The 'F1 Challenge' Championship- 1999 Season

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 13 Jul 2011, 23:28

Grease Monkey Magazine wrote:Nash at Arrows?
There might be a possibility that Tommy Nash might be up for a test drive for the Arrows Team. No word of confirmation has come in yet.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 13 Jul 2011, 23:42

Autosport wrote:Worried Minardi to dump gutless Ford V10s?

After the two Minardi drivers Matej Uram and Yahya Albaf posted the two slowest times in the first days pre season testing, there is concern that the two drivers may not get their Super Licenses and miss the entire season. They posted times that were slower then Giovanni Roda and 2.3 seconds slower then Ben Fleet who was 22nd fastest. The fastest time by Scott Menard was 1:25.200, which means 8 seconds added would give a time of 1:33.200 in which Roda missed the cut by .694 second, Uram by .804 seconds and Albaf by a whole 1.534 seconds.

Minardi are gambling on a new engine and have been talking to Ferrari, who would require them to sign up with Goodyear for tyres and and Porsche who would require them to run Michelin tyres. The smart money is on Minardi signing up with Porsche who are desperate to show off their flat 12 engine and Minardi to distance themselves from the bungling Ferrari team.

Roda being so slow in the Ferrari has led to accusations of someone in Ferrari being paid a large bung to sign the untalented driver. Although Roda just missed the cut, he still has 4 tests to post a better time, but there are strong rumours that Roda will be dumped if he fails again and that Jean Todt will be forced to resign. For reference, the 107% cut off time was 1:31.164, which meant that Andreas Jonsson nor Ben Fleet would have failed to have qualified.

Strugling Stewart to sign another pay driver?

Stewart have hinted loudly that they are looking to sign the monied Prince Constantin Ferdinand Maria (to be known as Prince Constantin) of microstate Liechtenstein, although his experience is racing in the Porsche Cup, he has won a couple of races and wanted a crack at F1. Stewart are eager to sign his money and he should test at the next few tests to see if he is F1 material. Stewart have also hinted loudly that they are sticking with their Ford V10s but might sign up to the Goodyear tyres at the request of Ford.

Teams still to sign contracts

Although Scott Menard has yet to officially sign a contract with Williams, it is likely he will do so, especially after topping the times sheets after the first test. if he does then the following teams have signed 3 drivers and confirmed engines and tyres.

Cannon Williams Renault Michelin
Repsol Arrows BMW Bridgestone
B&H Jordan Renault Goodyear
Gauloises Prost Renault Michelin
Mild Seven Benetton Honda Bridgestone
Red Bull Sauber Petronas Peugeot Pirelli
Lucky Strike Reynard Toyota Bridgestone

Ferrari still have a driver crisis and have yet to confirm their Goodyear tyre supply.
McLaren have a driver vacancy in the 3rd seat
Stewart still have 2 drivers to fill seats 2 and 3 and have yet to confirm engine and tyre supply, however these may be sorted out before the next test.
Minardi still have a third seat available and have yet to confirm engine or tyre supply, but again our money is on Porsche and Michelin.

New team to enter F1?
There are rumours that Stefan GP have bought the old Lola F1 chassis, have sponsorship from dropped Williams sponsor Rothmans and are talking to Hart and Mercedes about a engine supply for the 1999 season. We think they have left it too late but crazier things have happened, more news as it happens.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 14 Jul 2011, 05:58

I was really unlucky with the engine as it exploded on the out lap, forcing me to entirely sit out the test.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 14 Jul 2011, 08:53

Autosport wrote:Ferrari, vindicated by Roda, gives up Menard's injuction and signs Ed Kevin

Ferrari issued a press statement last night: "Following this first test we are very happy with Roda performance in this first test. He showed his technical nous and that is capable of going faster than other drivers. Those test results also shows why Menard wanted to leave Ferrari in the first place and what he is like as person, showing complete disregard for his teams and a treacherous behaviour. We really hope he is happy wherever he goes, but, at the same time, we warn other teams who want Menard just to be careful. We would like to annouce that we are very happy to have signed Ed Kevin to be our driver. He is a proven race winner, honest and, well, someone with character. He signed for 2 years and hopefully we can give both of us many glories. Finally we stress that there are ongoing negotiations with several drivers contrary to rumours that placed Tristan Jung in a Ferrari. He deny that Jung has signed for us."

