1979 rFactor F1 - Please go to 1980 thread

[Salamander]

Yes! Finally we get the M29. After driving that ancient thing the first few races, it's great to finally challenge for points on merit. And I beat Mario, to boot. Not bad at all!

[Londoner]

Hot damn! What the hell was with this crapbox today! Where was the grip?

Eh, car have no grip, you muppeta! Like driving on spaghetti Bolognasia!

You can now see the folly of preventing my participation in the season temporarily. The Wolf team has been fed to the foxes. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that, had I been at the wheel today, I would have located the grip that Clarke and that Italian chap were lacking.

[DemocalypseNow]

Brambilla to make F1 return with Merzario

After another poor qualifying performance, Elio de Angelis has been demoted to reserve driver by Team Merzario, and the backmarker team have hired an old hand to take his place.

One time Grand Prix winner Vittorio Brambilla, after testing for the team in Kyalami and setting the quickest time of any Merzario driver over both days, will make his Formula One return after being released by Surtees at the end of last season. The 42 year old has been training hard in the off-season keeping himself in shape, and it seems to have worked, with the ever increasing demands of modern F1 cars seeminly not a problem for the veteran Italian driver a few weeks ago.

The decision comes on the back of a string of DNQs for Elio de Angelis, a poor result given his team-mate Simone Guidetti has been a regular qualifier since the team upgraded chassis early in the season.

Ok, at least car finish race now....but, car still not good, need more speed...zero tituli for me with this velocita.

Unfortunate engine failure for me today, but ok, I am very 'appy to qualify yet again, the car is feeling better now, I hope the team continues this development and we can finish a race. Maybe a Top 10 is possible some time this season, attrition is quite high.

Niente commento, andare via.

[Aerospeed]

Not bad.

BAH! At least Scheckter didn't score today. But we need to get more reliable if we are to contend in the championship.

[Nessafox]

RAM is not amused by Brancatelli's pace, he was nowhere to be seen today!

Replacing my best driver has somehow worked out fine... Gianfranco will return for the next race, hopefully he can repeat this result in Italy, when Gimax replaces Lammers. Meanwhile RAM hopes to collect some midfield positions.

[DemocalypseNow]

RAM is not amused by Brancatelli's pace, he was nowhere to be seen today!

Like button required.

[Pamphlet]

Oh dear.

[WaffleCat]

This result is great.Unfortunately,Teddy[Mayer] is not here at the racetrack today due to excessive sunburn.So I would like to say that the new car feels superb,and it can show reliability and a little bit of pace.Now we are serious business

[RonDenisDeletraz]

This season has been quite disappionting compared to the last couple of years.

[AdrianSutil]

Shadow Press Release:

*Insert facepalm meme here*

[pasta_maldonado]

Driver's Championship-After 5 rounds

1: Rene Arnoux - 19
2: Jody Scheckter - 18
= Jacques Laffite - 18
4: Gilles Villeneuve - 17
5: Ed Kevin - 13
6: Callum McAllister - 12
7: Jan Lammers - 11
8: Gianfranco Brancatelli - 9
9: Carlos Reutemann - 8
= Hiroshi Takagi - 8
= Alan Jones - 8
12: Harvey Jones - 7
= Mario Andretti - 7
14: James Hunt - 6
= Alain Prost - 6
16: Jean-Pierre Jabouille - 5
= Nelson Piquet - 5
18: Andrea de Cesaris - 4
= Geoff Lees - 4
= Guilliame Gauthier - 4
21: Niki Lauda - 3
22: Roberto Horford - 2
23: Kieran Sutherland - 1

Constructor's Championship-After 5 rounds

1: Ferrari - 36
2: Ligier-Ford - 31
3: Williams-Ford - 30
4: Ram-Ferrari -15
= Lotus-Ford - 15
5: Renault - 13
6: Tyrrell-Ford - 12
7: McLaren-Ford - 11
8: Alfa Romeo - 8
9: Brabham-Ford - 7
10: Wolf-Ford - 6
11: RAM-Ford -5
= Arrows-Ford - 5

[pasta_maldonado]

After 5 rounds, no driver has won from pole, and we have had 5 different winners so far.

[Aerospeed]

After 5 rounds, no driver has won from pole, and we have had 5 different winners so far.

It's 2012 all over again.

Oh wait...

[pasta_maldonado]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys

The next race at Spa will happen sometime this week. Does anyone want driver changes for the event?

