F1RWRS -- 2014 Season

[Aerond]

Yeah! My frantic week is over!! -- I went from Madrid to Benicassim on Tuesday (450 kms), played that evening at the Festival, then played again next day, then DJed on Thursday at the hotel´s swimming pool, then drove on Friday back to Madrid, then drove to Santiago de Compostela (620 kms) on Saturday, to play in the evening, then slept at La Coruña, then back to Madrid today (600 kms)

[TomWazzleshaw]

Yes, that is a Doonkervoort - I was just too lazy to design a special livery for them which is why they had a single color livery which with the lightning of that shot looks like it has a white stripe.

Next time, at least paint them something suitably rejectful like dayglo orange or something like that

no, i actually asked that if nobody had the time to design a livery, to just let it be entirely red. After all, that's the colour of their logo.
We're not entering full-time after all, and concentrating on other championships. At least the team did reasonably in the race.

Boo. Red's boring. Hot Pink with Purple Polka Dots is where it's at

[TomWazzleshaw]

Yeah! My frantic week is over!! -- I went from Madrid to Benicassim on Tuesday (450 kms), played that evening at the Festival, then played again next day, then DJed on Thursday at the hotel´s swimming pool, then drove on Friday back to Madrid, then drove to Santiago de Compostela (620 kms) on Saturday, to play in the evening, then slept at La Coruña, then back to Madrid today (600 kms)

Man, that's one hectic schedule. But I guess that's what you have to expect on the road to superstardom

[Aerond]

Yeah! My frantic week is over!! -- I went from Madrid to Benicassim on Tuesday (450 kms), played that evening at the Festival, then played again next day, then DJed on Thursday at the hotel´s swimming pool, then drove on Friday back to Madrid, then drove to Santiago de Compostela (620 kms) on Saturday, to play in the evening, then slept at La Coruña, then back to Madrid today (600 kms)

Man, that's one hectic schedule. But I guess that's what you have to expect on the road to superstardom

Of course, I guess it´s going to take looooooooooooooooooooong to ride a plane (not to talk about private jets)

[TomWazzleshaw]

Yeah! My frantic week is over!! -- I went from Madrid to Benicassim on Tuesday (450 kms), played that evening at the Festival, then played again next day, then DJed on Thursday at the hotel´s swimming pool, then drove on Friday back to Madrid, then drove to Santiago de Compostela (620 kms) on Saturday, to play in the evening, then slept at La Coruña, then back to Madrid today (600 kms)

Man, that's one hectic schedule. But I guess that's what you have to expect on the road to superstardom

Of course, I guess it´s going to take looooooooooooooooooooong to ride a plane (not to talk about private jets)

When you do get that private jet, I volunteer to be the captain

[pasta_maldonado]

Man, that's one hectic schedule. But I guess that's what you have to expect on the road to superstardom

Of course, I guess it´s going to take looooooooooooooooooooong to ride a plane (not to talk about private jets)

When you do get that private jet, I volunteer to be the captain

Can you fly a plane?

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Of course, I guess it´s going to take looooooooooooooooooooong to ride a plane (not to talk about private jets)

When you do get that private jet, I volunteer to be the captain

Can you fly a plane?

I am relatively sure Wizzie is a student pilot.

[MinardiFan95]

Here's the livery for the Simpson Motorsports car:

[TomWazzleshaw]

I think the Gulf Logos are slightly too big for the sidepod but other than that, looks good to me.

And yes, I am indeed a student pilot as Eurobrun said.

[dr-baker]

Here's the livery for the Simpson Motorsports car:

Yay! Epic! Another retro livery for the 2015 season!

[tommykl]

Here is the Gillet, complete with adjustment due to the collapse of Dexia (we'll just say that this happened at the end of 2014, mkay?).

[AndreaModa]

Right, seeing as everyone else is starting to publish their liveries, I might as well get mine out of the way now too!

Jones launches CJR-104, and attacks rivals

Sammy Jones personally unveiled the brand new Castrol Jones Racing car for the 2015 F1RWRS this evening, at a packed press conference at the team's Banbury factory. Named the CJR-104, the car is essentially an evolution of the previous CJR-103 model, which proved to be one of the most competitive non-turbo cars on the grid last year. Commenting on the new car, Jones appeared confident in its potential,

"It looks fantastic, doesn't it? I've absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is the most anticipated car to come out of our factory for a good few seasons now, possibly since the inaugural RTJ-100. The chassis itself is largely similar to the CJR-103, we've carried over the best parts and updated areas where we think we can extract more performance. In particular we've looked at the front wing, as well as our suspension set up and geometry. I think if we're able to utilise the car's strengths then we can reap the rewards of what is a fundamentally good chassis. In terms of the engine, we're delighted to reveal the details of our partnership with Ford, which will see Castrol Jones Racing lead the American manufacturer's charge in the F1RWRS. These last two seasons have been very rewarding for us, and whilst we've been unable to match the turbo cars, we've bided our time, and spent a significant proportion of our development in helping Ford create what will be their marquee engine, the Zetec XR8 series, beginning this year with the 'A' model."

