F1RWRS -- 2014 Season

[AndreaModa]

It's just occurred to me that Mr McAllister is going to kill you when he finds out you revealed the identity of the Stig, Klon

And since his identity is a real driver, he technically shouldn't be allowed to race anymore (see Montermini/Kubica/Zanardi). Or am I just being pedantic?

No I agree with that because otherwise it opens the door for all sorts of drivers in the series.

[Klon]

It's just occurred to me that Mr McAllister is going to kill you when he finds out you revealed the identity of the Stig, Klon

And since his identity is a real driver, he technically shouldn't be allowed to race anymore (see Montermini/Kubica/Zanardi). Or am I just being pedantic?

No I agree with that because otherwise it opens the door for all sorts of drivers in the series.

>ThisIsWhyWeCan'tHaveNiceThings.gif

See my edited post, please and ignore everything I've ever written about Phoenix before that.

[dr-baker]

It's just occurred to me that Mr McAllister is going to kill you when he finds out you revealed the identity of the Stig, Klon

And since his identity is a real driver, he technically shouldn't be allowed to race anymore (see Montermini/Kubica/Zanardi). Or am I just being pedantic?

No I agree with that because otherwise it opens the door for all sorts of drivers in the series.

Errrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmm, does this mean I have a problem with one of my drivers then?

[AndreaModa]

Personally I was under the impression that Pippa Mann was a fictional character that happened to share the same name as an IndyCar driver. Particularly as she is currently seeing a fictional guy called Ben Fleet and has a fictional brother called Douglas. Simply taking an F1 driver or one from any other series for that matter, and sticking them in your team would go against the spirit of the series. What you've done though is different, and in my opinion acceptable.

And for the record, I've never had a problem with Phoenix using The Stig as one of his drivers. If we're to consider him effectively as Michael Schumacher, then I do, otherwise they're just another fictional character.

[dr-baker]

Personally I was under the impression that Pippa Mann was a fictional character that happened to share the same name as an IndyCar driver. Particularly as she is currently seeing a fictional guy called Ben Fleet and has a fictional brother called Douglas. Simply taking an F1 driver or one from any other series for that matter, and sticking them in your team would go against the spirit of the series. What you've done though is different, and in my opinion acceptable.

That's fine then. Because that is exactly how I intended it. But I think it would get confusing if too many people did the same thing, so I believe it should be limited.

[dr-baker]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

I was happy to receive your email, expressing interest in my services for next year. Please excuse the self-deprecation, that is a British trait coming out.

I am happy to sign on a couple of conditions:

1. Should Foxdale decide to sign me instead, my priority is to race for them. I wish this option to remain open until the first race of next season.

2. Should my contract with you be terminated before the end of next season because of your choice and not mine, for whatever reason (no exceptions), then any credits awarded due to my pay-driver status will be immediately forfeited in whole to Foxdale Auto Racing Team.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet.

Mr Fleet,

Thanks for your quick reply. While we are eager to sign you up, we would like to negotiate a compromise on the second point in your demands.

We think it would be a more fair and beneficial solution that, instead of monies being awarded to Foxdale due to breakage of contract, that 50% of the money gained from your employment with Scuderia Alitalia is donated to Italian war aid charity Emergency, and the other 50% to a charity of your choice.

Also, we write in a clause as standard to the contracts of all staff employed by Scuderia Alitalia at any staffing level, that any employee who is found guilty of breaching F1RWRS rules forefits the right to any job security. Of course, I do not expect you to commit an offence of any kind, but this is standard practise with all staff as a precautionary measure, nothing else. Therefore, this would be the only exception added to your contract regarding the non forefiture of money gained by Scuderia Alitalia.

If you agree to the above terms, we can arrange for you to visit our Parma headquarters as soon as possible to look over all the paperwork together and put pen to paper on this deal.

Yours,
Andrea Sassetti
Chief Operations Officer, Scuderia Alitalia

Dear Mr Sassetti,

I have no problem with the clause as regards breaking F1RWRS rules leading to lack of job security. After all, I have never broken these rules, nor do I any intention of doing so. But I must insist on my point number two. It will cost you the same either way, and while you may wish to be seen as charitable, if I were to be sacked, I would want penitance to be made in this way. After all, in your original email to me, you said,

We know you are a Foxdale driver first and foremost, however if there's still no seat for you, we can guarantee you a year long contract. I know we've been branded as a team with a short patience with drivers but we'd like to reaffirm our commitment to you vis-a-vis a possible contract and write in a large compensation clause for being dropped, just to prove that we have every faith in you and we intend to see you in our car for every race next season.

So are you able to put your money where your mouth is?

Yours very sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet.

[Klon]

If we're to consider him effectively as Michael Schumacher, then I do, otherwise they're just another fictional character.

Which we don't; now enough of this tomfoolery!

