The 2023 Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear was the 19th season of the Formula Car Challenge. It was a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seater open wheel formula racing cars held across the American west coast. The series was sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America.
Christian Okpysh took the title in the main Formula Mazda class, while Tao Takaoka and Joe Briggs were victorious in the Formula Speed and Pro Formula Mazda categories, respectively.
Drivers Drivers competed in three classes, Formula Mazda, Formula Speed and Pro Formula Mazda. No.DriverCarRoundsFormula Mazda entries7 Woody Yerxa2001 Mazda Formula3–4, 7–8, 11–1412 Marcus Brodie1997 Mazda Formula Mazda9–1020 Ben BookerFormula Mazda Star Formula Mazda1–2, 7–8, 13–1428 Stew Tabak1993 Mazda Formula7–1429 Christian Okpysh1997 Mazda Formula Mazda3–6, 9–1463 Lars Jensen1997 Star Formula Mazda3–1467 Bill Weaver1997 Star Mazda Formula Mazda7–1475 C.J. Ray1998 Mazda Star Formula3–1477 Derry O'Donovan1996 Formula Mazda FM3–4, 7–1478 Brad Drew1997 Mazda Formula3–4, 7–1488 Randy Sturgeon1997 Mazda Star Formula Mazda5–6, 9–1091 Ritchie Hollingsworth1995 Mazda Formula Mazda7–8, 13–1492 Rick Bostrom1988 Mazda Formula13–14120 John Ertel1994 Mazda Formula Star11–12Formula Speed entries27 Tao Takaoka2015 Formula Speed F S 2.03–4, 7–1446 Frank Russell2012 Formula Speed 2.09–1451 Scott Vreeland1986 Ralt RT-53–4Pro Formula Mazda entries0 Edd Ozard2004 Mazda Pro Mazda1–2, 9–109 Joe Briggs2004 Mazda Pro Formula Mazda1–4, 9–1210 Vincent TjelmelandPro Formula Mazda9–1037 Nevin Spieker2019 Mazda Pro Formula3–4, 9–1041 Robert MerrittPro Formula Mazda9–1042 Gregory PerrinStar Mazda9–1251 Scott Vreeland1986 Ralt RT-513–14123 JD StuartPro Formula Mazda9–10Sources:
Race calendar The 2023 schedule was announced on 1 December 2022. All races were held in California. The series returned to Buttonwillow Raceway Park after not competing there in 2022. RoundCircuitDateSupport billMap of circuit locations1 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma25 FebruaryFormula Pro USA Winter SeriesSan Francisco Region SCCA Series226 February3 Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows15 AprilFormula Pro USA Western ChampionshipSan Francisco Region SCCA Series416 April5 Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow29 AprilFormula Pro USA Western ChampionshipCalifornia Sports Car Club630 April7 Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows3 JuneFormula Pro USA Western ChampionshipSan Francisco Region SCCA Series84 June9 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey29 JulySan Francisco Region SCCA SeriesPacific F2000 Championship1030 July11 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma2 SeptemberFormula Pro USA Western ChampionshipSan Francisco Region SCCA Series123 September13 Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows28 OctoberSan Francisco Region SCCA SeriesPacific Northwest Spec Miata Tour1429 October
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapFormula Mazda winnerFormula Speed winnerPro Formula Mazda winner1 Sonoma Raceway Joe Briggs Edd Ozard Ben Bookerno entries Joe Briggs2 Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Ben Booker‡ Joe Briggs3 Thunderhill Raceway Park Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Christian Okpysh Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs4 Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Brad Drew Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs5 Buttonwillow Raceway Park Christian Okpysh Christian Okpysh Christian Okpyshno entriesno entries6 C.J. Ray C.J. Ray Christian Okpysh7 Thunderhill Raceway Park Tao Takaoka Brad Drew Bill Weaver Tao Takaoka8 Derry O'Donovan C.J. Ray C.J. Ray Tao Takaoka9 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Bill Weaver Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs10 Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Bill Weaver Frank Russell Joe Briggs11 Sonoma Raceway Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Christian Okpysh Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs12 Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Bill Weaver Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs13 Thunderhill Raceway Park Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Bill Weaver Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs14 Joe Briggs Joe Briggs Brad Drew Tao Takaoka Joe Briggs ‡ - event or race did not award any points as it did not meet all FCC rules
Championship standings
Scoring system
Formula Mazda Points were awarded to the top twenty drivers in each class taking the green flag. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th Points2925222019181716151413121110987654
Pro Formula Mazda and Formula Speed As the Formula Speed and Pro Formula Mazda classes ran alongside the San Francisco Region SCCA's regional FX and FA3 classes respectively, they used their points system. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th Points2521181716151413121110987654321 Each driver's four worst results were dropped.
Drivers' standings PosDriverSON1THU1BUTTHU2LAGSON2THU3PtsR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14Formula Mazda Standings1 Christian Okpysh12112313242552 Brad Drew21243222312473 C.J. Ray352231(7)43(9)724 Bill Weaver191181131985 Lars Jensen443466555(8)5DNS6 Derry O'Donovan564247DNS5481747 Woody Yerxa635366961508 Stew Tabak756644651499 Ben Booker11‡9810108810 Ritchie Hollingsworth87876611 Randy Sturgeon434212 John Ertel773413 Marcus Brodie883214 Rick Bostrom11928Formula Speed Standings1 Tao Takaoka11111211112462 Frank Russell21RetDNS2288— Scott VreelandDNSDNS—Pro Formula Mazda Standings1 Joe Briggs11111111112502 Gregory Perrin3222813 Nevin Spieker2DNS23604 Scott Vreeland2242=5 Vincent Tjelmeland5433=5 Robert Merritt45336 Edd Ozard2DNSRetDNS21— JD StuartRetDNS—PosDriverR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14PtsSON1THU1BUTTHU2LAGSON2THU3 ‡ - event or race did not award any points as it did not meet all FCC rules
References
External links