As well as outlining his new challenger, Jones also threw down the gauntlet to his rivals, challenging them to match CJR's intent,

"To be honest, we're the only team really showing any sort of intent going in to 2015. Maybe Alitalia will try something special, it's hard to say, but certainly DGN, MRT and Sunshine are going to struggle with new suppliers at first, and I fully expect the challenge to come from Gillet and Kamaha perhaps too. No-one is really being adventurous and rolling the dice. Here we are announcing a major partnership with Ford, and all Gillet can do is rehash their last few pre-season press releases by changing the date on them. Their car has barely changed, and neither has their engine. I honestly can't see any of the existing non-turbo teams really mounting a challenge, because they're all just being far too conservative. Hence why I think Castrol Jones Racing will be right at the forefront of the F1RWRS, now that the playing field has been levelled. It's a fantastic opportunity to get one up on our rivals and we're not going to miss it."

Sponsorship changes to Jones' new car are fairly minimal. Castrol remains as title sponsor, with the team reverting to the 'classic' logo of previous years as part of a new marketing campaign by the company. This has also been mirrored in Jones' other cars for 2015. Loctite, Beta and British Bakels remain on board, whilst 3M switch their backing from Jones' RoLFS team to his F1RWRS outfit for the upcoming year. Calgon make their appearance on the car after a tie-up was announced mid-way through 2014, whilst the Ford branding is hard to miss, summing up the level of involvement between the two firms.

And for the game itself, here's the template!

[Aerospeed]

That livery is amazing. Wish I was that good at making liveries...

[SuperAguri]

Never fear Prince Falik has students at the University of Nigeria (Brixton branch) working on the 2015 livery as we speak.

[TomWazzleshaw]

The Reject License list has been updated. With the inclusion of Damon Cannon and Laurent Seron, the driver pool has been increased to 91.

And with Dave Anderson looking well on his way to sweeping the F1 Rejects IndyCar title, he looks to be eligible for one in 2016 (Gotta keep with continuity somehow as the IndyCar season is technically set in 2015)

[dr-baker]

I hope I don't get confused between these two liveries in the race report photos next year! But it is not unprecedented in real-life F1 for teams to sport similar liveries...

[Aerond]

I´m still hoping someone steps up to write a team-by-team season review

[Aerospeed]

I´m still hoping someone steps up to write a team-by-team season review

Do you mind if it's poorly written?

Also, is Foxdale renaming themselves to West Cliff Foxdale? That's a better name in my opinion.

As well, I've made a page in the F1Alternate wiki that has all the drivers eligible for a reject licence. You can edit that as you wish and put a link on it. I think it's better than having to sift through the endless pages of this thread.

[AndreaModa]

I´m still hoping someone steps up to write a team-by-team season review

Oh sorry I'd forgotten you wanted someone to do that! I don't mind obliging if no-one else fancies it, though it'll have to be in sections because I don't think I'll have time to write it all in one go!

[Aerond]

I´m still hoping someone steps up to write a team-by-team season review

Do you mind if it's poorly written?

Also, is Foxdale renaming themselves to West Cliff Foxdale? That's a better name in my opinion.

As well, I've made a page in the F1Alternate wiki that has all the drivers eligible for a reject licence. You can edit that as you wish and put a link on it. I think it's better than having to sift through the endless pages of this thread.

As long as it doesn´t take three months I guess is fine.

[AndreaModa]

Three months? How about three hours? Here we go! It's not that detailed, but it's a team-by-team review nonetheless!

DGNgineering - 1st overall, 88 points.
Chris Dagnall's team continued their fine form from 2013, and for the second consecutive year clinched both drivers' and constructors' championships, thus becoming the most successful team in F1RWRS history, beating the previous record of 3 titles, held by Prospec. It's a mighty achievement for the team which has only existed for two seasons. It must be said however, that their 2014 success was as much down to others failures as it was the team's own ability. Replacing the inexperienced Nathan Scott after just 4 races seemed at first to be harsh, but replacing him with Ben Fleet proved to be one of the best tactical decisions made by any team all year. The money brought in by Fleet allowed Dagnall and his team to target the unreliability of the car, and once that was solved, with Mark Dagnall in fine form, the team were able to comfortably outperform MRT in the second half of the year. Four wins, and a total of seven podiums in the last eight races was more than enough for both Mark and the team as a whole to comfortably seal both titles. Overall a very successful year for the team, but without the aid of the turbocharged Zakspeed engine for 2015, one wonders just what exactly Mark Dagnall will be able to achieve.

