F1RMGP 2015: The Fifth (season) and the Fury

[dinizintheoven]

MONSIEUR DALMAS! Excusez-moi M. dinizintheoven. Je suis JP Jabouille, retired driver een Formula Un. I am now a loi-ah (oui, c'est vrai, avocat en anglais est loi-ah?) and M. Dalmas eez a client. I am 'eer for 2 reasons. Premier, to stop Yannick from saying somezing zat 'ee does not mean. Deuxieme, I have to repeat what my client 'az said, but in better Eenglish. 'ee eez annoyed at le performance from Olivier Beretta, and wishes zat 'ee would get out of l'AGS and (Yannick, qu'avez-vous dit? Ah, Je ne peux pas dire ça! Il est impoli!) go to ze place wiz ze fornication. 'ee zen asked me to come 'eer and officially lodge an interest in racing dans le Eff-un-air-emm-jay-pay Coupe du Monde. Alors, merci. Au revoir

I had to read that three times before I could work anything out from it. Sacre bleu.

My Danish friend recently drove a Radical round Jyllands-Ringen, decent looking track near Silkeborg on Denmark's Jutland peninsula. Said it was a lot of fun, reminiscent of the Istanbul Otodrom with long corners. Possibly a replacement for Anderstorp?

I've already thought of that one - but go to grandprix2.de and in five minutes you'll find out why Jyllands-Ringen is not a possibility.

However, reports are already filtering through that the staff at Anderstorp have had a good thrashing and work is in progress that could rescue its place on the calendar. The CEO of Mantorp Park with the comedically long name isn't taking that lying down, though, and another new bid has come in from the Mayor of Helsinki, offering to re-open the Helsinki Thunder circuit as an alternative. I'm sure I heard someone say "Valencia!", though...

[joeyTKM]

If Mantorp Park was chosen over Helsinki, you'll be able to hear "PERKELE" for miles....personally I've always thought rejects should get what they deserve. In the case of certain drivers (van der Poele, McCarthy, Dalmas) that should've been better F1 drives. For Deletraz, Lavaggi and Bertaggia, they need a reject circuit. Get on the phone, call Mr Shekelslike, and get him to phone up the CEO of Caesar's Palace.

[flyerguy]

Forti sponsor nearly defaulting on payments

A unnamed Chinese glass manufacturing company has been reported to default sponsorship to Forti F1RMGP team until last minute. The deal was inked at the Dutch Grand Prix - allegedy in exchange for "Adrian Sutil's weapons" but they did not pay anything to the team until yesterday. Forti has announced that they will take a legal action against them for late payment of sponsorship money.

Forti must be desperate for a sponsor, as they started the season with their main ad spot taken by a brand discontinued for about a year irl.

[dinizintheoven]

Forti must be desperate for a sponsor, as they started the season with their main ad spot taken by a brand discontinued for about a year irl.

...which would be three years by this stage. Then again, F1RMGP teams have never been known for being on the pulse of what still exists and what doesn't. With the kind of not-so-astronomical sums of money being flung around (approximately a hundredth of a typical F1 team's budget), any unused advertising space can be used any way they like.



Quod erat demonstrandum, as they said in Rome 2000 years ago. Further word on the street is that Arrows were going to sign a sponsorship deal with Rumbelows, so they could be reminded of what life was like in the good old days.

[Ataxia]

Quod erat demonstrandum, as they said in Rome 2000 years ago. Further word on the street is that Arrows were going to sign a sponsorship deal with Rumbelows, so they could be reminded of what life was like in the good old days.

The days before people defaulted on their TV payments to buy "magic" beans and personal organ enhancements...

[dr-baker]

Quod erat demonstrandum, as they said in Rome 2000 years ago. Further word on the street is that Arrows were going to sign a sponsorship deal with Rumbelows, so they could be reminded of what life was like in the good old days.

The days before people defaulted on their TV payments to buy "magic" beans and personal organ enhancements...

Personal enhancements for their organs, you say?



By the way, I know somebody who plays the organ called David Pipe...

[dinizintheoven]

REVEALED: the brains behind the Formula One Rejects F1R-11!

According tot he article, "a guy in Brighton" is building his own F1 car from a couple of mid-2000s BAR tubs, plus some Williams sidepods, and a few bits of Jordan, and is making a very good job of it. And well he might - this is the man hired by the Chinese Geely corporation, who built the F1R-11 from bits of carbon fibre they'd made themselves based on photos of the Dallara 191. "A guy from Brighton" was required to make all the parts fit together after they'd been made to a standard of precision that even British Leyland would have found intolerable, and adapt the sidepods and the engine cover to take the wide Life W12 engine. And now, his expertise shows through in managing to graft Williams sidepods onto the rest of a BAR chassis.

Apparently he plans to put a Formula Renault 3.5 engine into this Frankenstein's Monster of a car and race it. If the project works as well as the F1R-11 did, he could enter the EuroBOSS series (or what remains of it) and win the championship at a canter.

Meanwhile, the F1RMGP mid-season break is about to be over. Hold on, we're going to Germany...

[dinizintheoven]

The teams are arriving at Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix, but a little bit more dirt-digging before we do...

Marktin Brundell's Mid-Season Newsround, part three of... three, as it turned out

A warning from history
The recent chaos at Anderstorp, scene of two of the most rejectful races F1RMGP has ever seen in consecutive days (though the WEC race was almost unscathed), has prompted a further statement... from Japan. Dr. Takachiho Yamaguchi, chief spokesman for the Okayama International Circuit - better known to mid-1990s fans as TI Aida - expressed his disappointment in a quiet, reserved way, that the organisers of the Swedish Grand Prix had allowed such a fiasco to escalate. Between profuse apologies, Dr. Yamaguchi relayed the story of an incident in 1995 when the Grand Prix 2 Championship was held at Aida, where a large number of drivers were sent into barely controllable spins as they attempted to enter the pit lane. At the time, Dr. Yamaguchi had warned future race series to beware of a repeat performance, which is exactly what had plagued the Main F1RMGP Series race, and the Grand Reversal, at Anderstorp 20 years later.
Anderstorp's CEO, on hearing the statement, gave a reaction that was rather less quiet and reserved as the full implications of him committing the same howler with his circuit that Aida had done, hit him square in the face. It was said that he ran around like a headless reindeer screaming "WE DIDN'T LISTEN!" at the top of his voice, and not necessarily in Swedish.

Apicella thrown a lifeline
Marco Apicella's F1RMGP career hangs in the balance this weekend. He should be able to return to his seat with Dome as expected after his second race ban, but should Domenico Schiattarella shed the demons that plagued his driving earlier in the year, Dome have hinted that they are prepared to keep him on. An anonymous message has been received at F1RMGP's Press Office claiming to be from a rival team, who say they are perfectly prepared to dump one of their drivers and hire Apicella if he does not get the Dome seat back...

Meanwhile, more mirth at the wrong end of the grid...
Tallulah Shekelslike, best described for being the complete opposite to "Yes Sir Alan" Sugar when it comes to business decisions, has invited her youngest sister to the Shekel garage for the German Grand Prix in celebration of her 22nd birthday. Princess Darciella is known more for appearing in Hello! for no reason at all, for flouncing around in a fur coat (and yes, it is real fur) and generally being a real-life Veruca Salt and what she will make of spending the Thursday in a garage amongst greasy mechanics who might get her coat and shoes dirty in an utterly futile attempt to prepare a car that's so far ahead of the opposition that even Adrian Shankar might have a chance of qualifying it (hint: he won't, look what happens when he gets an SAAC to play with...)... it's anyone's guess, but - remember that time McLaren invoted Rihanna to have a look round their garage? Imagine that but with absolutely no redeeming features at all. Chanoch Nissany has already said he will pretend to speak no English for the entirety of the pre-qualifying session.

[FMecha]

Zakspeed in 2016?

Former F1 team Zakspeed is reportedly linked to F1RMGP in 2016. "The new all-turbo regulations in 2016 F1RMGP season will benefit us, especially after we got booted from F1RWRS after they insisted on naturally-aspirated engines since this year" said a spokesman from the team. Bernd Schnider and Ralf Schumacher are reportedly linked to the team. The series management and the drivers declined to comment.

Hesnault linked to SPAM, AGS

The long retired Francois Hesnault - who tested onboard camera once with Renault in 1985 - has been linked with two French teams in F1RMGP, SPAM and AGS. Hesnault has said that he wants to return to racing to tell the world that he still existed. SPAM and AGS declined to comment.

Texas Motor Speedway to host F1RMGP race?

After being Jossed last year, Eddie Gossage has bidded Texas Motor Speedway for return of United States Grand Prix in the F1RMGP calendar yet again. The high-banking oval is used by NASCAR and IndyCar, and once it attempted to host a CART race. No-one from F1RMGP management were available for comment.

Power limiters to be compulsory?

The alarmingly high horsepower that Leyton House Suzuki produced since last season has led to rumors that, from next season onwards, where all teams will be required to use turbocharged engines, all engines will be boost-capped for safety reasons. It is rumored that in long term, that a future F1RMGP car could exceed 2000hp if limits are not imposed. No-one from series management were available for comment.

Technology deals between Jones and Pacific?

It has been rumored that Pacific Racing and Jones Racing F1RWRS Team are doing technology deals with each other. Indeed, it is rumored that some of Pacific F1RMGP components are being used on Jones' cars in F1RWRS. Sammy Jones and Keith Wiggins declined to comment.

Meanwhile, an anonymous conspiracy theorist, using the psudeonym of Jocke1, mailed something mysterious to F1RMGP series management. It said something related to numbers 1049 and Wurz. What will happen?