[DemocalypseNow]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys

The next race at Spa will happen sometime this week. Does anyone want driver changes for the event?

De Angelis out and Vittorio Brambilla in at Saras Team Merzario.

[pasta_maldonado]

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

[Aerospeed]

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

Did it get BSODed? I sure hope not

[pasta_maldonado]

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

Did it get BSODed? I sure hope not

Fortunately not, rfactor just froze up 8 laps from home and I had to shut down by the button. Hopefully the problems solved now, and I'll re run the race tonight Ferrari were going to have a 1-2 before the crash

[FMecha]

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

Red flag then. SuperAguri's computer crashed when he ran Monaco round of his unnamed championship so it have to be considered red flagged.

[pasta_maldonado]

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

Red flag then. SuperAguri's computer crashed when he ran Monaco round of his unnamed championship so it have to be considered red flagged.

Red Flag it is then

[Aerospeed]

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

Did it get BSODed? I sure hope not

Fortunately not, rfactor just froze up 8 laps from home and I had to shut down by the button. Hopefully the problems solved now, and I'll re run the race tonight Ferrari were going to have a 1-2 before the crash

Computer just crashed while running the 1979 Belgian grand prix

Red flag then. SuperAguri's computer crashed when he ran Monaco round of his unnamed championship so it have to be considered red flagged.

A race restart? With 8 laps to go??? SuperAguri's version worked because it was five laps in. I can't think of anything else though (other than an incredibly long safety car period lasting more than half the race) so it'll stand.

[pasta_maldonado]

The race has been re-run The report will be up tomorrow as I do not have the time for it now, sorry!. What I can tell you is the finish resembles Monaco 82 (but with different teams), and the race was high in attrition. Stay tuned!

[pasta_maldonado]

1979 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa Francorchamps

Qualifying

Formula One's first visit back to Spa since 1970, when Pedro Rodriguez took a shock win around the old triangle-shaped track. 9 years on, however, albeit with a much shorter track (4.3 miles), another shock was in store: Gianfranco Brancatelli taking his and RAM's first pole position. Carlos Reutemann and Jean-Pierre Jabouille line up bevhind him, and will be hoping to actually finish the race for a change. Niki Lauda was on-hand to provide another shock, lining the Brabham up 4th, ahead of Calum McAllister, Gilles Villeneuve, Jody Scheckter and Rene Arnoux in 8th place. A dissapointing qualifying session for Ligier saw Laffite in 10th behind Geoff Lees, and Ed Kevin all the way down in 18th! The Lotii were in 12th and 13th, with a much-improved Shadow taking 15th and 16th on the grid, ahead of Piquet in the other Brabham. Beppe Gabbiani pulled off miracles to ahul the Jenkins up to 19th place, ahead of de Cesaris. Jan Lammmers had problems all day and could only manage 22nd, ahead of both Wolfs, and Andretti. McLaren and Merzario were left scratching their heads; Guilliame Gauthier set the second-slowest time while Andretti was 25th, and Vittorio Brambilla could not qualify on his F1 return; setting the 32nd fastest time. Surer put in a huge lap to haul the Rebaque to 27th, ahead of Fittipaldi, with Sedlak and Horford just scraping through into the race. Rossler, Brambilla, Stuck, Depault, Ongais, Rebaque, Gauthier and Jenkins all fail to qualify, albeit with improved pace from ATS.




Race - 40 Laps (Average Lap time: 2:15.000



A good start from Brancatelli saw him lead away from the line and into the first corner, with Lees making an even better start to end up 5th! Reutemann went around the outside of Brancatelli around La Source, with the extra turbo boost helping him to get ahead before Eau Rouge. A spin from Marc Surer saw him at the back of the grid after a promising qualifying. At the end of the lap, McAllister had jumped Jabouille into 3rd place, and the Ferraris were stuck behind Takagi in 8th. 1 lap later, Geoff Lees and Jabouille went through Eau Rouge/Radillion side by side! Brancatelli's defence of second place looke rather futile and had allowed Reutemann to extend his advantage to 3 seconds, but McAllister barged through down the inside into Les Combes demoting Brancatelli to 3rd. By the end of the lap, McAllister was just 1 second behind Reutemann and Niki Lauda had slipped down to 8th. Reutemann found McAllister right on his gearbox through Pouhon, but before he had a chance to defend his position, the Renault engine let go after just 3 laps, sidelining Reutemann for the 5th time in 6 races. Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Scheckter both found their way past Brancatelli over the course of lap 4, with the Italian finding himself in the clutches of Villeneuve. A move two laps later by Jabouille into the Bus Stop saw him take the lead, with Villeneuve passing Brancatelli on the inside into Rivage. Brancatelli went backwards, with Arnoux and Lees both going through as well. Across the line to start lap 9, the top 5 of Jabouille, Scheckter, McAllister, Villeneuve, Arnoux and Lees were all nose-to-tail into La Source, with Villeneuve diving down th inside of McAllister. The duo were side-by-side on the run down to Eau Rouge, but Villeneuves turbo advantage saw him streak ahead, and Arnoux followed him through. Lees demoted McAllister to 6th into Les Combes, providing more misery for the Spaniard. Scheckter went back past Arnoux into La Source a lap later. John Watson had worked his way up to 11th position, a great showing from the Englishman, with Laffite in 7th behind McAllister.

