Women's GT World Championship 2014 - Season over!

[Turbogirl]

Alright, let's get back to business.

Currently, Chevrolet and Ferrari are optioning for Emma Kimiläinen. I will wait just a little bit, before I start rolling dices. Maybe another team wants to sign her too.

Today South Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook officially announced, they were happy to supply Maserati with tyres. Having currently only Jaguar under contract, Hankook is looking forward to expanding their customer support and hopes for a good and successful partnership with the Italian team.

We are honored to announce, that we have signed a deal with Ferrari NART as our second team in the Women's GT World Championship. The fact, that Audi and Ferrari are teams with a lot of racing experience, will most certainly increase our competitiveness even further. Both teams will profit from our policy of treating all our customers equally.

EDIT: I'm a bit tired today, so there might be a lot of typos in these press releases. You can keep them, if you find any.

Turbogirl, have you changed your profile pic? I like it...

Yes, I did! At first I wanted to go with the one I have of Susie Wolff in a black tight leather outfit with red devil horns and a pitchfork (no kidding, this pic actually exists! Right next to her is David Coulthard in a pink tutu), but then I decided to go for Rahel Frey again. People always tell me, I look a lot like her. Might be true, but I'm wearing glasses (cause I can't wear contact lenses, dammit) and my hair is dark brown, although as curly as Rahel's.

[go_Rubens]

Turbogirl, have you changed your profile pic? I like it...

Yes, I did! At first I wanted to go with the one I have of Susie Wolff in a black tight leather outfit with red devil horns and a pitchfork (no kidding, this pic actually exists! Right next to her is David Coulthard in a pink tutu), but then I decided to go for Rahel Frey again. I'm a fan of hers, you know?

I was thinking of an avatar with Simona de Silvestro in it, as a result of her getting into Sauber as an affiliated driver. Or Austrian skier Anna Fenninger after her dazzling gold medal performance in the Alpine Skiing Super G in Sochi. But no, I am going to support Romain's F1 career for a bit more. But yeah, I like that new avatar as much as I like these Bridgestone tyres!

Ferrari NART are proud to report that we are fully prepared for the second half of the season, through rain, shine, clouds, fog, and whatever the hell half a season brings!

[dr-baker]

Turbogirl, have you changed your profile pic? I like it...

Yes, I did! At first I wanted to go with the one I have of Susie Wolff in a black tight leather outfit with red devil horns and a pitchfork (no kidding, this pic actually exists! Right next to her is David Coulthard in a pink tutu), but then I decided to go for Rahel Frey again. People always tell me, I look a lot like her. Might be true, but I'm wearing glasses (cause I can't wear contact lenses, dammit) and my hair is dark brown, although as curly as Rahel's.

Oh dear. I want to see that picture of Susie Wolff now, although DC in a pink tutu may scar me mentally and give me nightmares...

You know what? I too wear glasses, and I have brown hair which naturally curls...

[Turbogirl]

Turbogirl, have you changed your profile pic? I like it...

Yes, I did! At first I wanted to go with the one I have of Susie Wolff in a black tight leather outfit with red devil horns and a pitchfork (no kidding, this pic actually exists! Right next to her is David Coulthard in a pink tutu), but then I decided to go for Rahel Frey again. I'm a fan of hers, you know?

I was thinking of an avatar with Simona de Silvestro in it, as a result of her getting into Sauber as an affiliated driver. Or Austrian skier Anna Fenninger after her dazzling gold medal performance in the Alpine Skiing Super G in Sochi. But no, I am going to support Romain's F1 career for a bit more. But yeah, I like that new avatar as much as I like these Bridgestone tyres!

Ferrari NART are proud to report that we are fully prepared for the second half of the season, through rain, shine, clouds, fog, and whatever the hell half a season brings!

Speaking of Sotchi: There might be snow in one of the later races. Nah, just kidding! I originally had in mind to switch avatars after the Women's GT WCS is decided and then sport the pic of whoever wins this, but then I thought, it might get too confusing if I'd be constantly switching avatars. Although this Susie Wolff snapshot is still pretty tempting...

Oh dear. I want to see that picture of Susie Wolff now, although DC in a pink tutu may scar me mentally and give me nightmares...

You know what? I too wear glasses, and I have brown hair which naturally curls...