Daniel Martins wrote:I am happy about yesterday test. We did some system verifications and run a couple of set-ups. The car feels good and fast and hopefully will allow us to start where we left, i.e., winning! I also welcome Rhys Davies to the team and hope that he is happy among us. I feel gutted for Hagane though since we were counting on his input and he could not even post a time. Hopefully in the next test, we can recover the lost time. Finally I want to say that it was a disgrace what happened with Ferrari and their signing of Roda. It doesn't feel right that someone gets rewarded like this after putting people in the hospital. I fully support Menard and O'Connell in their decisions... I urge the other drivers to get together and create the UDF and that they can count on me to help in what I can.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 14 Jul 2011, 11:24

Autosport wrote:Team boss says "What drugs are Ferrari on and are they available over the counter?"

Following Ferrari's press statement, a number of team bosses that do not want to be named came out and fell about laughing, one said "Ferrari said [Roda] is capable of going faster than other drivers.", forgetting to mention that one driver was stuck in the pits with a blown engine and the other two are untested Minardi drivers with probably the worst engine in the pitlane. They also went on.... "Those test results also shows why Menard wanted to leave Ferrari in the first place.", ignoring the fact that he jumped untested in a Williams and topped the time sheats, Roda was so slow that he was 8 seconds off the time that Menard set, which is a good irony. If Ferrari management think that this is a decent press statement then they should come off the drugs and sack the PR department.", another said "What the ****? Have these guys been smoking something? If so can I get some?". A Ferrari inside said "Jean Todt is a desperate man and is trying to spin this out the best he can".

Malinth · Post by **Malinth** » 14 Jul 2011, 11:35

Scott Menard wrote:Well, I'm glad that those high idiots have come to their senses. It's good to know that I'll be driving in F1 for 1999, but obviously it's not confirmed, erm, where I'll be. I've gotta thank Williams a lot. They had the confidence to put me in the car, and hopefully this is the start of something bigger. My manager Paul and I are still working on a contract, but so far things look good. For now, I'm just looking forward to the rest of our week here in Barcelona. Just to answer a few questions regarding the test, basically Doug and Barii were working on some new parts. I think Doug had a totally different aero package to Barii and I. Barii was testing the 'base' 1999 car if you like, while I basically had, ee, um, a heavily modified 1998 car with lots of 1999 stuff on it. I did lots of race distance runs, but I did a few quick laps at the end, and that's what got me on top. Quite frankly I'm laughing at the atrocious time Giovanni did in the Ferrari. It's a real shame, ye know, because Rory (Byrne) and Ross (Brawn) did such a fantastic job. I had a few goes in the F999 at Fiorano, and it just felt great, with Padraig sharing my thoughts. Well now, I guess they're just as mad as I am. Good job Jean, you certainly have a world-beating driver in there. Could you give me a pack of the s**t you're taking? I'd certainly like some.

BRAWN AND BYRNE TO LEAVE FERRARI?

In the ongoing Giovanni Roda scandal, there are now very strong rumours that the heart of the Ferrari design team, in the form of Technical Director Ross Brawn and Chief Designer Rory Byrne are considering quitting their posts. Despite Ferrari's desperate attempts to keep all news regarding the team shut, an anonymous official has come out saying that Byrne and Brawn are extremely unhappy with the recent turn of events. "Rory and Ross are not happy," the statement said. "They are most likely going to quit the team. Many of the crew are very angry at this decisions by theeerrr Ferrari team, soooo yes, there is alot at stake here."

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 14 Jul 2011, 11:49

www.prostgp.com - Barcelona Test 1, Day 1

Today, drivers Jeroen Krautmeir, Louis Duval and Ron Mignolet drove for 5 hours in a combined morning and afternoon testing session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. It was a public test, with all teams present at the event. Some teams brought with them 1999 machinery, whilst others had 1998 machinery. In Prost GP's case, all three cars handed to Jeroen, Louis and Ron were 1998 cars. Jeroen had lots of 1999 parts on his car, with a heavily modified front wing and modified suspension. He also tested a new rear wing and some experimental barge boards in the afternoon session. Louis had a 1998 AP01 with only the modified front wing, while Ron had the AP01 he used at the season finale at Suzuka, with little adjustments. The AP02, designed by Henri Durand and Loic Bigois, is said to be a heavily modified version of the AP01. At a press conference, Durand said, "The AP01 was a solid package which was designed with upgrades in mind. We had reliability problems in the beginning, and once that was fixed, we concentrated on making it faster." He added, "When Jeroen had his crash, we decided to go back to the windtunnel and CAD and start coming up with new parts. We decided that the AP01 was a solid base that would prove just as fast as it was in the beginning of the year. As some observers may have noticed, we had some new parts after Jeroen's crash. We decided to treat the rest of the season as a long testing period, and after a few runs at Magny-Cours, we think we have already ironed out a lot of reliability issues." Durand continued to add that the new car in its entirety should be present by Jerez, or at the very most when the team return to Barcelona for another test after Jerez.