[dinizintheoven]

Round 10: Hockenheim, Germany
Saturday, 22 August 2015


PRE-QUALIFYING

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1 –    19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       1'54.480
2 –    20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       1'54.509
3 –    42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       1'54.523
4 –    25 E. Collard          SPAM           1'54.897
5 –    30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         1'55.137
6 –    35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         1'55.597
7 –    22 N. Fontana          Hispania       1'55.724
8 –    36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1'55.811

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DNPQ – 29 P. Belmondo         Simtek         1'55.816
DNPQ – 41 K. Andersen         Polestar       1'56.099
DNPQ – 33 G. Foitek           Spyker         1'56.138
DNPQ – 31 P. McCarthy         Stefan         1'56.228
DNPQ – 17 A. Montermini       Pacific        1'56.306
DNPQ – 21 S. Yamamoto         Hispania       1'56.313
DNPQ – 26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           1'57.063

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DNPQ – 32 M. Pavlovic         Stefan         1'57.403
DNPQ – 39 E. Salazar          FIRST          1'57.730
DNPQ – 18 J-D. Délétraz       Pacific        1'58.266
DNPQ – 34 K. Chandhok         Spyker         1'58.278
DNPQ – 40 J. Camathias        FIRST          1'58.651
DNPQ – 38 A. Shankar          Shekel         2'00.777
DNPQ – 37 C. Nissany          Shekel         2'01.573

The pressure was on the Germans, and they delivered. After ATS Rial slid into pre-qualifying, they had to make sure they both cleared that hurdle this weekend; both delivered in fine style. Whether or not it was with an extra squirt of Redex or a risky strategy involving cranking the turbo boost to its maximum level we do not know yet, but whatever happened, it's worked. Sebastian Hohenthal worked wonders to get the underpowered Polestar to third in the standings; his team-mate, who had worked such heroics at the crazy Swedish Grand Prix, was not so lucky this time. Emmanuel Collard showed that a French diesel can be quite handy round this circuit as well, while Jérôme d'Ambrosio continued to show his value to Simtek. The last three to clear pre-qualifying were the two Arrows drivers – and Norbert Fontana, keeping the Hispania team lifted after Þorvaldur Einarsson took their car to victory in the Grand Reversal; what Fontana can do with it remains to be seen.

Paul Belmondo was the first to fall, missing the cut by a mere five thousandths of a second. Kasper Andersen was further away, failing to break the 1'56 barrier, and in turn sent crashing down to earth after his Anderstorp heroics. Gregor Foitek, Perry McCarthy and Andrea Montermini must be starting to feel old now, with another DNPQ racked up for all three; Sakon Yamamoto may be considerably younger but is used to the feeling of being knocked out on the Thursday. Cbristophe Bouchut couldn't repeat what Collard had done, not even breaking 1'57, and as for the bottom half – Milos Pavlovic was higher than usual but still nowhere, Eliseo Salazar's wheezing FIRST was never going to make the grade here, Jean-Denis Délétraz and Karun Chandhok must be getting increasingly fed up with the hand they've been dealt, and right near the back... actually, Joël Camathias' time would have been enough for 19th on the WEC grid, but that counts for very little here; Adrian Shankar's time would have seen him behind Pippa Mann in the DNQs. But at least he beat Chanoch Nissany, who was hampered with oil pressure problems...

Most miserable of all, though, was Princess Darciella Shekelslike, who found the tour of the Shekel garage a crashing bore. Her day was terminally ruined when Nissany's ailing car dumped a puddle of oil all over the garage, and she stepped in it in her best and most expensive sandals. It is said that her screams could be heard from the other side of Heidelberg.


QUALIFYING

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1 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         1'52.216
2 –    16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   1'52.510
3 –    27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           1'52.634
4 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   1'53.053
5 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    1'53.063
6 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        1'53.182
7 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    1'53.307
8 –    12 A. Sutil            Forti          1'53.597
9 –    24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        1'53.605
10 –   20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       1'53.636
11 –   19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       1'53.718
12 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        1'53.888
13 –   3  P. Alliot           AGS            1'53.977

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14 –   2  T. Rustad           Viking         1'54.014
15 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           1'54.051
16 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          1'54.053
17 –   28 L. Badoer           SAAC           1'54.466
18 –   9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           1'54.599
19 –   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        1'54.897
20 –   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       1'55.306
21 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         1'55.355
22 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1'55.522
23 –   5  D. Schiattarella    Dome           1'55.974
24 –   6  A. Yoong            Dome           1'56.099
25 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            1'56.519
26 –   35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         1'57.027

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DNQ –  22 N. Fontana          Hispania       1'57.190
DNQ –  25 E. Collard          SPAM           1'57.479

As Jeremy Clarkson would say, this circuit is all about POWER!, and the cars up front have plenty of it. The Viking MJØLNER-04 isn't the most powerful car on the grid (it's suspected to be third), but Þorvaldur Einarsson used it to brilliant effect to take pole position. He was joined on the front row by Fabrizio Barbazza, finally waking up from a season-long episode of Fisichellitis to show us what the Leyton House is really capable of, and surely he has his best chance of victory ever – in a championship race, at least. Gabriele Tarquini has also not won yet and will be desperate to do so from third, while Hideki Noda in the other Leyton House will be desperate to stop them all. More Japanese power lurks behind; Shinji Nakano was the faster of the two Super Aguris, in fifth, with Yuji Ide seventh – Jan Magnussen managed to split them. So it is Adrian Sutil, in the Forti, who's the one to manage to get a less powerful car up the sharp end of the grid; he took eighth. Colin McRae was the lead Minardi and the second of the Lancia-powered cars, with the two diesel ATS Rials behind him – Michael Ammermüller getting the better of Joachim Winkelhock this time, where it matters more. Marko Asmer was 12th for Ice One, with Paul Ricard winner Philippe Alliot returning to form (relatively...) to take 13th, and complete the top half of the grid.

"Top rated" cars, though, don't end here; the next six places are filled by cars that could still, on their day, pull out a victory. Tommy Rustad, lining up 14th, has already done that; Eric van de Poele, 15th, threatened to do so in Monaco, while Pedro Chaves, 16th, hasn't looked likely to win this year but has done in previous seasons. Qualifying 17th was Luca Badoer, tipped for the title at the beginning of the season, with 2013 champion Chris Dagnall behind him in 18th, followed by Enrico Bertaggia, who's put his Minardi into positions nobody could have thought possible throughout the year. Really, it is only here that the competitive times stop; Bertaggia's time would have put him 5th on yesterday's WEC grid. So the stragglers towards the back start at 20th place – that's Sebastian Hohenthal, trying to do everything possible with the Polestar, but this is the best he could get. Likewise, Jérôme d'Ambrosio doesn't have a great car to play with, and he could only manage 21st place. Vincenzo Sospiri was the lead Arrows in 22nd, followed by the two Domes – Domenico Schiattarella will want to keep his nose very clean if he wants to keep Marco Apicella out of the race seat when his ban ends, whereas Alex Yoong is just happy to be on the grid these days. On the last row of all, Olivier Beretta could not do with the AGS what Philippe Alliot did, and at half a second behind Yoong it was brown trousers time for him – but nowhere near as much as it was for Tonio Liuzzi, who couldn't break the 1'57 barrier, which every commentator figured would have him drop out the race. Not so, Tonio, you were very lucky, because the two diesels who fought their way through pre-qualifying were the ones to fall at this hurdle. Norberto Fontata again couldn't muster up the talent to get his car into the race, at the second attempt, and Emmanuel Collard also fell short – by quite some way. Chances for these smaller teams to race are running out now that we're on the "back nine", so they're all going to have to get their act together.


RACE

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1 –    27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           45   1h 30'18.024
2 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    45   1h 30'26.600
3 –    16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   45   1h 30'30.795
4 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    45   1h 30'42.608
5 –    20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       45   1h 31'09.499
6 –    12 A. Sutil            Forti          45   1h 31'24.172
7 –    23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        45   1h 32'18.024
8 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         44   + 1 lap (DNF, out of fuel)
9 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        44   + 1 lap (DNF, out of fuel)
10 –   19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       44   + 1 lap                                                     
11 –   3  P. Alliot           AGS            44   + 1 lap                                                     
12 –   2  T. Rustad           Viking         44   + 1 lap                                                     
13 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        44   + 1 lap                                                     

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14 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          44   + 1 lap                                                     
15 –   28 L. Badoer           SAAC           44   + 1 lap                                                     
16 –   9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           44   + 1 lap                                                     
17 –   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       44   + 1 lap                                                     
18 –   6  A. Yoong            Dome           44   + 1 lap                                                     
19 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            44   + 1 lap                                                     
20 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         44   + 1 lap                                                     
21 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         44   + 1 lap                                                     
22 –   5  D. Schiattarella    Dome           44   + 1 lap                                                     
23 –   35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         43   + 2 laps                                                    
24 –   24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        39   transmission                                                
25 –   15 H. Noda             Leyton House   18   oil leak                                                    
26 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           14   suspension

To finish first, first you have to finish.

Nobody was particularly surprised at the grid, only that so many proven winners were so far down it, but when there are so many, someone has to be last. As it turned out there wasn't a lot of action up front - Þorvaldur Einarsson made a good enough start to get away from Fabrizio Barbazza, who stayed in touch for a while but then lost his way, allowing Shinji Nakano and Gabriele Tarquini ahead of him. The early battle in the pack was between Hideki Noda, Jan Magnussen and Michael Ammermüller – up the sharp end for once, and making his presence felt in a way only he can, which ended with Noda getting a hefty clout and Magnussen passing both of them. Ammermüller's excessive aggression cost him several more places over the next few laps, and midway through the race when he called into the pits with electrical gremlins, it seemed his race had been run and the battering the car had already taken was to blame. A steering wheel change sorted the bits from the bugs and he was on his way again, seemingly with a new lease of life in the car. Other cars were in the wars as well – Eric van de Poele and Pedro Chaves tangled with each other, which ripped off Chaves' front wing, causing him to make an early pit stop, but broke van de Poele's suspension, sending him out the race altogether. Hideki Noda would retire soon afterwards with an oil leak, with the finger of suspicion pointing at the rough treatment his car had been given by the aggressive Ammermüller.

And that was it for the action for a while, as Þorvaldur Einarsson continued to lead the field, having narrowly avoided a collision with Fabrizio Barbazza in the pits; Barbazza was now running fourth, behind Gabriele Tarquini and Jan Magnussen, who'd put in a spirited drive to slice back through to second from sixth. That is how it stayed, bar Shinji Nakano getting the jump on Barbazza for that fourth place. Behind the leading pack, Michael Ammermüller was making a nuisance of himself again, making ever more audacious moves in an attempt to claw his way back towards the leaders; Enrico Bertaggia was also making a charge in his Minardi, chasing down his team-mate who'd been in the points for most of the race. Potential winners such as Philippe Alliot, Tommy Rustad, Marko Asmer, Luca Badoer and Chris Dagnall were all posing about as much of a threat at this point as a sword made out of cabbage.

And then, when the race looked just a bit processional, it started to change near the end. Colin McRae's retirement from a fine eighth place was utterly unjustified, the Minardi's gearbox screaming enough as he looked on course for a fine result. The finest result of all, though, was going to go to Þorvaldur Einarsson, who'd be joined on the podium by Jan Magnussen and Gabriele Tarquini...