MRT - 2nd overall, 66 points.
To say that MRT had the best car in the field would be an understatement. This was MRT's season to loose, and loose it they did. Comfortably ahead of everyone, including the DGNgineering cars, on pace alone, this season should have been Melrose's for the taking. Instead, his team demonstrated unprecedented levels of ineptitude that have rarely, if ever, been seen in the F1RWRS. Starting out with Spencer as clear number 1 having been the 2011 champion, his inconsistent form and crisis of confidence led to his dismissal from the team. Switching their focus to Nicolas initially appeared to be a good move. The young Frenchman has a lot of pace, and is no doubt a star for the future, but he was consistently let down by the mechanical flaws in the MRT car. Seven straight pole positions could only be converted into three race finishes, all of them race wins, so it's obvious that had MRT chosen to focus on the reliability of their car, they could have walked away from the 2014 season very happy indeed. Instead, they handed both titles to DGN on a plate, and have now blown their best ever chance at winning the championship with such a dominant car. With the turbo gone, the question now being asked is, will MRT ever be in such a promising position again?

Sunshine - 3rd overall, 54 points.
The third, and final turbo-powered team in the 2014 season, Sunshine was never in contention for either championship. This was a sad reality, especially when the team's results over the year are examined. Their reliability was far better than MRT or even DGNgineering, yet the car lacked the ultimate pace to challenge. Having said that, the team still had numerous bright moments, Katayama taking pole, fastest lap and race win in Macau that symbolised a much stronger latter half of the year overall. Kay Lon suffered a horrendous first half of the season, and his future was in doubt at the team until he was able to turn it around with a string of podiums, helping Sunshine to third overall. Had their year been more consistent, there's no doubt they could have been closer to MRT. The future of the team now lies in the hands of DPT Asset Management, and whether or not the team can maintain their good form under the new owners remains to be seen. Three changes of ownership in four years (from Australian Minardi to Nissan, and now DPT) cannot be good for the stability of the team though.

Gillet - 4th overall, 51 points.
Pipped to third place by Sunshine at the death, Gillet have comfortably been the most successful non-turbo team over the past two seasons of the F1RWRS. The Belgian squad has stuck to a strategy which has seen them extract the most out of their car, despite it being a little unreliable at times. The result has been multiple race wins and podiums, and this trend continued in 2014. Unable to stick with the turbos this year though, Gillet were consigned to scraping around as best of the rest, picking up results where they could. Two wins for De Bock were well deserved, and Moll's string of podiums were impressive, and the team go into 2015 as the clear favourites with such a well developed package. With Moll and De Bock staying on again once more, Gillet have two superbly experienced, yet still young drivers, both of whom will be looking to try and take their first title in 2015.

Jones - 5th overall, 47 points.
Continuing in very much the same vein as 2013, the Jones Racing team concentrated on improving their reliability for 2014, which they did, but they didn't account for the improvement in performance of the teams around them. By mid-season they were sitting pretty at the top of the constructors' championship, but as the field settled down, their true form became apparent, and minor points finishes were all they could manage by the end of the year. Jones' win in Monaco was special, and Melrose's 4 third places certainly helped their points total, but those were the highlights in an otherwise average year. Loosing Melrose for 2015 may prove to be a setback for Jones, but his replacement Vantini is eager to demonstrate his abilities in an F1RWRS car. The team's partnership with Ford brings the total number of factory teams in the series to 5, and this new lease of life could be just what the team needs to take the fight to Gillet in 2015, and give Jones perhaps his best shot at a title as he enters the twilight of his career.

Kamaha - 6th overall, 39 points.
The Kamaha team were somewhat of an enigma in 2014. Nicolas Steele had a superb year overall, with all of his points coming from podium finishes, he was even looking like an outside title contender at one point, before a late season slump that saw no points in the final 5 races. Mori had a lacklustre season it must be said, Two second places were the highlight, but a further 6th place completed his only points finishes all year, and the team suffered greatly with unreliability. As a whole, the team lacked the edge to match Gillet and Jones, the two non-turbo teams above them, but were still able to distinguish themselves from the rest of the chasing pack. Sixth overall at the end is probably less than they were expecting, and a better performance will be required for 2015.