Jeroen Krautmeir - 1st Driver

"Today was a very good day for Prost GP. I was mainly pre-occupied with testing a lot of new parts on the car, but I did try and do some fast laps, and that got me in 3rd position! So it's obvious at the moment that we have a quick car, and I can't wait until we get the entire package running. Obviously, some drivers and teams may not be pushing very hard, it's only the 1st test after all, but it's an encouraging start for the team, and hopefully we can return to the factory with some solid data that can propel us further up front."

The Lukas · Post by **The Lukas** » 14 Jul 2011, 12:21

Matej Uram:I am delighted with the first time I drove an F1 car, the tests I am an optimist and I think that kilometers per kilometer will catch up with others.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 14 Jul 2011, 12:22

Ben Fleet wrote:I'm a rookie driver in what is effectively a rookie team, so I'm glad to be so far ahead of an experienced driver in the most experienced team on the grid. OK, so I have heard a lot of stories about this Roda guy (particularly from Pip who was his teammate at Lola - all I can say is, "Who scored the podium in that, eh?")

Yeah, I didn't have a great session, but I was kept on a baseline set-up all day, so that when changes were made to Pippa's car, we would know how much was due to the set-up, how much was us getting used to the car, etc. So the set-up changes we made to Pippa's car shows we are clearly moving in the right direction.

Oh, and a bit of inside information from Williams via the Mann siblings! Douglas was put into the same position as me, being the baseline driver, with no changes being made to his car, so comparisions in other variables could be accounted for.

Vepe · Post by **Vepe** » 14 Jul 2011, 14:48

Dutch reporter wrote:Jan, what do you think of this test?

Jan de Friis wrote:I think it went very good. I was 13th and only 1,5 seconds off the time of Menard.

Dutch reporter wrote:What do you expect from this season?

Jan de Friis wrote:I think it´s too early to say.

Dutch reporter wrote:Okay. So there has been a lot of discussion about Giovanni Roda, and his superlicence. Do you have anything to say?

Jan de Friis wrote:Yes. I think that he shouldn´t be allowed to drive, as he is extremely dangerous driver. And the Ferrari press release... Honestly, what the h***? Are they serious?

Dutch reporter wrote:So you think that Roda´s superlincence needs to be suspended?

Jan de Friis wrote:Of course! He is desperately slow and can´t stay out of the way. I almost hit him when he made a ridicilous move in turn 5.

Dutch reporter wrote:Well, good luck for tomorrow. Thank you, Jan.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 14 Jul 2011, 17:16

Ed Kevin wrote:Just thought I should make a statement on the whole Ferrari hullabaloo.

I'm delighted to have gotten the chance to drive for Ferrari. Obviously the current conditions within the team are hardly optimal, there's a lot of upheaval and I can understand why so many people are outraged at the appointment of Roda, but looking at it on a grander scale, there is no doubting the history and passion that lie deep within the heart of the team. This is what convinced me to get my arse in gear and realise what a terrible decision retirement would have been. All my life, my focus was to get into top level motorsport, and then when I manage to achieve that goal, I back out of it. There was no sense in that.

I had stuff going on in my private life last year that distracted me from the job at hand, but that is mostly settled now so hopefully I'll be able to put my heart and soul into driving for Ferrari, and all I can ask is that the fans do likewise in getting behind us with some of that world-famous support. I sincerely hope that the team is able to bounce back from this messy off-season, retain the services of some of the heavies within the team like Brawn and Byrne, and make a fist at competing this season.

I know that my fellow drivers will be concerned about my acceptance of Giovanni Roda as my team-mate. Look, Roda is, if nothing else, Italian, and Ferrari are undoubtedly fulfilling a dream that he has held since before he could talk in giving him a drive in the scarlet car. Granted, there are ulterior motives on both sides, and I don't even want to know what they are, but I feel it is only right that the passion and undying love for the team that only an Italian can bring is present in the Ferrari line-up. Whether he manages to get his super-licence or not remains to be seen, but I would genuinely enjoy driving alongside him, I hold nothing against him despite him getting in my way on numerous occasions, he's a nice guy from our few interactions and I think if he can manage to channel some Meditteranean verve, in a competitive car he could even surprise a few people in the midfield.

Overall, I feel invigorated by the change of team, mentally strong, and pumped for the challenge ahead. I can't wait for the season to begin.

Finally, I've been asked by the team to confirm that Ferrari will be using Pirelli rubber this season, with all the change in the team it was felt that this was a good time to sneak on to some alternative tyres as far as I know, so I guess we'll have to see how things go regarding the tyre war.

