2015 Rejects of LFS season
The 2015 Rejects of LFS season was the fourth year of the Rejects of LFS series. One race was added to the calendar; a 200-kilometer endurance event (originally scheduled for 300 kilometers) held in Japan at the end of the season. Unlike previous year, individual engine development was no longer possible, and instead the teams had to choose from two different engine configurations manufactured by Judd and Zytek. However, the teams were allowed to rebadge their engines with a manufacturer of their choice. The spec chassis was named Scaven S15, and the teams were allowed to make slight upgrades to it during the course of the season. Another new feature was the possibility to choose from six different tyre manufacturers: Avon, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin and Pirelli, each with their different characteristics.
Marcel Agyemang-Badu and Parma Corse were the drivers' and teams' champions (Badu becaming the series' first and only African champion of the series), but the season was marred by a fatal accident at the Kyoto Ring Feature race. Nobushige Fukuda suffered fatal injuries when he was first hit by Tristan Jung, pitching his car into several rolls before landing upside down, after which Tanner Jason hit his stricken car. This led to some of the teams using special liveries at the season-ending Nippon Super 200, which was shortened from the scheduled running length of 300 kilometers as an emergency safety measure. Speed limiters were also installed to the cars to reduce speeds. Fukuda's death was the first to be caused directly by an on-track incident in all of the RWRS series.
Qualifying system
With the additions of Melrose Racing Team, Fusion Motorsports, Scuderia Vittore, Tarantino Autosport, Winton Racing, De Friis Motorsport and Kingfisher Racing expanding the number of entries to 30, the qualifying and race systems were heavily modified. Instead of having one feature and sprint race, there were two heats with 15 cars each; the grids for them were determined in an earlier qualifying session. The race length and points system for the heats were the same as in the old sprint races. From both heats 10 of the fastest cars advanced to the main feature race.
Had there been less than 10 finishers in one of the heats, then more finishers from the other heat were permitted into the feature race until the combined total is 20. If the combined total still was less than 20, then the drivers who completed the most race distance without finishing were allowed to participate as well. After the 20 participants were confirmed, a final qualifying session is held to determine the grid for the feature race.
The sole exception for this system was the last GP of the season, Nippon Super 200. There the grid was determined via a single qualifying session, with 10 of the slowest cars not being allowed to race.
Teams and drivers
Notes:
- 1 - Sebastian Groves was originally meant to drive the second Hydook, but he moved to F1RWRS to replace the hapless Dean O'Lauchlan at the Autodynamics GP team after the 2015 F1RWRS Tasman Grand Prix. As Hydook Racing failed to nominate a replacement in time, the RoLFS Commission appointed Benoît Voeckler for the drive during the Blackwood rounds.
- 2 - Andrea Bianchi spun off the track during the Blackwood feature race, and went on to say negative comments about the Scuderia Vittore team. The team decided to punish Bianchi by forcing him to sit out the next race at Westhill, with the team's tester Marcos Marcia substituting for him. Bianchi returned to the seat for Fern Bay, but was then permanently replaced by Marcia as he had to concentrate on his campaign in the 2015 F1 Rejects Indy Championship Series season.
- 3 - Benoît Voeckler's lack of competence alarmed the RoLFS Commission, and he was replaced by Jules Vergne for the Westhill rounds.
- 4 - Alexandra Kustova was banned for two race weekends for her offences at the Westhill round. The team decided to demote her into a test driver for the remainder of the season, while Ivan Lanin was promoted to a race seat.
- 5 - Hydook Racing withdrew from the sport after Westhill, and their entries were allocated to two new teams - Team Rojo and Racing Team Solvalou.
- 6 - Danny van Rijkens was immediately promoted to F1RWRS after his feature race win at Westhill, debuting with Tropico Grand Prix at the German Grand Prix. He was replaced by French debutant Gilles Massinion.
- 7 - TRE decided to sit out Megumi from the Fern Bay round due to erratic driving at Westhill. American rookie Frank Tenpenny took her place. Tenpenny himself got banned from South City for dangerous driving, and Megumi moved back to the seat.
- 8 - Grands Travaux Inutiles decided to sack Nobushige Fukuda due to him being "too anonymous". F3RWRS driver Dorien Lamberigts replaced him.
- 9 - After being sacked from GTI, Fukuda moved to MRT to replace the underperforming Martin McGovern.
- 10 - Similarly, Hydook's Alexandre Dorval found new employment in the newcomer team Solvalou.
- 11 - Ólafur Ragnar Hannesson moved permanently to F3RWRS, and was replaced by Aussie rookie Dean Melville.