Foxdale - 7th overall, 27 points.
Recovering from their abysmal 2013 season, Foxdale could only do better in 2014. This they did, although there were still problems, and headlines made for the wrong reasons. Christopherson had a shocking half-year with the team before being fired, and in his stead, Pippa Mann was able to score consistent points to help cement the team's 7th place in the standings, whilst her brother's brilliant win in France was a great boost for all involved. McFry's superb debut in the final race of the year left Foxdale in a bit of a conundrum with their driver line-up for 2015. Ultimately Douglas has been retained, with McFry promoted to a full-time drive, and it seems increasingly likely that Pippa will take a seat at the newly formed Aeroracing team. Next season Foxdale need to continue their upward trend and focus on maximising the potential of their Renault engine.

ArrowTech - 8th overall, 13 points.
Not a single podium for the Canadian ArrowTech team in 2014, Bosevic and Martins were reduced to scoring the odd few points here and there, though Mirko showed some good promise with four straight points finishes mid-way through the year, including that fantastic pole position in Monaco. Too often though the drivers found themselves towards the tail end of the field, and their poor pace cost them any chance at better results. Merging with the promising Acuri outfit for 2015 gives the team hope for the future, and a chance to re-establish themselves as an upper midfield team capable of challenging for wins on their day. The turbo ban will no doubt aid them and bring them back closer to the front.

Acuri - 9th overall, 11 points.
Easily the revalation of the year, Andrea Acuri and his little team masterminded a superb season, that saw them beat all of the other new teams confortably, and put many established teams like HRT, Prospec and Phoenix to shame. Spearheading this performance was Belgian Ron Mignolet, who scored all of the team's points, including that fantastic third place in Britain that could have been so much more. His results have landed him the second seat at DGNgineering next year, a reward that is fully deserved. In contrast, Andrea himself had a poor year, with only two finishes over the course of the season. The robberies towards the end of the year marred what should have been a happy year, and the consequences have seen the team merge with ArrowTech, which will hopefully see the two teams bring the best of each other together.

GRM - 10th overall, 8 points.
The HRT B-team beat the main team, but not by much. Three points finishes all year were all that GRM could manage, and all three came from Frank Zimmer. Poppy Whitechapel had a season of anonymity, though she did come close to the points on a couple of occasions. All together though, it's unsurprising that GRM's F1RWRS team will cease to exist in 2015. The team's driver merry-go-round was in full swing again, with Ben Fleet and newcomer Tommy Nash also driving for the team at various points in the year. The team were able to avoid getting stuck in pre-qualifying though, and so demonstrated that the GRM cars, whilst slow over race distance, weren't too bad over a single lap. HRT will look to try and inherit some of that as the two teams come together for 2015.

HRT - 11th overall, 6 points.
What a fall from grace the Holden factory team suffered in 2014. Pipping Jones Racing to third in the constructors championship in 2013, they simply dropped the ball coming into the following season, with an uncompetitive car hampering the drivers' efforts. Someone had to be a scapegoat though, and out went Watkinson in the middle of the year, to be replaced by the arguably even worse Dean O'Lauchlan. Still, his money will have given Holden a boost for 2015, and they have take a hard look at themselves and decide where the re-building process should begin. Prior to 2014 HRT were an established midfield runner at the very least, and were well-respected in the paddock. After this season, that reputation lies in tatters, to the extent that their not even being touted as a serious threat next year. The road back to success may well be long and arduous for Holden.

Phoenix - 12th overall, 3 points.
Only one more point than 2013, but the Phoenix team showed far more promise this season, and managed to start almost every race they entered. The Stig's 4th place in Britain was the team's only points finish of the year, but the foundations are there for better things to follow. Having retired at the end of the season, Phoenix McAllister is slowly building up an organisation around him, and the re-branding to Aeroracing Engineering, and move to Coventry for 2015 will only benefit the team, which will retain their factory Audi support. They need to learn to utilise this asset far more though, because further seasons at the wrong end of the grid will only damage their relationship with the German manufacturer.

Prospec - 13th overall, 1 point.
It's fair to say that the Prospec team hit rock bottom in 2014. Their gradual slide down the order having dominated the series upon it's creation has been a saddening sight to paddock members and fans alike. The retirement of Gary Cameron, and the team employing two pay drivers summed up the season. It was one of damage limitation, and of preparation for the future under Cameron and the Pemberton Group. In fairness, Prospec were lucky to even score the one point at all. Schiller's performances were average, but on occasion delivered promise, and as such it seems for the immediate future he will remain in the F1RWRS. For Prospec though, signing Kay Lon for 2015 is an impressive coup, and it will hopefully prove to be the catalyst that sees this once great team rise back up the order once again.

