 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Torrent Motorsports]]
| align="right"| 66
|-
! 3
| {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Hatchell-Pennine Motorsport]]
| align="right"| 46
|-
! 4
| {{flagicon|NED}} [[Racing Team Schroten]]
| align="right"| 37
|-
! 5
| {{flagicon|NED}} [[Hené|Hené]]
| align="right"| 31
|}
{{col-end}}

* <small>'''Note''':   Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.</small>

==External links==



{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| before = Inaugural Event 
| title = {{PAGENAME}}
| years=[[2012 Formula Challenge season|2012]]
| after =[[2012 Challenge Dutch Grand Prix]]
}}
{{S-end}}

[[Category:2012 Formula Challenge]]
[[Category:Challenge British Grands Prix]]