- 12 - Helio Hernandez's lackluster performance at the Fern Bay heats led to him being sacked from the team. The team owner himself, Jan de Friis, replaced him.
- 13 - Dean Melville was banned from the South City and Aston rounds for extremely dangerous driving at Fern Bay. He was replaced by Czech rookie Jiri Komárek.
- 14 - Dorien Lamberigts was banned from the same rounds for similar offences, and was replaced by the team's reserve driver Justin Case.
- 15 - Nobushige Fukuda was banned from the South City round for dangerous driving at Fern Bay. He was replaced by Diego Mauricio Batistuta.
- 16 - Yui Megumi had accumulated too many penalty points after the South City round and was banned from taking part in the Aston round. Collin Pratchett served as her replacement.
- 17 - Connor O'Heagan was banned from Aston for causing a serious accident at South City. He was replaced by American rookie Matt Brinson.
- 18 - Mika Paasonen's season ended from injuries sustained in an accident at the South City round. In a shock move, former Formula One champion and F1RWRS driver Daniel Melrose stepped in as his replacement.
- 19 - Tristan Jung was injured in South City, and was not cleared to take part in Aston. He was replaced by Richard Hershall.
- 20 - Dieter Hallenstein was replaced for the rest of the season by Antonio Fazio for financial reasons.
- 21 - Akira Yamamura was banned for the rest of the season for dangerous driving at Aston, and was replaced by the team's F2RWRS driver Tanner Jason.
- 22 - Pablo Galaz was banned for the rest of the season for accumulating too many penalty points at the Aston round. He was replaced by the team's test driver Toru Fukui.
- 23 - Yuki Matsudate replaced Ivan Lanin for the Japanese rounds for sponsorship reasons.
- 24 - Justin Case impressed in his two substitute outings for GTI, and when Lamberigts' ban ended, he went on to replace Simon Garfünkel for the rest of the season.
- 25 - Matthias Valsattis replaced Ashley Lilly in the F2RWRS, and Lilly moved to Valsattis' seat in RoLFS.
- 26 - Nobushige Fukuda suffered fatal injuries in a collision at the Kyoto Ring Feature race. Salvatore Miccoli drove his car at the last round.
- 27 - Tanner Jason was banned from ever competing in RoLFS again after being found quilty of extremely reckless driving which led to his collision with Nobushige Fukuda, resulting in the latter's death. He was replaced by Ragnar Larsen for the last round.
- 28 - Tristan Jung was also found quilty of extremely reckless driving after further examination of his collision with Fukuda. He was banned from RoLFS competition for the next year and disqualified from the standings. He was replaced by Collin Pratchett for the Nippon Super 200.
- 29 - Bobby Dollar replaced Antonio Fazio for the Nippon Super 200.
Season Calendar
Testing
# | Track | Date | Fastest driver (Q) | Fastest team (Q) | Fastest driver (R) | Fastest team (R) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21-22 February | Ragnar Larsen | Winton Racing | Gia van Dycke | Grands Travaux Inutiles | |
2 | Aston National Reversed | 11-12 March | Connor O'Heagan | Jones Racing | Thomas Muller | Ultimate Racing |
3 | 21-22 March | Helio Hernandez | Scuderia Vittore | Gia van Dycke | Grands Travaux Inutiles |
Championship races
Non-championship events
Date | Race | Track | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 17-18 | Aston 24 Hours | Aston Grand Touring Reversed | Ural Racing | Grands Travaux Inutiles | Aero Kings Racing |
Results
Drivers
Pos | Driver | BLA |
WES |
FER |
SOU |
AST |
KYO |
200 |
Points | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | ||||
1 | Marcel Agyemang-Badu | 1 | 10 | 5 | Ret | 11 | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 37 | ||||||
2 | Nathan McKane | 7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4† | Ret | 8 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 25.5 | ||||||
3 | Martyn Rietacher | 1 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 | DNQ | 5 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 25 | ||||||
4 | Renato Bulku | 9 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 23 | ||||||
5 | Hiroto Tojo | 4 | 4 | 15 | DNQ | 8 | 10 | 13 | DNQ | 5 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 22 | ||||||
6 | Brucie Kibbutz | 11 | DNQ | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 12 | DNQ | 7 | 4 | DNQ | 21 | ||||||