ARC - 14th overall, 1 point.
An unreliability record worse than MRT in 2014 was a hard thing to achieve, yet ARC managed it. The car had the pace, it shared the same engine as the ones in the back of the Jones cars further up the grid, but the package as a whole suffered from a plethora of different problems. After Pratchett complained mid-season, he was fired, and replaced by Trueba refugee Fredo Mestolio, but he could do little better. Plaza's single point at Mt Panorama was the only high point of the year, and the Mexican deserves an award for perservering for a whole season with the ARC's awful car. It was no surprise that on their shoestring budget, the team were bought out by Boxtel and will race under the Dutch flag for 2015.

Trueba/Trueba Alitalia - 15th overall, 0 points.
The perennial triers from Trueba, led by Giovanni Roda, finally ran out of steam after 6 races into 2014. It was already looking like it would be a bleak year spent mostly in pre-qualifying for the Italian team, but the emergence of Il Barone Rampante on the scene saved the team from oblivion. The partial name change to Trueba Alitalia was to satisfy the Commission, for 2015 the Trueba name will be no more, and even Alitalia's millions couldn't turn around the flailing team, with only a single further race finish for the remainder of the year. Driver changes, tantrums and official warnings were just some of the many incidents and controversies surrounding the team once Alitalia had taken Trueba over - they've gone from being one of the quietest, politest teams on the grid to one of the noisiest! Big things are expected for 2015 though, with Hungarian veteran Koczo leading the team back into the big time.

Dofasco - 16th overall, 0 points.
The first Polish team in the F1RWRS, Dofasco were one of the more successful new teams to enter in 2014. Race starts were always going to be tricky, but the team managed two, and got a car to the finish in both, an admirable acheivement. Hiang-Hao was dispatched with very quickly after failing to impress, but Groves who was drafted in to replace him did well, and alongside Tajner, the two did a solid job in pre-qualifying. Tajner remains for 2015, unsurprising considering his nationality, and now the team's focus must be on regular visits to the main grid, and if they're lucky, points to help cement themselves within the F1RWRS field.

Mitie - 17th overall, 0 points.
Mitie Aviation Racing made a concerted effort to be one of the most professional and organised outfits in the paddock, and if that alone had got them out of pre-qualifying, we would have seen them on the grid regularly. Instead however, with a fairly conservative car in the fiercely competitive pre-qualifying sessions, their appearances in the races were limited to a couple of outings, with a race finish finally coming in Macau. Neuberg looks like an excellent find for the young team, and the signing of Ashley Watkinson was a shrewd move by Mr Alexander the team principal after the Briton had been dumped by HRT. Nevertheless, the team had a total of 5 drivers over the course of the season, and this no doubt affected the team's ability to deliver good performances, as the continuity and consistency just wasn't there. A re-branding to Kingfisher Racing for 2015, and an impressive set of plans look likely to propel the team to better things in the future though.

Mecha - 18th overall, 0 points.
Taking over the former Flying Fish entry, Mecha were always slightly behind their rivals at Mitie and Dofasco, yet were still able to make the start of the race in Belgium. Overall though it was a tough year for the team, which ended bitterly after Saeed Al Faisal was sacked after 8 races, and replaced by former Mitie driver Steven Mackintosh. This only served to set off further problems within the team, as experienced hand James Davies became more and more frustrated with the team's lack of performance. This came to a head at the end of the year with a very public spat that has left a sour taste in the mouth of many, and put Mecha in a very poor light, and under fire from other team bosses in the paddock. They need to rebuild around Mackintosh for 2015, and hope for better things.

Tropico - 19th overall, 0 points.
The CR Motorsport team were one of the original founding teams in the F1RWRS, and after their shocking 2013 season, many were hoping for better fortunes as the team were taken over and renamed Tropico for 2014. Miracles weren't going to happen overnight however, and the team faced a season-long battle with Shonan to not be the slowest team on the grid, a battle they more often than not lost. Ensuring the team are on a better footing for 2015 was the objective for the season, and now that period of consolidation is over, the prospect of actually qualifying for a race is the aim for the team now. After 8 races, Darren Older Jr finally left the team with which he entered the F1RWRS way back in 2010, ending a period of loyalty that had lasted 4 and a half seasons, to move to Alitalia. He will however return to 'his' team once more for 2015.

