Tanskanen Racing FC

**Tanskanen Racing**
Tanskanen Racing's initial logo
Full name	Tanskanen Racing Formula Challenge Team
Base	Kiiminki, Finland
Team principal/s	Juha Tanskanen
Race drivers	0. James Johnson 2. Jonathan Holmes
Test drivers	n/a
Chassis	FC-014
Engine	GPVWC
Tyres	GPVWC
GPVWC Formula Challenge Career
Début	2013 Australian Grand Prix
Latest race	2015 Brazilian Grand Prix
Races competed	54
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	10
Podiums	24
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	12
2013 position	4th

Tanskanen Racing FC is a Finnish Formula Challenge team competing in the 2014 Formula Challenge season. It is the third team to bear the name Tanskanen Racing, named for former driver Juha Tanskanen, but is the first not to feature Tanskanen himself as a primary driver. It also bares the distinction of being, in effect, a junior team of Vod:Bul Racing and it replaced Vod:Bul's own entry into Formula Challenge just days before the start of the season. Tanskanen finished 4th in their first season and had as its drivers former double-Superleague champion Mikko Jakonen and multiple race-winner Douwe Tapper. Ed Williams and Doug Hilliard also drove for the team earlier in the season.

In 2014, Tanskanen took the prestigious #0 and #2 on the grid, though in some respects Tanskanen felt unfortunate to miss out on a chance to be promoted to Supercup. Nonetheless, the team fielded an all-English line up of James Johnson and Jonathan Holmes which so far has proven to be one of the strongest driver line-ups in the series. Johnson has won 4 races already and both drivers have scored multiple podiums, making the team current leaders and genuine contenders for the championship.

History

2013

Mikko Jakonen (front) at the opening round of the 2013 FC season

The team only came into existence, officially, on 24th February, two days before the first race. This was a result of the withdrawal of Allen GP from Supercup, freeing up a slot for a team to move from Formula Challenge. The opportunity was given to Vod:Bul but on the condition that it give up its slot in Formula Challenge. As part of the agreement, the slot was taken over by Juha Tanskanen who was a previous team owner and driver, but moreover had recently joined Vod:Bul as its Head of Driver Development.

The former Vod:Bul FC team was therefore re-branded under the Tanskanen Racing name. Existing drivers Jakonen and Hilliard remained in place, though Hilliard had been expecting to sit out the first round, that was until the departure of Dan Rusu to Vod:Bul's SC team left the seat unoccupied.

Despite the short notice, the team pitched up at the first round with two drivers and a new livery. The two races both resulted in points finishes, far exceeding Tanskanen's own expectations. Jakonen scored twice, despite not competing in GPVWC since the end of the 2005 series and barely having any experience with rFactor. Jakonen finished 13th in race one and 15th in race two, after recovering from early-race damage. Hilliard, who had not raced in rFactor since 2007, had a torrid first race, being rammed on the starting grid, but drove to the end of the race. Hilliard was as high as 12th in race two, though unfortunately came together with Jakonen on the final lap, though both cars continued, with Hilliard finishing just behind his team mate in 16th.

Ed Williams took up the second seat before Malaysia and showed immediate pace, out-qualifying Jakonen to line up 18th on the grid in the first race. However, the sodden Malaysian round would not be kind to the team, with both Williams and Jakonen caught up in the routine start-line calamity. Williams was out on the spot while Jakonen was launched high into the air, but survived and struggled home to 23rd. The second race was little better, with Williams again falling victim to a start-line mess while Jakonen was caught on the wrong tyre, as the second race saw the track uncharacteristically dry. Normal conditions soon swept back in, but too late to save Jakonen's race. Both cars finished this time, with Williams bringing the car home in 23rd, with Jakonen finishing 26th.

Jakonen and Hilliard battling with Simon Smith at Hungary.

Ed Williams on the rain-swept streets of Monaco.

Douwe Tapper at Turkey. Tapper would sensationally win both races

Austria was a mixed bag for the team, with both cars retiring in the first race. In race two, both cars started from the pitlane in order to avoid the start-line accident. The tactic paid off, with both cars having a strong race, in close proximity to each other, until just a few laps from the end when Williams spun out of contention. Jakonen continued to chase down the pack ahead and was able to grab the final point. At the following round at Hungary, Hilliard filled in for Williams and, partially thanks to new regulations designed to improve race starts, both cars finished both races. Despite the introduction of Ghovand Keanie as the team's primary test and development driver, there was not enough time for either race driver to full get to grips with the setup and neither were on top-flight pace, though Hilliard in particular was several seconds off. Although Hilliard was therefore happy just to bring the car home, Jakonen was frustrated to have finished outside the points, as his pace did remain strong enough for a strong finish inside the top 15 if not for a few incidents dropping him down the order.