Just google "Susie Wolff" a bit. The pic might show up after a while.

EDIT: Bah, screw it! I found it again. Here it is in full glory... erm...

[TomWazzleshaw]

So, has Michael Bartel's mob actually achieved anything with the car, or did they just put go-faster stripes on the mirrors or something like that?

[go_Rubens]

Speaking of Sotchi: There might be snow in one of the later races. Nah, just kidding! I originally had in mind to switch avatars after the Women's GT WCS is decided and then sport the pic of whoever wins this, but then I thought, it might get too confusing if I'd be constantly switching avatars. Although this Susie Wolff snapshot is still pretty tempting...

I found it. Slightly disturbing, but no mental trauma. Maybe later after this first season here ends. But it's up to you. I mean The I <3 Grosjean avatar that I wear actually has a long history here on the forums. I'm actually the fifth wearer of it. I won't bore into details, but I'd rather stay king of the avatar for a while. And then I'll think of Fenninger, de Silvestro, or a Photoshopped avatar reading "Romain, Don't Panic."

[Turbogirl]

So, has Michael Bartel's mob actually achieved anything with the car, or did they just put go-faster stripes on the mirrors or something like that?

Well, to be honest, the whole thing is kind of a mixed bag - a grey area in the rules, if you might want to call it that. They can improve the car a little bit (cause it would work in real life too), but since none of them is actually working as Technical Director or Race Engineers, the progress is hard to express with the game engine. And besides that, the main problem is and will always be the lack of experience from both current drivers and Race Engineers on most of the circuits outside of Australia. As you could see in Spain, they are able to fight their way back into the midfield and might even score some decent point finishes here and there, but the core problem will remain the same.
If you want instant success, you might be better off thinking of alternatives. If you want to build up a capable crew and give young talents a chance to shine, you will have to invest this season and wait for Season 2 to harvest the fruits you sowed this year (that sounded kinda pathetic, but I hope you'll get my point).

[Nessafox]

The FIA-a told-a to make these-a tyres so undurable!

[TomWazzleshaw]

The Mad Uncle has considered his options, and has decided to make the following power-plays in order to gain competitiveness from here-on out:

1. Willi Rampf will return to retirement at the end of this season, relinquishing his post as BMW Team Australia Technical Director. Potential replacements will be Pat Symonds, Eghbal Hamidy and Michael Bartels.
2. With Triple 8 wanting Jeromy Moore back to engineer Craig Lowndes' V8 Supercar, he will leave the team with immediate effect. Michael Bartels will take his spot of the rest of the year.
3. While Chelsea and Renee have both done well given the circumstances, we are seriously considering our driver options for next year. Our number one priority is to keep whoever we believe is the more promising of the two, and sign Katherine Legge in the second car for next year, on the condition that her race engineer Juan Ramirez is brought over to BMW alongside her.

That should be all for now, but there'll be more to come later in the year.

[go_Rubens]

3. While Chelsea and Renee have both done well given the circumstances, we are seriously considering our driver options for next year. Our number one priority is to keep whoever we believe is the more promising of the two, and sign Katherine Legge in the second car for next year, on the condition that her race engineer Juan Ramirez is brought over to BMW alongside her.

Well, as Ferrari NART have said, we will wait 3 races to see if Legge is decent enough to stay. If she does not impress us within those 3 races as we see fit, we will let her loose. If this is the case, is it possible that you'd be willing to take on Legge early, as she has worldwide racing experience? We are willing to let Ramirez go as well, to meet your needs, as we'd like to take on a new engineer for a new driver. Now, this is all a big if, but we can negotiate terms now if the need arises. We can still let her go at the end of the season if she does well, with the terms you discussed above. Deal?

[AustralianStig]

Will our competitors please stop stealing all our good ideas?

[dr-baker]

Just google "Susie Wolff" a bit. The pic might show up after a while.

EDIT: Bah, screw it! I found it again. Here it is in full glory... erm...

I think this simple edit is a big improvement, don't you agree?



ADDITION: Long-term forumites will already know this (I've only mentioned it like once or twice before ) but the first racing driver's autograph I ever got was Susie's. And here are some photos:

[Turbogirl]

The FIA-a told-a to make these-a tyres so undurable!

