Season 8 Drivers' Champion: Max Hamelink

 

Max was looking to make amends for season 6, and he did it with style. There was definitely a noticeable absence of Hamelink in Season 7, and he made sure his presence was known in Season 8. Straight from the get go in Bahrain he was able to steal the win from the CRG drivers, and from then onward was able to claim a podium finishing position in every race for the remainder of the season. When Schilder was able to claim the occasional win from Hamelink, he was unstoppable, however Hamelink rarely looked out of shape, struggling only at the slippy Portuguese circuit where his team mate was able to push on through to win instead. Overall Max commandeered the season, and once it was apparent he was the season's champion, he announced his exit from the Premier Series to focus on other projects in Formula Trout League. 

 

Season 8 Constructors' Champions: Vermin Racing Team

Owner: Richard Tippet

Drivers: Max Hamelink, Jack Smith and Oscar Williams 

 

Vermin made their return to the series, and like always - they set their eyes on claiming the championship. The season started off with a lineup featuring Sprint Series Season 4 champion Oscar Williams and IndyCar series champion and Hybrid Series Season 6 runner up Max Hamelink. Sprint Series Season 3 champion Jack Smith would occasionally fill in for Oscar but ultimately ended up filling his seat for the majority of the season. The team managed to accumulate 9 wins between them, both Oscar and Jack claiming a win each. Defending champions Griffin Gaming's upward momentum was soon put to a halt once Vermin were back on the scene, Andreas only able to claim 2 wins in comparison to Max's 7. Evidently, Max pushed Vermin to new heights finishing with a grand total of 420 in comparison to Griffin Gaming's 214, however upon winning the championship, retired from the series along with Vermin Racing Team. Newly rebranded team Ox Tan managed to claim 3rd place, barely fending off NOVA Finlandia.

Season 7 Drivers' Champion: Andreas Schilder

 

After Andreas showed potential championship contention in Hybrid Series Season 6, for the newly renamed Premier Series Season 7, he was here to deliver on that potential. Though he was slow off the mark finishing 5th at Australia, (with Clank Hughes taking the win), he dominated the rest of the season with 6 pole positions, 7 fastest laps and ultimately winning 8 out of the 12 races, setting a new record in Premier Series at the time. However there were 4 other race winners there to take the top step when Andreas couldn't, with Forza SAHARA's newly signed rookie Mixa Motiferum winning at Bahrain, and defending back-to-back champion Paul Magzire finally winning his only race of the season in Japan. A new addition to Formula Trout League was the inaugural Challenger split which NOVA Finlandia led with a sturdy lineup featuring Alex Cochrane, who helped spearhead the team into a mid season promotion to then go on and win a race in the master split at Zandvoort.

 

Season 7 Constructors Champions: Griffin Gaming

Owner: Christoph Böse

Drivers: Andreas Schilder, Christoph Böse and Mario Linde

 

Since their introduction in Season 4, Griffin Gaming have constantly been gaining momentum - though their form slipped in the previous season due to attendance, the strong pairing of Andreas Schilder, Christoph Bose (and talented development driver Mario Linde) knew what they were capable of and developed their race craft over the season break to take Season 7 by storm. The disjointed defending champions Octan were nowhere to be seen in comparison to their previous season. Paul Magzire having transferred from BM Racing, had the uphill task of carrying newly renamed team Forza SAHARA as best as possible alongside team mate Jannes van Dijk. It wouldn't be until mid way through the season that newly signed Mixa Mortiferum would be promoted from the sister team, Looney Tunes Racing to partner Magzire and help solidify their place as runners up this season, just ahead of DAC Racing who matched their best result in the team standings. Griffin Gaming's best performance came at the Belgian Grand Prix, where Bose almost looked like he was going to take his first win for the Griffins, however conceded the place to his team mate and brought home a honourable 1-2 for the team, a poetic result considering Spa-Francorchamps was Griffin Gaming's first debut Grand Prix.

Season 6 Drivers Champion: Paul Magzire

 

Defending champion Paul Magzire continued his strong form into Season 6 of the Hybrid Series, again fighting for the podiums and victories at almost every round. Winning the second round of the season put him ahead of rookie Max Hamelink, setting up an intense championship battle between the pair, ultimately being decided at the last round of the season. Magzire, initially appearing the championship favourite, suffered two controversial disqualifications combined with Hamelink's streak of four 3rd places mid season put Hamelink ahead into the final three rounds of the season until two heartbreaking DNFs resulted in Magzire taking the lead again by 3 points into the championship deciding season finale. Going into the final round DAC Racing's Dave Southword still stood an outside chance at the championship, but all eyes were on Magzire and Hamelink,with Magzire delivering a dominant performance, winning the final round with rival Hamelink finishing a disappointing fifth, resulting in Paul Magzire taking his second championship by 18 points to Max Hameliink.

