Difference between revisions of "YTF1"

Driver's Championship winners

• 2014 International Touing Cup - Eric Stranne*
• 2016 Atlantic Series - Borja Millán

Total: 2

*Only did a part-season for the team. YTF1's name still went on the trophy though!

Race wins

• 2014 British Touring Cup (Race 1) - Eric Stranne
• 2015 Hungarian Sport Series (Race 2) - Bart de Vos
• 2016 Challenge German Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 2016 Florida Grand Prix - Borja Millán
• 2016 Ontario Grand Prix - Borja Millán
• 2017 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix (Race 2) - Matthew Marquard
• 2018 Supercup Australian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Yuri Kasdorp
• 2018 Supercup Spanish Grand Prix (Race 2) - Yuri Kasdorp
• 2018 Supercup Hungarian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Jannick Bock
• 2018 Supercup Italian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Matt Richards

Total: 10

Podium finishes

• 2nd, 2014 New Zealand Touring Cup (Race 1) - Eric Stranne
• 2nd, 2014 Australian Touring Cup (Race 1) - Eric Stranne
• 2nd, 2014 Challenge Canadian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Wopke Hoekstra
• 2nd, 2014 Austrian Touring Cup (Race 1) - Eric Stranne
• 1st, 2014 British Touring Cup (Race 1) - Eric Stranne
• 2nd, 2014 German Touring Cup (Race 2) - Eric Stranne
• 3rd, 2015 British Sport Series (Race 2) - Matthew Allington
• 3rd, 2015 GPVWC Indy Classic - Eric Stranne
• 3rd, 2015 Austrian Sport Series (Race 2) - Bart de Vos
• 2nd, 2015 Vegas Grand Prix - Maurice Brackhahn
• 1st, 2015 Hungarian Sport Series (Race 2) - Bart de Vos
• 3rd, 2015 Belgian Touring Cup (Race 3) - Matthew Allington
• 3rd, 2016 Challenge Monaco Grand Prix (Race 2) - Hansko Mebius
• 2nd, 2016 Challenge Canadian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Hansko Mebius
• 3rd, 2016 Austrian Sport Series (Race 2) - Bart de Vos
• 1st, 2016 Challenge German Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 3rd, 2016 Belgian Sport Series (Race 1) - Bart de Vos
• 2nd, 2016 Italian Sport Series (Race 1) - Nico Barclay
• 3rd, 2016 Challenge Belgian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 1st, 2016 Florida Grand Prix - Borja Millán
• 3rd, 2016 Challenge Italian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 2nd, 2016 Grand Prix of Indianapolis - Borja Millán
• 1st, 2016 Ontario Grand Prix - Borja Millán
• 2nd, 2016 Challenge United States Grand Prix (Race 2) - Johan Lindberg
• 3rd, 2016 Wisconsin Grand Prix - Borja Millán
• 3rd, 2016 Grand Prix of the Americas - Borja Millán
• 2nd, 2017 Challenge Australian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Matthew Marquard
• 2nd, 2017 Challenge Russian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 1st, 2017 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix (Race 2) - Matthew Marquard
• 3rd, 2017 Challenge Austrian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Johan Lindberg
• 3rd, 2017 Challenge Singapore Grand Prix (Race 1) - Matthew Marquard
• 2nd, 2017 Challenge Japanese Grand Prix (Race 1) - Matthew Marquard
• 3rd, 2017 Challenge Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Race 2) - Matthew Marquard
• 1st, 2018 Supercup Australian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Yuri Kasdorp
• 3rd, 2018 Supercup Spanish Grand Prix (Race 1) - Yuri Kasdorp
• 1st, 2018 Supercup Spanish Grand Prix (Race 2) - Yuri Kasdorp
• 3rd, 2018 Supercup Monaco Grand Prix (Race 1) - Manuel Martini
• 1st, 2018 Supercup Hungarian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Jannick Bock
• 3rd, 2018 Supercup Belgian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Matt Richards
• 2nd, 2018 Supercup Italian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Matt Richards
• 1st, 2018 Supercup Italian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Matt Richards
• 3rd, 2018 French Touring Cup (Race 3) - Johan Lindberg

