2016 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix

**2016 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix**
Race details
Round 4 of the 2016 Formula Challenge season

Date	5th April, 2016
Event	2016 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix
Location	Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.89 mi / 4.655 km
Distance	17 laps, 49.13 mi / 79.135 km (each race)
Weather	Mixed
Pole position
Driver	Stephane Rouault	Deltec Racing Team
Time	1:29.958
Race One Podium
First	Thomas Jacobs	GPVWC Academy
Second	James Johnson	MadCape Racing Team
Third	Mark Hutchinson	Tēafor Motorsport
Race One Fastest Lap
Driver	Stephane Rouault	Deltec Racing Team
Time	1:34.984
Race Two Podium
First	Stephane Rouault	Deltec Racing Team
Second	Marius Nicolae	Scuderia Basilea
Third	James Johnson	MadCape Racing Team
Race Two Fastest Lap
Driver	Mark Hutchinson	Tēafor Motorsport
Time	1:32.510

The 2016 Challenge Spanish Grand Prix - the Fourth round of the season - took place at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain on the 5th of April.

Report

Background

The third round of the season, taking place at Sochi in Russia, saw Antonio Hreljanovic and James Johnson register their first wins of the season, making it five different drivers winning the first six races (Hreljanovic, Johnson, Geoffrey Fournier, Carlos Fernandez & Terence Grech) for five different teams. The standings saw Johnson and Fournier take to the front of the driver's championship, a point separating the two.

Qualifying

Dutch racer Stephane Rouault took pole position, his first of 2016 registering a time of 1:29.958 to finish nearly two tenths ahead of second placed Carlos Fernandez. Championship leader James Johnson took third place on the grid with Johan Lindberg and Jonathan Holmes rounding out the top five respectively. Rouault's pole position meant that four different drivers for four different teams have secured the fastest times in the four qualifying sessions we have had so far.

Race One

Thomas Jacobs scored GPVWC Academy's first ever win in a rain sodden race one, making the most of a perfect strategy to gain 14 positions over the race. It was a widely popular victory up and down the paddock for the single car entry (It's previous best finish was in 2015 with a 3rd place in race 2 at Belgium, achieved by Antonio Hreljanovic in it's Downforce iZone Racing guise). James Johnson consolidated his championship lead with a second place finish, making the most of Championship rival Geoffrey Fournier's struggles down in 12th place. Mark Hutchinson scored his first podium of the season with a similar climb up the field to Jacobs after starting in 8th position. Pole sitter Rouault could only manage 8th after having to pit twice in the 17 lap race.

The Dutchman also took home the fastest lap of 1:34.984, notable for being well over a second ahead of the next fastest driver.

Race Two

The reverse grid draw saw the top 11 drivers from race one be reversed meaning Philipp Konig would line up on pole for Cosmo with Carlos Fernandez lining up alongside him on the front row. However, it was Stephane Rouault who was able to confirm his dominance of the Circuit de Catalunya with a dominant victory in once again testing conditions. His winning margin was over 18 seconds ahead of second placed Marius Nicolae. However the German was extremely close to being pipped to the finish line by James Johnson in third, meaning the Englishman scored podium finishes in both races, a huge boost to his championship challenge. Konig would eventually come home in 9th whilst Michel de Jong made the biggest gain from his start position, going from 23rd on the grid to finish a highly credible 8th.

Mark Hutchinson posted the fastest lap of the race, a 1:32.510 en route to an 18th place finish.

Post-race

James Johnson's double podium performance meant his championship lead was extended to 21pts with a total of 110. A new face left Barcelona in second in Jonathan Holmes (89pts) after finishing 7th and 5th in the two races. Stephane Rouault was the noticeble change in the standings, moving all the way up to 3rd in the standings on 83pts after his race two victory whilst Geoffrey Fournier's quiet race meet (12th/11th) meant he slipped from 2nd to 4th on 82pts. Carlos Fernandez rounded off the top five on 80pts following two top ten finishes of 10th and 7th.

In the team's standings, MadCape Racing Team took a ginat step away from the chasing pack with a highly competitive showing of three top 8 finishes between their two drivers, James Johnson and Michel de Jong, leaving the round on 148pts, 30 ahead of second placed Fanatec Draig Racing (118pts) who endured a poor outing, their only points coming from Matthew Chirgwin's 5th place finish in race one. Rob Mason led Epic Racing's race meet, his 4th place in race 1 greatly contributing to the team holding third place in the stands on 110pts, however they are only a single point ahead of 4th placed Tēafor Motorsport (109pts), their highlight being Mark Hutchinson's 3rd place finish in race 1. Arrow International Racing returned to the top five in the standings (102pts) after securing four points finishes from the race meet (one of only two teams to achieve the feat, the other being Epic).