I've recently revisited Leif Snellman's "Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing" in order to do some research on pre-war GP cars. There I came across one race report in particular (link below, if you want to read it yourself), where the Scuderia Ferrari encountered massive tyre issues with unreliable Pirellis. Here are the passages from the report, so that you don't have to scroll through the whole thing to find them:

Scuderia Ferrari had realized during practice that their Pirelli tires would be too unreliable to race and declared they would withdraw their cars. When this was brought to the attention of the highest leadership in Rome, a Government Authority intervened in writing and Alfa Romeo changed their mind. Maserati like many others used Dunlop tires.
(...)
While he stopped at the pits Campari arrived on lap seven with a shredded tire and then Borzacchini stopped the following lap at the pits with the left rear tire destroyed. As a result Scuderia Ferrari, contracted to race with Pirellis, withdrew their cars since they had no chance with tires that withstood not even a 40 km stretch at this speed and only endangered their drivers.

Amazing, isn't it? And this was back in 1930! Just think about that for a second. Today Pirelli can easily blame the FIA for forcing them to build crappy tyres, but they already did this before WW2, when there wasn't even a FIA around yet!

Here is the link to the race report: http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3010.htm#60

I think this simple edit is a big improvement, don't you agree?



ADDITION: Long-term forumites will already know this (I've only mentioned it like once or twice before ) but the first racing driver's autograph I ever got was Susie's. And here are some photos:
(...)

(Sorry, I needed to cut your wonderful pics, otherwise this post would've gotten too long. )

Yes, that snippet really IS an improvement. The version I've edited for an avatar looks the same, because with DC still in the picture, it always had to many k/bits so it wouldn't fit .
Also, very nice collection of Susie-pics you've got there, dr-baker! It's nice to meet a true fan of hers eventually. On most (if not all) forums (sadly including f1rejects) you only get to see comments like these: "Wolff is a talentless hack" or "she doesn't deserve a place in F1, because she sucked in DTM". And that's complete BS in my opinion, but I don't voice my opinion too often, because I really don't want to get shitstormed for it - especially since I'm female and not even supposed to know what I'm talking about, etc. I've been through this a couple of times, as you can tell...
But honestly, I think Susie wasted her best years in DTM, mostly driving around in outdated machinery. Not even the guys, who befell the same fate, did fare that much better in the year-old-models. When Susie was teamed up with Jamie Green in 2009, both on 08-spec cars, she was able to keep up with Jamie's pace for most of the year. And we all know, Jamie Green is a potential winner when driving a good car!
Before anyone might get me wrong: I'm not saying Susie is the best around, but because of her obvious disadvantages in DTM, we don't know her true capability yet. At least give the girl a chance in GP3 or GP2, before judging her. And I'm talking about a REAL chance here, not just throwing her into the next best team you can find. She needs a genuine young drivers program to improve her skills. And who knows? Maybe she's much better than many out there think...

EDIT: If you'd like to have this Susie-Avatar, I could always mail it to you. I have a couple ones of her, actually (some better than others).

[Turbogirl]

The Mad Uncle has considered his options, and has decided to make the following power-plays in order to gain competitiveness from here-on out:

1. Willi Rampf will return to retirement at the end of this season, relinquishing his post as BMW Team Australia Technical Director. Potential replacements will be Pat Symonds, Eghbal Hamidy and Michael Bartels.
2. With Triple 8 wanting Jeromy Moore back to engineer Craig Lowndes' V8 Supercar, he will leave the team with immediate effect. Michael Bartels will take his spot of the rest of the year.
3. While Chelsea and Renee have both done well given the circumstances, we are seriously considering our driver options for next year. Our number one priority is to keep whoever we believe is the more promising of the two, and sign Katherine Legge in the second car for next year, on the condition that her race engineer Juan Ramirez is brought over to BMW alongside her.

That should be all for now, but there'll be more to come later in the year.

Sorry! I'm not trying to double-post or anything, but since I can't put more than 3 quotes in my posts, I had to post this one seperately!

I got to say: Bartels as a Race Engineer is quite an odd choice, but possible in my game system. OR (just as a free tip) go for one of those guys and gals I've assigned to the five new teams for the mid-season tests. Some of them are pretty experienced and capable, although I can't / won't exactly tell you, whom you might want to hire.
If you want to keep Jeromy Moore despite your statement above, then why not go for a different Technical Director to replace Rampf with immediately? It worked perfectly for Porsche earlier, and that should be proof enough, that you don't have to hire Adrian Newey in order to strike gold. Just take a closer look at the mid-season test results again. As long as the five new teams aren't competing in this series, there is no rule against you plundering their staff for new crew members (or drivers).
Again, just a free tip. You're not forced to follow my advice.

