2014–15 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship

2014–15 MRF Challenge
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The 2014–2015 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship was the third running of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship. The championship commenced on 17 October 2014 in Losail International Circuit, Qatar and finished on 25 January 2015 in Madras Motor Racing Track, India. The series consisted of 12 races, spread across 3 meetings.^[1]

With four victories – two at Losail and two in Madras – and top-five finishes in every race, Toby Sowery finished the season as champion. Sowery finished 47 points clear of his next closest competitor Ryan Cullen, who was a three-time race winner, winning a pair of races in Bahrain and one in Madras. Third place in the championship went to the best placed home driver Raj Bharath, who was a race winner at Losail; he finished 26 points in arrears of Cullen. Four other drivers won races during the season; Tarun Reddy won the other race to be held at Losail, Struan Moore and Mathias Lauda each won races in Bahrain, and Oscar King won the season's final race, in Madras.

Drivers

Freddie Hunt, son of 1976 Formula One champion James Hunt and Mathias Lauda, son of 1975, 1977 and 1984 Formula One champion Niki Lauda both competed in the series.^[2]

No.	Driver	Rounds
1	Mathias Lauda	1–2
2	Tarun Reddy	All
3	Dylan Young	All
4	Christophe Mariot	2
5	Raj Bharath	All
6	Pedro Cardoso	1
7	Toby Sowery	All
8	Ryan Cullen	All
9	Lee Keshav	All
10	Vikash Anand	1–2
11	Freddie Hunt	All
12	Vinicius Papareli	All
15	Advait Deodhar	2
16	Laura Tillett	All
17	Nikita Mazepin	1
18	Kyle Mitchell	1–2
19	Camren Kaminsky	2
20	Struan Moore	2
21	Matthew Solomon	3
23	Jordan Albert	3
35	Mahaveer Raghunathan	3
50	Gustavo Myasava	3
61	Sebastian Balthasar	3
77	Oscar King	3

Race calendar and results

The second round in Bahrain was held in support of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver
2014
1	R1	Losail International Circuit, Lusail	17 October	Toby Sowery	Toby Sowery	Toby Sowery
	R2				Toby Sowery	Tarun Reddy
	R3		18 October		Kyle Mitchell	Raj Bharath
	R4				Raj Bharath	Toby Sowery
2	R1	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	14 November	Raj Bharath	Ryan Cullen	Ryan Cullen
	R2				Camren Kaminsky	Struan Moore
	R3		15 November		Kyle Mitchell	Ryan Cullen
	R4				Ryan Cullen	Mathias Lauda
2015
3	R1	Madras Motor Racing Track, Chennai	24 January	Sebastian Balthasar	Oscar King	Toby Sowery
	R2				Toby Sowery	Toby Sowery
	R3		25 January		Ryan Cullen	Ryan Cullen
	R4				Oscar King	Oscar King

Championship standings

Pos. Driver LOS BHR MMR Points 1 Toby Sowery 1 3 3 1 5 2 3 4 1 1 2 5 221 2 Ryan Cullen 2 6 4 3 1 3 1 8 10† 5 1 4 174 3 Raj Bharath 9 7 1 2 2 4 4 3 5 6 4 7 148 4 Kyle Mitchell 3 5 2 7 3 6 2 2 112 5 Tarun Reddy 6 1 7 5 Ret 7 Ret Ret 2 4 Ret 9 87 6 Mathias Lauda 4 4 6 9 15† 8 6 1 71 7 Oscar King 9† 3 3 1 61 8 Gustavo Myasava 3 2 5 3 58 9 Struan Moore 4 1 Ret 6 45 10 Nikita Mazepin 5 2 Ret 6 36 11 Dylan Young 8 11 8 10 6 5 7 Ret Ret 10 9 Ret 36 12 Matthew Solomon Ret 8 6 2 30 13 Vinícius Papareli Ret 10 9 8 10 11 5 Ret 6 Ret 11 12 29 14 Pedro Cardoso 11 8 5 4 26 15 Jordan Albert 4 12 7 6 26 16 Camren Kaminsky 12 9 8 5 18 17 Laura Tillett 12 13 11 12 8 12 Ret 7 Ret Ret 8 8 18 18 Vikash Anand 7 9 13 13 7 Ret Ret 9 16 19 Lee Keshav 11 14 12 11 13 13 9 Ret 7 9 10 13 10 20 Sebastian Balthasar Ret 7 Ret 11 8 21 Mahaveer Raghunathan 8 11 DNS 10 5 22 Freddie Hunt 10 12 10 Ret 9 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 5 23 Christophe Mariot 14 15 11 10 1 24 Advait Deodhar 11 14 10 Ret 1 Pos. Driver LOS BHR MMR Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

References

1. "@MRF_Racing: 8 August". Twitter. Twitter Inc. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
2. Simmons, Marcus (15 July 2014). "The sons of James Hunt and Niki Lauda to race in MRF series". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 15 August 2014.

External links

• Official website