...wait a mo, why is he slowing on the last lap?

What was transmitted over the team radio can never be aired in public for decency reasons. Rather sheepishly, the mechanics had to inform him that he'd been fuelled one lap short. There was a brief and obviously fuming silence before Þorvaldur let the errant strategist know exactly what he thought. After all, if there's anyone he didn't want to see win due to such a calamitous miscalculation, it was Jan Magnussen. News reached the Ice One pits just in time for the Dane to laugh about his ex-wingman-turned-championship-rival's fate...

..wait a mo, is Magnussen slowing down as well?

He couldn't believe it. Not only had his pit crew made exactly the same mistake as the Vikings, he couldn't even coast the car into the lead, even briefly, finally pulling up just after the Ostkurve, with a gold car firmly in sight at the third chicane. And so it was that Gabriele Tarquini sailed past them both, for his first victory in F1RMGP which had been far too long in coming. Already the championship leader, rather than have that lead eroded it had now been extended instead, to 32 points. Consistency had been the key to his season so far, with only one non-points finish amongst the Anderstorp carnage; now, with a win, two seconds and two thirds, he had the more trophies in his 2015 cabinet than anyone else and with that win under his belt, could fully justify that championship lead. Shinji Nakano and Fabrizio Barbazza joined him on the podium, both benefitting from the demise of the former Viking team-mates to get some champagne to spray. Yuji Ide just missed out, 12 seconds behind Barbazza, despite a lightning start he'd eventually had to give second best to Nakano in the Super Aguri team for the day. Fifth in the end was Michael Ammermüller – electrical problems and occasional scrapes be damned, his hard driving style finally paid dividends to give him a result towards unrejectification and, potentially, a reprieve from pre-qualifying for the last six races of the year. Adrian Sutil was the last driver to be barged out the way by the charging blue and silver monster, eventually dropping back 14 seconds behind Ammermüller, while last of the cars on the lead lap was Enrico Bertaggia, who'd already been lapped but only by the two leaders who dropped out. With so few cars finishing on the lead lap, it was little consolation for Þorvaldur Einarsson and Jan Magnussen, who finished eighth and ninth respectively, when they should have been first and second. Reject Of The Race, for reasons which are painfully obvious to both drivers, goes jointly to Viking's and Ice One's fuel crews for robbing their drivers of a fine result. Finally, just to compound the joy in the ATS Rial camp, Joachim Winkelhock brought his car home tenth for an extra point – which, at that end of the grid, can make all the difference.

Eleventh and onwards were the drivers who, mostly, didn't do much. Philippe Alliot had threatened to cause an upset in qualifying, but faded in the race; Tommy Rustad couldn't reproduce his form at Anderstorp, and spent a lot of the race making a Trulli train – only Alliot and Colin McRae, who later retired, had been able to get past him for the whole race. Marko Asmer didn't exactly help matters either, blocking the cars behind without threatening to pass Rustad – where's his amazing form from last year gone? Pedro Chaves had been shoved crudely into this block of traffic after his nosecone change, and Luca Badoer and Chris Dagnall spent the entire race trundling round at the back of the pack, seemingly without any desire to move forwards. Behind them, eventually finishing 17th, was Sebastian Hohenthal, who didn't have the power to stay with the rest of them – although he had enough power to cause Þorvaldur Einarsson a spot of trouble while he was being lapped – unbecoming for someone who's trying to get that seat next year. The next five were practically cast adrift – Alex Yoong, Olivier Beretta, Vincenzo Sospiri, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and – keeping himself well out of trouble but barely making an impression either – Domenico Schiattarella, who you get the idea the Dome team won't keep on after this race when Marco Apicella will be determined to make amends for his Swedish misdemeanours. And last of all, the only driver to be lapped twice, was Vitantonio Liuzzi – the warning signs were always there in qualifying that he was going to take it a bit too steady.


DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
for the Carel Godin de Beaufort Cup

Code: Select all

1 –    27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           123
2 –    9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           91
3 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         89
4 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        87
5 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    78
6 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    76
7 –    12 A. Sutil            Forti          59
8 –    2  T. Rustad           Viking         54
9 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   50
10 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   47
11 –   28 L. Badoer           SAAC           42
12 =   3  P. Alliot           AGS            31
12 =   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        31

Code: Select all

14 –      M. Apicella         Dome           27
15 =   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           19
15 =   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       19
17 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          18
18 –   24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        16
19 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        13
20 =   20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       10
20 =   26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           10
22 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         9
23 –   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       5
24 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            3
25 –   19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       2
26 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP
for the Willi Kauhsen Cup

Code: Select all

1 –    SAAC           165
2 –    Super Aguri    154
3 –    Viking         143
4 –    F1RM           110
5 –    Ice One        100
6 –    Leyton House   97
7 –    Forti          77
8 –    Minardi        47
9 –    AGS            34
10 –   Dome           27

Code: Select all

11 –   Polestar       24
12 –   ATS Rial       12
13 –   SPAM           10
14 –   Simtek         9
15 –   Arrows         1

[DemocalypseNow]

Badoer will really need to up his game if he wants to keep his seat for next year! Tarquini is doing an immense job with this car, and Badoer, who was tipped to be the better driver in the team, is nowhere compared to him! He'd better watch out because both Betraggia and McRae are showing they're fast enough to deserve the seat instead of Badoer...

Fantastico risultato Gabriele. Te lo meriti. Il primo di molti. VITTORIA!

Grande unità Enrico, hai mostrato inganno reale là fuori. Questo è promettente per il futuro. Ben fatto.

[FMecha]

Badoer will really need to up his game if he wants to keep his seat for next year! Tarquini is doing an immense job with this car, and Badoer, who was tipped to be the better driver in the team, is nowhere compared to him! He'd better watch out because both Betraggia and McRae are showing they're fast enough to deserve the seat instead of Badoer...

Fantastico risultato Gabriele. Te lo meriti. Il primo di molti. VITTORIA!

Grande unità Enrico, hai mostrato inganno reale là fuori. Questo è promettente per il futuro. Ben fatto.

Hey Lindsay, is it true that Sammy Jones and Luciano Moggi is attempting a sabotage on your team?

Diniz, can you please comment on my news/rumors?

[dinizintheoven]

Diniz, can you please comment on my news/rumors?

Patience. I like to wait for a few comments to come in about the most recent race rather than crash on relentlessly with the rumour mill.

[DanielPT]

Chaves is being killed by Sutil. He desperately needs to up his game or for Sutil to glass someone (other than Chaves of course!).

[FMecha]

F1RM should be the ROTR!

[takagi_for_the_win]

Christs sake Einarsson, you should be walking this

[joeyTKM]

Maybe Il Barone Rampante should consider a 2010 Citroen WRC style switch - swap the underperforming senior driver (Badoer in the SAAC) with the impressive junior driver (Bertaggia in the Minardi). Worked for that season, helped Loeb win the title and the marque for the constructors'.

I'm sure Yannick Dalmas will have plenty to say soon however on Beretta's (and indeed Alliot's) shoddy performances

[dinizintheoven]

F1RM should be the ROTR!

F1RM didn't cause either of their drivers to lose a cruise-and-collect victory on the last lap...

Christs sake Einarsson, you should be walking this

The hairy Icelander has still yet to comment, still silently fuming at the errant engineer. But I think I heard the word "McLaren" mentioned somewhere.

Meanwhile, combing through the pages of the latest issue of J.O.U.R.N.A.L., Marktin Brundell has a few things to say.

More about the mysterious Austrians?
The Austrian "ZNuV" squadron that is looking for a place in F1RMGP for 2016 will most likely reveal itself at the next race - due to take place at the Österreichring, where the team is setting up its base, although currently the only work going on near the circuit is a few idiots with road drills carving holes into the mountains and pretending to be trolls. Should this Austrian team get its place without displacing any of the current teams, it might be prudent to thrash out a deal with Zakspeed to see if any good can come of it. One thing is for sure, Bernd Schneider won't be driving - the mere mention of the "Z" word around him and his expression changed to one of cold dread.
With or without the Zakspeed works team around it, a Zakspeed engine may well come as a welcome addition to the grid; there are at least three engine suppliers that are exceptionally unhappy with their fortunes in this series and are threatening to withdraw.

Team Julien in the wars
Legend has it that one member of the mysterious Team Julien was rushed to hospital in Heidelberg after the German Grand Prix, suspected to have had a heart attack. On waking up after emergency surgery, the acting AGS team principal was heard to moan "non, pas lui encore..." It was not a reference to the team's latest lack of results, but to J.O.U.R.N.A.L.'s rumour that François Hesnault might rejoin the team. Hesnault drove for AGS in the 2011 season to spectacular non-effect, and was shown the door at the end of the year; Fabrizio Barbazza, whose results were even worse, left of his own accord for better fortunes with Monteverdi.
Hesnault has also been linked publicly to SPAM, a very distant cousin to the Ligier team he drive for in F1 in 1984, to... a bit more effect (five finishes that would have seen him score 16 points under the F1RMGP system). SPAM, however, are going to need a driver who can score a lot better than that if they're going to climb out of the pit of misery they're sinking into.

Minimal changes to the 2016 calendar
Sir Bernard Shekelslike's blistering criticism of the Anderstorp circuit owners is unlikely to produce too many changes to the calendar for next season - it is likely that Anderstorp will be the only casualty, with Mantorp Park the current favourite to take the "Nordic" round of the championship. Other tracks are locked in a bidding war should any slots become available; Brno, in the Czech Republic, is one, and might be invoked should any more Eastern European drivers join the circus; Ricardo Tormo, Valencia's proper circuit, hosted the pre-season tests for the 2014 season and is trying to dislodge Jerez as the circuit of choice for the Spanish Grand Prix; Albert Park has tried to usurp Adelaide as the Australian race; and finally, a bizarre request from Texas Motor Speedway to restore the United States Grand Prix was met by bemusement from the teams, wondering why any of them would want to go there to race on a oval, of all layouts, when there's no American presence in the series at all - and with open hostility by the gun-wielding, bible-shrieking, Republican-voting NASCAR faction in the Confederate states, who all universally reacted to the idea that these god-damn commie libruls from Yurop and other foreign countries (that we ain't never heard of but are probably full of terrorists) might be defiling their glorious oval-shaped Motor Speedway in The Greatest State In The World by loading their shotguns and firing them wantonly into the air. So no, we're not going there.