7 | Matthias Valsattis | 2 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 19 | |||||||||
8 | Cave Johnson | 10 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 14 | DNQ | 1 | 14 | 5 | 18 | ||||||
9 | Sebastian Prost | 4 | 18 | 13 | DNQ | 10 | 8 | 12 | DNQ | 3 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 18 | ||||||
10 | Diego Álvarez Torrente | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 4† | Ret | 4 | 14 | 13 | DNQ | 20 | 16.5 | ||||||
11 | Danny van Rijkens | 3 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
12 | Marco Bizzarri | 11 | DNQ | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | Ret | DNQ | 9 | 2 | 11 | DNQ | 7 | 12 | ||||||
14 | Akira Yamamura | 2 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 10 | Ret | EX | EX | EX | EX | 11 | |||||
15 | Justin Case | 1† | 3 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | DNQ | 9.5 | ||||||||||||
16 | Connor O'Heagan | 9 | 16 | 6 | 15 | 10 | DNQ | 2† | Ret | EX | EX | EX | 12 | DNQ | 3 | 9.5 | |||||
17 | Jason Hamilton | 14 | DNQ | 15* | 2 | 13 | DNQ | 3† | Ret | Ret | DNQ | 6 | 6 | 17 | 8.5 | ||||||
18 | Andrea Bianchi | 3 | Ret | 1 | 14 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
19 | Yui Megumi | 7 | 2 | 8 | DSQ | 15 | DNQ | EX | EX | EX | 4 | 15 | 12 | 7 | |||||||
20 | Daniel Melrose | 6 | 7 | 15 | DNQ | 4 | 7 | ||||||||||||||
21 | Viktor Pasitchnjuk | Ret | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | 13 | DNQ | 6 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 6 | ||||||
DSQ | Tristan Jung | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ | DSQ | INJ | INJ | INJ | DSQ | DSQ | EX | DSQ (5) | |||||
22 | Dean Melville | 8 | DSQ | EX | EX | EX | EX | EX | EX | 5 | 3 | 18 | 5 | ||||||||
23 | Simon Garfünkel | 13 | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | 2 | NC | 14 | DNQ | 7 | 15 | 4 | |||||||||
24 | Gilles Massinion | 11 | DNQ | 8 | 5 | 14 | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | 9 | 4 | ||||||||||
25 | Marcos Marcia | 2 | 14 | 13 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 9 | 7 | DNQ | 3 | ||||||||||
26 | Yuki Matsudate | 2 | 17 | 13 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
27 | Collin Pratchett | 2 | Ret | DNQ | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
28 | Antonio Fazio | 8 | 8 | 3 | NC | 3 | |||||||||||||||
29 | Ashley Lilly | 6 | 9 | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
30 | Jan de Friis | 1† | Ret | 12 | DNQ | 13 | DNQ | DNQ | 2.5 | ||||||||||||
31 | Diego Mauricio Batistuta | 2† | 7 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
32 | Ólafur Ragnar Hannesson | 8 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
33 | Ivan Lanin | 12 | DNQ | 3† | 12 | 15 | DNQ | 1 | |||||||||||||
34 | Nobushige Fukuda | 6 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 4 | Ret | EX | EX | EX | 13 | DNQ | 10 | Ret | 1 | ||||||
35 | Richard Hershall | 4 | 11 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
36 | Jiri Komárek | 5 | 6 | 11 | DNQ | 1 | |||||||||||||||
37 | Alexandre Dorval | 10 | 12 | 9 | 10 | Ret | DNQ | 7 | 13 | 10 | Ret | 12 | DNQ | DNQ | 1 | ||||||
38 | Bobby Dollar | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
39 | Mika Paasonen | 13 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 5 | 10 | INJ | INJ | INJ | INJ | INJ | INJ | INJ | 0 | ||||
40 | Dieter Hallenstein | 6 | 15 | 12 | DNQ | 7 | 9 | 12 | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||||
41 | Karl van der Zwaart | 8 | 8 | 10 | DNQ | 15* | 11 | 11 | DNQ | 6 | 16 | 14 | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | ||||||
42 | Pablo Galaz | 14 | DNQ | 7 | 11 | 7 | DSQ | EX | EX | EX | EX | 0 | |||||||||
43 | Frank Tenpenny | 7 | Ret | EX | EX | EX | 0 | ||||||||||||||
44 | Helio Hernandez | 12 | DNQ | 9 | 13 | 14 | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||||||
45 | Dorien Lamberigts | 9 | Ret | EX | EX | EX | EX | EX | EX | 15 | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||
46 | Alexandra Kustova | 12 | DNQ | 10 | DSQ | EX | EX | EX | EX | EX | EX | 0 | |||||||||
47 | Martin McGovern | 14 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||||||||
48 | Toru Fukui | 11 | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
49 | Jules Vergne | 12 | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
50 | Matt Brinson | 13 | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