Arnoux pulled over to the side of track on lap 11, the Ferrari turbo having enough exiting La Source. More misery for Ferrari, when Villeneuve retired with brake failure at Stavelot, luckily Villeneuve managed to bring the car to a stop without crashing into the barriers. Brancatelli spun out from 7th but managed to rejoin in last place behind Emerson Fittipaldi. With both Ferraris and Reutemann out of the way and 13 laps gone, Jabouille lead from Scheckter, McAllister, Laffite, Harvey Jones, and Geoff Lees in 6th. A lap later, and Scheckter had a better run out of Radillion than Jabouille, and used the slipstream to take the lead into Les Combes, with Laffite up to 3rd after finding a way past McAllister on lap 13. John Watson was up to 7th and having a fine race in the Shadow, but his defensive driving didn't hold a resurgent Ed Kevin off for long, with the Irishman taking 7th place. By lap 16, Kevin had caught and passed Lees for 5th. Jabouille's race lasted all of 16 laps, the second Renault throwing in the towel approaching Pouhon, while Renault mechanics were seen literaly jumping up and down and throwing spanners in frustration in the pit lane. Laffite, meanwhile, was uanble to pass Scheckter dispite being faster, but the Frenchman finally found a way through into Les Combes. However, Scheckter didn't give up easily, the two going side by side through the next 2 corners, with Laffite finally getting through into Rivage. On Lap 22 Kevin passed Harvey Jones for 4th, albeit 20 seconds off of Laffite's lead. Laffite was unable to pull away, and 3 laps later, on lap 25, Scheckter got through into Les Combes, with McAlister poised to take the spoils if the two collided. However, Scheckter's lead was short-lived, with Laffite re-taking the lead at the same place a lap later, despite Scheckter's best efforts.

By lap 32, however, Scheckter was in the lead again, with McAllister still 3rd, 3 seconds back, with Kevin 15 seconds back from the lead. John Watson found himself in 7th place after de Cesaris's retirement, holding off Jan Lammers on a storming drive from 22nd on the grid, and Michael Andretti. Two laps later, and Scheckter was just about holding Laffite off for the lead, but down the Kemmel Straight, smoke emerged from under the rear wing, the Williams slowing until coming to a stop between Rivage and turn 11. Heartbreak for Scheckter, who desperatly needed to score to take advantage of both Ferraris retiring. Scheckter kicked the guardrail in frustration. Laffite found himself in the lead, but on lap 35, he was unable to keep McAllister behind into the Fagnes chicane. McAllister now led! The Williams mechanics didn't celebrate too soon however, even with 4 laps left. Laffite proved them back by taking the lead again into Les Combes a lap later, but on lap 37, just 3 laps from home to take his second victory of 1979, fate twisted again: Laffite pulled over, his engine on fire! Heartbreak for the Frenchman, a win snatched away by a twist of fate so close from the end, and a chance to lead the championship vanished too. He was seen with his head in his hands sitting by a tree, contemplating what might have been.

McAllister now found himself in the lead with two laps to go, and despite Ed Kevin going on a charge, nothing could take the win away. Calum McAllister crossed the line to win the Belgian Grand Prix and to take his first win, 11 seconds ahead of Ed Kevin, with Nelson Piquet taking a superb podium for Brabham after Laudas retirement early on. Harvey Jones took 4th place and 5 points, with Jan Lammers taking a great 5th. John Watson pulled off the best drive in years to take 6th in his Shadow, fending off Andretti till the very end. Takagi took the last point in 8th, ahead of Brancatelli, after an amazing comebeack drive to finish 9th, albeit 57 seconds behind the leader. Beppe Gabbiani and Marc Surer notched up a 12th and 13th place respectively, essiential in the extremely close battle being fought out in the bottom 5 of the Constructors championship.