 

Season 6 Constructors Champions:  Octan Energy Plus+ Racing Team

Owner: Kilgore Trout

Drivers: Maxi Junger, Oscar Williams, Alex Demoney, Jake Bond and David Bull

 

Season 6 resulted in a chaotic 4 way battle between Octan Energy Plus+ Racing Team (Octan), BM Racing, Vermin Racing Team (Vermin) and DAC Alpine Renault (DAC Racing), with teams fielding up to 5 drivers throughout the season to attempt to claim the championship. Initially Vermin appeared to be leading the way with Max Hamelink and Jack Smith, BM Racing, Octan and DAC Racing all scoring their majority of the points with just one of their two drivers. The story continued for the majority of the season, Vermin was assisted by Jack Smith joining Max Hamelink to take the lead mid season, whilst Octan's then three-time champion Maxi Junger being substituted for Oscar Willaims on loan from Vermin, who would then go on to win 3 races in 4 rounds closing the gap to Vermin at the final round. A win from BM Racing's Paul Magzire taking second place from Vermin Racing Team due to Hamelink's disappointing 5th for the team. A lone Southword at DAC Racing would result in a 4th place overall whilst Junger would return alongside Williams at Octan to take a double podium, and the overall championship, just 1.5 points ahead of BM Racing.

Season 5 Drivers Champion: Paul Magzire

 

After his mid-season entry into Season 4 of the Hybrid Series, people up and down the paddock expected Paul Magzire to be fighting for wins and championships due to his raw pace and excellent racecraft. A strong opening 2 races put him in the title fight, but a disqualification from race 3 and two missed rounds would put him far behind championship leader Urmas Riis. Fortunately for Magzire, Riis would be suspended after Belgium, leaving DAC Alpine Renault's Tarek Alkedeh as Magzire's main rival. After handing victory to Alkedeh due to his disqualification at race 3, he would be just 1 point in front of his rival after Italy until an amazing streak of 3 wins in the last 4 races would give Magzire the points he needed to claim the championship by a massive gap of 53 points over Alkedeh, proving he was the new dominant force in Hybrid Series. Clank Hughes of F-Zero Racing finished third in the standings, 11 points behind Alkedeh. He had won the opening round of the season, but could not repeat his success afterwards.

 

Season 5 Constructors Champions:  Ragged Edge Racing

Owner: Paul Magzire

Drivers: Paul Magzire and Urmas Riis

 

If Season 4 showed Ragged Edge's potential, Season 5 was the realisation of it, as Urmas Riis and Paul Magzire dominated the competition in nearly every race. Both drivers achieved multiple victories and often secured the top spots on the podium, giving their team a commanding lead over the rest of the grid. Even when Riis was suspended from the series, Magzire did not let up and kept scoring points and wins, ensuring that their team would clinch its first constructors championship with a huge 28-point margin. The battle for second place was much more intense, with three teams fighting for the honor. F-Zero Racing came out on top, thanks to a pair of podium finishes in the final 3 rounds from Clank Hughes, which put him ahead of his rivals from DAC Alpine Renault (DAC Racing) and Griffin Gaming. DAC Racing had a strong start to the season, taking their first ever victory at Hockenheim, but faltered in the later stages, while Griffin Gaming improved throughout the season and took victory at the final round in Brazil.

Season 4 Drivers Champion: Maxi Junger

 

Season 4 featured one of the greatest rivalries in Formula Trout League history, as Maxi Junger and Onlyvision battled for the championship. Both drivers were former champions and showed their skill and speed in many races. They had some memorable moments, such as setting identical lap times in Silverstone qualifying, and clashing on track in several races. They also had some impressive drives, such as Junger’s comeback from last to first in Bahrain, and Onlyvision’s dominant performance in Silverstone on harder tyres. The first half of the season was very close, with only 3 points separating them after race 6. However, the second half of the season saw Onlyvision suffer a series of bad results, while Junger maintained his consistency and scored eleven podiums, including four wins. Junger secured his third drivers title with two races to spare, becoming the only multiple champion of the main series. The latter half of Season 4 also saw the emergence of Paul Magzire and Urmas Riis, Magzire taking a podium and pole position at his debut, and Riis winning his first 3 races in Hybrid Series, they would win five of the last six rounds between them. They were joined by other talented drivers such as Heigo Poom, Tarek Alkedeh, Christoph Bose and Alex Cochrane and Dave Southword making their debut during the season

 

Season 4 Constructors Champions:  Junger GP

Owner: Maxi Junger

Drivers: Maxi Junger, Ryan Wilson and Christoph Turner

 

Junger GP emerged as the champions of one of the closest seasons in Trout League history, with 4 different winners and 12 different podium scorers. The team faced a challenge at the start of the season, as Maxijunger had to race alone due to an injury for his new teammate Cross. However, Maxijunger delivered consistent drives and was helped by reserve driver Superyam, who scored a podium at Silverstone, and Cross, who returned to score 4th place at Nurburgring. The team secured its second constructors title with one race to spare, winning by a then record 52-point margin to main riivals F-Zero Racing. The season also saw the arrival of new teams such as Griffin Gaming, DAC Racing, Vermin Racing Team and Ragged Edge Racing, the latter winning 5 of the last 6 races and finishing 3rd in the championship despite joining halfway through the season.