Lon: "I listen to all offers!"

Narcissistic Kay Lon told one of our reporters that he is considering all offers for a 2015 drive. While rumours about Sunshine Infiniti's new owners looking to get rid of him have been confirmed as false, people close to Lon have said that the F1RWRS race winner is very unhappy about the reliability issues of his team and will refuse to use his option for another year if the next races do not make improvements apparent.

The four teams that have pronounced their interest in Lon are Scuderia Alitalia Trueba, Mitie Avitation Racing and Prospec amongst with his current team. Alitalia has a number of question marks over their heads, so it's unlikely that Lon will join them. Both Prospec and MA are not looking to well but may very well profit from the new rules proposing more equality amongst the F1RWRS teams. However, rumours have said that at least three other teams may want to sign Lon.

"I will seriously consider any acceptable contract offer," the founder of the Best In The World™ brand stated, "with the F1RWRS being a very dynamic series, it would be foolish to discard a team as employer. Furhtermore, I am the best driver in this series - if there is anyone who could make a team great against all odds, it's me! I am open for any team that wants success and a great driver, although I hope there will be an announcement on my future before the end of the European part of the championship."

[Shizuka]

The third part - I hope to be done with this on Thursday, when I will also post the Reject Of GT results.

Well, Shonan could be reviewed with ONE word. Also, was my entry for the RoGT "proper"? I was kinda afraid with the aggressive GT-One lap...

[Nuppiz]

Nurmester ready for a shock move

Half-Finn, Half-English race driver (racing under a Finnish license) Nick Nurmester has revealed that he is currently in talks with at least one F1RWRS team. Nurmester, 26, is best known for his wild driving style in various touring car series, but his single-seater experience is limited. One and a half seasons in Nordic F3, as well as one race in Formula Two, both arranged by his cousin and former Formula One driver Niko Nurminen are his only experience in that type of racing.

Nurmester is known for his excellent abilities in driving extremely quick laps, but his reliability especially in longer-distance races is dubious, at best. In his current season in LFSTCC, he has been on pole in 5 of the 7 races this season (and a top-3 qualifier in the other two), but has only finished two races - one win and one 11th place after sustaining heavy damage to his car in a collision. Four of his five retirements have been caused by a spin or a collision.


Nurmester leading the Kyoto Ring GP in the LFSTCC series. As usual, he retired on lap 9 of 50 after spinning out and hitting a barrier.

It is doubtful that Nurmester would have the stamina required to drive a F1RWRS car after five years in touring cars. However, Nurmester himself is confident that he'd do well in the series: "I've conditioned myself for single-seater racing throughout the year, which has caused me to have more stress and as a result my reliability has been not what I've hoped for. However, despite retiring from Formula One at the start of the 1997 season after his then-current team Precision folded, my cousin still knows a lot of what is required from a Grand Prix driver. He's been really helpful in my training process. His old contacts have also given me a moderate sponsorship contract with Fazer Bakery."

When asked what teams have showed interested in him, Nurmester didn't reveal much: "At the moment I'm still open to all offers, especially considering that starting from next season I would be ineligible fro F1RWRS due to the new Super License requirements. But one successful team has already showed interest in me, I can reveal that. But at the moment everything is still very uncertain."

BTW are you using custom helmets? If so, could you give me a template for that?

[AndreaModa]

Nurmester to F2RWRS with Jones?

Autosport has just recently learnt that Jones Racing are considering signing Nick Nurmester, the half Finn, half English racing driver, to their F2RWRS team for the 2015 season. Team owner and F1RWRS driver Sammy Jones had this to say on the rumours,

"We're very interested in Nick, he's proven himself in many other categories that he's a superb qualifier, and that's exactly the quality that we're looking for as we consider who will drive the other car next year alongside Terry Hawkin." Jones told reporters at his Banbury factory.

"We're confident that a season in the F2RWRS will really allow Nick to get up to speed in single seater racing and allow him to develop his skills without the intense spotlight and pressure that can come when driving in the premier F1RWRS. He'll be able to go at his own pace and improve his race-craft, and we at Jones Racing will hopefully be able to mould him into a potential future champion. We're looking forward to hopefully entering into negotiations with Nick in the near future."

[Nuppiz]

To: Nick Nurmester
From: Niko Nurminen

I'm not too pleased to read about your negotiations in a newspaper instead of you telling me about them personally. Remember, I'm advising you in all matters regarding single-seaters, including how to handle media. And telling them stuff like that before anything is confirmed is a sure way to ruin your reputation quickly. From now on, let me handle the media - I'm your manager, after all.

Don't be too eager to get a drive in F1RWRS - your almost non-existent experience in single-seaters would lead to a disaster. I strongly suggest that you try to get a seat in the lower categories to learn how to drive a much more powerful car than those damn tintops. Oh, and remember that old Precision F1 car that's in my garage? You're going to drive it. Next week. Unless you want to get back to tintops, of course.