Total: 42

Pole positions

• 2014 Austrian Touring Cup - Eric Stranne

Total: 1

Fastest laps

• 2014 New Zealand Touring Cup (Race 1) - Eric Stranne
• 2015 GPVWC Indy Classic - Eric Stranne
• 2016 Challenge Australian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 2016 Challenge German Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 2017 Challenge Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Race 1) - Matthew Marquard
• 2018 Supercup Australian Grand Prix (Race 2) - Yuri Kasdorp
• 2018 Supercup British Grand Prix (Race 2) - Jannick Bock
• 2018 Supercup German Grand Prix (Race 2) - Jannick Bock
• 2018 Supercup Hungarian Grand Prix (Race 1) - Johan Lindberg
• 2018 French Touring Cup (Race 1) - Adrian Campfield

Total: 10

2013: YTF1 arrives at the GPVWC

YTF1 made it's GPVWC début at the 2013 Challenge French Grand Prix, the 13th round of the season. It's main drivers were Romanian Florea Calin and Englishman Scott Berrisford. The team's original lineup featured Joshua Anderson and Mikael Tuomaala. However, both drivers left the team after the French round, resulting in the team's reserve driver, Berrisford, being promoted to 'Primary driver' status and the other seat being handed to Calin. Perry Vink deputized for Calin at the 2013 Challenge United States Grand Prix.

Berrisford scored the team's first points in the German round and continued to score points in every round thereafter. The team's best result of the season was a 5th place at Suzuka.

On 9th October, YTF1's application to join the 2013/14 International Touring Cup season was accepted. Shortly afterwards it was announced that Tuomaala would be returning to the team, driving alongside fellow Finn Tommi Koivunen in BMW machinery. Koivunen was later replaced by Morten Wernersen.

Tuomaala scored YTF1's best result to date at Snetterton, scoring a 4th-place finish in the third race. Wernersen later made history at the Watkins Glen round by becoming the first driver to lead a race for YTF1, having been granted reversed-grid pole for race 3.

2014: A year of varying fortunes

In 2014, YTF1 entered their first full season of Formula Challenge. With their lead driver of 2013, Berrisford, moving to Enterprise GP, YTF1 hired race-winning Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra to spearhead their 2014 lineup. YTF1 later announced that Adam Ozgur would join the team for their FC campaign. Unfortunately, YTF1 had a season that fell below expectations and rarely had the opportunity to shine. Even the addition of highly-rated Open Series racer Rob Mason to the team, as reserve driver, failed to gain ground for the team. YTF1 ultimately finished 16th out of 21 teams in the final standings, with their only result of note being a solitary podium for Hoekstra in the Canadian round.

YTF1 also returned to the International Touring Cup, fielding Anderson and team owner Allington for the first round, before giving up the seats to Ben Hackeson and Mason for the remainder of the season. However, personal issues for Mason forced the team to seek a substitute - this came in the form of Eric Stranne. The Swede made history for the team - first came a podium in the Australian round, then a pole position in the Austrian round, followed by YTF1's first victory in GPVWC competition at the 2014 British Touring Cup.

Having put himself in a position to challenge for the Drivers Championship, Stranne defected to THR prior to the Czech round. Thereafter, the two YTF1 cars were shared by Hackeson, Mason and another Swedish talent, Tobias Olsson. All showed encouraging improved pace even in Stranne's absence from the team, thus YTF1 secured a top-10 finish in the teams standings.

YTF1 were later rewarded by Stranne, who elected to put the name of YTF1 on his championship trophy.

The team also participated in all three rounds of the Masters Series, entering a single car for Allington at the Daytona 500, collaborating with Cosmo Autosport to field an entry into the 24 Hours of Le Mans and fielding five "Itashas" at the Indy 500.