Pictures (Ignore '1990 Belgian GP' at the top left of some of the screens. That is the name of the track.)


The grid


Brancatelli leads into La Source


Surer spins


Into Eau Rouge


Top 3 at the end of lap 1


Looking back to 3rd place


Lees and Jabouille side-by side through Eau Rouge...


...and through Radillion


Lauda in the garage


Jabouille takes the lead


Villeneuve passes Brancatelli


The top 5 at the start of lap 9


Villeneuve passes McAllister...


...and Arnoux follows him through


Arnoux retires with engine failure


Villeenuve retires with brake failure half a lap later


Watson on the defensive from Takagi


Scheckter passes Jabouille for the lead


Kevin passes Lees


Jabouille retires


Laffite dives down the inside...


...and makes it stick


Kevin passes Harvey Jones


Scheckter retires


McAllister goes into the lead, only to be repassed a lap later


Laffite retires


McAllister takes an emotional first victory

Championship Tables

Driver's Championship-After 6 rounds

1: Callum McAllister - 22
2: Ed Kevin - 21
3: Rene Arnoux - 19
4: Jody Scheckter - 18
= Jacques Laffite - 18
6: Gilles Villeneuve - 17
7: Jan Lammers - 15
8: Harvey Jones - 12
9: Nelson Piquet - 11
10: Gianfranco Brancatelli - 9
= Hiroshi Takagi - 9
12: Carlos Reutemann - 8
= Alan Jones - 8
= Mario Andretti - 8
15: James Hunt - 6
= Alain Prost - 6
17: Jean-Pierre Jabouille - 5
18: Andrea de Cesaris - 4
= Geoff Lees - 4
= Guilliame Gauthier - 4
21: Niki Lauda - 3
= John Watson - 3
23: Roberto Horford - 2
24: Kieran Sutherland - 1

Constructor's Championship-After 6 rounds

1: Williams-Ford - 40
2: Ligier-Ford - 39
3: Ferrari - 36
4: Lotus-Ford - 20
5: Ram-Ferrari -19
6: Renault - 13
= Tyrrell-Ford - 13
= McLaren-Ford - 13
= Brabham-Ford - 13
10: Alfa Romeo - 8
11: Wolf-Ford - 6
12: RAM-Ford -5
= Arrows-Ford - 5
14: Shadow-Ford - 3

[Salamander]

Zut alors! Zis is complete bullshite! I can't believe zis!

*Bangs head repeatedly against wall*

I'm not entirely sure what went wrong, I think zat maybe I made a mistake with ze setup? Either way, zis was really embarassing, I hope Monaco goes a lot better. Otherwise, zis is going to be a long year...

[AdrianSutil]

John Watson:
"It's taken several races but we've finally finished in the points. I had a strong afternoon, holding my position throughout and making sure the new turbo kept cool. The retirements ahead of me helped, but you've got to be finishing races before scoring points. And today, we've achieved both."

[pasta_maldonado]

ROTR: Gianfranco Brancatelli Poor pace from pole, slipped down to 7th within 12 laps, then spun off, and had to come back from last. Would have finished 3rd after all of the retirements....

IIDOTR: John Watson A totally unexpected 3 points for Watson in a car that has struggled to find pace.

[shinji]

Quelle domage! That was vraiment disappointing for me, despite a bad qualification I had driven a great race and I thought on the penultimate tour that I could get the victoire. Malheuresement the engine failed, which has happened several times already cette année, and I hope that we will have new, better, French engines next year that won't steal wins from me.

Well, that was rather exciting! I s'pose the stats tell the tale of my race all by themselves - 18th to 2nd, helped by a load of retirements, including Jacques disappointingly - and by the way, we really have to start worrying about the state of our engines - but with a whole bunch of overtakes thrown in for good measure. I'm delighted with how the car drove, the only worry is why it was so poor on Saturday. Anyway, that was easily one of the most enjoyable races I've driven in my life, and I find myself right in the thick of the driver's championship, which I certainly didn't expect from my first season. This whole F1 thing's some craic altogether, isn't it?

