1994 F1RGP2C Canadian Grand Prix
The 1994 F1RGP2C Canadian Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1994 F1RGP2C season. Crowd favorite Daniel Moreno won the race after his teammate Jack Christopherson was forced to make a late pit stop due to a stuck throttle.
Race Report
Qualifying
Daniel Moreno took pole for his home race by setting a time of 1:29.434 in the first qualifying session. He was well over three tenths quicker than his teammate Jack Christopherson and John Zimmer in the Benetton. Douglas Mann qualified fourth in the McLaren and Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín put in a sterling performance for Jordan to qualify fifth. Pieter Kickert put in a not-so-sterling effort and only qualified nineteenth, ten spots behind his teammate Poppy Whitechapel.
Race
The start of the race was quite chaotic as the drivers jostled for position behind the two Williamses. Moreno and Christopherson shot off into the lead as the chasing pack followed. However, the pack lost Leonhard von Gottorp who was knocked off-track by Padraig O'Connell before rejoining in last. Dennis Mignolet, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Andrew Spokes all found themselves out with various mechanical gremlins after three laps. The pack began to bunch up behind John Zimmer in third place. Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín slipped past Zimmer at the first corner. The problems were not over for Zimmer though as he was also passed by O'Connell and Douglas Mann.
Both Simteks pulled off the track with problems on Lap 13 and 16, respectively. Pippa Mann's suspension broke and George Tramontani's Ford engine exploded. Jack Christopherson pitted early on Lap 17, opting for a two-stop strategy to beat Moreno's one-stopper. Rory McAllister retired with electrical problems on Lap 25 which coincided with Moreno's only stop for fuel. Five laps later, Poppy Whitechapel picked up a puncture on her left front wheel and retired from a strong fifth place. Meanwhile, Moreno's one-stop strategy showed itself to be superior to Christopherson's. In fact, Christopherson was the only driver in the top six to run a two-stopper as O'Connell, von Gottorp, Takagi, Davies and Douglas Mann all elected to go on one-stoppers.
Takagi retired on Lap 37 with a transmission problem. Ó'Caoimhín was the next to go (on Lap 45); he was followed by O'Connell's Ferrari on Lap 51. This left Moreno in the lead with Christopherson second, Mann third, Zimmer fourth, Davies fifth and von Gottorp in sixth. On Lap 60, Zimmer's Ford engine failed, leaving his championship lead in jeopardy. Luckily for him, Jack Christopherson's throttle failed on the last lap of the race. He was passed by Mann, Davies and von Gottorp. The late-race drama left Christopherson with a disappointing fifth place. Moreno crossed the line safely to win his home race for the first time. The win was incredibly popular in Canada, providing the start of the F1RGP2C's rampant popularity in North America. Moreno was lauded as the first Canadian single-seater racing hero since Gilles Villeneuve. It was only fitting that his maiden win came at the Montreal circuit. Douglas Mann finished second for McLaren which turned out to be the team's last podium of the season. Davies finished in a brilliant third place which gave Sauber their only podium of the season (it also gave Davies a seat at McLaren for 1995. von Gottorp finished in fourth and Pieter Kickert rounded out the points in sixth. Tom Douglas finished in seventh, out of the points and out of any reasonable expectations. He was given Reject of the Race for the Grand Prix although Ferrari and Pablo da Silva were also in contention.
Standings after the race
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  John Zimmer
|
24 |
| 2 |  Daniel Moreno
|
19 |
| =3 |  Tom Douglas
|
18 |
| =3 | Jack Christopherson
|
18 |
| 5 |  Douglas Mann
|
11 |
- Constructors' Championship standings
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams-Renault
|
37 |
| 2 | Benetton-Ford
|
30 |
| 3 | McLaren-Peugeot
|
29 |
| 4 |  Jordan-Hart
|
21 |
| 5 |  Ferrari
|
13 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
| Previous race: 1994 Spanish Grand Prix |
Formula 1 Rejects Grand Prix 2 Championship 1994 Season |
Next race: 1994 French Grand Prix |
| Previous race: None |
Canadian Grand Prix | Next race: 1995 Canadian Grand Prix |