Post by **Londoner** » 14 Jul 2011, 17:21

Damon Cannon wrote:It may only be the first test, but I'm already getting a feel of confidence about the new A20. Only 0.027 seconds off Menard, in the Williams. With all three cars within two seconds of the best time, it's a brilliant start to our preparations. Just LOL at Ferrari. Looks like Roda's going to fail again, as expected. To only be able to beat the hapless Minardis (which will be getting new engines), and be 8 seconds off the pace in what was the third fastest car for much of 1998 is clear vindication of how talentless this idiot is. I have absolutley no doubt that Padraig and Scott would dicing around the top 10 if they were still with the Scuderia.

Poppy Whitechapel wrote:I do fear I might have joined Jordan at the wrong time. The car is off the pace, and we need as much development as we can to drag ourselves up the field. I don't know what happened to Aurelian, he simply didn't turn up to the test, leaving me and Phillipe only. Hopefully things will be better at the other tests.

I've joined the bandwagon of 1999 avatars, with two of our esteemed rejects in some other parallel universe, where the F1CC is simply known as F1, crashing!

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 14 Jul 2011, 20:11

Autosport wrote:Stefan GP turn up at Jerez with three trucks
Dispite not having an entry yet, the Stefan GP team have turned up a few days ahead of the next test session. Currently they are being tight lipped about everything including the chassis, engine and drivers, although an insider said "It's the old Lola chassis with some new parts, an old but tuned Hart engine and the drivers are Dirk MacHardy and Stefano Minardi, both of which had money, where free and have tested in F1.". Dirk MacHardy is a 29 year old American, who drive in Indycars last year and whose best result is a 7th and he previously tested for the Jordan team back in 1996 and a Lola BMS Scuderia Italia back in 1993, Stefano Minardi is a 27 year old Italian, currently in GT, but single seater experience is poor coming 6th in Italian F3, joint 15th in F3000, he tested a Pacific back in 1994. Without an entry we are not sure how Stefan GP will test, however they may test after the F1 teams have gone. However we feel that they will go slower then the Minardis in their Ford V10 trim.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 14 Jul 2011, 21:16

shinji wrote:
Ed Kevin wrote:Just thought I should make a statement on the whole Ferrari hullabaloo.

I know that my fellow drivers will be concerned about my acceptance of Giovanni Roda as my team-mate. Look, Roda is, if nothing else, Italian, and Ferrari are undoubtedly fulfilling a dream that he has held since before he could talk in giving him a drive in the scarlet car. Granted, there are ulterior motives on both sides, and I don't even want to know what they are, but I feel it is only right that the passion and undying love for the team that only an Italian can bring is present in the Ferrari line-up. Whether he manages to get his super-licence or not remains to be seen, but I would genuinely enjoy driving alongside him, I hold nothing against him despite him getting in my way on numerous occasions, he's a nice guy from our few interactions and I think if he can manage to channel some Meditteranean verve, in a competitive car he could even surprise a few people in the midfield.

Pippa Mann wrote:Having been Giovanni's teammate at Lola in 1997, I can confirm that Mr Kevin's appraisal of Mr Roda is quite right. He is a charming guy off track and is easy to get on with (particularly if he likes you too or wants something from you...). But on track, well, that's just another matter entirely, isn't it?

Wookey · Post by **Wookey** » 14 Jul 2011, 23:55

RORY BYRNE SIGNS FOR JORDAN!

In not so shocking news, Rory Byrne has confirmed that he is leaving the Ferrari F1 Team. "I would like to say that I'm leaving the Scuderia," Byrne said. "I don't like the politics of the team, just want to design cars, but Ferrari just gone insane. I wish my replacement, who is maybe Nicolas Tombazis, best luck." Byrne will not be able to join Jordan immediately, and be put in gardening leave first. He will join Jordan after the 1999 season. It is expected that he will replace Tim Holloway as Chief Designer, with the rumour is that unemployed John Barnard will join the team as Technical Director.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 15 Jul 2011, 00:16

Andreas Jonsson wrote:Wellll, I just wanted to get used to the car. I think it's good that I'm the only driver in the team, because I get whatever I want, heh! But, yeah, I was just getting used to the carrr, and, it's quite good! Plenty of grip, which is, err, good, because I mean, on the switch from two to four wheels, I don't want a twitchy car! That'd, err, just make things massively worse! *laughs* I tried to go fast in the last ten minutes, but in the end I only managed to go faster than Ben Fleet in the Reynard, another rookie. It's quite disappointing, because you know, I really, erm, I was really pushing very hard, but today's just 1 day, the new season is still some time away, so there's lot of time to improve.