I really want you to drive in a better category, you're not going to be remembered if you stay in the lower ones. You know, you still owe me money from that Porsche you wrecked when you got your civilian driver's license, so you need a better pay as well.

Nurminen to manage Nurmester, says he is "too green" for F1RWRS

Finnish former Formula One driver Niko Nurminen, 43, has stepped up in the buzz regarding his cousin Nick Nurmester, who recently announced that he is "in talks" with teams from the current top-level single-seater category F1RWRS. Nurminen has announced that from now on, he will be the manager of his cousin, utilizing the experience he gathered in the mid-90s driving for Pacific, Forti and the failed Precision Motorsports project. He also announced that Nurmester has quit the LFSTCC series with immediate effect and is currently fully committed in training for a single-seater drive.

However, Nurminen is very suspicious that his protégé would be ready for the big league with such a short notice: "I know you should talk only good about someone you manage, but taking a F1RWRS drive, especially in a top team, could be very unwise given his lack of experience. Considering that he's had trouble with reliability, he would most likely fail miserably in the top class. That would damage not only his, but the team's and even the whole series' reputation as well for letting a driver with so little experience to drive."

"Therefore, I've advised him to look for opportunities in lower categories, like F2RWRS or F3RWRS, and get more experience in single-seaters. I've also prepared a test for him to see if his more fit to the feeder categories instead of the top tier: after the Precision team folded, I managed buy myself the other one of the chassis which were to be used in the 1997 season. It's still in my garage, and I do think that I can spare enough money to get some sort of an engine to it. I'm inviting the media to take a look at the test once I've got it confirmed."

When asked if this has sparked his interest to drive in single-seaters again, Nurminen replied: "I'm too old for that. But, strange things can always happen..."

[DemocalypseNow]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

I have no problem with the clause as regards breaking F1RWRS rules leading to lack of job security. After all, I have never broken these rules, nor do I any intention of doing so. But I must insist on my point number two. It will cost you the same either way, and while you may wish to be seen as charitable, if I were to be sacked, I would want penitance to be made in this way. After all, in your original email to me, you said,

We know you are a Foxdale driver first and foremost, however if there's still no seat for you, we can guarantee you a year long contract. I know we've been branded as a team with a short patience with drivers but we'd like to reaffirm our commitment to you vis-a-vis a possible contract and write in a large compensation clause for being dropped, just to prove that we have every faith in you and we intend to see you in our car for every race next season.

So are you able to put your money where your mouth is?

Yours very sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet.

Mr Fleet,

While there is no issue regarding our commitment, we feel awarding all compensation credits to Foxdale is not a fair solution to those elsewhere on the grid. We are a team striving for parity and equality in F1RWRS, and such a deal would not be in the spirit of our organisation. We are more than happy to agree to the concept of forefiting sponsorship money received from you if this clause is triggered, however handing it over to a sole team is not in keeping with the spirit of the sport. This is why we proposed the charities idea. However, we must consider that the money was paid by you in the first place. Therefore, we will pay Foxdale a 10% fee for all sponsorship money collected by us during your employment, and return the other 90% to you directly.

Andrea Sassetti.

[AdrianSutil]

MA-Racing: Too many drivers, not enough seats.
It seems the mid-season break has brought a selection headache to Mitie Aviation, as they prepare to finalise plans for 2015. "We've spent very little time testing between races, and with only one race start so far, we are unable to know just how reliable our chassis and engine pairing is, it makes development hard for us because we don't know if it is going to be worth it in the long run", explained Mr.Alexander. "So we don't know if any more upgrades for the year are worth it. We might be investing all our available resources into next years car, which has already been designed ready to be built."
It seems the driver choices are confusing too, with a possible six drivers in the frame for a seat. "Masta (Valsattis) has been consistent throughout the year, keeping the car on track and proving to be a solid if not spectacular driver. Alexey (Pchelintsev) didn't impress massively at the beginning of the year but still showed good speed, David (Neuberg) brings both cash and good speed, and also gave us our first start so we will always thank him for that. Ashley Lilly too, seems to be progressing well, despite only being with the junior team a short while. His win in only his second race at Spa is something special!"
Two other drivers within the F1RWRS has caught Mr.Alexander's eyes, Kay Lon and Ashley Watkinson. "We haven't seen Ashley Watkinson race this year but a few people I know well have said he's a capable driver. Kay Lon comes with a bit of history but he's a proven driver and race winner. It seems he's interested to at least hear what we have to offer so that's good to see established drivers finally noticing how hard-trying and professional we are."

Whatever happens in the coming weeks, it's sure to be a busy one for Mr.Alexander and Mitie Aviation Racing.

