2015 Formula Virtual World Championship
2015 FVA Formula Virtual World Championship season | |
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Drivers' Champion: Elroy Wagner | |
Constructors' Champions: Franklin-Honda | |
Previous: 2014 | Next: 2016 |
Second tier: FV2 • VWRS | |
Third tier: FV3 • VERS • VARS • VOARS | |
Other Series: FV2 Winter Series |
The 2015 Formula Virtual season was the third season of the Formula Virtual World Championship - but the first under it's new name after Formula Virtual World Championship replaced F1F Virtual Grand Prix Championship. The series is a virtual motor racing championship run by Nic Morley for members of the F1 Fanatic website and is recognised by the Formula Virtual Association (FVA) governing body as the highest class of competition for virtual motor racing. Twenty-seven drivers representing twelve teams started the season which comprised of sixteen V-Prix's, though only elven teams ended the season after Lucas withdrew following the Spanish V-Prix. The competition for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' Championships started in Australia on 2 September 2015 and ended in Japan on 24 April 2016.
Enrique Ruiz started the season as the reigning World Drivers' Champion having secured his first title in the final race of 2014 in Mexico, while his team Franklin began the season as the reigning double World Constructors' Champions after successfully defending their 2013 title at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
The regulations featured a number of significant changes as the series moves into a new era, one powered by V12 engines, with the cars looking considerably different to previous years. The calendar also featured a number of revisions as Argentina, South Africa and Netherlands were added while Austria and Bahrain lost their rounds. The rounds in Spain and France also both moved venues for the season. The Argentine and Dutch V-Prix's were later subject to circuit problems resulting in both being cancelled until 2016.
Elroy Wagner secured his first Drivers' Championship title at the penultimate V-Prix in China after beating team mate and reigning Champion Ruiz to the final podium position, with the final gap being 31 points. Ruiz's title defence was wrecked early on in the season with mechanical misfortune and errors. Enzo Domenicalli - who won his and his Rossi teams first ever race at the 2015 Spanish V-Prix - was third, another 26 points behind.
Franklin won their third consecutive Constructors' Championship at the 2015 Mexican V-Prix, with closest competitors Rossi 127 points behind in second. Liverpool were a further 37 points back in third place.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the third season of the Formula Virtual World Championship.
Team | Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Tyre | No. | Race Drivers | Rounds | No. | Reserve Driver(s) |
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Franklin Honda | Franklin-Honda | JF-03 | Honda VA1215E | M | 1 | Enrique Ruiz | All | 18 | Luke Stokey |
2 | Elroy Wagner | All | |||||||
Liverpool V-Prix Racing | Liverpool-Downton | RJM-003 | Downton VXR-2015 [N 1] Downton DS-2015 |
M | 21 | Karl Beckenbauer | 1–7, 11 | 20 | Jamie Gerrard |
Kip Maxwell | 8–10, 12–16 | ||||||||
22 | Adrien Simon | All | |||||||
Downton FV Team | Downton | BD03 | Downton DS-2015 | F | 13 | Marcus Thunder | All | 17 | Kip Maxwell |
14 | Nathaniel Powers | 1–14 | |||||||
Will Hoskins | 15–16 | ||||||||
Scuderia Rossi | Rossi-Ferrari | SR-03 | Ferrari 058 | M | 7 | Puccio Giodano | All | 9 | Jonas Phipps |
8 | Enzo Domenicalli | All | |||||||
Ingram Grand Prix | Ingram-Honda | IGP Eagle | Honda VA1215E | M | 37 | Nikolai Milkovich | All | 39 | Diego Campos |
38 | Jean Mattson | All | |||||||
Meteor International FV Team | Meteor-Peugeot | MM15 | Peugeot PM-002015 | M | 5 | Stuart Harrison | All | 44 | Ezequiel Tanner Johan Halvosen |
6 | Arden Hutchinson | 1–4, 8–10 | |||||||
Scott Parsons | 5–7 | ||||||||
Johan Halvosen | 11–16 | ||||||||
Finland's Ultimate Nordic FV Team | FUN-Yamaha | FFV/3 | Yamaha YFV/E15 | M | 3 | Romano Agostino | All | 34 | Giani Ledesma |
4 | Carson Davenport | All | |||||||
Marvel Lucas Grand Prix | Lucas-Peugeot | LW-3GP | Peugeot PM-002015 | M | 15 | Lewis Ellington | 1–5 | 31 | Jacinto van Slooten |