F1CCC TO PREVENT ANY CHANCE BY STEFAN TO RACE

F1CC Commission chairman Rudolf Hasse has come out and said that the F1CCC, F1CC's governing body, will not allow Stefan GP's attempts to race. In a short statement, Hasse simply said, "There are two reasons why we will not allow them to race. Firstly, at the current moment, teams who compete in the F1CC must have submitted an entry at least 6 months before the new season, and they need a confirmed entry for the entire season. However, the Commission is investigating a few changes to these rules, that may be announced later in the year. And secondly, quite simply, the 1997 Lola does not meet the technical specifications now in place in F1CC. You can modify it as much as you want, but it will still be designed around totally different specifications, that are now illegal."

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 15 Jul 2011, 08:48

Autosport wrote:Stefan GP disappointed with F1CCC

Zoran Stefanovic was disappointed by the news that the F1CCC had refused to let them enter, he said "The F1CCC are missing out on a chance of a full grid and a team hailing from eastern europe, we have the car, chassis, tyres, money and drivers. We are going appeal and if they still decline it then we shall take them to the high court.", when questioned about the chassis being illegal, he refuted this and said "The car is perfectly legal, although based on the Lola 97 chassis, it has been modified and upgraded to be legal for the 1999 season, we have even crash tested it and it passed. We urge the F1CCC to relook into our case and allow us an entry, maybe let us test so we can prove we have a car that is fast and legal.". The Stefan trucks remain in the Jerez circuit carpark as the team wait for the test to start.

The Stefan S-99 chassis is a heavily modified Lola 1997 chassis which is meant to make the car legal for the 1999 specs with a tuned 1997 Hart V10 and they have agreements to use Pirelli tyres if they can get permission to run a test. Although with a slow dated chassis, an old gutless engine and two untested and probably out of their depth drivers, it is likely that Stefan will post times that will make Roda seem like Aryton Senna.

BREAKING NEWS : Ross Brawn signs for Stefan GP

Despite Stefan GP not having an entry, the Stefan GP team steam roll on as if they have an entry and have signed Ross Brawn on a month by month basis, Zoran Stefanovic said "We want to show the F1CCC we are serious and have everything to tick the right boxes and we have hired the best to work on the car, so we are pleased to announce that Ross Brawn has signed for us on a monthly contract to help prepare the team for the test.", Ross Brawn said "Well, I did not re-sign my contract at Ferrari and Zoran was offering me more money in a month then I earned in 6 at Ferrari so I thought why not, if it all goes pear shaped then I can find work elsewhere.". Stefan say they are still hopeful to at least test before entering the season.

Minardi to run Porsche engines in test

As Minardi are in danger of having both drivers refused a super llicence and a chance that they may not be able to run at all, Minardi have aranged to test the Porsche engine and have hastily cobbled together an interim chassis that can take the Flat 12 engine, a spokesman said "Minardi have decided that the Ford V10s are too slow and we need a more powerful engine to get us to at least midfield and hopefully challenge for points so we have agreed with Porsche to test the F12 to see if it does make us faster. We hope we can come up with a full agreement soon. We sall also be using the grippier Michelin tyres too". If Minardi do climb then Roda should find himself at the bottom of the tables for the Jerez practice, depending on if Stefan GP run.

Prince Constantin to test for Stewart

Prince Constantin Ferdinand Maria of Liechtenstein has agreed terms with Stewart GP, the 27 year old that has had little single seat experience was excited at the prospect of the test and commented that it was a learning exercise and that he hoped to get within a second of the lead Stewart driver. The Prince is likely to be the ultimate pay driver but is likely to get more press coverage then the champion Douglas Mann will.

Benetton · Post by **Benetton** » 15 Jul 2011, 22:48

La Gazetta dello Sport wrote:Briatore to replace Todt?
Recent events at Ferrari have even the Tifosi nerve wracked as they seem to have lost faith in Ferrari's team principal Todt. Apparently Luca di Montezemolo's assistant has received numerous angry calls from the Tifosi, even death treaths towards Todt, if Jean doesn't resign. Luca di Montezemolo therefore went out on RAI's sport news yesterday to adress the angry Tifosi.

Luca di Montezemolo on RAI wrote:"I understand that many of our passionate fans have been outrageous for the past few weeks at the events that have unfolded. There's no denying that the upper level of the team management and its drivers didn't see eye to eye for the latter part of 1998, that's when I believe the problems initially begun. Those problems combined with the surprise withdrawals of SKF, TIM, General Electric and TicTac, who were good sponsors, led that we had no other options then to look for a driver with considerable personal backing. Without Roda's funds our 1999 campaign would've been in serious danger as the 1998 budget already was just under the breakeven point."