[flyerguy]

This is the season of the underperforming teamate! Badoer, Chaves, van de Poele, Asmer, Beretta, Yoong are all being trashed by their teamates. Even Winkelhock and Rustad cannot consistently perform as their equal.

If this situation continues till the end of the season, there will be lots of drivers being "demoted" to the minor teams, Deletraz style.

Badoer underperforming like that surely puts the Forti dominance on the 2014 Grand Reversal on perspective...

[FMecha]

There is a continuity problem with the hologram system given that Guido Forti is now R.I.P. in real life ( ) - what will happen to that?

[joeyTKM]

Henri Julien in the wars
Henri Julien was rushed to hospital in Heidelberg after the German Grand Prix, suspected to have had a heart attack. On waking up after emergency surgery, the AGS team principal was heard to moan "non, pas lui encore..." It was not a reference to the team's latest lack of results, but to J.O.U.R.N.A.L.'s rumour that François Hesnault might rejoin the team. Hesnault drove for AGS in the 2011 season to spectacular non-effect, and was shown the door at the end of the year; Fabrizio Barbazza, whose results were even worse, left of his own accord for better fortunes with Monteverdi.
Hesnault has also been linked publicly to SPAM, a very distant cousin to the Ligier team he drive for in F1 in 1984, to... a bit more effect (five finishes that would have seen him score 16 points under the F1RMGP system). SPAM, however, are going to need a driver who can score a lot better than that if they're going to climb out of the pit of misery they're sinking into.

If Julien had any f**king sense, he'd give me that f**king job instead of that f**kwit Beretta. I got a f**king JH25 onto the grid at Monza '90. Brought it home in 9th f**king position at Jerez too. You didn't see Hesnault doing that did yah? B**tard. 4-time Le Mans winner, and he's still f**king ignoring me? He must be f**king mad. I f**king guarantee that I could get some f**king points out of that motherf**ker of a car any-f**king-day, just you f**king watch. Julien, if you're f**king listening, you have my f**king word as a f**king gentleman.

[dinizintheoven]

Marktin Brundell parps the alpenhorn of news from the Österreichring

Forti team holds an impromptu memorial for their old boss
In an attempt to boost team morale during a difficult season, the Forti team decided to invoke the spirit of their old team boss, Guido Forti, with a very Brazilian-style memorial service. Suffice to say that it involved a lot of dancing girls and handing out of free cocktails to any fans wearing Forti's official workshirts during free practice. Team boss Pedro Diniz, who moved back "upstairs" from driving for the team in 2012 after Forti died in January 2013, said "it's what the old biffer would have wanted, isn't it? I mean, who doesn;t like dancing girls?"
Adrian Sutil looked slightly nervous in the corner of the garage before heading out to the track for another lap.

An end to this madness!
The mystery surrounding the otherwise-nameless "ZNuV" racing team that has been setting up its headquarters at the Österreichring recently was finally solved as this potential new team wheeled a large, flat structure out of their garage. When the green light shone for the start of free practice, it was slowly inflated... to reveal itself as a 200-metre-tall hot air balloon shaped like a driver wearing red and white overalls with "ZNuV" emblazoned over them. As the face was unveiled, it was... Alex Wurz.
It was said, once the penny had dropped as to what "ZNuV" stood for (Zehn Neun Und Vierzig, for those of you who never understood German), Sir Bernard Shekelslike reacted to this stunt as if some communist insurgents had just turned up at his mansion threatening to kidnap his beloved Princess Darciella - and her entire collection of hair-straighteners - if he didn't immediately hand over all his money and possessions to the Che Guevara Revolutionary Justice Foundation For People Who Think Property Is Theft But Only If People Other Than Them Ever Own Anything Worth More Than One Zimbabwe Dollar. (Note: this organisation has previously threatened to abduct one of his other daughters, Miami, but she learned from her student days and cunningly disguised herself as an extreme-left moonbat by burning her bra. It worked - the Che Guevara Revolutionary Justice Foundation mistook her for one of their own and left her alone. But I digress, back to Bernie's reaction about the "ZNuV" effigy...)
And so, Sir Bernie personally sprung into action, grabbing a B-300 anti-tank gun that had been "borrowed" from the Israel Defence Forces and carelessly left lying on the floor of Shekel Racing's garage. Sprinting across the paddock with the gun - not bad for a 72-year-old - he jumped into one of his favourite helicopters, flew it within range of the effigy of Alex Wurz, and delivered a well-placed rocket right where it would have really hurt if voodoo actually worked. The balloon immediately exploded into flames.

Meanwhile, on the track...
Chaos reigned during that free practice as barely anyone could tear themselves away from looking over at the unfolding events with the helicopter and the hot air balloon. No less than 12 drivers were involved in accidents in that first session, as even they found themselves trying to watch the action instead of the track ahead, giving the mechanics an unusually difficult afternoon, especially for those involved in pre-qualifying...

[FMecha]

Well, that explains everything.

Does anyone have their plans for Bathurst Enduro yet? For me, it's AdC-RG-RM, if you know what those letters stand for...

[dinizintheoven]

Does anyone have their plans for Bathurst Enduro yet? For me, it's AdC-RG-RM, if you know what those letters stand for...

Patience! That's a long way off. Besides, there are going to be a few tweaks to the format... that you don't even know about yet. And neither does anyone else.

[DemocalypseNow]

F1RMGP: Badoer under pressure to deliver

Luca Badoer is under severe pressure to secure a win this weekend, after runaway championship leader and team-mate Gabriele Tarquini finally picked up his first win last time out at Hockenheimring. The former Forti driver was tipped to beat his older team-mate, but has instead struggled massively to match his results, and is instead only just edging out IBR B-Team lead driver Enrico Bertaggia in the driver's standings.

Rumours from other sources have suggested that there may be a mid-season switch between the two drivers, with Bertaggia in line for an early promotion to help SAAC secure the constructor's championship, while Badoer may head the other way to Minardi to find his form again. This is unless Badoer can pick up his form in the next couple of races, however it may be to little too late to save his driver for next season from the hugely impressive Bertaggia, who was Tarquini's co-driver at SAAC for last year's Bathurst 24 Hours.

Whether Badoer would accept being dropped down to the B-Squadron is another issue, however given his current performances it would hardly be undeserved. Should the former Ferrari man walk, they may look to the now out of work Marco Apicella as a replacement, or perhaps look to extricate Perry McCarthy from his Stefan GP contract.

[joeyTKM]

A message to dinizintheoven: How does Bathurst actually work for us F1RMGPers?

[dinizintheoven]

Whether Badoer would accept being dropped down to the B-Squadron is another issue, however given his current performances it would hardly be undeserved. Should the former Ferrari man walk, they may look to the now out of work Marco Apicella as a replacement, or perhaps look to extricate Perry McCarthy from his Stefan GP contract.

Apicella's back with Dome for this race, as his ban has finished and Domenico Schiattarella was (once again) as much use as a chocolate teapot. Unless he screws up again, you'll have to wrench him away with a crowbar.

A message to dinizintheoven: How does Bathurst actually work for us F1RMGPers?

If you mean "what's the signup process", then take a look at the 2014 thread. If you mean "how is the race run and the positions decided", that's as closely guarded a secret as the recipe for Coca-Cola.

[dinizintheoven]

Round 11: Österreichring, Austria
Saturday, 5 September 2015



PRE-QUALIFYING

Code: Select all

1 –    26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           1'34.026
2 –    30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         1'34.138
3 –    41 K. Andersen         Polestar       1'34.345
4 –    42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       1'34.556
5 –    25 E. Collard          SPAM           1'34.714
6 –    34 K. Chandhok         Spyker         1'34.967
7 –    17 A. Montermini       Pacific        1'35.216
8 –    36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1'35.295

Code: Select all

DNPQ – 35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         1'36.081
DNPQ – 39 E. Salazar          FIRST          1'36.116
DNPQ – 22 N. Fontana          Hispania       1'36.201
DNPQ – 33 G. Foitek           Spyker         1'36.206
DNPQ – 20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       1'36.206
DNPQ – 19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       1'36.338
DNPQ – 31 P. McCarthy         Stefan         1'36.458

Code: Select all

DNPQ – 32 M. Pavlovic         Stefan         1'36.536
DNPQ – 29 P. Belmondo         Simtek         1'37.030
DNPQ – 37 C. Nissany          Shekel         1'37.899
DNPQ – 21 S. Yamamoto         Hispania       1'38.147
DNPQ – 40 J. Camathias        FIRST          1'38.350
DNPQ – 38 A. Shankar          Shekel         1'38.809
DNPQ – 18 J-D. Délétraz       Pacific        1'39.673

Pre-qualifying is always a brutal shootout, designed to separate the cream of the backmarkers from the skimmed soya milk, but never before has the boundary been quite so defined – and what's more, it ran contrary to anyone's expectations. Leading the charge was Christophe Bouchut, who's had a rough time since his point-scoring drive in Mexico, and today was his day to shine again in the diesel SPAM. Jérôme d'Ambrosio is proving to be a handy addition to the Simtek squad, just over a tenth behind Bouchut and again ensuring at least one of the blue and black cars would be present on the Friday. The two Polestars were expecting an early bath at this circuit owing to their dearth of power, but pulled through third and fourth, beating the second SPAM of Emmanuel Collard into fifth. Karun Chandhok pulled a blinder out of the bag to see Spyker through to the Friday, rather unusually; Andrea Montermini made the cut for Pacific, and Vincenzo Sospiri took the final spot for qualifying proper, beating his team-mate into ninth – but, in reality he was never threatened – eight tenths separated them and Liuzzi was never in contention.

Eliseo Salazar, for a while, looked like he might pull a result out of the bag, but the FIRST didn't have the speed (when does it ever?) and he finished tenth, albeit still ahead of some cars which are known to be faster – such as Norberto Fontana in the lead Hispania, the other Spyker driven by Gregor Foitek, then the two ATS Rials, who were strangely off the pace on a circuit that should suit them as much as it does the SPAMs. Here were five drivers all separated by a tenth and a bit, with Joachim Winkelhock just off the back of that pack. Behind him were the two Stefans, Milos Pavlovic almost matching the pace of Perry McCarthy, but they were so far away from making the grade that his effort was pointless... a bit like the whole season. Simtek, it seems, are throwing all their resources at Jérôme d'Ambrosio, possibly in an attempt to keep a decent presence on the grid, as Paul Belmondo is getting worse and worse all the time.