Shonan - 20th overall, 0 points.
When his plans to take over the FAT Turbo team fell through, Hagane Shizuka was forced to start from scratch, building up a team at the last minute for him to compete in. It was therefore always going to be a struggle to be competitive, but even he didn't expect his team to be as slow as they were. Aware of the task ahead, Shizuka quickly made way for a second paying driver to be recruited to the team, as the prospect of actually qualifying for a race was out of the question. Van Dycke and Albertini drove the cars each Friday morning with absolutely no hope of getting through, but Shizuka was magnanimous in defeat, and a regrouping for 2015 should see the team improve somewhat.

[Aerond]

Excellent season review!!

Just note that Shonan finished ahead of Tropico due to their best PreQ result.

[Klon]

Hey, aerond, just a quick confirmation, please: Nathan Scott can drive for Tropico now?

[Aerond]

Hey, aerond, just a quick confirmation, please: Nathan Scott can drive for Tropico now?

Yes, Nathan will be a Tropico driver in 2015

[Aerospeed]

Jeez, I could have posted this earlier but the server is a crock of shite

Not as detailed as AndreaModa, but still!

DGNGINEERING
Drivers: Mark Dagnall, Nathan Scott, Ben Fleet, Hansuka Shioya
Positives: Dagnall was exceptionally brilliant, winning five times and the drivers' championships of course. The car was probably the best in the paddock as well, which certainly helped Dagnall's championship chances.
Negatives: Their second driver. Hiring Scott wasn't a bright idea, and although Fleet was good, he isn't exactly up to par with the rest of the field. Shioya was brilliant in his one race, and even with that in mind, he still got replaced by Ron Mignolet. Mignolet should do fine, but Shioya's talents should be considered for another team.
Overall impression: Their start of the season made it look like they ran 1 1/2 cars, but Fleet and Shioya fixed that. Overall, quite deserving of their Constructors' Title.
Grade: A-

SUNSHINE
Drivers: Shinobu Katayama, Kay Lon
Positives: The car was better than last years', bringing them to third in the constructors'. Katayama certainly showed her talent by impressing the paddock and looks to become one of the superstars of the F1RWRS.
Negatives: Kay Lon's arrogant attitude didn't really help. Also, their start of the season wasn't fantastic, even with two second places.
Overall impression: Sunshine really turned things around in the second half of the season, but if they are to contend for the Constructors', they need to remain consistent. Hopefully Lon's replacement will do this.
Grade: B

MRT
Drivers: Nathanael Spencer, Dave Simpson, Rhys Davies, Phillippe Nicolas
Positives: The team was able to turn their DNQ woes and place 2nd in the Constructors'. Winning six times (more than anyone else!) also helps.
Negatives: The car was notorious for being unreliable, as people always kept wondering when would Nicolas' engine blow up. Spencer was ungodly slow, especially in the rain, which started a driver carosel that dragged Rhys Davies and Dave Simpson around to no avail. Davies' DNQ also didn't help either.
Overall impression: Had the pace to win but didn't have the distance to last a race. Wasted potential from the MRT this season.
Grade: B

KAMAHA
Drivers: Barii Mori, Nicolas Steele
Positives: Another team which resurrected themselves from last season, Kamaha put up some great performances this season. We also got to see brilliant drives from Nicolas Steele, who has unleashed his potential and showed just how fast he might become.
Negatives: Like MRT, their team was notorious for retiring from races constantly. They too could have competed for the championship had they had the distance to last.
Overall impression: Certainly had good pace, but will need to hammer down the consistency.
Grade: B

GILLET ENB
Drivers: Aurelien Moll, Thomas de Bock
Positives: Was always consistent when their car didn't fail, and the two drivers didn't do much to muck up races.
Negatives: Managed to become the most successful team this year to become completely anonymous. Moll and de Bock are not usually talked about as one of the better drivers in the paddock.
Overall impression: The words "shut up and drive" screams from this team, but to get superstar status the Belgian teams needs more attention. They can do that by winning more.
Grade: B-

JONES
Drivers: Sammy Jones, Daniel Melrose
Positives: The car was consistent and quick, and put up some good performances.
Negatives: The teams' handling of Melrose-Gate II and generally, Melrose's constant bridge-burning in general. Whatever happened to staying at one team to find good improvements?
Overall impression: Found attention unlike Gillet, but for all the wrong reasons. Still very quick.
Grade: B-

FOXDALE
Drivers: Douglas Mann, Jack Christopherson, Pippa Mann, Martin McFry
Positives: Whoever hired Martin McFry should be given a medal. Picked a diamond from the rough, that's for sure! The Manns sometimes put up good performances.
Negatives: Again reliability strikes again, and whoever hired Jack Christopherson should be ashamed of themselves.
Overall impression: Still unreliable, but saw improvements from last season, even if their pace was slower.
Grade: C+