Interviewer: "But how is it possible that a team like Ferrari have almost ran out of cash?"

"Lets just say that when we calculate our budget we always budget the income as having considerable success in the championship. The championship points in the constructors brings in valuable cash, and lets just say we haven't met those targets so therefore we have had budgets in both 1997 and 1998 that didn't even reach breakeven. For the coming seasons we will try to do "more with less" and have more pessimistic budgets.

And finally to clarify: what Jean did by signing Giovanni, our countryman, was the right thing to do. Without my approval Giovanni wouldn't drive with Scuderia Ferrari."

However, Gazzetta's head F1 columnist Bruno Vincenzi, thinks that Luca's words might not be straight from the heart: "Rumour has it Todt and di Montezemolo argued about the recent events and don't see eye to eye and that di Montezemolo opposed the Roda signing until the road car division started to press him! Todt apparently will get time to prove himself for the first 6-8 races into the 1999 season, but if he doesn't meet di Montezemolo's targets then he will get the boot.

Who could be Todt's replacement then? "Well, this is just speculation but there is a picture of di Montezemolo and Briatore having a few drinks together at Briatore's ski resort in the Italian Alps."

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 15 Jul 2011, 23:54

Phoenix McAllister wrote:Seriously, this whole thing is getting out of kilt. I mean, now it's not only Roda, now we also have to worry about a raft of obscure pay-drivers that haven't achieved anything so far in their careers but pretend to be elite drivers regardless. I agree that we need new contenders each season, but they need to be proven drivers, not just kids with cash. I hope the new 107% rule in testing will be good at throwing those guys out of the game. And there's Stefan GP too; how on Earth do they plan on being on the pace to at least not be a danger with a 1997 Lola chassis? If they have signed Ross Brawn as they claim, then why not use this whole year to calmly desing a car of their won and test it, and give their drivers some experience? They aren't going to be allowed to compete this season anyway...

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 17 Jul 2011, 07:13

Montmelo, Spain - Public Off-Season Test 1 - Day 2
Conditions: Dry

Code: Select all

1) Barii Mori  Williams-Renault  1:24.877
2) Daniel Martins  Benetton-Honda  1:24.932
3) Scott Menard  Williams-Renault  1:24.982
4) Louis Duval  Prost-Renault  1:25.345
5) Phoenix McAllister  Arrows-BMW  1:25.673
6) Ed Kevin  Ferrari  1:25.928
7) Damon Cannon  Arrows-BMW  1:26.001
8) Philippe Nicolas  Jordan-Renault  1:26.350
9) Ben Fleet  Reynard-Toyota  1:26.638
10) Jan de Friis  Arrows-BMW  1:26.760
11) Hagane Shizuka  Benetton-Honda  1:27.219
12) Jeroen Krautmeir  Prost-Renault  1:27.511
13) Pippa Mann  Reynard-Toyota  1:27.666
14) Thomas de Bock  Sauber-Peugeot  1:27.834
15) Poppy Whitechapel  Jordan-Renault  1:28.000
16) Andreas Jonsson  Stewart-Ford  1:28.131
17) Tristan Jung  Sauber-Peugeot  1:28.353
18) Daniel Melrose  McLaren-Mercedes  1:28.537
19) Aurelien Moll  Jordan-Renault  1:28.782
20) Ron Mignolet  Prost-Renault  1:29.010
21) John Zimmer  Reynard-Toyota  1:29.588
22) Rhys Davies  Benetton-Honda  1:30.672
23) Robert Finley  McLaren-Mercedes  1:30.985
24) Jack Christopherson  Sauber-Peugeot  1:31.283
25) Matej Uram  Minardi-Porsche  1:31.927
26) Giovanni Roda  Ferrari 1:32.699
27) Yahya Albaf  Minardi-Porsche  1:33.352
28) Douglas Mann  Williams-Renault  -:--.---

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 17 Jul 2011, 11:57

I'm shocked to see Douglas not setting a single lap time after my incident of an out-lap engine failure.
I was using a higher downforce setup throughout the test, while Daniel was using a lower downforce setup. 11th place is kinda disappointing, but at least I managed to do the test without the car breaking down.

Pointrox · Post by **Pointrox** » 17 Jul 2011, 12:58

Well, I didn't expect much from Yahya, but he's not that far off the pace

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 17 Jul 2011, 13:39

Ed Kevin wrote:Aw, that felt brilliant. It shows we have a competitive car despite all the crap that's gone on, and a reliable one too; I pounded in more than 100 laps today, and there wasn't a bother on the car afterwards. This has made me even more invigorated for the season, if that were possible.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Jul 2011, 13:42

Ben Fleet was happy to outpace his teammate and girlfiend, Pippa Mann, today, while Douglas Mann sat out due to explosive diahrroea, thanks to some dodgy local paella that he had eaten just prior to the test. (Although he had considered going out if his overalls had been brown-coloured...).