Meanwhile, right at the rear end, Chanoch Nissany rallied round as much as he was ever capable of, beating the 1'38 barrier and four other cars, when usually it'd only be one. Behind him was Sakon Yamamoto, who has never looked more than any use but for his money, followed by Joël Camathias in the other FIRST, then serial joker Adrian Shankar, whose entire motosport career has been a complete fabrication. However, look who is behind him and ask this question:

What is Délétraz doing?

Never mind what he's doing. Let's get on with qualifying.


QUALIFYING

Code: Select all

1 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    1'32.332
2 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        1'32.456
3 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   1'32.494
4 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    1'32.572
5 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         1'32.653
6 –    28 L. Badoer           SAAC           1'32.686
7 –    24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        1'32.781
8 –    2  T. Rustad           Viking         1'32.941
9 –    9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           1'32.950
10 –   27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           1'33.153
11 –   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       1'33.484
12 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           1'33.569
13 –   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        1'33.729

Code: Select all

14 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        1'33.765
15 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   1'33.973
16 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1'34.015
17 –   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       1'34.018
18 –   5  M. Apicella         Dome           1'34.060
19 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         1'34.064
20 –   12 A. Sutil            Forti          1'34.105
21 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          1'34.230
22 –   17 A. Montermini       Pacific        1'34.258
23 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            1'34.381
24 –   26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           1'34.392
25 –   34 K. Chandhok         Spyker         1'34.559
26 –   3  P. Alliot           AGS            1'35.264

Code: Select all

DNQ –  6  A. Yoong            Dome           1'35.340
DNQ –  25 E. Collard          SPAM           1'36.529

A second power circuit in succession on the calendar rewarded the brave as well as the powerful, with Super Aguri the overall winners in qualifying. It looked like Jan Magnussen would finally get his first pole position of the year, but a proper banzai lap from Yuji Ide stole it right at the end of the session. Hideki Noda wasn't far back, either, using the power of the Suzuki engine to its maximum extent... maybe a bit too much, as he had a habit of misjudging his braking points, otherwise pole would have been his. Shinji Nakano was fourth, making that excellent day for Super Aguri and for Japan in general, while Þorvaldur Einarsson made sure the leaders never vanished out of reach; he lines up fifth, with Luca Badoer just behind, improving massively from his recent form, possibly due to a direct threat from his team overlord. The beneficiary of a similar threat, earlier in the season, is Colin McRae, who stormed the field to take seventh, ahead of both his team leader and the most favoured son of the Rampant Baron empire. Tommy Rustad qualified eighth to keep the Scot company on row four. Chris Dagnall completed the nonet of cars who broke 1'32, with Gabriele Tarquini the first to not do so, despite needing a decent result to reinforce his championship lead. Eleventh was Sebastian Hohenthal, thought to be severely disadvantaged by his car but just enough aggressive use of the kerbs saw him through to a position that car barely deserved. The second F1RM of Eric van de Poele and Enrico Bertaggia in the second Minardi rounded off the top half of the grid, still within the 1'34 barrier.

Into the second half, which started with a couple of drivers who should probably have done better – though with the increased crowding at the sharp end, it's maybe not so much of a surprise that they didn't. So Marko Asmer had to be content with 14th, Fabrizio Barbazza with 15th, and that's it for the 1'33s. Into the 1'34 times, where most of the pre-qualifiers would be found, and the first of those was Vincenzo Sospiri, in 16th, in the sole Arrows. Kasper Andersen, in 17th, was more representative of the Polestar's pace, showing exactly how good a job his team-mate had done. 18th was the returning Marco Apicella, who not everyone was glad to see back, but at least the Dome team could rely on him to do a better job than his temporary replacement, who'd been about as spectactular as a pair of beige corduroy trousers. As three thousandths of a second had separated Sospiri and Andersen, so only four thousandths were between Apicella and Jérôme d'Ambrosio, the last of the teens. Into the twenties, and what has happened to Forti? Winning earlier in the year with Adrian Sutil, they're slumping badly now – if the best they can manage is 20th and 21st, it's time to ring the alarm bells rather than have a party for their old boss. The last five places can be considered as a mad scramble to get onto the grid amongst the other pre-qualifiers, the stragglers and those who really should not be there – Andrea Montermini, in the PURE-powered Pacific, was 22ns, followed by Olivier Beretta in the lead AGS – which probably won't stop Yannick Dalmas' terrible case of Tourettes – then Christophe Bouchut, who may have been leading in pre-qualifying but whose pace has somehow dropped off. Right at the back were Karun Chandhok, maing the race at least, and last of all – Philippe Alliot. Is this the same driver who won at Paul Ricard? Never mind Forti, what is happening to AGS? Alliot was miles off the pace, even in comparison to Chandhok, so he can consider himself very lucky that Alex Yoong was so slow that he never looked like qualifying, and Emmanuel Collard once again found that his Thursday form deserted him on the Friday. Actually, his pre-qualifying time was only good enough for 26th on this grid, but that will be little consolation. He's cleared pre-qualifying all five times since the mismatched Ice One and Minardi left that session, but has now failed to make the race on these last two occasions and there is no apparent reason why.


RACE

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1 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    53   1h 26'12.770
2 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   53   1h 26'37.892
3 –    28 L. Badoer           SAAC           53   1h 26'51.115
4 –    2  T. Rustad           Viking         53   1h 27'02.012
5 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        53   1h 27'02.178
6 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         53   1h 27'10.328
7 –    9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           53   1h 27'10.419
8 –    27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           53   1h 27'24.515
9 –    10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           53   1h 27'42.032
10 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        52   + 1 lap                                                     
11 –   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        52   + 1 lap                                                     
12 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   52   + 1 lap                                                     
13 –   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       52   + 1 lap                                                     

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14 –   17 A. Montermini       Pacific        52   + 1 lap                                                     
15 –   5  M. Apicella         Dome           52   + 1 lap                                                     
16 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            52   + 1 lap                                                     
17 –   26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           52   + 1 lap                                                     
18 –   34 K. Chandhok         Spyker         52   + 1 lap                                                     
19 –   3  P. Alliot           AGS            51   + 2 laps                                                    
20 –   12 A. Sutil            Forti          40   engine                                                      
21 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          37   engine                                                      
22 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         30   engine                                                      
23 –   24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        19   transmission                                                
24 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         14   puncture                                                    
25 –   7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    13   suspension                                                  
26 –   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       4    engine                                                      

There were those who said the Österreichring might end up as a benefit gig for the cars with the most power - in other words, Leyton House, SAAC, Viking – but it never turns out that way, does it? Instead, the majority of the spoils went to Japan.

If there was an award for Start Of The Year, it would go to Luca Badoer. Sharply criticised by his team (despite having a team boss who never knows when the best thing to bring to the conversation is silence), Badoer knew his sixth in qualifying wasn't good enough, and surprised everyone by burning them all off at the lights. Jan Magnussen also passed Yuji Ide, but by this stage that was a race for third. Ide, though, was not going to take this lying down and muscled both Magnussen and Badoer out of the way before the first lap had even been completed. Banzai. Realistically, Ide was never troubled for the rest of the race – he pounded out fastest lap after fastest lap, and only lost the lead once when he had to pit for fuel for the first time. When his second pit stop came round, he had such a huge lead that he still emerged in front, and from here – barring the disaster which Super Aguri seem to expect these days but which never came – it was a cruise for the victory spoils. Hideki Noda was the other major Japanese player – he'd fluffed his start horribly, but used all the power of his Leyton House down the long straights to claw back everything he'd lost at the start when he was embroiled for ten laps amongst the Nordic-Italian grudge match that unfolded over the course of the race.

Said grudge match was played out between the two Vikings, Gabriele Tarquini, Jan Magnussen and eventually, Luca Badoer. It started the day before as IBR Team Principal Alasdair Lindsay was very uncomplimentary about last year's Viking cars which had crushed the competition, but Lindsay's subsidiary WEC squadron were not using to anywhere near their full potential. That he would spend the Saturdays of every race weekend as the boss of the rival team that Viking were fighting with for the Willi Kauhsen Cup was already causing friction amongst the Viking mechanics who had to service the 2014 cars one day, usually with one and a half eyes on the results of the next day, which is what would pay the bulk of their wages. How it all came together in one maelstrom of intense rivalry started with Jan Magnussen and Luca Badoer falling into the clutches of the chasing pack at an alarming rate, as the Japanese kamikazed their way round the track at the front. They were joined by an intense battle between Þorvaldur Einarsson, who was dropping back with a suspected misfire, Gabriele Tarquini, who had progressed from his midgrid start, and Sebastian Hohenthal, who'd come along for the ride. Hohenthal was dismissed as an irrelevance when his engine saw fit to grenade itself after only four laps, eventually welding the two Vikings together with Þorvaldur's old team-mate and the Scotalian rival squadron. If anything was going to end in tears, this would be it. Only... it didn't. All five of them drove impeccable – it even became six towards the end as Chris Dagnall used an inspired strategy to remind them all that he was still just as much in championship contention as the rest. Badoer fell backwards towards the pack again. Þorvaldur almost connected with Tommy Rustad after the Norwegian's final pit stop but saw no point in fighting his team-mate with the ailing car, and sent him off to hunt down the Vikings' rivals. Badoer, in the end, was too far ahead – probably for the best as that's likely to have saved his drive for now – but Rustad would not be denied at least one scalp, and passed Jan Magnussen – the man whose seat he had taken – on the last lap, for two extra points. Þorvaldur, meanwhile, had done enough to close up the championship gap slightly on his nearest rival, Gabriele Tarquini – but it wasn't half close, as Chris Dagnall came snapping at him 2013-style, even trying to pass on the last lap, but he couldn't make it stick. So it was SAAC third and eighth, Viking fourth and sixth, 19 and 20 points respectively, honours just about even. It is unlikely that any mercy will be shown for the rest of the season.

