2006 Formula Palmer Audi season

The 2006 FPA Championship took in 15 rounds at six meetings. Brands Hatch was visited in both Indy and Grand Prix configurations, while Snetterton was added to the calendar and the series returned to Spa-Francorchamps. Two FIA GT Championship-supporting rounds at Dijon-Prenois in France and at Mugello in Italy concluded the season.

At the start of the season, Viktor Jensen, son of radio DJ David Jensen, romped away from the rest of the field, winning the first four races. But after that, having found his feet in his first year of open-wheel racing, Jon Barnes emerged as the dominant force, winning nine of the last 10 rounds to take the title with a race to spare. Barnes was nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for his efforts throughout the season, breaking numerous FPA records such as most wins (nine), most consecutive wins (seven) and most points in a season (326).

2006 FPA Championship Schedule

Rounds	Date	Venue
1 and 2	May 20/21	Brands Hatch (GP)
3, 4 and 5	June 3/4	Spa-Francorchamps
6, 7 and 8	July 1/2	Brands Hatch (Indy)
9 and 10	July 15/16	Snetterton
11 and 12	September 2/3	Dijon-Prenois
13, 14 and 15	September 16/17	Mugello

Pos.	No.	Driver	Nat.	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Total
1	32	Jon Barnes		326	20	20	16	18	16	24	24	20	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	326
2	8	Viktor Jensen		276	24	24	24	24	18		20	24	20	20	15	10	20	15	18	276
3	21	Chris Hyman		237	16	16	20	12	24	20	18	18	16	14	18	18	DNF	12	15	237
4	38	Giacomo Petrobelli		186	12	13	13	11	13	10	15	15	DNF	12	20	20	DNF	16	16	186
5	77	Tom Haines		180	10	14	11	14	14	15	14	14	15	13	16	DNF	16	14	DNF	180
6	55	Chris Bell		154	11	12	14	13	1	DNF	4	10	13	11	13	14	12	13	13	154
7	13	James Wingfield		149	18	18	18	20	20	18	16	6	DNF	15						149
8	10	Paul Warren		144	14	15	10	15	DNF	13	13	DNF	DNF	10	14	16	DNF	10	14	144
9	6	Derrick Collin		128	1	7	9	9	7	9	6	12	10	5	10	13	11	7	12	128
10	4	Josh Southall		103	9	DNF	15	6	12	16	11	DNF	18	16	DNF	DNF				103
11	12	Bruce Hodges		101			12	DNF	10	12	12	16			11	15	13	DNF	DNF	101
12	19	Aaron Steele		95	15	DNF	DNF	16	15	14	10	7	DNF	18						95
13	2	Giorgio Rosa		78	2	8	7	DNF	9	DNF	5	8			9	9	10	11	DNF	78
14	5	Wesley Fongenie		72	0	4	DNF	7	11	DNF	3	DNF	DNF	8	8	11	9	DNF	11	72
15	7	Alan Kempson		71	7	6	5	DNF	8	7	DNF	5	9	6	DNF	12	DNF	6	DNF	71
16	44	Mark Powell		69	13	10				DNF	DNF	13	12	9	4	8				69
17	9	Bill Knowles		60	5	DNF	8	10	2	8	DNF	DNF	11	4	12	DNF				60
18	3	Barry Walsh		57	DNF	3	6	8	5	DNF	7	DNF	14	3	6	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	57
19	20	Niki Faulkner		53													15	18	20	53
20	11	Tony Brewer		46	3	5	DNF	4	4	5	DNF	DNF	7	DNF	7	6	DNF	5		46
21	23	Howard Spooner		45	4	11				11	8	11								45
22	27	John Bell		43						6	2	4	8	7			8	8	DNF	43
23	15	Adam Smith		38													18	20	DNF	38
24	9	Stephen Young		23													14	9	DNF	23
25	14	Stuart Prior		15	6	9														15
26	12	Trevor Hyman		9			3	3	3											9
27	12	Rob Lofting		8	8	DNF														8
28	20	Ludovico Manfredi		0	0	2	4	5	6	4	9	9			5	7				0

Notes:

• 0 denotes a finish outside the points.
• DNF denotes a failure to finish.
• A blank space denotes a non-participation, i.e. did not start.
• Bold denotes race winner.
• Ludovico Manfredi was not eligible to score championship points due to licence issues. However, the points he would have scored (51 in total, enough for 20th in the final standings) are shown in the table.

The 2006 Autumn Trophy, held on consecutive weekends at Snetterton and Brands Hatch in early November, heralded the dawn of the next generation of young FPA stars. At Snetterton, 16-year-old T Cars star Luciano Bacheta proved to be a contender, winning his very first race in an open-wheel car, and following it up with a third place and another victory to lead the series at the half-way stage. Meanwhile, Team USA Scholarship driver Dane Cameron won the second race to remain just two points behind Bacheta.

At Brands Hatch, however, Cameron put in a stunning weekend performance on a track the Californian had never driven before, winning all three races to become the third American to claim the title. Bacheta had to settle for third in the series, as the consistent Aaron Steele took the runner-up spot by virtue of podium finishes in all six races.

The Autumn Trophy was also notable for the open-wheel racing debuts of Alex Brundle, son of former Formula One driver Martin Brundle, and Stefan Wilson, brother of ChampCar star and former FPA champion Justin Wilson.

2006 Autumn Trophy Schedule

Rounds	Date	Venue
1, 2 and 3	November 4/5	Snetterton
4, 5 and 6	November 11/12	Brands Hatch (Indy)

Pos.	No.	Driver	Nat.	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	11	Dane Cameron		136	20	24	20	24	24	24	136
2	19	Aaron Steele		114	18	20	18	20	20	18	114
3	15	Luciano Bacheta		102	24	18	24	4	16	16	102
4	21	Robert Podlesni		98	10	16	16	18	18	20	98
5	8	Gino Ussi		76	6	15	14	16	11	14	76
6	20	Nigel Smith		70	12	12	12	12	9	13	70
7	55	Chris Bell		68	15	14	9	14	13	3	68
8	38	Giacomo Petrobelli		66	16	2	15	9	12	12	66
9	9	Stefan Wilson		52	14	1	0	15	7	15	52
10	10	Paul Warren		48	11	11	DNF	DNF	15	11	48
11	1	Stephen Young		45	9	13	13	DNF	DNF	10	45
12	44	Mark Powell		42	7	8	7	10	10	DNF	42
13	12	Bruce Hodges		40	8	5	DNF	13	14	DNF	40
14	9	Derrick Collin		39	3	3	5	11	8	9	39
15	3	Barry Walsh		35	13	6	11	DNF	DNF	5	35
16	7	Alan Kempson		33	4	9	8	8	DNF	4	33
17	4	Richard Plant		31	2	DNF	10	6	6	7	31
18	88	Jeremy Preddy		26	5	4	3	5	3	6	26
19	35	Steve Ross		21	0	7	1	DNF	5	8	21
20	27	John Bell		20	1	DNF	6	7	4	2	20
21	4	Alex Brundle		14	0	10	4	DNF	DNF	DNF	14
22	50	Mark Higson		3				DNF	2	1	3
23	50	Kirsty Jeffrey		2	0	0	2				2

Notes:

• 0 denotes a finish outside the points.
• DNF denotes a failure to finish.
• A blank space denotes a non-participation, i.e. did not start.
• Bold denotes race winner.