Post by **Londoner** » 17 Jul 2011, 15:57

Damon Cannon wrote:All three cars in the top 10 is a great result, considering we were testing different things and strategies. Phoenix was concentrating on testing the new 4 groove tyres which everyone will be using for this season. I was concentrating on different fuel and aerodynamic settings, whilst the team sent Jan out to complete as many laps as possible to tailor the car to his style. Next test the cars will be fitted with the new 1999 spec BMW engines, and testing will consist on getting many laps on the car.

Poppy Whitechapel wrote:Well, at least Aurelian joined us for the test this time. It is still slightly worrying that the car is stuck in the lower midfield, particularily that the Reynards appear to have passed us. Maybe they were doing low fuel runs. Mr Jordan says that there's a new upgrade to the diffuser and a new rear wing for the next test.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 17 Jul 2011, 18:26

BBC F1 News wrote:
Martin Brundle : We are here with Prince Constantin after he did his test laps the day after the official test was finished. So Prince what was it like?

Prince : It was good, I did a good number of laps and pushed the car hard to get used to it.

Martin : So what time did you get?

Prince : I managed to get a fastest time of 1.31.624 which means I was faster then the Minardis and Roda.

Martin : And as Douglas Mann did not run you can say you were faster then the current world champion.

Prince : Indeed

Martin : So why the special test run? Why not go out with the other drivers?

Prince : The F1CCC have not given me a super llicense yet, so Stewart arranged with Stefan GP who rented the track today to let me do a number of runs.

Martin : Will you be running in the next test?

Prince : I do hope so.

Martin : How do you answer your critics that say you are a rich rentadriver with no racing experience and should not be in F1?

Prince : Well if I did not think I could do well then I would not have tested, my times are improving and I believe I will be a good midfield driver within weeks.

Martin: You do not think you need years of racing in lower formula?

Prince : It helps, but good training and skill is more then enough.

Martin : Well good luck and look forward to seeing you there.

Prince : Thank you.

Martin : As you heard the mickey mouse outfit Stefan GP rented the track today to run their two cars, they were telling anyone that would listen, or maybe even cared, that the run was just for practice and development and that we should not read anything into it. Well the two Stefan rent a drivers were two nobodies that had only did limited tests back in the early 90s. Even though the track was dry the cars spun more often then not, in fact the drivers probabkly knew more about the make up of the rocks that made the gravel then they did about the track. So what were their fastest times? American, Dirk MacHardy, more like MacHardly did a pathetic 1:37.217. and Stefano Minardi did better and went faster then one of his name sakes but still set a time that would have given him a strike against him with a 1:33.026. With no entry and these times, it is likely that they are not going to get a place and quite frankly that is a good thing. Back to the studio.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 18 Jul 2011, 01:00

Autosport wrote:Lucky Roda scrapes in

With 3 tests to go, Roda saved a life by only being 7.822 seconds slower then the fastest driver Barii Mori. That .178 seconds, has in effect staved off any action for disqualifying Roda and revoking his super licence. However questions are being asked about Yahya Albaf who was 8.475 seconds slower and collects his 2nd black mark, with three tests to go he will have to drive well to make sure he qualifies for a Super licence. If the 107% rule was applied then with a cut off of 1:30.829, Robert Finley in the Mclaren and Jack Christopherson in the Sauber would have also had black marks against them.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 18 Jul 2011, 12:20

I'd just like to remind you all how these Super Licence tests work.

There are 4 tests (Barcelona, Jerez, Barcelona, Paul Ricard). 4 days for all tests. Your best time at each test will be counted, so Menard could set a 1:23.000 on day 3 and Roda could set a 1:27.900 on day 4, and that will be taken into account.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 18 Jul 2011, 15:39

So you are saying that there will be 16 tests before the new season?

Jack O Melley · Post by **Jack O Melley** » 18 Jul 2011, 17:39

Giovanni Roda wrote:I'm pretty happy with the feeling reached today with the car. Our goal today was to test the race pace and we can be satisfied: I've made around 70-75 laps and the car seems to improve lap after lap. Unfortunately in the last half hour of the session I suffered a problem at the hydraulic sistem thus prevented me from doing a real flying lap. No matter though, we'll better in the next sessions.

SuperAguri wrote:So you are saying that there will be 16 tests before the new season?