Just behind this action pack came another potential source of IBR rivalry. Eric van de Poele toddled in ninth, the last driver on the lead lap, but of those who hadn't made the full distance, Enrico Bertaggia looked likely to score the final point for Minardi. He hadn't reckoned with Marko Asmer, though, who's also been under the cosh recently – and the third significant passing move on the final lap was Asmer's, snicking past Bertaggia for that last point at the Bosch Kurve. Bertie will curse his luck, but with the carrot of an SAAC drive dangling temptingly in front of him, it's unlikely he will care too much. Most of the others finished one lap down – Fabrizio Barbazza again caught Fisichellitis and while Hideki Noda brought home a trophy for Leyton House, Barb only managed 12th. Kasper Andersen never threatened the leaders but doesn't have the power to back him up; neither does Andrea Montermini, with last year's PURE engine; they were 13th and 14th. Marco Apicella was 15th, keeping out of everyone's way for a deliberately quiet race, beating only Olivier Beretta, Christophe Bouchut, Karun Chandhok and Philippe Alliot – the only driver to have been lapped twice.

As for those who dropped out, it wasn't all joy for the Japanese – their afternoon was slightly tempered by Shinji Nakano exiting the race with suspension failure after a mere 13 laps, when he'd been running third ahead of Luca Badoer. Arrows' hopes were ended soon afterwards as a punctured tyre lashed its was through the bodywork of Vincenzo Sospiri's car, which looked like white and purple tagliatelle by the time it arrived back at the pits. Colin McRae had also been trying his hardest in the IBR-versus-Northerners grudge match, swarming through the pack like a man possessed, but in a fit of irony given what had happened to Scuderia Alitaliana the day before, he was dumped out of the race with a destroyed gearbox, and uniquely Scottish swear words were heard over the radio – he'd have been on course for more points than Bertaggia. Jérôme d'Ambrosio was next to fall, the first of three final engine detonations – the other two, though, within three laps of each other, were the two Fortis. They'd been slow – unusually so – in qualifying, and made no improvement in the race – at one point, Pedro Chaves was stone dead last. And so this report must conclude by awarding the team as a whole, Reject Of The Race.

The next race is at the Hungaroring – which has a reputation for Things Not Going The Way You'd Expect. Will we get something quite as bizarre as Marko Asmer's victory in a Simtek last year? Wait and see.


DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
for the Carel Godin de Beaufort Cup

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1 –    27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           127
5 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    103
3 =    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         97
3 =    9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           97
3 =    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        97
6 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    76
7 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   68
8 –    2  T. Rustad           Viking         66
9 –    12 A. Sutil            Forti          59
10 –   28 L. Badoer           SAAC           57
11 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   47
12 =   3  P. Alliot           AGS            31
12 =   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        31

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14 –   5  M. Apicella         Dome           27
15 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           21
16 –   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       19
17 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          18
18 –   24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        16
19 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        14
20 =   20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       10
20 =   26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           10
22 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         9
23 –   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       5
24 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            3
25 –   19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       2
26 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP
for the Willi Kauhsen Cup

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1 –    SAAC           184
2 –    Super Aguri    179
3 –    Viking         163
4 –    F1RM           118
5 –    Leyton House   115
6 –    Ice One        111
7 –    Forti          77
8 –    Minardi        47
9 –    AGS            34
10 –   Dome           27

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11 –   Polestar       24
12 –   ATS Rial       12
13 –   SPAM           10
14 –   Simtek         9
15 –   Arrows         1

[DemocalypseNow]

Lindsay: Badoer "showed his true colours" at A1 Ring

Alasdair Lindsay has praised Luca Badoer for his recent performance at the Austrian round of the F1RMGP series, where the under-pressure Italian lept up through the field and eventually secured a podium place.

"It was a great drive by him, and just the shot in the arm the team needed in the constructors championship," said Lindsay. "Realistically, he is out of the Carel Godin de Beaufort Cup chase for the year, but he will be key to our success in the Willi Kauhsen Cup this season. Hopefully he can deliver more performances like these for the rest of the year and build towards a championship challenge in the drivers championship for 2016."

The comments come not long after Badoer was rumoured to be at risk of losing his drive at SAAC, either to be demoted to the IBR B-squad of Lancia Minardi, or dropped altogether. However the third place result today has seemingly secured his drive in the short-term, pending a contract renewal for next season.

[dinizintheoven]

Marktin Brundell's News Goulash from Budapest

So long and thanks for all the Swiss Rolls
Jean-Denis Délétraz has quit the Pacific Racing team and has left F1RMGP altogether, ruling out any chance of a return... ever. A stalwart of the series, hand-picked to drive for Formula One Rejects from the very beginning and picking up five wins in support to his champion team-mates, including three in a row at the end of the 2013 season, but it all went very sour last season and he found himself turfed out in favour of Eric van de Poele. This year, joining the reconstituted Pacific squadron, it's been downhill all the way to a depth that he could never have imagined - eleven races, one start, no finishes, and ten DNPQs - the latest of which, rock bottom of the timesheets below even Adrian Shankar, has finally convinced him to leave.
Fortunately for Pacific, there's someone out there who's said he'll drive the car for free, as a way of warming himself up for Bathurst...

Zakspeed move a step closer to F1RMGP
With the dreaded spectre of the Alex Wurz Conspiracy shot down in flames (in a completely literal way), the alleged team will not be making a takeover bid for ATS Rial. However, Audi are currently less than satisfied at the pasting their reputation is taking at the hands of the French - the PSA diesel run by AGS has, somewhat suspiciously, scored a victory in the Main Series, and Alice Powell is thrashing the field in the WEC in a year-old SPAM. The Audi bigwigs have suggested aggregating a third former F1 team into the ATS Rial mix - Zakspeed. The triple gestält entity, they say, will have more resources than the combined might of Prost and DAMS that forms SPAM, and they should be able to climb the championship table that way. The question is, will Peter Zakowski agree to it, will Günther Schmidt's participation be reduced to a picture of himself, and will Markus Winkelhock's promise of an ATS Rial drive next season be honoured?

[FMecha]

After I heard that RoLFS will have a enduro at the end of this season, cross-posted from RoLFS thread - what endurance race will be the best this year? Poll link included there.

[pasta_maldonado]

PLUS ONE TO SPONSOR F1RMGP TEAM?

After several attempts to barge, bribe, and take over their way into F1RMGP, Plus One Group have offered a lifeline to any struggling team - full sponsorship from the Group.

The deal would entail full or partial Foster's branding, depending on the client's choice, and the +1 logo to be featured anywhere on the car - but apart from that, Luke Knight, CEO of Plus One Group, assures that will be it.

"I'm not trying to force my way into F1RMGP" he said in our exclusive interview "I am just offering sponsorship from the Group. To me, this seems like an attractive offer - the sponsorship could keep any team afloat, and in return for no +1 influence on the running of the team too. If a client wishes to give us influence in their operation, we will not decline the offer, but at the moment, this is a sponsorship-only operation"

Insider sources are reporting that sponsorship will be offered to those in pre-qualifying - but to only those who qualify regularly.

[dinizintheoven]

For dessert: Marktin Brundell's Hungarian bread and butter pudding with chocolate and rum sauce

Another one doesn't bite the dust
Some may wonder exactly what Hispania Racing have been doing this season, and why they even bothered to turn up. But despite all the terrifying carnage, the Grand Reversal at Anderstorp showed them that the car itself was fine, with Þorvaldur Einarsson driving it to victory. Norberto Fontana has made it out of pre-qualifying twice, only to fall at the Friday hurdle both times, whereas Sakon Yamamoto has never even come close to making the grid. However, it is Yamamoto whose job is safe - he has secured Japanese sponsorship for the team, whereas Fontana hasn't, nor is he likely to. Hispania have very proudly declared their intention to stick around for the 2016 season, and recruit a driver capable of scoring points so that Yamamoto can flounder in the DNPQ positions without repercussions for as long as he wants.

Shekelslike utterly clarifies the 2016 engine regulations
And they are: a maximum of two litres, any number of cylinders in any configuration (though a single cylinder, U12, H16, etc, would all be very obviously impractical), and some kind of forced induction, petrol or ethanol, or a combination of both; detuned 3.7 litre diesels to Le Mans specifications are also permitted. So far, Koenigsegg, Mugen-Honda, PSA, VAG, MGN, PURE and Neotech have finalised their 2016 engine; Kia, Suzuki, Isuzu and HKS have not, and almost nothing is known of Lancia's plans. The WEC will also run blown-only engines, so the list of chassis available for the 2016 series will involve a selection of turbo and supercharged cars from both the 2015 and 2014 seasons - with the caveat that the 2014 cars will already have an extra year of use under their fan belts, and some have been maintained better than others.

The Grand Reversal changes places for 2016
After the Anderstorp fiasco, the Series Management is not prepared to risk a second farcical race in a row. Furthermore, in the middle of the season, the table does not reflect what the final outcome of the championship is likely to be, so the Grand Reversal will move for 2016 to the last race of the European season. That it is likely to be held in October is not a problem, as it'll be at a Mediterranean circuit where the sun is always out... as opposed to Sweden, where it isn't.

And yes, it's true...
Who's that I've just seen wearing Pacific overalls and climbing into the #18 car for free practice? I could have sworn it was...

*Marktin Brundell was jumped on at this point by two hooded goons, and was bound and gagged until pre-qualifying starts*

[dinizintheoven]

BADOER: "IO SONO RUBENTINO"

[dinizintheoven]

Round 12: Hungaroring, Hungary
Saturday, 12 September 2015


PRE-QUALIFYING

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1 –    42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       1'25.241
2 –    18 HWNSNBM             Pacific        1'25.710
3 –    29 P. Belmondo         Simtek         1'26.846
4 –    30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         1'27.124
5 –    35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         1'27.435
6 –    39 E. Salazar          FIRST          1'28.159
7 –    36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1'28.349
8 –    41 K. Andersen         Polestar       1'28.365

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DNPQ – 22 N. Fontana          Hispania       1'28.449
DNPQ – 26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           1'28.603
DNPQ – 25 E. Collard          SPAM           1'28.607
DNPQ – 20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       1'28.801
DNPQ – 31 P. McCarthy         Stefan         1'29.005
DNPQ – 17 A. Montermini       Pacific        1'29.045
DNPQ – 19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       1'29.169

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DNPQ – 37 C. Nissany          Shekel         1'29.278
DNPQ – 34 K. Chandhok         Spyker         1'29.472
DNPQ – 21 S. Yamamoto         Hispania       1'29.558
DNPQ – 33 G. Foitek           Spyker         1'30.252
DNPQ – 32 M. Pavlovic         Stefan         1'31.164
DNPQ – 40 J. Camathias        FIRST          1'33.128
DNPQ – 38 A. Shankar          Shekel         1'38.698

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Pacific Racing were helped back into existence by F1RM, being able to cut a deal to supply PURE engines to the team free of charge. It's last year's down-on-power PURE, which is probably why the Pacifics have struggled to make it through the pre-qualifying barrier this year, but even so, Jean-Denis Délétraz's extreme case of dropping the ball in Austria to finish last of all should never have happened – especially with Adrian Shankar involved with this series. So, as the circus rolled into Hungary, JDD's old team-mate offered to step in and drive the Pacific purely as a favour to a team which had been left in the lurch by his sudden departure, which would also give the Hungarian crowd something to cheer for in the process.