[dr-baker]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

I have no problem with the clause as regards breaking F1RWRS rules leading to lack of job security. After all, I have never broken these rules, nor do I any intention of doing so. But I must insist on my point number two. It will cost you the same either way, and while you may wish to be seen as charitable, if I were to be sacked, I would want penitance to be made in this way. After all, in your original email to me, you said,

"We know you are a Foxdale driver first and foremost, however if there's still no seat for you, we can guarantee you a year long contract. I know we've been branded as a team with a short patience with drivers but we'd like to reaffirm our commitment to you vis-a-vis a possible contract and write in a large compensation clause for being dropped, just to prove that we have every faith in you and we intend to see you in our car for every race next season."

So are you able to put your money where your mouth is?

Yours very sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet.

Mr Fleet,

While there is no issue regarding our commitment, we feel awarding all compensation credits to Foxdale is not a fair solution to those elsewhere on the grid. We are a team striving for parity and equality in F1RWRS, and such a deal would not be in the spirit of our organisation. We are more than happy to agree to the concept of forefiting sponsorship money received from you if this clause is triggered, however handing it over to a sole team is not in keeping with the spirit of the sport. This is why we proposed the charities idea. However, we must consider that the money was paid by you in the first place. Therefore, we will pay Foxdale a 10% fee for all sponsorship money collected by us during your employment, and return the other 90% to you directly.

Andrea Sassetti.

Dear Mr Sassetti,

The points that you make are fair points that are worthy of consideration. May I suggest that, as we are only half-way through the current season, that we pause these negociations for now and resume them towards the end of the season?

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fleet.

[Nuppiz]

(I'm not going to actually wait a week to tell about the test results, and because of Wizzie's eagerness to hire Nurmester I've had to rush some things. Everyone, pretend that the e-mail included here was sent before Melrose announced his 2015 drivers.)

To: Nick Nurmester
From: Niko Nurminen

Well, you did a fair job in that old car, but not good enough that I'd be putting you into F1RWRS. In fact, I think it's safer... err, better for all of us that you'll take a year in F3RWRS. I've negotiated a deal with JLD for a spot in their team, and the negotiations went so well that you only have to sign the contract and you're all set to start driving next year.

Nurmester test went "OK", signs for a F3RWRS drive with JLD

Besides the controversy surrounding Scuderia Alitalia, the talk of the paddock has been touring car stalwart Nick Nurmester who is planning on moving to single-seater racing in one of the RWRS series. His manager Niko Nurminen arranged some private testing for him to see how he would fit in a completely different car. According to Nurminen, the results weren't surprising: "He was quite out of his depth on the first few laps, but after a while he started to get himself accustomed to the car. However, he only managed a few clean laps, having a lot of spins and near-misses with the barriers. The car-engine combination we used is somewhat equivalent to a modern day F2RWRS car, so this confirms the fact that F1RWRS is currently out of question for Nurmester. He needs a lot more practice before that."

Nurmester driving the Precision Motorsports 1997 car in a private test

"While we got an offer from Jones Racing to join their F2RWRS team for next season, we have decided that it is in our best interests to let Nurmester develop his skills in the lower series first. Therefore, I've negotiated a contract with JLD Motorsport for a drive in the next year's F3RWRS championship. We're taking this as a good step forward in his pursuit for a career in single-seaters, and both him and I feel confident that he will do a great job there."

Commenting on rumours that Nurminen himself might be considered for a drive in one of the categories: "Where do you get these rumours? At no point have I expressed interest in driving anymore. Even though drivers older than me have raced in the series before, I personally feel that my time in racing ended years ago."

[DemocalypseNow]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

The points that you make are fair points that are worthy of consideration. May I suggest that, as we are only half-way through the current season, that we pause these negociations for now and resume them towards the end of the season?

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fleet.

Mr Fleet,

If you wish to put negotiations on hiatus we will accept your request, however should you receive any offers in the interim I would hope you would contact us, as we are certainly willing to match any offers by other teams.

Andrea Sassetti.

[dr-baker]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

The points that you make are fair points that are worthy of consideration. May I suggest that, as we are only half-way through the current season, that we pause these negociations for now and resume them towards the end of the season?

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fleet.

Mr Fleet,

If you wish to put negotiations on hiatus we will accept your request, however should you receive any offers in the interim I would hope you would contact us, as we are certainly willing to match any offers by other teams.

Andrea Sassetti.

Mr Sassetti,

I will of course make sure that you hear of any other offers that I may receive, and that you will retain second refusal (after Foxdale, of course...).

Mr Ben Fleet.

[Klon]

http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/2014 ... n_Calendar

Here, guys - I have tried myself on giving F1RWRS races a place on the calender (the time measuring one that is). I figured, we'd be starting the season way earlier than Formula One and race throughout the summer to catch those viewers who suffer from F1 deprivation while having a spring break and ending the season before November to avoid having to go head-to-head with F1's opening and final races.