[dr-baker]

I think this simple edit is a big improvement, don't you agree?



ADDITION: Long-term forumites will already know this (I've only mentioned it like once or twice before ) but the first racing driver's autograph I ever got was Susie's. And here are some photos:
(...)

(Sorry, I needed to cut your wonderful pics, otherwise this post would've gotten too long. )

Yes, that snippet really IS an improvement. The version I've edited for an avatar looks the same, because with DC still in the picture, it always had to many k/bits so it wouldn't fit .
Also, very nice collection of Susie-pics you've got there, dr-baker! It's nice to meet a true fan of hers eventually. On most (if not all) forums (sadly including f1rejects) you only get to see comments like these: "Wolff is a talentless hack" or "she doesn't deserve a place in F1, because she sucked in DTM". And that's complete BS in my opinion, but I don't voice my opinion too often, because I really don't want to get shitstormed for it - especially since I'm female and not even supposed to know what I'm talking about, etc. I've been through this a couple of times, as you can tell...
But honestly, I think Susie wasted her best years in DTM, mostly driving around in outdated machinery. Not even the guys, who befell the same fate, did fare that much better in the year-old-models. When Susie was teamed up with Jamie Green in 2009, both on 08-spec cars, she was able to keep up with Jamie's pace for most of the year. And we all know, Jamie Green is a potential winner when driving a good car!
Before anyone might get me wrong: I'm not saying Susie is the best around, but because of her obvious disadvantages in DTM, we don't know her true capability yet. At least give the girl a chance in GP3 or GP2, before judging her. And I'm talking about a REAL chance here, not just throwing her into the next best team you can find. She needs a genuine young drivers program to improve her skills. And who knows? Maybe she's much better than many out there think...

EDIT: If you'd like to have this Susie-Avatar, I could always mail it to you. I have a couple ones of her, actually (some better than others).

Thanks for the offer of a Susie-avatar, but as you can tell, I already have some photos of her that I took myself that I could use. And in the meantime, I would like to continue remembering the late Maria de Villota in my avatar for a while longer. But yeah, I am a fan of hers. She certainly isn't the best around, but on a forum where we celebrate those who are not the best in F1 (and increasingly in other sports), I am sad that there are not more people on here who celebrate how high in the sport she has managed to come with her reject potential. Had she been male, I wonder how much more support she may have around here. I would imagine there would be a bit more, unless Susie as a male was as 'dull' as Paul di Resta or as anonymous as Christian Albers, both of whom got to F1 via DTM.

[Turbogirl]

Thanks for the offer of a Susie-avatar, but as you can tell, I already have some photos of her that I took myself that I could use. And in the meantime, I would like to continue remembering the late Maria de Villota in my avatar for a while longer. But yeah, I am a fan of hers. She certainly isn't the best around, but on a forum where we celebrate those who are not the best in F1 (and increasingly in other sports), I am sad that there are not more people on here who celebrate how high in the sport she has managed to come with her reject potential. Had she been male, I wonder how much more support she may have around here. I would imagine there would be a bit more, unless Susie as a male was as 'dull' as Paul di Resta or as anonymous as Christian Albers, both of whom got to F1 via DTM.

Sadly, yes. But the common sense seems to be, that she's only in F1 because of her husband, and Williams is only keeping her for the contact to Mercedes-Benz. Most rejects featured on this site "just" had the bad luck of being with the wrong team at the wrong time. This My-husband-is-the-Team-Principal-of-Mercedes-Thing and the strange fact, that so many people consider Susie as arrogant, although they never met her personally, gives the whole debate a bad taste.
And that's why I usually never comment on it. No matter what you bring up for Susie's defense, people have opinions and stick to them, even if they are wrong or just hateful. That's why they laugh away my comparison with Jacques Villeneuve, who was always considered a talentless wannabe, until he got into IndyCar and F1. And I'm pretty sure, there are other examples like this. As I said, Susie needs (and deserves) a fair chance. Otherwise we'll never know.

