Joseph Wright
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The RDGPC reaches its Final Round, where we have 24 drivers heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After four Championship rounds, Season 5 of the RaceDepartment Grand Prix Championship will draw to a close this evening after 80 Laps of running around the track that made these cars famous; Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 5th running of the RDGPC has seen its ups and downs for all of our drivers over the course of the season, but our most consistent driver, Charles Baccio has a solid 24 point championship lead, scoring a podium at every round so far. But with Indianapolis, comes great uncertainty. Baccio will not be racing at Indy, which means that he will most likely lose this top step of the championship table to his competitors. This historic race can turn around at a moments notice, and drivers starting from the rear of the field can have the shot of winning the race. This also means that the top 18 drivers, (11 not including our absent drivers) all have the points available to take the Championship Victory!
All drivers out on track tonight, including the 11 drivers signed up specifically for the Indianapolis running will be going to take the crown of the RaceDepartment Indy 200 Champion, whilst the overall championship will also be decided. With double points on offer at IMS, 100 points are available to our race victor, which means the top thirteen drivers all have a chance at winning the championship tonight.
Testing this week has proved, Oli McGown the fastest around the 2.5 mile circuit. However, qualifying will not always define the outcome, with drivers having to work well in pack running; one of the most important features in an oval race. Drivers have spent the entire week at Indianapolis, with a total of over 300 laps being run by of all of our drivers. Tobi Kederer placed in 131 laps himself, being the driver with most practice before this weeks event.
With two formation laps before the green flag falls, drivers will have to cope with huge pressure as their cars dawdle around the circuit at about 100km/h, before reaching speeds of excess 300km/h.
But once that green flag drops, who should you pay attention to throughout the 200 mile race?
Dan Long will be looking for another great race, with 2nd place at the first three rounds before a retirement at Silverstone. However, with championship leader only 24 points up the road, will be able to take an easy swoop past Baccio, but with 10 other drivers also looking for that victory, the pressure will be huge in the cockpit of his Dallara DW12 Indycar.
Matt Beavis finally crossed the finish line for the first time at Silverstone, taking the bottom step of the podium following a race long fight for the lead with Allie Ferrie - both, however, will be absent at Indianapolis. Joseph Wright will be looking to finally take a finish without making a mistake, running in fifth at some point in the race in the first three rounds of the season. At Indianapolis, will he finally overcome his issues and take a strong result. Wright is the last driver with the points being close enough that it is possible for him to win the championship, but very very unlikely. Sitting just ten points off of a top ten, Wright will be looking to also secure a seat in the next running of the RDGPC.
If you want to have a detailed look at the driver and team standings heading into the final round, check out THIS.
Finally, lets have a little look at our Rookies, who have joined the RDGPC to compete only in the running of the Indy 200. Some of the more noticeable drivers heading into the Indy 200 comes from the SimTech family, with four drivers joining alongside Sherwin van der Sloot. Shane Burke joins SimTech Motorsport, whereas Mateusz Bogusz and Standa Sehnal join SimTech International. Tjeerd Feddema will be in their final car of SimTech Netherlands; the entire group of drivers will be working together for the 200 miles of racing today.
Oli McGown of SpeedyMite racing is yet another name to look out for alongside his teammate Thomas Hinss, but one of the more noticeable racing teams and livery will be of the McLaren Honda Andretti team, with their car being run by Miguel Muñiz. There are a total of 11 Rookie drivers heading out onto the track this evening, all with a chance of being our RaceDepartment Indianapolis 200 Champion.
Talking to our event organisers, Ole Marius Myrvold and Joseph Wright, they both wish all of the drivers Good Luck with tonights running. Ole will be spending the evening Stewarding tonights event from the Race Control room, with Joseph out on track himself. They both have been preparing hard for this weeks event, alongside all of the drivers, and they are expecting an amazing evening of racing around the historic oval circuit.
You can all watch tonights event live on our YouTube page from 18:45GMT. Join Dan Marr and Peter Lee from the commentary box, with Davy Vandevenne taking control of our cameras. Be sure to pop along and join the conversation in the stream chats and on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #RDGPC.
Session Schedule
- Practice: 17:45 GMT (1 hour)
- BROADCAST STARTS: 18:45 GMT
- Qualify 18:45 GMT (10 minutes or 4 laps, counting in and out lap)
- Warm-up: 18:55 GMT (5 minutes, dedicated for resting and last minute info)
- Race: 19:00 GMT (80 Laps)
Header Image courtesy of Alex Schmurtz. On track images courtesy of RaceDepartment Motorsport
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