ACURI
Drivers: Andrea Acuri, Ron Mignolet
Positives: Ron Mignolet. Easily the driver of the year (besides Dagnall), he brought the car places where it shouldn't. The car was very impressive as well.
Negatives: Everything else. Acuri mismanaged the team so badly he kept leaving money near the window... literally... which meant that anybody could grab it and run off. Even with success, Acuri doesn't know the difference between a pound and a yen. Also, Acuri himself can't drive to save his life.
Overall impression: Two-sided team here. Either brilliant or disgraceful. But easily the best new team in 2014.
Grade: C+

ARROWTECH
Drivers: Daniel Martins, Mirko Bosevic
Positives: Bosevic was generally impressive, scoring a surprise pole position and consistenly scoring points.
Negatives: Martins was generally slow, but sometimes put up great performances. In other words, very erratic. And to finally make things worse, Martins, already having been replaced, places 6th in Japan. But it was too little, too late for him. As for the car, it was a complete dog.
Overall impression: Most disappointing team of 2014. Deserves a podium ROTY spot.
Grade: C-

GRM
Drivers: Frank Zimmer, Ben Fleet, Tommy Nash, Poppy Whitechapel
Positives: Beat HRT.
Negatives: Is slow. Zimsanity, although made the team popular, didn't improve their chances of scoring points. A far cry from their glory days of 2013.
Overall impression: ZIMSANITY...
Grade: C-

HRT
Drivers: Rhys Davies, Jason Hamilton, Ashley Watkinson, Dean O'Lauchlan
Positives: Their drivers. All of them were impressive and did what they could.
Negatives: The car. Made not one but two drivers leave the team, and all due to how slow they were.
Overall impression: They did worse than their junior team. Can't say more than that.
Grade: C-

PHOENIX
Drivers: Phoenix McAllister, The Stig
Overall impression: The team had flashes of brilliance, but were otherwise terrible. Even made McAllister quit racing, which is especially dreadful.
Grade: D+

PROSPEC
Drivers: Dave Simpson, Jean-Luc Schiller, Gary Cameron, Du Lei
Overall impression: Quickly became a pay-driver haven. Made one driver retire and another quit. They somehow managed to get Kay Lon, however.
Grade: D+ (Would be D- had they not signed Lon)

DOFASCO
Drivers: Tomislaw Tajner, Yu Hiang-Hao, Sebastian Groves
Overall impression: Very slow, but sometimes showed good pace.
Grade: D

MITIE
Drivers: Matthias Valsattis, Ashley Watkinson, Alexey Pchelintsev, Steven Mackintosh, David Neuberg
Overall impression: Their driver carosel did nothing to help solve their problems. In short, the car was slow.
Grade: D

ARC
Drivers: Collin Pratchett, Fredo Mestolio, Jesus Plaza
Overall impression: An organizational mess, to say the least. Fired their #1 driver for no reason, and became another pay-driver haven.
Grade: D-

TRUEBA ALITALIA
Drivers: Giovanni Roda, David Koczo, Fredo Mestolio, Dave Simpson, Darren Older Jr
Overall impression: Also another organizational mess. Their drunk owner lived up to expectations and did nothing to help fix the team.
Grade: D-

SHONAN/REVOLUTION
Drivers: Hagane Shizuka, Gio van Dycke, Francois Albertini
Overall impression: Managed to sod the reputation of two drivers. At least they knew they were bad. Did nothing to solve the situation.
Grade: F

MECHA
Drivers: Saeed Al Faisal, Steven Mackintosh, James Davies
Overall impression: Not a good sign when two drivers quit in fustration. Oddly enough, both of them were linked to ArrowTech... hmm...
Grade: F

TROPICO
Drivers: Darren Older Jr, Leonhard von Gottorp, Markus van de Schoot, Miko Fakkinen
Overall impression: Managed to become the slowest team in the paddock by having the egos the size of Jupiter whilst the team suffered constantly with DNPQs. Ruined the reputations of anyone associated with them.
Grade: F

[AndreaModa]

shite, sorry Jeremy! Yours is a nice review though, and you put grades in which is something I forgot!

Excellent season review!!

Just note that Shonan finished ahead of Tropico due to their best PreQ result.

Ah right that's cool, I was just going off the results table on the wiki.

[Aerospeed]

shite, sorry Jeremy! Yours is a nice review though, and you put grades in which is something I forgot!

It's ok, yours was very detailed too.