[Turbogirl]

Driver Signing (or "Emma's decision")

So, the only driver teams really want to hire after the mid-season tests is Emma Kimiläinen. Two teams optioned for her: Stewart-Haas Chevrolet wants to sign her right away as a replacement for Miranda Throckmorton, while Ferrari NART gives their current driver Katherine Legge three more races to improve, before Kimiläinen might eventually get her chance to shine.
Emma herself would like to race immediately, but is also well aware of the value of Ferrari's offer (the chance to drive for a Championship contender). On the other hand, the seat at Ferrari is not secured in any way, as long as Kathy Legge still has the chance to redeem herself.

Here are the possible choices for Emma, and a throw of the D20 will bring the decision:

1 - 12: Emma will wait three more races and hopes to replace Katherine Legge at Ferrari,
13 - 20: Emma wants to race immediately and considers Chevrolet a good opportunity to show her undisputed talent.

The random dice result: 14.

Emma signs the contract with Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, replacing Miranda Throckmorton from Round 11 - France onwards.


Formula Female Annoucement

And here is the result of Monisha Kaltenborn, Lyn St. James and Michele Mouton negotiating with several different people and companies over the last couple of weeks (just for your information).

The WDA's new project is going to be a World Championship series for single-seater cars called Formula Female World Championship.

"This new series is neither the continuation of the awful Formula Woman, nor is it the replacement for the famous and beloved WEC", Michele Mouton told German's Auto Motor und Sport. "The Formula Female World Championship is intended as the female equivalent of Formula 1, only with smarter rules and less design or engine regulations."

For the inaugural season, which will start shortly after the end of the first season of the Women's GT World Championship, therefore allowing drivers and teams to partake in both series without any logistics problems, each team has to build its own chassis by hiring one of many well-known designers.

Two regular drivers plus one or two test and reserve drivers are mandatorial per team, as well as two race engineers, one for each driver.

On the engine side this series features turbos, naturally aspirated engines and even some superchargers. Everything from V4 to V12, flat16 and even engines in W-specification can be used. More than 10 different fuel suppliers will further increase the challenge with different types of fuel to make the engine either more or less powerful.

10 tyre suppliers will throw their hat into the ring once more.

Approximately 20 Grand Prix in 20 different countries all over the world will be held, including such historical and remarkable tracks as Spa-Francorchamps, Hockenheim (the old layout), Adelaide, Mexiko City, Kyalami and even Brands Hatch, besides many others.

This time around there will also be a challenging upgrade system, that allows teams to upgrade their cars during the season.

Yes, this is surreptitious advertising, but hey, at least I'm not trying to sell you shoes!

[go_Rubens]

We at Ferrari NART see the result of Emma's decision. We also see how Stewart-Haas Chevrolet's offer was better than ours. We understand why Emma made her decision, and we wish her the best of luck in the future in the Women's GT World Championship.

We have another driver in our sights if Legge fails to impress us, so we had a backup plan in case this happened. If the need arises, we will announce who it is. But the need has not arised yet.

[Turbogirl]

11th Round of the Women's GT World Championship

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France

54 laps / 4,411 km (2,74 mi)


Qualifying

Weather: Warm, overcast, heavy rain

Right after the somewhat disappointing race on the restored oval track at Sitges-Terramar, fans and experts feared the worst for the next round in France, since the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is definitely not known for its exciting races, albeit it being a demanding race track. But it's rather safe to say, that this year's race at Magny-Cours might even be one of the most thrilling races ever witnessed.
It all started during qualifying. While the Saturday morning was summerly, dry and astonishingly warm, weather conditions changed rapidly in the afternoon. Light rain set in shortly after lunch time and was replaced by heavy rain ten minutes after the qualifying for the 11th Round of the Women's GT World Championship had officially begun.
While the light rain was still soaking the track, Emma Kimiläinen and Alice Powell were the first ones to drive out of the pits. Especially Kimiläinen was afraid of the rain, since she had never raced on a wet Magny-Cours track before and this was her very first outing for Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, which made her even more nervous.
Of course, after their first attempt Kimiläinen headed the time sheets, followed by Powell in the Aston Martin. Danica Patrick and Pippa Mann were both on a slower installation lap and came pretty close to Kimiläinen's fastest lap time. It was just a matter of time, when the usual suspects would start to demote Kimiläinen and Powell position after position like they always do.
Then the heavy rain set in and the lap times went all downhill from there, until most of the time sheets looked like a farce. Simona de Silvestro in 9th, Katherine Legge in 10th, and both Mercedes-Benz as far behind as never before in this entire season. The one thing that didn't change until the end of this qualifying session though, was Emma Kimiläinen's pole position - her first in the Women's GT World Championship, achieved in her very first attempt!
The weather forecast predicted the rain to continue even on the race day, so hopes were high amongst fans, they might actually get to see some rather exciting on-track action.

