1994 F1RGP2C British Grand Prix

The 1994 F1RGP2C British Grand Prix was the eighth round of the 1994 F1RGP2C season. The race was won by Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín in a shock victory for Jordan after Daniel Moreno collided with Gio van Dycke while leading handily.

Race Report

Qualifying

Daniel Moreno took a dominant pole position by three tenths over Douglas Mann. Jack Christopherson, the championship leader, qualified third and John Zimmer qualified fourth. Kazuhiko Takagi only qualified eighth. Kazuyoshi Hoshino qualified thirteenth and Andrew Spokes qualified sixteenth after a sterling performance from both drivers.

Race

Once again, Moreno took off at the start. Mann dropped back immediately and fell back to ninth by Lap 6. Ó'Caoimhín slipped into fourth behind the two Williamses and Zimmer with Padraig O'Connell fifth. James Davies pitted with a throttle problem on Lap 4. Both Ligiers retired with mechanical problems within two laps. Tom Douglas and Pieter Kickert were knocked out with engine problems on Lap 6 and Kazuhiko Takagi retired on Lap 11. Rory McAllister also joined them all on the sidelines on Lap 11. Moreno held the lead but Christopherson was passed by John Zimmer and O'Connell passed Ó'Caoimhín. On Lap 13, Christopherson retired with a Renault engine failure as Zimmer pitted. Benetton showed they were running a two-stopper but it was made moot after his Ford engine exploded. At this point, Moreno led from O'Connell and Ó'Caoimhín but all three drivers pitted on or around Lap 18, leaving Leonhard von Gottorp with Mann in second. The situation for Moreno was now ideal. Moreno quickly ran down the Jordan driver and was within range on Lap 21 when he suddenly approached Gio van Dycke's Minardi. van Dycke's engine had combusted but Moreno failed to notice as he was busy trying to pass von Gottorp. Moreno strayed off his line slightly and hit the Minardi, instantly knocking out both cars. Von Gottorp emerged unscathed.

The Moreno/van Dycke collision.

The dramatic turn of events left von Gottorp in the lead with Mann second. Mann and von Gottorp made their one stop, leaving Ó'Caoimhín in the lead. He stayed out until his pit stop on Lap 32. Now on fresh tyres, Ó'Caoimhín was able to dispatch Mann easily (Mann would retire a few laps later with transmission problems). The only driver standing in the way of his first F1RGP2C victory was his own teammate. Ó'Caoimhín nearly collided with his teammate on his first passing attempt into Stowe but he made the move stick later in the lap at Vale and took the lead. Padraig O'Connell's Ferrari pulled off on Lap 42 with an engine failure while running in third, elevating Poppy Whitechapel in contention for her second consecutive podium for Tyrrell. Then, von Gottorp retired with two laps to go in a blaze of fire as his Hart engine gave up the ghost. This moved Whitechapel to second and Andrew Spokes into a stunning third. Max von Hegel finished fourth for Footwork and the two Saubers of Pablo da Silva and James Davies finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Because the three main championship contenders did not finish, Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín was the main beneficiary of the weekend, moving up to a join fourth in the Drivers' Championship.

Standings after the race

• Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jack Christopherson	28
2	John Zimmer	24
=3	Daniel Moreno	19
=3	Leonhard von Gottorp	19
=4	Tom Douglas	18
=4	Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín	18

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Williams-Renault	47
2	Jordan-Hart	37
3	Benetton-Ford	30
4	McLaren-Peugeot	29
=5	Ferrari	14
=5	Tyrrell-Yamaha	14

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Previous race: 1994 French Grand Prix	Formula 1 Rejects Grand Prix 2 Championship 1994 Season	Next race: 1994 German Grand Prix
Previous race: None	British Grand Prix	Next race: 1995 British Grand Prix