16 | Emma Wilson | 1–5 | |||||||
Westwood Racing | Westwood | WR03 | Westwood Type 1412VNA | F | 69 | Will Hoskins | 1–14 | 98 | Kip Maxwell |
Nathaniel Powers | 15–16 | ||||||||
70 | Tumo Kinnumen | All | |||||||
Vodafone Warrior Racing | Warrior-Mercedes | WAR-15 | Mercedes FV 1215A | F | 25 | James Harding | All | 77 | Michal Kubat Ivan Lesic |
26 | Abel Osterhagen | 1–11 | |||||||
Karl Beckenbauer | 12–16 | ||||||||
AMR Autosport | AMR | AMR-FV-1 | AMR APUXX15 | M | 91 | Felix Beyer | All | 93 | Gerard Alaniz |
92 | Hiroto Nakumaya | All | |||||||
Ocelot Japan Racing | Ocelot-Downton | TK-81 | Downton DS-2015 | F | 81 | Scott Parsons | 1, 10 | 24 | Felipe Cesar |
Judson Sikes | 2–9, 11–16 | ||||||||
82 | Hugh Dwyer | 1–7, 9–16 | |||||||
Scott Parsons | 8 |
[N 1] Liverpool started the season with Downton engines tuned by Vauxhall, however the contract was terminated with immediate effect following the French V-Prix, with the team using the DS tuned Downton engines from the British V-Prix onwards.
Teams changes
- Peugeot announced they were withdrawing from the series part-way through 2014 after a string of poor results. Shortly afterwards it was announced Meteor Motorsport would take back control of the team but would still run with Peugeot engines.
- Lucas Grand Prix will switch to Peugeot engines after just one season with Volkswagen following the announcement of a technical tie-in with the Peugeot team. Despite Peugeot later withdrawing from the series as a team they confirmed they would still supply engines to Lucas and Meteor.
- Liverpool will make the switch from Vauxhall to Downton engines after just one season, however VXR will tune the Liverpool engines, whereas Downton Sport will tune Downton's and new team Ocelot's.
- Force Australia announced during the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix weekend that Australasia Motorsport Research has purchased a majority stake in the team. While team personnel and management will remain the same there will be a name change to AMR Autosport and AMR will also build the engines.
- Team 23 withdrew from the series at the end of 2014 citing a lack of resources. They will be replaced by Ocelot, who will run numbers 81 and 82 and the Downton engine.
Driver changes
- Jean Mattson left Team 23 to join Meteor, although he later agreed a deal with another team which was confirmed as Ingram and it was announced Mattson would replace Diego Campos, who would be demoted to reserve driver role.
- Meteor could not afford to meet the demands of Lewis Ellington's contract to re-sign. As such Ellington moved to Lucas while 2014 FV2 Champion Emma Wilson was signed as his team mate, replacing Kurtis Gardner and leaving Gardner without a seat. With Ellington being signed to Lucas, they could not afford to keep Carson Davenport, and as a result he will switch to Fun replacing 2013 team mate Hugh Dwyer, who will be demoted to reserve driver.
- Part-time 2014 driver Ivan Lesic will move from Meteor to Warrior where he will return to his reserve driving duties while fellow part-time driver at Peugeot, Regi Abott severed his ties with the team towards the end of the 2014 campaign. As a result Stuart Harrison will step up from the FV2 Series into one race seat, while Arden Hutchinson will leave his reserve role at Ingram to take the second seat. Fillipio Fazio will also leave Meteor while Ezequiel Tanner and Johan Halvosen - who will also compete in the 2015 VWRS - will join the team taking the reserve and test roles.
- Having moved into the seat following James Harding's accident during the Malaysian Grand Prix Abel Osterhagen will race full time for Warrior. Meanwhile his 2014 team mate - Michal Kubat - will lose his race seat to the returning Harding.
- Kip Maxwell was set to leave his reserve driving duties for Downton and Liverpool and move back into a full-time race seat with Westwood having replaced Keith Boston for four races in 2014, however this collapsed after Westwood signed Will Hoskins. The signing also meant that Douglas Bacon's contract was terminated, leaving him without a seat. Downton and Westwood later came to a financial agreement where Maxwell would act as reserve driver for both teams.
- Having lost his drive at Lucas just two races into the 2014 season, Jonas Phipps will switch to Rossi as test and reserve driver.