But HWNSNBM's glorious return was spectacularly upstaged by one man who is bidding to take the second seat at F1RM's (former) fiercest rivals for next year. Sebastian Hohenthal pulled a performance out of the bag, in a car known to be underpowered, that is somewhat reminiscent of Damon Hill's I-can't-believe-he-did-that-in-THAT-car here in 1997. Not only did he top the pre-qualifying charts, he beat the former double champion in a similarly lethargic car by half a second. HWNSNBM may be race rusty, having not turned a wheel in anger since the 2014 Bathurst Enduro, but he can certainly still put a lap in and despite being given the elbow from the top slot on the timesheets by the rampaging Swede, he still beat his nearest competition – which, amazingly, was Paul Belmondo – by over a second. Belmondo hasn't made it through pre-qualifying since Simtek slid into this trial by fire, but has chosen the right time to do so. Jérôme d'Ambrosio, three tenths behind him, ensured two Simteks would be in competition for the Friday session. Tinio Liuzzi and Vincenzo Sospiri made it two presences for Arrows on top of that, taking the fifth and seventh times; between them, who'd have believed it, 60-year-old Eliseo Salazar dragged the FIRST to a second appearance in Friday qualifying, which absolutelt no one called at the beginning of the season. Kasper Andersen was the last to make it through the pre-qualifying barrier, but seeing what his team-mate has done, it'll be brown trousers time for him as suddenly his phenomenal performance at the crazy race at Anderstorp looks to have been overshadowed by the one man he least wanted to do that.

Norberto Fontana, try as he might, couldn't post a time quick enough to unseat Andersen from that eighth place, so he will sit out the rest of the weekend... when he badly needs to get into the race. Overall, the tight and twisty Hungaroring has not been kind to the diesels, with all six of them in pre-qualifying dropping out and AGS not expected to perform wonders on the Friday. The two SPAMs wound up behind Fontana, followed by Michael Ammermüller in the ATS Rial, and Smokin' Jo Winkelhock two further places behind him, with Perry McCarthy in the Stefan and Andrea Montermini in the second Pacific – unable to work HWNSNBM's wonders – between the German cars. In the bottom half of the non-pre-qualifiers, Chanoch Nissany managed to overcome a massive (for him) six cars – the two Spykers, Sakon Yamamoto, and then the three usual suspects right at the back. Why FIRST haven't crowbarred Joël Camathias out of their team by now remains a mystery, but even so... how could Adrian Shankar be five and a half seconds slower than him? Even if his whole motorsport career has been a complete fabrication, I've never seen anyone sink quite so badly.


QUALIFYING

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1 –    42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       1'24.196
2 –    24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        1'24.872
3 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    1'25.227
4 –    9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           1'25.684
5 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        1'25.834
6 –    18 HWNSNBM             Pacific        1'25.955
7 –    28 L. Badoer           SAAC           1'25.990
8 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    1'26.119
9 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   1'26.196
10 –   1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         1'26.446
11 –   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        1'26.798
12 –   27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           1'26.844
13 –   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       1'26.885

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14 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         1'27.035
15 –   2  T. Rustad           Viking         1'27.192
16 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1'27.240
17 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            1'27.433
18 –   12 A. Sutil            Forti          1'27.640
19 –   39 E. Salazar          FIRST          1'27.989
20 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   1'28.005
21 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          1'28.155
22 –   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        1'28.278
23 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           1'28.408
24 –   3  P. Alliot           AGS            1'29.080
25 –   29 P. Belmondo         Simtek         1'29.154
26 –   35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         1'29.478

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DNQ –  5  M. Apicella         Dome           1'29.763
DNQ –  6  A. Yoong            Dome           1'31.928

Weird things happen at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but I cannot believe that. Sebastian Hohenthal's pre-qualifying performance was no fluke; he really is looking like a champion this weekend. Pole position, by seven tenths, and shaving over a second off his pre-qualifying time? Two other drivers called Sebastian would be proud of that. Even more incredibly, Colin McRae had a dream qualifying to post the best performance from a hologrammatic driver since the 2011 glory days of Gilles Villeneuve and James Hunt, who had a Ferrari at their disposal; McRae may have a Minardi, but that Lancia power is serving him very well. Of the championship contenders, Yuji Ide reminded everyone he was still very much in the hunt, as did Chris Dagnall, both of them lining up on row two; Ide, though, was more than a second behind Hohenthal. Jan Magnussen, in fifth, is also still well in contention for the Carel Godin de Beaufort Cup... a cup which has been won twice by the man behind him. Give him a back of the grid clunker and he'll still work wonders with it; it's no secret that HWNSNBM has been eyeing up a return to this series and this one-off drive with Pacific is an excellent way of telling if he's still up to it or not. He is... and how. Pacific's best qualifying position this season was 18th at Paul Ricard, in Andrea Montermini's hands... HWNSNBM has absolutely shattered that. Row four, then, were the first cars to be beaten by the returning champion; Luca Badoer, who was close but could not light the expensive Cuban cigar, and Shinji Nakano, the first driver in the 1'26s... two seconds off the pace, would you believe. Hideki Noda and Þorvaldur Einarsson occupied row five, the Vikings struggling all weekend with a problem that someone suggested was a batch of dodgy E85 from Statoil... questions may be asked in Norway if performances carry on like this. The Icelander doesn't particularly like this circuit either, especially after losing a win last year in dramatic fashion... a win which went to the man behind him, Marko Asmer, who was driving a midfield Simtek then; he's still not delivering the goods after his promotion to Ice One, though. Rounding off the top half, we find Gabriele Tarquini, who also had a tough qualifying to end up only 12th, and Kasper Andersen in 13th, which on any other day would have been seen as a fine performance for Polestar... only problem for him was, what was happening right at the sharp end of the grid.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio now drives the car that Marko Asmer took to victory last year – amazing, isn't it, how he's only two places further back, and is ahead of Tommy Rustad, who might have fancied his chances here... not now. Vincenzo Sospiri led the way for Arrows, taking 16th, with Olivier Beretta in the AGS one of only two diesels in the race; his time would have put him fifth in pre-qualifying had he had to go through that ordeal, so he's safe. Forti's woes continue, as Adrian Sutil could only manage 18th – beating Eliseo Salazar, of all people, into 19th – the sight of a FIRST in front of them will make grim racing for the drivers in the twenties. Those start with Fabrizio Barbazza, hampered by the lack of straights to use the Leyton House's power on, but if that isn't a return to Fisichellitis I don't know what is. Pedro Chaves only managed 21st for Forti; they're going to need a massive boost at some stage. Enrico Bertaggia was curiously slow in 22nd – with Colin McRae on the front row, what's happened to him recently? Still, at least he beat Eric van de Poele and Philippe Alliot, whose time would not have seen him prevail in pre-qualifying. Good job they don't have to, but remember... there's going to be a reshuffle at the end of this race, with the results of the last six races counting towards that, so... look who it's brown trousers time for. Paul Belmondo, in the Simtek, and Vitantonio Liuzzi, in the Arrows, are already mired in that terrifying eliminator, AGS aren't, but with a huge result they might avoid sinking into the drop zone. That is more than can be said for Dome, though. They do not have enough points at the moment to escape sinking into pre-qualifying... they're one point away from the required target, as it stands, but by racking up this double-DNQ they have extinguished any hope that they will escape the Thursday Mornings Of Terror in the last six races of the year, and with their drivers on the form that they are now, I do not rate their chances of appearing on Friday afternoon for the rest of the year. And that, as they say, is Reject Of The Race in one neat package.


RACE

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1 –    24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        77   1h 56'30.227
2 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    77   1h 56'38.598
3 –    42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       77   1h 57'07.501
4 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   77   1h 57'57.824
5 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        77   1h 57'59.056
6 –    18 HWNSNBM             Pacific        76   + 1 lap                                                     
7 –    14 M. Asmer            Ice One        76   + 1 lap                                                     
8 –    28 L. Badoer           SAAC           76   + 1 lap                                                     
9 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         76   + 1 lap                                                     
10 –   27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           75   + 2 laps                                                    
11 –   2  T. Rustad           Viking         75   + 2 laps                                                    
12 –   12 A. Sutil            Forti          75   + 2 laps                                                    
13 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            75   + 2 laps                                                    

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14 –   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       75   + 2 laps                                                    
15 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   74   + 3 laps                                                    
16 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           74   + 3 laps                                                    
17 –   39 E. Salazar          FIRST          74   + 3 laps                                                    
18 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          74   + 3 laps                                                    
19 –   35 V. Liuzzi           Arrows         73   + 4 laps                                                    
20 –   29 P. Belmondo         Simtek         55   transmission                                                
21 –   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        41   water leak                                                  
22 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         26   suspension                                                  
23 –   7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    23   oil leak                                                    
24 –   3  P. Alliot           AGS            12   engine                                                      
25 –   9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           11   turbo                                                       
26 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         8    water leak                                                  

Hungary, yet again, throws up the result nobody was expecting. And more to the point, it was the result nobody was expecting after qualifying, even if the race wasn't quite as dramatic as last year's. If anyone was going to put money on who'd be leading at the start, it probably wouldn't have been Sebastian Hohenthal, as surely he'd be swamped by the more powerful cars of Colin McRae and Yuji Ide, right? Wrong. McRae tried, but couldn't grab the lead form the Swede. Luca Badoer was the one who made the lightning start, blasting up to third at the first corner – but it was not to be his day, as one by one, the cars behind would pick him off within the next six laps – Dagnall, Ide, Noda and – almost – HWNSNBM, who certainly had the skill but not the power in the limping Pacific that he was wrestling every ounce of performance from. This inability to pass meant Badoer caused a bit of a Trulli Train behind him, allowing the lead five to get away. That unfortunately became four as Chris Dagnall had a massive turbo failure on lap 12. Lap 21 saw Yuji Ide pass Colin McRae for second – Sebastian Hohenthal was still merrily leading the race, and even pulling away slightly. Ide, though, dived into the pits, and McRae followed a lap later. Super Aguri were given cause for concern when Shinji Nakano's hopes perished with an oil leak on lap 24 that he did well to keep off the racing line; if the Polestar pit wall were anxious for Hohenthal's chances, given that their car is rather fragile, it wasn't showing. The first stop was a long one, however, and Hohenthal rejoined behind Ide and McRae – three seconds adrift of the Scot with Ide another six up the road. Traffic intervened, and the gap between McRae and Hohenthal widened as far as 12 seconds as the powerful Lancia-engined Minardi was better able to deal with the lapped cars than the weedy Kia-badged-as-a-Volvo in the Polestar. The race changed once on lap 48, though, as McRae had to pit for a second time. Ide followed a lap later, and Hohenthal didn't need to. Game, set and match to the Swedish upstart squadron? Could a shock result on the scale of Marko Asmer's result in 2014 really be pulled off?