51 | Benoît Voeckler | 15 | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
52 | Salvatore Miccoli | 16 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
53 | Ragnar Larsen | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
DSQ | Tanner Jason | DSQ | DSQ | EX | DSQ |
Teams
Position | Team | Car no. |
BLA |
WES |
FER |
SOU |
AST |
KYO |
200 |
Points | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | H1 | H2 | FEA | |||||
1 | MasterCard-Lancia | 13 | 11 | DNQ | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | Ret | DNQ | 9 | 2 | 11 | DNQ | 7 | 49 | ||||||
14 | 1 | 10 | 5 | Ret | 11 | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
2 | Ultimate-Mercedes | 1 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 14 | DNQ | 1 | 14 | 5 | 37 | ||||||
2 | 4 | 18 | 13 | DNQ | 10 | 8 | 12 | DNQ | 3 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 2 | |||||||||
3 | Vittore-Mercedes | 24 | 3 | Ret | 2 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 13 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 9 | 7 | DNQ | 36 | ||||||
25 | 1 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 | DNQ | 5 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 15 | |||||||||
4 | Aeroracing-Audi | 7 | 11 | DNQ | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 12 | DNQ | 7 | 4 | DNQ | 32 | ||||||
8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 10 | Ret | DSQ | DSQ | DNQ | |||||||||
5 | Takagi-Honda | 15 | 4 | 4 | 15 | DNQ | 8 | 10 | 13 | DNQ | 5 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 32 | ||||||
16 | 7 | 2 | 8 | DSQ | 7 | Ret | 15 | DNQ | 2 | Ret | 4 | 15 | 12 | |||||||||
6 | ZimSport-Holden | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 8 | DSQ | 5 | 6 | 11 | DNQ | 5 | 3 | 18 | 31 | ||||||
6 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 14 | |||||||||
7 | Winton-Ilmor | 27 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4† | Ret | 8 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 25.5 | ||||||
8 | Jones-Judd | 19 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 10 | DNQ | 8 | 5 | 14 | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | 9 | 25.5 | ||||||
20 | 9 | 16 | 6 | 15 | 11 | DNQ | 2† | Ret | 13 | DNQ | 12 | DNQ | 3 | |||||||||
9 | Kingfisher-Toyota | 30 | 2 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 22 | ||||||
10 | Fusion-Honda | 23 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 4† | Ret | 4 | 14 | 13 | DNQ | 20 | 16.5 | ||||||
11 | GTI-Trabant | 11 | 13 | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | 2 | NC | 14 | DNQ | 7 | 15 | 4 | 8 | DNQ | 13.5 | ||||||
12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 1† | 3 | 9 | 6 | 15 | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||
12 | Ural-Lada | 9 | 12 | DNQ | 10 | DSQ | 12 | DNQ | 3† | 12 | 15 | DNQ | 2 | 17 | 13 | 7 | ||||||
13 | Ret | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | 13 | DNQ | 6 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||||||
13 | MRT-BMW | 21 | 14 | DNQ | 15* | 2 | 13 | DNQ | 3† | Ret | Ret | DNQ | 6 | 6 | 17 | 11.5 | ||||||
22 | 14 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 4 | Ret | 2† | 7 | 13 | DNQ | 10 | Ret | 16 | |||||||||
14 | Red Bull-Autodynamics | 3 | 6 | 15 | 12 | DNQ | 7 | 9 | 12 | DNQ | 6 | 7 | 3 | NC | 10 | 11 | ||||||
4 | 13 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 12 | DNQ | 5 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 15 | DNQ | 4 | |||||||||
15 | Tarantino-Judd | 26 | 5 | 6 | 13 | DNQ | 2 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 13 | DNQ | 6 | ||||||
16 | De Friis-Citroën | 28 | 8 | 8 | 10 | DNQ | 15* | 11 | 11 | DNQ | 6 | 16 | 14 | DNQ | DNQ | 2.5 | ||||||
29 | 12 | DNQ | 9 | 13 | 14 | DNQ | 1† | Ret | 12 | DNQ | 13 | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||
17 | Hydook-Zytek | 17 | 15 | DNQ | 12 | DNQ | 1 | |||||||||||||||
18 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
18 | Rojo-Zytek | 31 | 14 | DNQ | 7 | 11 | 7 | DSQ | 11 | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||||
19 | Solvalou-Assoluto | 32 | Ret | DNQ | 7 | 13 | 10 | Ret | 12 | DNQ | DNQ | 0 |
*Used DNQ bailout
†The South City heats were run to only half of the planned length due to serious safety concerns, so half points were awarded.
Previous season | This season | Next season |
---|---|---|
2014 Rejects of LFS season | 2015 Rejects of LFS season | 2016 Rejects of LFS season |