- Elroy Wagner and Jarod Lindsey were left without seats for 2015 when Team 23 withdrew from the series, however Wagner was later signed by Franklin, although it is currently unknown as to what role he will fulfil. Jacinto van Slooten was also expected to re-sign for Team 23 but following their departure instead joined Lucas as test and reserve driver.
- Hiroto Nakumaya will race for AMR full time after replacing Gerard Alaniz following the opening two rounds of 2014.
- Scott Parsons will return to the series driving for new team Ocelot after a sabbatical in 2014 following his 2013 rally accident. He will be joined by Judson Sikes, who steps up to the series from the VWRS. Felipe Cesar will serve as the team's test and reserve driver, a role he will dovetail with a 2015 VWRS campaign.
- Jamie Gerrard will join Liverpool as test and reserve driver, combining these duties with his FV2 campaign.
- Mattias Hirvonen was dropped as reserve driver by Franklin and replaced by 2013 FV2 Champion Luke Stokey, who will combine his reserve duties with a third season in the feeder series.
Mid-season changes
- On 10th April 2015 it was announced FUN reserve driver Hugh Dwyer would race for new team Ocelot in the season opening Australian V-Prix in place of signed driver Judson Sikes. The deal was believed to be for one race only, with the team citing it wanted the extra experience Dwyer would bring for their first race, however he has remained in the car ever since. Prior to the Malaysian V-Prix it was announced Sikes would take over the second seat from Scott Parsons. For the British V-Prix it was announced Parsons would take over in the number 82 car from Dwyer, before the Canadian returned for his home round, while Parsons replaced Sikes at the United States V-Prix before the Russian returned for Germany.
- Following a takeover of the team, Meteor announced Arden Hutchinson would be losing his seat for at least two races as the team sought an experienced driver. It was later confirmed they had agreed a deal with Ocelot for Scott Parsons. This deal lasted three races before Hutchinson returned to race duties at the British V-Prix and Parsons returned to Ocelot. Tensions later developed between Hutchinson and the team following the Austrian's impending move to FIRST in 2016 - and published comments - with Meteor announced they would mutually part company following the United States V-Prix. As a result Johan Halvosen made an early début for the team at the German V-Prix.
- Lucas did not enter a strategy in time for the Portuguese V-Prix, and were therefore not entered. To date, they have not been entered to any V-Prix's after.
- Following the split between Liverpool and Vauxhall - and the previous announcement that he was to join Ocelot in 2016 - Karl Beckenbauer parted ways with the team early. Beckenbauer raced in the French and German V-Prix's before moving to Warrior from the Belgian V-Prix onwards. Liverpool struck a deal with Downton to use their reserve driver Kip Maxwell as Beckenbauer's replacement.
- Following the Mexican V-Prix it was announced by Downton and Westwood that Nathaniel Powers and Will Hoskins respectively would switch seats for the remaining two races of the season.
Calendar
Round | V-Prix | Circuit | Date |
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1 | Australian V-Prix | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne | 2 September 2015 |
2 | Malaysian V-Prix | Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur | 27 September 2015 |
3 | Brazilian V-Prix | Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo | 4 October 2015 |
4 | South African V-Prix | Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand | 23 October 2015 |
5 | Spanish V-Prix | Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera | 12 November 2015 |
6 | Portuguese V-Prix | Autodromo do Estoril, Estoril | 10 December 2015 |
7 | French V-Prix | Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet | 2 January 2016 |
8 | British V-Prix | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | 10 January 2016 |
9 | Canadian V-Prix | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal | 17 January 2016 |
10 | United States V-Prix | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis | 31 January 2016 |
11 | German V-Prix | Hockenheimring, Hockenheim | 7 February 2016 |
12 | Belgian V-Prix | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps | 25 March 2016 |
13 | Italian V-Prix | Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza | 2 April 2016 |
14 | Mexican V-Prix | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City | 10 April 2016 |
15 | Chinese V-Prix | Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai | 17 April 2016 |
16 | Japanese V-Prix | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 24 April 2016 |
Calendar changes
- Argentina, South Africa and Netherlands joined the calendar for the first time in 2015, on the Buenos Aires, Kyalami and Zandvoort circuits respectively.
- The Spanish and French V-Prix's both changed venue. Respectively these were; Barcelona to Jerez, and Magny-Cours to Paul Ricard.
- As a result of the new additions, Bahrain and Austria lost their places on the calendar.