Spain would see Jakonen score points in both races, for the first time since the opening round at Australia. In the second race, Jakonen finished 6th, the team's best result to date. However, controversy surrounding a clash between him and Mike Bell threatened to see his points stripped away. Eventually, the team were delighted to discover that Jakonen had escaped punishment, and had even been promoted to 5th due to punishments being handed to other drivers. There was still some embarrassment for the team however as Williams had accidently missed the race entirely, meaning that Jakonen was the only Tanskanen driver present.

The following two rounds would be miserable affairs for the team. At Monaco, Williams was able to secure his best result for the team, coming home 19th, but otherwise both drivers would be afflicted by early-race incidents which ruined or even ended their races. Canada would be especially bad for the team, when Williams' lipping home to 31st was the team's only race finish that round. Williams would shortly take the opportunity to drive full-time in the Superleague, resulting in his leaving the team.

This period would prove to be a nadir point for the team in the first half of the season. A replacement for Williams was quickly found in the supposedly-little-known Dutchman Douwe Tapper. Tapper then made himself very well known at his first round at Korea, stunning the field by very nearly denying Emanuel Gaczella pole position. Tapper then challenged the championship leader throughout the race and, heading into the final lap, looked very close to denying Gaczella his race victory. Unfortunately, while Tapper did deny Gaczella victory, it was for all the wrong reasons as they collided only a few corners from the flag. Gaczella's car was crippled, but Tapper still deliberately followed the Romanian home, even though it ultimately cost him 5 places. Meanwhile, Jakonen was also having a strong race, bringing the car home a fine 13th.

In Race 2 at Korea, Jakonen was unfortunate to be caught out by the spinning Franz Schnyder, putting Mikko in the wall and out of contention; Jakonen would finish just outside the points. Tapper also had a bad start, spinning his car on the exit of turn 1 and dropping down to 31st. What followed was nothing short of an incredible recovery drive; though he benefited sometimes from others' misfortune, the facts stood for themselves; Tapper was as low as 31st, was later spun by Matt Richards, and yet finished the race 5th.

At the following round at Turkey, Tapper was seen as the "plucky underdog" as he again almost denied Gaczella pole. Tapper would then go one to dominate the round. Battling hard with Gaczella and Thomas Jacobs in the early laps, Tapper eventually emerged on top. While Gaczella and Jacobs then struggled, the former being just one of several drivers to have severe tyre-wear issues, Tapper and Jakonen were able to make great use of a setup that was in fact much kinder on tyres. Tapper took the team's first victory, as well as the first victory for any Vod:Bul team in 2013, and Jakonen came home a very strong 4th, making it by far the team's best result so far. In Race 2, Jakonen was again unfortunate, spinning trying to avoid the struggling car of William Neron. His own car damaged, Jakonen fell down the order and later retired the car after a further spin whilst recovering through the field. Tapper in meantime carved his way through the grid from his reverse-grid starting position of 19th. Able to slip by incidents and accidents that caught out cars ahead of him, Tapper went on to score his second race victory and be the first man in 2013 to win back-to-back races in a single meeting. The whole team was overjoyed. The result saw the team rocket up the standings.

Complete Formula Challenge results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Points	Pos
2013	FC-013	GPVWC	G			AUS		MYS		AUT		HUN		ESP		MON		CAN		KOR		TUR		GBR		ITA		BEL		FRA		GER		USA		UAE		JPN		BRA		392	4th
				Mikko Jakonen	34	13	15	23	26	Ret	14	23	13	14	6	31	24	Ret	Ret	13	17	4	Ret	20	10	18	15	5	Ret	13	18	8	11	17	Ret	23	17	21	18	15	9
				Doug Hilliard	35	30	16					27	19
				Ed Williams				Ret	23	Ret	25					19	Ret	31	Ret
				Douwe Tapper																8	5	1	1	1	6	2	Ret	1	Ret	17	17	4	4	8	1	5	3	2	3	1	3
2014	FC-014	GPVWC	G			AUS		MYS		BAH		CHN		ESP		MON		CAN		AUT		GBR		GER		HUN		BEL		ITA		USA		UAE		JPN		BRA				607	2nd
				James Johnson	0	1	3	3	1	8	1	4	12	28	Ret	3	14	24	Ret	5	1	8	5	4	15			5	8	30	23			9	3	15	25	17	5
				Mikko Soukas	0																					9	Ret
				Jonathan Holmes	2	2	19	2	20	18	6	2	23	3	6	6	12	7	Ret	3	2	2	2	18	6	1	17	Ret	Ret					1	11	1	15	2	2
				Tobias Olsson																										20	Ret
				Paul McKenna																												15	18