Feedback?

[TomWazzleshaw]

http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/2014_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_season#Season_Calendar

Here, guys - I have tried myself on giving F1RWRS races a place on the calender (the time measuring one that is). I figured, we'd be starting the season way earlier than Formula One and race throughout the summer to catch those viewers who suffer from F1 deprivation while having a spring break and ending the season before November to avoid having to go head-to-head with F1's opening and final races.

Feedback?

We've already got a system going for that

[Klon]

http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/2014_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_season#Season_Calendar

Here, guys - I have tried myself on giving F1RWRS races a place on the calender (the time measuring one that is). I figured, we'd be starting the season way earlier than Formula One and race throughout the summer to catch those viewers who suffer from F1 deprivation while having a spring break and ending the season before November to avoid having to go head-to-head with F1's opening and final races.

Feedback?

We've already got a system going for that

Well, I hope that system takes the points I made into account...

[TomWazzleshaw]

http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/2014_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_season#Season_Calendar

Here, guys - I have tried myself on giving F1RWRS races a place on the calender (the time measuring one that is). I figured, we'd be starting the season way earlier than Formula One and race throughout the summer to catch those viewers who suffer from F1 deprivation while having a spring break and ending the season before November to avoid having to go head-to-head with F1's opening and final races.

Feedback?

We've already got a system going for that

Well, I hope that system takes the points I made into account...

Actually, as 2011 shows, we don't have to start that early.

Besides, having just seen the calender as the wiki is now blocked at school (The forum still isn't strangely enough), who in their right mind goes to Australia in January?

[Klon]

Besides, having just seen the calender as the wiki is now blocked at school (The forum still isn't strangely enough), who in their right mind goes to Australia in January?

Why not? Just because it's warm? That's no excuse.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Besides, having just seen the calender as the wiki is now blocked at school (The forum still isn't strangely enough), who in their right mind goes to Australia in January?

Why not? Just because it's warm? That's no excuse.

Uh, yeah. Warm. Right...

[Klon]

Actually, as 2011 shows, we don't have to start that early.

You really don't want to have races run during the first weekends of F1, it would be a ratings disaster. So I figured we start early and have the Southern hemisphere races done with and take that break during spring.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Actually, as 2011 shows, we don't have to start that early.

You really don't want to have races run during the first weekends of F1, it would be a ratings disaster. So I figured we start early and have the Southern hemisphere races done with and take that break during spring.

Did it ever occur to you that the races never clash with each other?

Besides, from memory, the V8 Supercars tried a summer series many years ago. Predictably, it only lasted one season if my memory is correct

[Klon]

Did it ever occur to you that the races never clash with each other?

That is not good either, we need to have a few crossover dates (preferably in the middle of each series' season) to emphasise the fact that we are a rival series.

As you see, I've thought about this for a bit.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Did it ever occur to you that the races never clash with each other?

That is not good either, we need to have a few crossover dates (preferably in the middle of each series' season) to emphasise the fact that we are a rival series.

As you see, I've thought about this for a bit.

But that produces an even more fundamental problem. As 2010 showed, many drivers were doing both F1 and the F1RWRS and I'm certain it'd be in McAllister's best interests to continue beyond 2010 with the plum Ferrari contract he has.

[Klon]

But that produces an even more fundamental problem. As 2010 showed, many drivers were doing both F1 and the F1RWRS and I'm certain it'd be in McAllister's best interests to continue beyond 2010 with the plum Ferrari contract he has.

Well, I am talking about current calendars. Trying to go head-to-head with F1 in 2010 or 2011, maybe even 2012 would have been suicide in that regards.

[FMecha]

So, this is the F1RWRS deprivation?

I may spend 10 credits on my engine, thanks.

[DemocalypseNow]

http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/2014_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_season#Season_Calendar

Here, guys - I have tried myself on giving F1RWRS races a place on the calender (the time measuring one that is). I figured, we'd be starting the season way earlier than Formula One and race throughout the summer to catch those viewers who suffer from F1 deprivation while having a spring break and ending the season before November to avoid having to go head-to-head with F1's opening and final races.

Feedback?

We've already got a system going for that

Really? Where the hell is it then? Some dates being published would be nice for once...bringing an end to this F1RWRS/F2RWRS/F3RWRS weekend clashes without any reference to look it up.

[TomWazzleshaw]

http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/2014_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_season#Season_Calendar

Here, guys - I have tried myself on giving F1RWRS races a place on the calender (the time measuring one that is). I figured, we'd be starting the season way earlier than Formula One and race throughout the summer to catch those viewers who suffer from F1 deprivation while having a spring break and ending the season before November to avoid having to go head-to-head with F1's opening and final races.

Feedback?