Mid-season changes
- The Buenos Aires circuit in Argentina encountered bugs when tested, so was pushed back from round four to round fifteen, just before the Mexican V-Prix. This became round fourteen when a similar fate befell the Dutch V-Prix, which was cancelled and pushed back to 2016, although Argentina was later cancelled too.
- The United States V-Prix was due to switch from Indianapolis to Detroit, however the street circuit was deemed to not be up to standards, and as a result Indianapolis hosted the race. Likewise the German V-Prix was set to move from Hockenheim to Nurburgring, but the deal fell through and FV returned to Hockenheim, albeit the newer version of the circuit.
Rule changes
Development points
- Additional development points will be awarded to teams who keep their drivers on for consecutive seasons. Teams are awarded 1.2 development points per driver kept on per season, however these cannot be just any drivers. To be eligible for the points drivers must have competed in at least sixteen races of the previous season (ie 2014), and must stay with the same team for at least one round of the following season (ie 2015).
Name change
- On 6 October 2014 Nic Morley announced the series' name would change slightly for the 2015 season. This was changed from F1F Virtual Grand Prix Championship (or VGPC for short) to Formula Virtual World Championship (or Formula Virtual, Formula V or FV for short). A new logo was also unveiled at the same time. Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that the names of races would change to accompany the series name change. They would go from being 'Grand Prix' to 'V-Prix'.
Game change
- Having been run on 'F1 Challenge' for 2013 and 2014, the series will switch to 'rFactor 2' for 2015 onwards. This will produce better graphics, better racing, new skill areas (aggression, starts, crash and composure), and also slightly different car designs.
Driver improvement points
- With a change in game the way the driver and team points works has been altered. Before, a lower number was better (0.1 being best) and a higher number worse, but that will reverse for 2015, with 100% being best. This will be split 50-50 between car and driver. Some small changes in driver improvements points at the season end have been confirmed as well.
Previously it worked like:
- 24 and under: -0.2
- 28 and under: -0.1
- 32 and under: N/A
- 36 and under: +0.1
- 40 and under: +0.2
- 44 and under: +0.3
Added to each ability area.
- Drivers champion: -0.1
- Race winner: -0.3
- Pole winner: -0.3
- Rain winner: -0.3
- Top 10 in WDC: -0.2
Added to the appropriate ability area.
But from 2015 it will be:
- 28 and under: +2%
- 32 and under: +1%
- 36 and under: +0%
- 40 and under: -1%
- 44 and under: -2%
- Drivers champion: +2%
- Top 10 in WDC: +2%
Added to each ability area.
- Race winner: +3%
- Pole winner: +3%
- Rain winner: +3%
Added to the appropriate ability area.
Finances
Following the changes for season two, the end of season prize money will undergo further revisions for 2015, however both Drivers and Constructors will change this time. The prize money for 2015 onwards will be as follows;
Constructors
- 1st: £40m
- 2nd: £37m
- 3rd: £34m
- 4th: £31m
- 5th: £29m
- 6th: £27m
- 7th: £25m
- 8th: £24m
- 9th: £23m
- 10th: £22m
- 11th: £21m
- 12th: £20m
Drivers
- 1st: £14,000,000
- 2nd: £13,000,000
- 3rd: £12,000,000
- 4th: £10,000,000
- 5th: £9,000,000
- 6th: £8,000,000
- 7th: £7,000,000
- 8th: £6,500,000
- 9th: £6,000,000
- 10th: £5,500,000
- 11th: £5,000,000
- 12th: £4,500,000
- 13th: £4,000,000
- 14th: £3,500,000
- 15th: £3,000,000
- 16th: £2,500,000
- 17th: £2,000,000
- 18th: £1,700,000
- 19th: £1,500,000
- 20th: £1,250,000
- 21st: £1,000,000
- 22nd: £750,000
- 23rd: £600,000
- 24th and below: £500,000
Tyres
For the series' first two seasons Bridgestone were the sole tyre supplier, however from 2015 onwards Michelin and Firestone will take over the supply, with teams choosing whichever they prefer.
Young Driver Test
- See also: 2015 Formula Virtual Young Driver Test
The Young Driver Test that first took place in 2014 will return in 2015, this time running in Fuji after the season ending Japanese V-Prix.
Results and standings
V-Prix's
Drivers' standings
Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers using the following structure:
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
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Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
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Constructors' standings
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External links
Formula Virtual seasons | |||||
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