2016–17 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship explained

The 2016–17 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship was the fifth running of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship. It began on 18 November 2016 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain and ended on 19 February 2017 at the Madras Motor Racing Track in Chennai, India. The series comprised 16 races spread across four meetings, with the first round in Bahrain being a support event to the FIA World Endurance Championship.^[1]

Drivers

Drivers whose name appears in italics are ineligible to score points in the championship.

	Driver	Rounds
1	Narain Karthikeyan^[2]	3–4
2	Rinus van Kalmthout^[3]	1–3
3	Dylan Young	All
4	Harrison Newey	All
5	Christophe Mariot	1
7	Parth Ghorpade^[4]	2
8	Chia Wing Hoong	3–4
9	Dan Ticktum^[5]	4
11	Felipe Drugovich	All
12	Neil Verhagen	4
13	Bobby Eberle	1–2
25	Mick Schumacher	All
27	Kim-Luis Schramm	1–3
28	Pavan Ravishankar	All
32	Presley Martono	4
43	Pedro Cardoso	1–3
44	Jüri Vips	All
51	Toby Sowery^[6]	1–2, 4
78	Yoshiaki Katayama	All
83	Manuel Maldonado	All
93	Zane Goddard	2
96	Joey Mawson	All
97	Bruna Tomaselli	1
99	Ralf Aron	1, 3–4

Calendar and results

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver
2016
1	1	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	18 November	Harrison Newey	Harrison Newey	Harrison Newey
	R2				Ralf Aron	Mick Schumacher
	R3		19 November	Harrison Newey	Ralf Aron	Ralf Aron
	R4				Joey Mawson	Mick Schumacher
2	R1	Dubai Autodrome, Dubai	9 December		Harrison Newey	Harrison Newey
	R2				Joey Mawson	Felipe Drugovich
	R3		10 December	Harrison Newey	Pedro Cardoso	Harrison Newey
	R4				Yoshiaki Katayama	Joey Mawson
2017
3	R1	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	28 January	Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher	Mick Schumacher
	R2				Ralf Aron	Joey Mawson
	R3		29 January	Mick Schumacher	Harrison Newey	Mick Schumacher
	R4				Harrison Newey	Harrison Newey
4	R1	Madras Motor Racing Track, Chennai	18 February	Harrison Newey	Joey Mawson	Harrison Newey
	R2				Joey Mawson	Joey Mawson
	R3		19 February	Harrison Newey	Harrison Newey	Harrison Newey
	R4				Harrison Newey

Footnotes

Championship standings

Scoring system

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	2	2

Drivers' standings

Driver BHR DUB GNO CHE Points 1 Harrison Newey 1 4 Ret 4 1 6 1 Ret 3 4 3 1 1 4 1 1 277 2 Joey Mawson 3 2 2 6 2 2 3 1 4 1 2 3 5 1 4 3 277 3 Mick Schumacher 5 1 3 1 3 4 Ret Ret 1 3 1 Ret 2 7 Ret 2 213 4 Felipe Drugovich 6 5 4 8 5 1 2 2 2 Ret 4 Ret 7 6 5 5 169 5 Ralf Aron 2 3 1 5 7 2 8 2 3 2 3 Ret 168 6 Jüri Vips 4 Ret 5 2 6 3 Ret 4 Ret DNS 6 Ret 4 5 2 4 135 7 Pedro Cardoso 7 Ret 6 3 4 5 4 DNS 12 7 7 4 89 8 Kim-Luis Schramm 8 6 7 7 7 7 11 6 6 9 10 5 65 9 Dylan Young 9 7 8 9 8 10 6 5 DNS Ret 9 7 12 9 6 7 61 10 align=left nowrap Rinus van Kalmthout Ret Ret 13 16 9 8 5 8 5 5 5 6 58 11 Yoshiaki Katayama 10 12 9 10 16 12 10 7 8 7 11 10 11 12 8 9 32 12 Dan Ticktum 6 3 10 6 32 13 Zane Goddard 13 9 8 3 21 14 Manuel Maldonado 12 9 Ret 12 10 11 Ret 9 9 8 12 8 9 Ret 9 10 20 15 Neil Verhagen 10 8 7 Ret 11 16 Presley Martono 8 10 11 8 9 17 Parth Ghorpade 12 13 7 Ret 6 18 Pavan Ravishankar 14 10 11 17 14 15 9 Ret 10 Ret 13 9 13 11 14 11 6 19 Bruna Tomaselli 11 8 10 11 5 20 Bobby Eberle 13 11 16 13 15 16 12 10 1 21 Chia Wing Hoong 11 10 DNS Ret 14 13 13 12 1 22 Christophe Mariot 15 13 12 15 0 Guest drivers ineligible for points Toby Sowery 16 16 14 14 11 14 Ret 11 14 12 0 Narain Karthikeyan 13 DNS 14 Ret Ret 0 Driver BHR DUB GNO CHE Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Notes and References

1. Web site: MRF Challenge returns to Buddh circuit in 2016-17 season. Motorsport.com. 7 October 2016.
2. News: Buddh MRF Challenge: Schumacher sets the pace in Friday practice. Chokhani. Darshan. 27 January 2017. Motorsport.com. 28 January 2017.
3. News: Schumacher, Newey headline MRF Challenge entry list. Chokhani. Darshan. 15 November 2016. Motorsport.com. 17 November 2016.
4. News: UAE National Race Days. 8 December 2016. MRF Racing. https://web.archive.org/web/20161215074022/https://scontent.fmad3-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/15400497_1221624087917840_5606845182372888232_n.jpg?oh=f2f8569e29797e18742880bc9036c7f0&oe=58F9E0D0. 15 December 2016. 19 August 2022. dead.
5. Web site: Red Bull juniors join entry list for MRF Challenge finale. 16 February 2017. 16 February 2017. 26 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170326051653/https://www.motorsport.com/indian-openwheel/news/red-bull-juniors-join-entry-list-for-mrf-challenge-finale-874068/. dead.
6. News: Bahrain MRF Challenge: Schumacher leads the way in practice. Chokhani. Darshan. 17 November 2016. Motorsport.com. 17 November 2016.