2015: Another year of varying fortunes

In 2015, YTF1 returned to the Formula Challenge series with an all-new driver lineup; the team's hopes in the series were initially carried by Teemu Toikka and Teemu Valkeejärvi. They raced with the numbers 36 and 72 (respectively) in accordance with the new numbering system introduced into the Career Ladder for 2015. Valkeejärvi gave the team a great start with a pair of top-10 finishes in Melbourne, though as of the Turkish round, the team is yet to repeat this performance. Following the Portuguese round, Toikka and the team parted ways: Johan Lindberg was brought in as the team's reserve driver, serving as an immediate replacement for the Finn and a valued one at that: Lindberg scored many points finishes during remainder the season.

YTF1 also secured an entry into the World Sport Series for the first time, teaming up with Dutch Superleague outfit Edonis Engineering and running Sandeep Chodha and Roy Schroten. Internet issues for Chodha resulted in Bart de Vos driving for the team in Portugal and achieving YTF1's best result of the year up to that point: 4th place in the reversed-grid race 2. All of YTF1's drivers seemed to suffer dismal luck during the course of the season, but morale was boosted by a tremendous drive by Schroten in Monaco; netting 7th place in race 2 having started from the back (though he was later demoted to 13th thanks to a penalty). Allington and de Vos would share the #40 car from the Canadian event onwards: Allington taking the team's first podium of the season at Silverstone, followed by a podium for de Vos in Austria, whilst Schroten stepped up his game with a series of strong points finishes. To add to the team's good run of form, de Vos took YTF1's first victory of 2015 at the Hungaroring.

YTF1 also returns to the International Touring Cup, retaining Ben Hackeson, Rob Mason and Tobias Olsson in the driver lineup, the former two sharing one car. YTF1 switched from Vauxhall machinery to initially become the only team on the grid to use a Ford Focus in the 2015 season, however this changed from the British round onwards with the arrival of Apex Racing. Olsson, Hackeson and Mason would all leave the team for varying reasons, leaving vacancies in the team's lineup, which would be filled by Thomas Hinss and Matthew Allington, the latter scoring the team's first ITC podium of the season at Zolder. The podium was merely the icing on top of the cake: the new driver lineup coincided with a resurgence of good form and several points finishes for YTF1.

YTF1 secured entry into a fourth different series, becoming one of only three teams to do so in 2015 thus far: the Cheshire-based squad was announced as one of 17 teams competing in the inaugural running of the Atlantic Series. Highly-rated German driver, Maurice Brackhahn spearheaded the team's lineup, with Rob Mason, a familiar face within the team, taking the role of reserve driver. After a dreadful first round where neither car made it past the start line, Maurice opened up his account with a 5th-place finish at Indianapolis. Eric Stranne took part in the GPVWC Indy Classic and sensationally took the chequered flag, havig started in last place, only to be demoted to 3rd place for a technical infringment! Brackhahn returned for the Las Vegas round and took his first podium of the season. Sadly, Brackhahn would encounter repeated technical issues. Dewald Nel and, later, Pashalis Gergis would both drive for the team during the season, in addition to team owner Allington making an unexpected Atlantic debut at Sebring.

2016: A year of better fortune

YTF1 would continue competing in the Formula Challenge into the 2016 season, retaining Johan Lindberg and signing Hansko Mebius to partner him. James Kirk also joined as test driver. The team elected to change their career ladder numbers to 13 and 24. The season started well with a fastest lap for Lindberg and strong points finishes from both drivers, but the team plummeted down the order with no points scored for the next two rounds. However, the trend would be reversed for Mebius in Monaco as he took YTF1's first podium finish in the series for nearly two years and followed it up with another podium in Canada. The race 2 luck went to Lindberg at Silverstone, the Swede finishing 8th in the rain having started from the pit lane. In Austria, Lindberg took a pair of strong results in the wet but his shining hour would arrive at the next round: at Hockenheim, Lindberg led from lights to flag to take his and YTF1's maiden Formula Challenge win. Further podiums for Lindberg followed in Belgium and Italy. After the Abu Dhabi round, Mebius elected to take a sabattical from racing. Mebius was replaced by Francisco Verdasca who sensationally qualified 4th for his debut race in the series.