[the Masked Lapwing]

HRT
Drivers: Rhys Davies, Jason Hamilton, Ashley Watkinson, Dean O'Lauchlan
Positives: Their drivers. All of them were impressive and did what they could.
Negatives: The car. Made not one but two drivers leave the team, and all due to how slow they were.
Overall impression: They did worse than their junior team. Can't say more than that.
Grade: C-

I wouldn't say Watkinson left the team because they were slow. He left because I needed a scapegoat and sacked him
And GRM aren't the junior team. Otherwise Zimmer would have raced for HRT.


And I put Tropico ahead of Shonan in the constructors' because of precedent - it was how Horizon, SOTL and VIC were sorted last season, by car numbers.

[Shizuka]

Excellent season review!!

Just note that Shonan finished ahead of Tropico due to their best PreQ result.

bathplug, I wanted to be dead last

[TomWazzleshaw]

Excellent season review!!

Just note that Shonan finished ahead of Tropico due to their best PreQ result.

bathplug, I wanted to be dead last

Sad thing is you'll be slightly better off if you were dead last

[Shizuka]

Yeah, so it's good that I picked three chassis, but no engine out of the unused ones for 2015. Hopefully they will stay available. If all else fails, at least my team can be THE Life of F1WRS.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Yeah, so it's good that I picked three chassis, but no engine out of the unused ones for 2015. Hopefully they will stay available. If all else fails, at least my team can be THE Life of F1WRS.

Your engine wasn't THAT bad in 2014. It was just saddled up with quite possibly the worst chassis known to man

But I guess you're a smart enough man to have already realised that.

[Shizuka]

Yeah, the engine is fine, but the chassis was... well, down to bad luck and bad management. I still don't hope for any good in 2015, realistically the target is to prequalify ONCE. Nothing else.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Melrose signs deal with Simpson

Earlier today, Daniel Melrose finally signed a one year contract with Simpson Motorsport for the 2015 F1RWRS season. The Australian had been in negotiations with the team, run by friend Dave Simpson, for the past several months before the two finally came to the table and made the deal. The signing came amongst rumours that Simpson might run a naturally aspirated version of the BMW P89 that MRT ran in 2014.

"To be perfectly honest, Sunshine was always my first preference but the new owners never got back to me on any possible offers for this year. Last week, Dave got on the phone to me and before too long, we had the contract drafted up and ready to go. Dave's run race-winning teams before and he's a fantastic racer plus, being the more technically minded of us, he knows how to get more out of his machinery. Because of that, I owe him for my 2009 title because he made that car as perfect as it could be."

When asked about the BMW rumours, Melrose was very quick to deny them "With the growth of our F3RWRS program to 5 teams, our return to the ROLFS and the technical partnership with Autodynamics, we really don't have any room to expand our program further in any category. Besides, who would want to use that pile of garbage anyway?"

[FMecha]

^

So, with rumors of Melrose going to Sunshine effectively Jossed, somone prepare me an avatar for me - I have a self-imposed avatar challenge because of that.

(BTW, what is DanielPT doing? HE HAD NOT SHOWED UP FOR WEEKS HERE!!)

[Londoner]

Having just read the wiki, Damon Cannon wishes to apply for a Reject Superlicence. I trust that the offer from Autodynamics Grand Prix still stands?

[TomWazzleshaw]

Having just read the wiki, Damon Cannon wishes to apply for a Reject Superlicence.

There's no need to apply for one. As far as the majority of us are concerned, if you qualify under the criteria, you automatically get on. Unless the supreme overlord has other ideas

[Londoner]

Having just read the wiki, Damon Cannon wishes to apply for a Reject Superlicence.

There's no need to apply for one. As far as the majority of us are concerned, if you qualify under the criteria, you automatically get on. Unless the supreme overlord has other ideas

If I remember correctly, he wasn't best pleased with the results of the Luxembourg Grand Prix, so that might cause him to deny Cannon one.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Having just read the wiki, Damon Cannon wishes to apply for a Reject Superlicence.

There's no need to apply for one. As far as the majority of us are concerned, if you qualify under the criteria, you automatically get on. Unless the supreme overlord has other ideas

Unless I can find anyone better he has got the job.

[tommykl]

Having just read the wiki, Damon Cannon wishes to apply for a Reject Superlicence.

There's no need to apply for one. As far as the majority of us are concerned, if you qualify under the criteria, you automatically get on. Unless the supreme overlord has other ideas

If I remember correctly, he wasn't best pleased with the results of the Luxembourg Grand Prix, so that might cause him to deny Cannon one.

If he does, then he'll probably deny one for Seron, which means I'll be screwed when it comes to my reserve driver