We've already got a system going for that

Really? Where the hell is it then? Some dates being published would be nice for once...bringing an end to this F1RWRS/F2RWRS/F3RWRS weekend clashes without any reference to look it up.

We've currently finishes 2010-2012 and there's a 2013 calender floating somewhere on the forum. Either AndreaModa or myself will finish it off over the weekend at some point depending on whether I can manage my two engineering assessment tasks.

[dr-baker]

I'm not so bothered how F1RWRS fits in with F1, but I would like there to be a connection between this and its feeder series. Basically, I want to know if and when I can give Martin McFry a drive in F1RWRS based around his one-off entry in the Surfer's SuperPrix.

[Aerond]

Driver changes at Norisring are as it follows: correct me if I´m wrong? -->

Foxdale; OUT, Jack Christopherson, IN, Pippa Mann
Mecha; OUT, Saeed Al Faisal (Pay), IN, Steven Mackintosh
Trueba Alitalia; OUT, Dave Simpson, IN, Darren Older Jr (Pay)
Tropico; OUT, Darren Older Jr (Pay), IN, Leonhard Von Gottorp (Pay)

Interesting free agents;

- Dave Simpson
- Ashley Watkinson

[Klon]

Time to finish this sucker, hope you enjoyed reading it.

Dofasco Lukoil Racing

#32 - Tomislaw Tajner: Having joined Shock Of The Lightning Motorsport in the trail of their new owners, Tajner had nothing going for him ... although nothing against him either. If there was a driver that earnt the title of "bland", it was Tajner. His season so far has done nothing to undo that reputation. He does perform adequatly, although is outperformed occasionally by Groves

#33 - Yu Hiang-Hao/Sebastian Groves: Being hired to support Flying Fish's finances, Hiang-Hao did an average job in 2013. He continued to do just that at his new team and despite rarely being that far away from Tajner, the owners gave him the sack to replace him with Sebastian Groves. While some have critized that move as being rather populistic, it has payed off. While Groves was not the remedy the team was looking for, his results were just slightly better than the Chinese's ones.

Prognosis: Both the staff of SOTL/Dofasco and their owners have learnt the lession that sometimes, entering F1RWRS is quite a hard thing to do. While they most certainly haven't lost their motivation - and being able to qualify both cars in Brands Hatch sure has helped in that regard - it won't get any easier. If they keep up the fight, they can expect to qualify once or twice in the second half of the year and maybe build a future with better results.

Grades: B- / C / B ---> D


Mitie Aviation Racing

#34 - Matthias Valsattis: His seat is the only one at MA Racing which is currently safe and that is for a reason. Makes you wonder why, given that even with changing team mates, his qualifying battle is currently tied at 4-4. Although that is true, his undeniable strength is being more consistent than his rivals. Sadly, Mitie Aviation Racing does not need consistency as much as they need heroic one-lap performances: it is up to Valsattis to find the speed for those laps.

#35 - Alexey Pchelintsev / Steven Mackintosh / David Neuberg: The second MA Racing chassis is like Kellyanne, everyone has done her. From what has appeared from inside the team, David Neuberg has the seat secured, not unjustifiably, one can say - the second German in this series might be the best choice, especially given the need of Mitie Aviation for awesome laps appearing out of nowhere, which Neuberg can offer aside from his valueable sponsorship money.

Prognosis: Being the new guy is always hard, whether it's in school or in sports. Mitie Aviation Racing have not impressed yet, but they have enough time, given the fact that their funding seems to be secure. They sure have big intentions, announcing their intent to hire Ashley Watkinson and Kay Lon for the 2015 season. This year, there won't be big results, but the future might turn out glorious.

Grades: C / C- / C- / B- ---> C-


Acuri Autosport

#36 - Andrea Acuri: The former Formula 1 driver made a surprising entry in the F1RWRS, building his own team to make an attempt at becoming successful in the fastest-growing racing series on the planet. That attempt has been pretty successful so far ... but it's not because his driving. As much as Acuri did right as a team boss, his on-track performance is just not as good as it could be.

#37 - Ron Mignolet: There are two drivers who have done anything that was asked of them and then some more: we covered one a few pages before in Mirko Bosevic. The other one is this guy, Ron Mignolet has showed the true potential of the AFR01 with it's Renault engine with a number of opportunist drives, resulting in perhaps on of the most awesome podium finishes in recent months at Brands Hatch.

Prognosis: Acuri Autosport might as well hang that "Rookie Team Of The Year" plaque in their factory building, they are clearly the best new team. However, it might just be a little bit too soon to switch San Marino's state motto from "Libertas" to "Celeritas" - Acuri suffers the same problem as most "one-driver teams" do: what happens if their lead driver suffers a drop-off in his performance or even worse suffers an injury. Andrea Acuri needs to raise his game immediately.