As it turned out... no. Hohenthal, not used to the pressure of leading a race, appeared to crack on lap 53, as he spun at the last corner. He squandered a 15-second lead, McRae passed, as did Ide, and that, as they say, was that. However, on further examination it may not have been his fault – something, somewhere, on that car had to go wrong; Hohenthal had to close the gap to Ide at a second a lap, which on the evidence of earlier in the race he should have made a fine job of, but instead he dropped further back at that rate. Not enough to be caught and passed for fourth by Hideki Noda, though, so at least he secured a place on the podium – which he'd done in the Grand Reversal where it counted for nothing in the championship – and now, in a way, he could celebrate. Only he didn't look quite as overjoyed with his result as Kasper Andersen had at Anderstorp, because he knew it could have been so much more. Colin McRae, though, hardly cared. It was a second win for Lancia, but a first in F1RMGP's Main Series for Minardi – Vanina Ickx, obviously, took six wins in a year-old Minardi in the 2014 WEC. This one, though, was vindication both of the decision to adopt Minardi as a second-string team by Il Barone Rampante, and to boot out Esteban Tuero in favour of reviving Colin McRae as a hologram, because the Argentine driver would never have achieved this. Yuji Ide, of course, was used to winning in single-seaters, and had given it everything he'd got to chase McRae down; but still, he was happy enough, knowing that his championship rivals were much further back, with only Jan Magnussen threatening to keep touch with him in the race. Also don't forget, this was the first win for a hologrammatic driver since Gilles Villeneuve triumphed at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2011, and also, Sebastian Hohenthal unrejectified himself instantly.

So, the chasing pack. Fourth was Hideki Noda, having slugged it out with Jan Magnussen for most of the race, eventually he would prevail by two seconds. Fifth wasn't too bad for Magnussen, though, as it put him in a clear third in the title hunt – closer to Gabriele Tarquini, but further away from Yuji Ide, who was now the closest challenger. HWNSNBM was the first driver to be lapped, but didn't mind too much – he knew what that Pacific wasn't capable of, and he had give it everything he'd got... as well as, possibly, being bitten by the racing bug again. Consider who he managed to beat: Marko Asmer, who'd gone on a late-race charge to gain three places in the last ten laps, though it had hardly been a repeat of his fairytale here last year; then Luca Badoer, coming off the back of a fine result at the Österreichring, followed by Þorvaldur Einarsson, Gabriele Tarquini and Tommy Rustad, all five of them in considerably more powerful cars than the Pacific. The Hungarian crowd parped their air horns in admiration, the way the Germans were always notorious for doing whenever Michael Schumacher turned Formula 1 into a foregone conclusion.

We are now out of the points; Tommy Rustad was 11th and scored nothing, whereas his team-mate and the two SAACs had been fighting for the scraps at the bottom of the bird table. But then, Tarquini and Rustad were two laps down and couldn't fight for any more than that single point. 12th was Adrian Sutil, never really at the races, but a better performance than might have been expected after Forti's miserable qualifying. 13th was Olivier Beretta, who's been under fire recently but at least guided the AGS to a not-quite-so-ignominious result, ahead of Kasper Andersen, who finally realised what Sebastian Hohenthal must have felt like after the main race in Sweden. Hohenthal's ahead on points now, and also has a pole position to his name... step up your game, Kasper. 15th and three laps down were Fabrizio Barbazza, Eric van de Poele and incredibly, Eliseo Salazar – who brought the FIRST to the chequered flag, even though it had threatened to expire on lap 26 with throttle trouble. That's not something you need round this track... but it was fixed in the pits, he was sent out again, and would you believe it, he even managed to beat Pedro Chaves, who would probably have received Reject Of The Race had it not been for Dome's hideous failure the day before, and also Vitantonio Liuzzi who'd been struggling with poor grip for the whole race and was four laps down.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio, driving the number 30 Simtek that Marko Asmer had won in last year, was the first to retire with a water leak – Simtek will need to investigate that. Chris Dagnall had turbo trouble which put him out of an early third place, Philippe Alliot left the hall a lap later with a filthily smoky engine blowout, while Shinji Nakano's exit with an oil leak fortunately claimed no victims. Vincenzo Sospiri's retirement on lap 27 with broken suspension capped off a miserable day for Arrows, while Minardi's day was mildly compromised as Enrico Bertggia had to pull in with a gushing radiator – though at least that gave him a box seat on the pit wall as Colin McRae took the chequered flag. Paul Belmondo was the last to depart – gearbox failure taking him out, and I wonder, will we see him on the grid again this year?

So it's now time to take a look at the all-important points gained in the last six races, which will decide who escapes pre-qualifying for the last six races, and who will drop into it... cumulative scores for these last six races are given in brackets.

These top ten are those who do not have to pre-qualify:
1. Viking (98); 2. Super Aguri (95); 3. SAAC (92); 4. Leyton House (77); 5. Minardi (62); 6. F1RM (51); 7. Ice One (48); 8. Polestar (34); 9. Forti (12); 10. ATS Rial (11)

These also scored points, but not enough to escape the dreaded Thursday ordeal:
11. Simtek (9); 12=. Dome & Pacific (8); 14. Arrows (1).

AGS, Hispania, SPAM, Stefan, Spyker, Shekel and FIRST did not score at all.

And so: Polestar and ATS Rial climb out of pre-qualifying, where they will be replaced by Dome and AGS.

As for the full championship standings...


DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
for the Carel Godin de Beaufort Cup

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1 –    27 G. Tarquini         SAAC           128
2 –    8  Y. Ide              Super Aguri    121
3 –    13 J. Magnussen        Ice One        107
4 –    1  Þ. Einarsson        Viking         99
5 –    9  C. Dagnall          F1RM           97
6 –    15 H. Noda             Leyton House   80
7 –    7  S. Nakano           Super Aguri    76
8 –    2  T. Rustad           Viking         66
9 –    28 L. Badoer           SAAC           61
10 –   12 A. Sutil            Forti          59
11 –   16 F. Barbazza         Leyton House   47
12 –   24 C. McRae (H)        Minardi        41

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13 =   3  P. Alliot           AGS            31
13 =   23 E. Bertaggia        Minardi        31
15 –   5  M. Apicella         Dome           27
16 –   10 E. van de Poele     F1RM           21
17 =   14 M. Asmer            Ice One        20
17 =   42 S. Hohenthal        Polestar       20
19 –   41 K. Andersen         Polestar       19
20 –   11 P. Chaves           Forti          18
21 =   20 M. Ammermüller      ATS Rial       10
21 =   26 C. Bouchut          SPAM           10
23 –   30 J. d'Ambrosio       Simtek         9
24 –   18 HWNSNBM             Pacific        8

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25 –   4  O. Beretta          AGS            3
26 –   19 J. Winkelhock       ATS Rial       2
27 –   36 V. Sospiri          Arrows         1

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP
for the Willi Kauhsen Cup

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1 –    Super Aguri    197
2 –    SAAC           189
3 –    Viking         165
4 =    Leyton House   127
4 =    Ice One        127
6 –    F1RM           118
7 –    Forti          77
8 –    Minardi        72
9 –    Polestar       39
10 –   AGS            34

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11 –   Dome           27
12 –   ATS Rial       12
13 –   SPAM           10
14 –   Simtek         9
15 –   Pacific        8
16 –   Arrows         1

THE QUALIFYING CUP

Why not take a look at the standings for one of the minor trophies, seeing as this is a convenient time to do so: remember, it's 25 points for pole, then 18, 15, 12 etc. for the places down to tenth:

1. Ide (166); 2. Einarsson (139); 3. Magnussen (128); 4. Nakano (100); 5. Rustad (90); 6. Dagnall (78); 7. Badoer (68); 8. Noda (65); 9. Tarquini (63); 10. van de Poele (41); 11. Chaves (39); 12. Hohenthal (37); 13. Sutil (28); 14=. Barbazza & McRae (26); 16. Alliot (25); 17. Bertaggia (22); 18. Andersen (15); 19. Apicella (12); 20. Asmer (10); 21. Ammermüller (9); 22=. Bouchut & HWNSNBM (8); 24=. Belmondo & Sospiri (4); 25. Liuzzi (1).

[DemocalypseNow]

Now doesn't that just throw a spanner in the works! Bertaggia AND McRae now both showing why they deserve promotions to SAAC. That was some drive by Colin.

Meanwhile the SAAC guys have been a bit lacklustre. They have the same engines as Minardi, a better chassis yet were nowhere near McRae. Tarquini needs to kick it up a gear if he wants to win the title.

[FMecha]

Rumor is that, Danny Bahar, having betraying Ai the Witch from Psycho Soldiers WEC team, along with Bahar's new co-worker, Ms. Captain Nightmare, has rigged the Dome's car fuels with the cursed Jagermeister, causing them to fail to qualify in the Belgian GP.

Stay tuned.

[dinizintheoven]

Rumor is that, Danny Bahar, having betraying Ai the Witch from Psycho Soldiers WEC team, along with Bahar's new co-worker, Ms. Captain Nightmare, has rigged the Dome's car fuels with the cursed Jagermeister, causing them to fail to qualify in the Belgian GP.

Rumour is wrong. They were just plain crap.

[FMecha]

^They say an amateur conspiracy theorist wrote that. However, it should be noted that Bahar and Nightmare deal is real.

[pasta_maldonado]

^They say an amateur conspiracy theorist wrote that. However, it should be noted that Bahar and Nightmare deal is real.

However, it should be noted that this is not a fancy dress party.