Code: Select all

01    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)               1:52.682
02    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                  1:52.706
03    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                 1:52.757
04    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                    1:52.771
05    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)            1:53.020
06    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                    1:53.074
07    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                 1:53.187
08    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                  1:53.310
09    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                  1:53.379
10    Katherine Legge              (Ferrari)                 1:53.498

Code: Select all

11    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)            1:53.596
12    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                   1:53.827
13    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                  1:53.914
14    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                 1:54.023
15    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)                1:54.085
16    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                  1:54.264
17    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                  1:54.457
18    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                   1:54.470
19    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                    1:54.483
20    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                    1:54.682

Code: Select all

21    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)             1:54.829
22    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)           1:54.846
23    Milka Duno                   (Honda)                   1:54.960
24    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)               1:55.189
25    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)                1:55.386
26    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)           1:55.452
27    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                     1:55.577
28    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                     1:55.608
29    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)             1:55.707
30    Jenny Tinmouth               (Lotus)                   1:55.793

105 % = 2:00.316


Race

Weather: Warm, dry, overcast

When the 30 GT cars faced the starter on Sunday afternoon, the sky was still overcast by dark clouds, but the rain had stopped and the track was dry. Still, the rain could return any minute, so most drivers went out on a set-up for mixed conditions, while Pippa Mann, both Jaguars, the Audi duo, Susie Wolff and Emma Kimiläinen tried their luck with a set-up for dry conditions.
Kimiläinen made a brilliant start and kept the lead, at once shadowed by Danica Patrick and Pippa Mann. Simona de Silvestro managed to pass four other cars before the Estoril curve and was already fifth by the end of lap 1.
Of course, the Chevrolet Corvette was no match for the faster Jaguar of Danica Patrick. She passed Emma Kimiläinen on lap 7 and was able to pull away immediately after that. During the first few laps, Danica was clearly the fastest in the entire grid and might have even won the race with ease, but the only sure thing about luck is, that it will change. Danica suddenly encountered problems with her gearbox and was left with only three gears to use.
Kimiläinen was able to regain her leading role and Danica dropped back to tenth by going straight into the pits and having her steering wheel exchanged. That ultimately solved the gearbox problems.
In the meantime, Emma Kimiläinen felt like having a deja-vu, when Simona de Silvestro in the second Jaguar suddenly appeared in her mirrors. De Silvestro had passed the Audi duo and Pippa Mann during the last four laps and was now closing in on the leading Corvette, which she overtook on lap 19.
The order remained unchanged until the pitstops came due around lap 27. The Chevrolet crew made a miracle happen and sent Kimiläinen out of the pits slightly before the leading Simona de Silvestro had finished her stop. The Finn was in the lead again, followed by the Jaguar duo and Pippa Mann in fourth.
A few laps after her pitstop, Simona de Silvestro too encountered a gearbox problem. She was unable to go higher than fourth gear, which made it easy for her teammate Danica Patrick to catch up with Simona and pass her down the straight to the Adelaide Hairpin. Simona had to pit again to exchange her steering wheel and rejoined the race in 8th place.
On lap 45 Milka Duno and Melanie Troxel were fighting for positions, when they hit each other in the Adelaide Hairpin. Duno had to retire her Honda with a broken suspension, while Troxel was able to dig herself out of the sand trap she had spun into and immediately pitted, because she noticed a massive handling problem right after the collision. Her crew was helpless and had to send Troxel out again to save whatever there was left to save.
The desaster for Mercedes-Benz got even bigger when Erica Enders retired with a blown engine on lap 48. Not only was she cruising unthreatened in 12th position, but her retirement was slightly outside the required 90 % race distance, so Erica wasn't even classified in the end.
Meanwhile, Troxel soldiered on with a massive handling problem and finished last, not even posing a real threat to Sabine Schmitz in the equally underperforming Lamborghini. Mercedes-Benz might be needing some time to forget, that this day even happened at all.
And while an overjoyed Emma Kimiläinen was able to win her first race this season, closely followed by Danica Patrick in second, the fight for third place was still going on. After the mysterious gearbox gremlin, Simona de Silvestro was now encountering trouble with the tyre pressure. The handling of her Jaguar got worse in just a few laps.
Pippa Mann and Leanne Tander in fourth and fifth were closing in fast. During the final lap, Simona used the full width of the track, constantly jinking from side to side, as Pippa Mann launched her first attack. It was a hard fight, but not an unfair one. Pippa's attack came in the Complexe du Lycee, where she tried to go through on the inside. Simona shut the door firmly, both cars traded some paintwork, but the Jaguar managed to stay in front.
Ferrari had lost both the lead in the Driver's and the Constructor's Championship after this race, but the close fight still wasn't decided yet. Jean-Phillipe Henri might still have an ace up his sleeve with his replacement for the struggling Katherine Legge. The question is: Will this replacement come soon enough to turn the tables around once more?

