The 2016 Barnshire State Auto Race was a SUPRAC Cup race held on August 16, 2015 at Portsfold Speedway in Blenkinsopp, Ianoia. It is recognized as the first tri-oval circuit, and short track, to hold a SUPRAC Cup race, and was the second race of the inaugural season.

Background

Leading up to the second race of the 2015 SUPRAC Cup season, the previous weekend’s race winner, Benoît Douay was quick to praise his team for their exceptional performance. During a TV interview following the race, he expressed his gratitude, “I owe this victory to the incredible team at Whistler Motorsport. Their dedication and expertise are unmatched, and I am confident that we can maintain this form throughout the season.”

Meanwhile, Blake Gilmartin (pictured, right), who finished fourth in McCutchen and was the highest finisher for Emerald, made headlines with his appearance on ESPN Southern Union. Gilmartin, 31, shared his optimistic view on the championship. “Last weekend’s race was just the beginning for us,” Gilmartin stated. “I firmly believe that Emerald has what it takes to compete for the title. We’ve got the talent, the car, and the team to make it happen.”

Qualifying

Anthony Crow, driving for Red Bull Racing, clinched pole position with an impressive lap time of 19.660 seconds, translating to a speed of 160.224 km/h (99.559 mph). This achievement was particularly significant for Crow, who was rebounding from a disappointing performance in the previous race, where he retired with 29 laps remaining due to power steering issues.

Benoît Douay, the winner of last week’s race and current championship leader, secured 6th spot on the grid, just ahead of his Whistler Motorsport teammate Bill Redhead. Redhead, however, was involved in an on-track incident with WLD Racing’s Sjoerd Schott during the qualifying session. The clash forced both drivers into the pits for urgent repairs. Following the session, both were summoned to the race stewards and subsequently received warnings. Despite the setback, Schott managed to qualify in 16th position, marking him as the best performer for WLD Racing for the second consecutive week.

Super Nova’s Frans van Schooten delivered an impressive performance, qualifying 4th, narrowly behind his teammate Fabian Shroth. The 27-year-old van Schooten had shown promising form during Saturday’s practice, consistently placing in the top 10.

However, not all drivers experienced success during the qualifying session. Ferdi Arnold, driving car number 74 for Team MRT, faced a challenging day with persistent car issues. Unfortunately, a major suspension problem could not be resolved in time for qualifying, resulting in Arnold failing to set a qualifying time, and subsequently missing out on the race.

The session also marked the series debut of Paul Lindqvist, racing for Lehmann Technik, who had failed to qualify for the opening race of the season. Lindqvist managed to qualify in 20th, outperforming fellow debutants Sten Freese and Tommy Gardner. Lindqvist, starting in 40th spot, and Gardner, 32nd, were also making their series debuts after failing to qualify in the previous race at McCutchen.

Race

In a thrilling 3-way finish, Frans van Schooten (pictured, left) won the race after 264 laps, overtaking Benoît Douay with three laps remaining, for Super Nova’s first ever podium. Berthold Mentzel finished third, clinching Red Bull Racing’s first ever podium in the process.

Race Report

Only six laps into the first-ever race at a short track, Ember Engineering’s Hunter Davis, who was running in 8th, experienced a setback. He was sideswiped and made contact with the wall, necessitating a pit stop for multiple repairs, which put him multiple laps down.

The race escalated in drama on lap 23 with a major accident involving 14 cars. Francis Forestier, driving the 85 Super Nova car and in 9th position at the time, lost control coming out of turn 2, colliding with 16th-placed Jakob Schweitzer. This sparked a chain reaction, leading to a six-lap yellow flag period. The crash resulted in the retirement of Martijn van Poppel, Sander Bolck, and Jakob Schweitzer. Notably, Forestier and Jeppe Passer managed to rejoin the lead lap by lap 129, while others involved in the incident couldn’t recover. Martijn van Poppel’s retirement marked the second time in as many races he became the first retirement of the race.

The race saw its fourth retirement on lap 69, when Autocrust’s Jeremy Whinnett suffered a blown engine. Surprisingly, this did not trigger a yellow flag, neither did Paul Lindqvist, running 9th at the time, who spun out on lap 132, causing him to plummet to 28th place, the last of the cars on the lead lap.

A potential pit violation by Frans van Schooten’s crew on lap 160 was narrowly avoided. A rolling tire onto pit road caused an investigation, but the team was cleared of any fault after it was revealed that a competitor’s car had clipped the tire.

Noel Jernsten, driving for Sovereign, was forced to retire with brake problems on lap 168. As he slowed down and moved off the racing line, Dario Heinrich overtook him on the inside, leading to Heinrich being penalized for aggressive driving and dropping from 11th to 28th after serving a drive-through penalty.

Anthony Crow, who had led the race from the start, was finally overtaken on lap 184 by his teammate Berthold Mentzel. After losing the lead, Crow eventually finished 6th.

The race saw its final retirement on lap 238, when Cubley Racing’s Fred Gleeson had to pit for unscheduled repairs.

As the race neared its conclusion, the excitement peaked. Championship leader Benoît Douay took the lead from Mentzel on lap 242, only to be outperformed in the final laps. Frans van Schooten made a spectacular push, overtaking both Douay and Mentzel in consecutive laps to secure a thrilling victory in the second race of the season.

Championship Standings After the Race