YTF1 also secured a continuation in the World Sport Series, retaining race-winner Bart de Vos and adding Nico Barclay to the driver lineup. The team started the season spectacularly, taking an early top-3 placing in the championship table. Since then, the team have shown strong pace but have been held back by misfortune, initially slipping down the standings. A controversial incident involving Barclay in Canada led to the Perusian missing the Silverstone round, where Maurice Brackhahn deputised. After many near-misses, YTF1's first podium of the season finally arrived in Austria as Bart took 3rd place in the rain. After another podium each for de Vos and Barclay, YTF1 finished 4th in the teams championship.

YTF1 would compete in the World GT series for the first time in 2016 (having applied for entries in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons, but never making it onto the entry list), joining part-way through the season with a pair of Corvette C7.Rs. Matthew Allington, Edgar Ruiz and Philip Morby were among the team's drivers.

The team elected not to enter the International Touring Cup, having made a desicion to focus on other series, including a return to the Atlantic Series with a new driver lineup, consisting of Nico Barclay and Borja Millán. The team also switched engines from Honda to Chevrolet. Millán had a perfect start to the season, winning at Sebring. Further strong results, including a dramatic, last-gasp victory at Mosport, allowed both Borja and YTF1 to continue fighting for the championship until the final round of the season, at the Circuit of the Americas. In a tense and dramatic showdown with Wopke Hoekstra, Millán won the driver's championship by just two points after gambling with dry tyres on a wet circuit. The team secured a fantastic 2nd-place finish in the teams' standings as well.

2017: A year of missing fortune

YTF1 were announced as part of the Formula Challenge grid once again for the 2017 season, lining up the team for the claim of most experienced team to ever compete in the championship. Lindberg was retained for another season and would be joined for 2017 by Matthew Marquard. The team started the season well with a podium for Marquard on debut and for Lindberg in the next event earning the team an early high position in the standings. After the team failed to score in China, Marquard bounced back with a win in Spain. Despite Marquard starting the first Monaco race from the front, the team then suffered a poor run of luck with drivers repeatedly finding themselves caught up in incidents, failing to score any podium finishes from Monaco until Singapore and tumbling to as low as 9th in the standings. The team regained its lost form (albeit with a dose of poor luck) and fought back with a series of strong performances to finish 6th in the standings at the end of the year, rounding off the season with a fastest lap and podium for Marquard in Abu Dhabi.During the season, YTF1 claimed the record of most races done by a Formula Challenge team, competing in 152 races since 2013 of which Lindberg drove for the team in 93, breaking the record of most races driven for a single team in the final race of the year.

YTF1 did not continue in the World GT Series for 2017, but returned to the International Touring Cup after a year's absence with Ben Willis joining team manager Allington driving Toyota Corollas. The Corolla proved to be difficult to get the best out of and the team generally had an uncompetitive season, not helped by numerous incidents for both drivers. At Portland, Allington correctly gambled on rain tyres but spun during the race and could only finish 13th. The team eventually finished 12th in the Teams' standings with a best result of 6th for Willis at the season opener in Donnington Park.

2018: A year of mixed fortune

YTF1 were confirmed to compete in the 2018 Supercup season, bringing an end to a long tenure in the Formula Challenge series. The team confirmed that Johan Lindberg would be driving again in 2018. Lindberg would be partnered by endurance specialist Yuri Kasdorp, who set the pace at the first pre-season test, followed closely by his team mate. The team enjoyed a strong start to the season, with a win for Kasdorp at the opening round in Australia initially placing the team 4th in the championship. Lindberg suffered considerable misfortune in the early part of the season, with only one trouble-free race in the first 8 netting him a best finish of 10th. Kasdorp missed the inaugural Azerbaijan race, with Lewis McGlade filling in and recording a 7th-place finish. Kasdorp returned for the Spanish round and won another race, before leaving YTF1 to pursue a Superleague drive. The next occupant of the #38 car was Manuel Martini, who took a podium on his Supercup debut in Monaco before leaving YTF1 for a rival team. Jannick Bock would occupy the seat in Montreal, where YTF1 recorded their biggest points haul of the season and moved up to 2nd place in the standings. Bock, too, was scouted by a Superleague team and signed off in style in Hungary with a dominant victory.