[WaffleCat]

Well,got some points in the bag,happy bout that,not happy on how we failed to bathplugging qualify with Gauthier.Working 13/2(13 hours a day for 2 days) to try and solve what the bathplug happened.It's either Gauthier slept the length of the Kemmel Straight,something snapped either in the car or in Gauthier,or we just simply put too much fuel.

[Phoenix]

Winning a race on my debut season is excellent. Winning it at Belgium, at a circuit with the history of Spa-Francorchamps, is just unbelievable. I'm beyond myself with happiness, even more so now that I'm actually leading the World Championship. Yes!

I was in with a chance of winning this race until the engine failed. The DFV is usually a very reliable unit so I was very unlucky. I needed those points now that both Ferraris failed to finish but I'm still in the Championship hunt. Williams would now have a clear advantage on the Constructors Championship as well, but Callum's win means we're leading even with my retirement.

Our car is now perhaps a bit behind Ferrari and even Ligier, so we need to work hard to ensure we keep up and have a chance at both Championships. I'm very happy about Callum, shame Jody retired. We're going to try some more lightweight parts made with carbon fibre for the next GP to save some weight and make the chassis stiffer, that should give us a bit of an advantage.

[AndreaModa]

Dead happy with 4th place, though I can't help feel that with better pace, the Lotus could have easily been on the podium. Still it's more good points for both me and the team, and we'll keep pushing to try and make the podium as soon as we can.

Bloody track is too long, I ended up getting lost down a side road at one point, so it's no bloody I wonder I didn't qualify. Top result for Beppe though, bloody brilliant that. I'm hoping one day we might even make the top 10 if enough of those fragile heaps of scrap at the front pack up. Also, as a reward for his hard work for the team, we're going to give Beppe a well-earnt rest for the upcoming British race and let Keegan have a chance behind the wheel to see how the lad goes. Penthouse like to see their boy in the car if you know what I mean.

[DemocalypseNow]

Ey...what'a you clows doing? I finish Top 12, best result for team, an'a you demote me? You give me car that can almost never finish...and then do this...if it happens again, I quit, ok? No more Parmalat money for you, I take elsewhere and let your team die!

[Aerospeed]

How do we retire both cars? We had the pace to win today, now we have to play catch-up.

[Salamander]

How do we retire both cars? We had the pace to win today, now we have to play catch-up.

Welcome to my world.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Ey...what'a you clows doing? I finish Top 12, best result for team, an'a you demote me? You give me car that can almost never finish...and then do this...if it happens again, I quit, ok? No more Parmalat money for you, I take elsewhere and let your team die!

What Mr Jenkins forgot to mention that Beppe will get a free weekend stay at the Penthouse as he won't be racing at Silverstone

[RonDenisDeletraz]

4th is good, congratulations Harvey.

[DemocalypseNow]

[Warning: Post is unrelated]

Man, I just noticed I'm in like four peoples sigs now. Go me

[AndreaModa]

Ey...what'a you clows doing? I finish Top 12, best result for team, an'a you demote me? You give me car that can almost never finish...and then do this...if it happens again, I quit, ok? No more Parmalat money for you, I take elsewhere and let your team die!

What Mr Jenkins forgot to mention that Beppe will get a free weekend stay at the Penthouse as he won't be racing at Silverstone

Hahaha yes, exactly!

[Phoenix]

[Warning: Post is unrelated]

Man, I just noticed I'm in like four peoples sigs now. Go me

Please... If you guys are going to go off-topic, at least make sure it's funny

[pasta_maldonado]

IRISH GRAND PRIX TO REPLACE USGP WEST
The US West Grand Prix is to be replaced by a new Irish Grand Prix, FIA president Jean-Luc Knighte has announced. The United States GP west, won by Rene Arnoux this year, has been deemed to be unfair on other countries bidding for a grand prix. The event is to replaced by an Irish Grand Prix to be held at the Mondello Park Circuit in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. Jean-Luc Knighte said "The choice to hold an Irish Grand Prix at Mondello Park, I feel will benefit the sport greatly. Formula One has experienced a huge increase in the Irish fanbase after Ed Kevin's triumphant victory, and an Irish Grand Prix will allow these fans to see their heroes". Ed Kevin, or anyone else for that matter, were unable to comment.

[Phoenix]

An Irish GP is a very exciting prospect. I've never driven at Mondello Park before, so this will come as a new challenge. Well, for that matter, I've never been in Ireland before, but they say it's well worth a visit!