Counting all testing sessions in the calendar, I think there will be 20 sessions.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 18 Jul 2011, 17:55

Does that mean Mr. Nash might get a superlicence if he's fast enough?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 18 Jul 2011, 17:57

Daniel Martins wrote:Today we did set-up and tyre work and begun to understand our car. The overall feeling is good and the car looks competitive although it still is early days. I don't know what the other teams programs so we cannot extract what our position in relation to the others really is. The only thing I can say is that we are not going for low fuel glory runs and that we have not done any qualifying simulations, so it is not true that I was low fuelled. As for the gap between me and my partner, do not forget that this was his first real day in the car so he was busy getting at ease with the car.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 19 Jul 2011, 09:45

SuperAguri wrote:So you are saying that there will be 16 tests before the new season?

Yes

JeremyMcClean wrote:Does that mean Mr. Nash might get a superlicence if he's fast enough?

Sure, but you'll have to try and get a ride for someone soon. It'll be fine if you skip Barcelona 1, but you'll need a ride for the next 3 tests.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 19 Jul 2011, 10:20

Daniel Melrose wrote:Oh dear. 4 seconds off the pace in an interim car. The new car will debut in the next test however and the data from the team is it should be several seconds quicker than the current car and boy do we need the extra pace badly.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 20 Jul 2011, 10:28

SuperAguri wrote:
Autosport wrote:Lucky Roda scrapes in

With 3 tests to go, Roda saved a life by only being 7.822 seconds slower then the fastest driver Barii Mori. That .178 seconds, has in effect staved off any action for disqualifying Roda and revoking his super licence. However questions are being asked about Yahya Albaf who was 8.475 seconds slower and collects his 2nd black mark, with three tests to go he will have to drive well to make sure he qualifies for a Super licence. If the 107% rule was applied then with a cut off of 1:30.829, Robert Finley in the Mclaren and Jack Christopherson in the Sauber would have also had black marks against them.

Ferrari Press Release wrote:MUAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAAHAH!

IN YOUR FACE, CORNUTI!!!

Post by **Londoner** » 23 Jul 2011, 09:09

Is this a record between daily tests? :lol:

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 23 Jul 2011, 10:50

East Londoner wrote:Is this a record between daily tests?

Sorry, but I have a bad cold/sore throat. I'll try and get to it after quali.

Post by **Londoner** » 24 Jul 2011, 11:23

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Is this a record between daily tests?

Sorry, but I have a bad cold/sore throat. I'll try and get to it after quali.

Ah, no problem. Take as long as you need.

Post by **Londoner** » 08 Aug 2011, 10:16

I'm getting withdrawal symptons from the lack of F1CC testing.

It doesn't help that I've already been off school for two months now.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 08 Aug 2011, 10:58

Montmelo, Spain - Public Off-Season Test 1 - Day 3
Conditions: Dry then Monsoon

Code: Select all

1) Damon Cannon  Arrows-BMW  1:23.956
2) Ed Kevin  Ferrari  1:23.982
3) Jeroen Krautmeir  Prost-Renault  1:24.101
4) Ben Fleet  Reynard-Toyota  1:24.131
5) Barii Mori  Williams-Renault  1:24.539
6) Scott Menard  Williams-Renault  1:24.863
7) Philippe Nicolas  Jordan-Renault  1:24.918
8) Douglas Mann  Williams-Renault  1:25.233
9) Jan de Friis  Arrows-BMW  1:25.536
10) Daniel Martins  Benetton-Honda  1:25.833
11) Pippa Mann  Reynard-Toyota  1:26.007
12) Louis Duval  Prost-Renault  1:26.362
13) Thomas de Bock  Sauber-Peugeot  1:26.643
14) Poppy Whitchapel  Jordan-Renault  1:27.485
15) Daniel Melrose  McLaren-Mercedes  1:27.684
16) John Zimmer  Reynard-Toyota  1:28.298
17) Tristan Jung  Sauber-Peugeot  1:28.353
18) Hagane Shizuka  Benetton-Honda  1:28.999
19) Rhys Davies  Benetton-Honda  1:29.651
20) Jack Christopherson  Sauber-Peugeot  1:30.982
21) Phoenix McAllister  Arrows-BMW  1:31.824
22) Aurelien Moll  Jordan-Renault  1:31.836
23) Ron Mignolet  Prost-Renault  1:31.950
24) Robert Finley  McLaren-Mercedes  1:32.438
25) Andreas Jonsson  Stewart-Ford 1:33.867
26) Yahya Albaf  Minardi-Porsche  1:34.010
27) Matej Uram  Minardi-Porsche  1:34.752
28) Constantin Ferdinand Maria  Stewart-Ford  1:36.102
29) Giovanni Roda  Ferrari  1:38.333