Grades: D- / A ---> B+


Shonan DMS Racing

#38 - Hagane Shizuka / Gio Van Dycke: Hagane Shizuka is an interesting phenomenon - he's awfully pessimistic, yet he dared to build his own team instead of joining an established union. Sadly, his team have been dealt the worst cards in the game - aside from Tropico Grand Prix. After seeing the situation his team is in, Shizuka sacrificed his membership in the "F1RWRS Classic Club" to help his team. Van Dycke fared worse than Shizuka, but didn't cause any major damage by crashing.

#39 - Francois Albertini: The infamous Albertini clan has entered the F1RWRS in form of their second generation. Albertini supports Shonan DMS with the money of his company, but that alone does not turn a team great. Albertini's driving, as far as it can be judged with this car, has been good but his results varied wide across the board, sometimes he struggles to fight of the Tropico GP cars, sometimes he annoys the top PQ teams.

Prognosis: Simtek has taught us one thing: if you fight on after the death of a loved racer, you get public sympathy, but that doesn't guarantee results. While Shonan DMS Racing is pretty much safe in the battle at the rock bottom of the table, it will need a double dosis of David Brabham willpower to get into main qualifying ... that is unlikely given their drivers, but motorsport has seen bigger miracles happen.

Grades: C / C- / C ---> F


Mecha Grand Prix

#40 - Saeed Al Faisal: Only 12 months ago, at the half-time of the 2013 season, Al Faisal was hyped as the greatest talent that the middle east has ever seen and as the guy who will do more for racing's reputation in these still economically important nations than the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi races of F1RWRS and F1 ever could. So much for that ... 6:2 in PQ against James Davies who - according to cynics - has not been relevant since his 2012 win in the Netherlands is just not enough. It can be safely doubted, however, that Mackintosh will be able to help Mecha much.

#41 - James Davies: After having missed half of the 2013 season and spending the other half driving the more or less useless Trueba T901 around the tracks of this world, not many people expected much from Davies. Odds were he'd be beaten badly by the uprising talent of Al Faisal. Davies averted that, however, it might be difficult to climb up the ranks once more, Mecha won't lead him anywhere soon and he's not getting younger.

Prognosis: Mecha Grand Prix are apparentely trying to earn the title as blandest team on the grid, they just don't have much of a colour. Perhaps they might try to change that, perhaps they'd rather just keep working in silence, trying their earnest to avoid becoming the third team that will not make it out of the first session of a Grand Prix weekend this season, because that would hurt them ... quite badly, I might add.

Grades: D / C ---> C-

[Shizuka]

A C? You serious there? The reason why I didn't join any teams, because frankly, I never got any offers after I offered my seat to a paydriver at Sunshine, which ended up being taken. At least I helped that team with sitting out.

Sure, I might be pessimistic (what I am IRL too), but at least I'm not an egoistic bastard that messes up everyone's fun. I hope.

[Aerond]

F1RWRS 2014 - ROUND 9 - GERMAN GP - Norisring

Weather Report: Dry All Weekend

PRE-QUALIFYING (in bold drivers into qualifying)

1. Jesus Plaza (ARC) -- 47.291
2. Rhys Davies (HRT) -- 47.411 (+0.120)
3. Fredo Mestolio (ARC) -- 47.758 (+0.467)
4. Dean O´Lauchlan (HRT) -- 47.760 (+0.469)
5. Jean Luc Schiller (Prospec) -- 47.994 (+0.703)
6. Gary Cameron (Prospec) -- 48.417 (+1.126)
7. David Koczo (Trueba) -- 48.469 (+1.178)
8. Matthias Valsattis (Mitie) -- 48.510 (+1.219)
9. James Davies (Mecha) -- 48.544 (+1.253)
10. Darren Older Jr (Trueba) -- 48.755 (+1.464)
11. David Neuberg (Mitie) -- 48.916 (+1.625)
12. Steven Mackintosh (Mecha) -- 49.009 (+1.718)
13. Tomislaw Tajner (Dofasco) -- 49.091 (+1.800)
14. Gio Van Dycke (Shonan) -- 49.132 (+1.841)
15. Francois Albertini (Shonan) -- 49.299 (+2.008)
16. Sebastian Groves (Dofasco) -- 49.626 (+2.335)
17. Leonhard Von Gottorp (Tropico) -- 49.970 (+2.679)
18. Miko Fakkinen (Tropico) -- 50.261 (+2.970)

** ARC skip Pre-Qualifying at Round 10.

QUALIFYING:






** Acuri to run Pre-Qualifying at Round 10.

RACE:

We sincerely hope this is not a sign of things to come in the faster circuits of the calendar (most of them cramped in the 2nd half of the season), because we´re going to watch rather boring races with a clear order of where each car stands in terms of top speed. That was the case of the race at Norisring; although not a track with fast corners itself, the importance of both straights to score a good laptime meant each car stayed more or less where it belonged to, instead of the usual shake-ups we´ve been witnessing all season. That should not rest merit on Nicolas performance. The french did the first "hat-trick" (Pole, Fastest Lap and Win) in F1RWRS history and led every lap from start to end in style and seemed back on track for the title fight. The fact that this is the 2nd race Nicolas finishes all year and he´s so close to the lead of the championship just shows how things are tied up this year: The one who gets to the end of races will be the winner. Ask Mark Dagnall for instance; he had to watch the end of the race at the pitwall once again after the new pieces on the DGN only worked on Fleet´s car, who for once had enough pace to stay free of trouble ahead of the rest of the field and finished 2nd, his best result yet in the series.
Shinobu Katayama showed that, when she´s motivated, she can get the Sunshine to great quotes of success, so she did once again this time by qualifying towards the top of the grid and then finished third in a flawless race. Katayama wasn´t the only female hero of the weekend as Pippa Mann scored points in her comeback, something she wasn´t able to achieve at all last season. Pippa managed to pull out a great strategy move and outplaced faster cars like Mori´s Kamaha and Lon´s Sunshine. Out of the frontrunners, Moll did the best with the equipment he was given while De Bock struggled way too much. The other positive performance came from Mestolio, who managed to run up to 3rd before the ARC gave up.
On the negative side we should start with Acuri. Their lack of speed was evident on Saturday and Sunday was no better with both Mignolet and Acuri being completely anonymous, plus they´ll have to come back to Pre-Qualifying at Spa. It was a particularly bad weekend for HRT as well; despite passing Pre-Qualifying comfortably, O´Lauchlan forgot to make it to the grid and Davies suffered a first lap collission which put him inmediately too far from the midpack to fight for anything, Phoenix weekend wasn´t any good either after their great performance at Brands Hatch, but, none of those races can compare with the one performed by Frank Zimmer. Appart from being slow, Zimmer managed to put risk on Spencer´s life by banging wheels on the start/finish straight while being lapped, later on proceeded to almost make Plaza´s ARC flip and ended touching with Cameron´s Prospec to finish 7 laps down. If the win by Nicolas was never in doubt, Zimmer´s ROTR falls short to describe his behaviour.

Race pics:



Spencer´s accident:




Plaza´s accident:



Some action:






RACE RESULTS




Fastest lap chart



CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP (After Round 8)

1. Mark Dagnall - 28 pts
2. Thomas de Bock - 23 pts
3. Nathanael Spencer - 20 pts
=. Phillippe Nicolas - 20 pts
5. Shinobu Katayama - 19 pts
6. Aurelien Moll - 17 pts
7. Daniel Melrose - 15 pts
=. Douglas Mann - 15 pts
9. Nicolas Steele - 14 pts
10. Sammy Jones - 12 pts
11. Frank Zimmer - 8 pts
=. Mirko Bosevic - 8 pts
13. Ron Mignolet - 7 pts
=. Barii Mori - 7 pts
=. Ben Fleet - 7 pts
16. Rhys Davies - 4 pts
17. The Stig - 3 pts
18. Ashley Watkinson - 2 pts
=. Pippa Mann - 2 pts
20. Jesus Plaza - 1 pt
=. Daniel Martins - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS

1. Gillet - 40 pts
=. MRT - 40 pts
3. DGNgineering - 35 pts
4. Jones - 27 pts
5. Kamaha - 21 pts
6. Sunshine - 19 pts
7. Foxdale - 17 pts
8. Arrowtech - 9 pts
9. GRM - 8 pts
10. Acuri - 7 pts
11. HRT - 6 pts
12. Phoenix - 3 pts
13. ARC - 1 pt

[Aerospeed]

I have the monday off, which means that there's a better shot I'll catch the whole race

[DemocalypseNow]

It's a shame, we were close, the four best team in Pre-Quali. But I think it's clear by now, we're focusing ahead to next year already rather than starting an arms race to get out of Pre-Quali this season. David has done well for us so far, he knows times are tough but he's joined the team knowing we've got a long term strategy in place that will give him a good car in future.

I will reiterate Andrea's comments. I'm trying my best to get into the races but I know it's going to be hard managing that with no development work going into this car. What people must remember is we're racing a Trueba chassis this year, it won't be next season until the real Scuderia Alitalia shines through, and even then, it won't be until 2016 that all traces of Trueba will be gone. So I'm not worried, I'm here to prove I can help build a team and eventually mount a title challenge again. I may be one of the most expereinced drivers on the grid but I'm not old - yet - so I feel if the team can build me a competitive car in the next 2-3 seasons I'll be up there winning races.

[Aerospeed]

That's 9pm in Madrid time Aerond?

[Shizuka]

I'm starting to feel I'm going to turn the Paul Stoddart of F1WRS if I don't get higher with the team.