Code: Select all

01    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)               54 Laps
02    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                  +  0.450
03    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                  +  4.077
04    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                 +  4.163
05    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                    +  4.556
06    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                    +  5.184
07    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)            +  7.699
08    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                  + 11.832
09    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                  + 15.524
10    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                   + 16.111

Code: Select all

11    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)                + 16.336
12    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                 + 17.198
13    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                    + 17.259
14    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)            + 19.216
15    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                  + 20.666
16    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                   + 21.793
17    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                  + 22.945
18    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                     + 23.585
19    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)               + 24.691
20    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                     + 27.350

Code: Select all

21    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)                + 28.700
22    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                    + 32.024
23    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)             + 35.516
24    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)           + 35.777
DNF   Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)           48 Laps      Engine
DNF   Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                 46 Laps      Fuel Pump
DNF   Milka Duno                   (Honda)                   45 Laps      Collision
DNF   Katherine Legge              (Ferrari)                 22 Laps      Gearbox
DNF   Jenny Tinmouth               (Lotus)                   17 Laps      Tyre Damage
DNF   Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)              9 Laps      Spun

Driver's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                  306 points
02    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                 301 points
03    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                  285 points
04    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                  281 points
05    Katherine Legge              (Ferrari)                 263 points
06    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)           178 points
07    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)           177 points
08    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                    144 points
09    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                    136 points
10    Miranda Throckmorton         (Chevrolet)               131 points

Code: Select all

11    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)               116 points
12    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                  109 points
13    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                  75 points
14    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                      68 points
15    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)                 64 points
16    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                      56 points
17    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)                50 points
18    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                  49 points
19    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                   43 points
20    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)             37 points

Code: Select all

21    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                     34 points
22    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                     32 Points
23    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                    21 points
24    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)                 16 points
25    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                   16 points
26    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                    10 points
27    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)               2 points
28    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)              2 points
29    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)               1 point

Constructor's Championship

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01    Jaguar                 591 points
02    Ferrari                564 points
03    Nissan                 390 points
04    Mercedes-Benz          355 points
05    Chevrolet              297 points
06    Audi                   280 points
07    BMW                    124 points
08    Porsche                124 points

Code: Select all

09    Maserati                80 points
10    Ford                    66 points
11    Toyota                  59 points
12    Aston Martin            39 points
13    Lotus                   21 points
14    Honda                   10 points
15    Lamborghini              3 points

Reject of the Race: Jaguar's gearbox gremlin, although Emma Kimiläinen might have a different opinion on this one.

Next: Round 12 - Great Britain up on Thursday the 27th (CET)!

[go_Rubens]

That's it. 2 more races aren't needed, as the past 4 have told the whole story. If we are going to see a pathetic showing like that when her basically equal teammate is showing prowess and her original idea for a replacement wins the race, she's bloody out.

Legge Sacked by Ferrari NART

Ferrari NART has sacked driver Katherine Legge for "underperforming" by the team's boss Jean-Phillipe Henri.

"She started to falter after Interlagos, and we saw some of her performances were pathetic if she was hailed a championship contender," Henri told us at Autosport.

"I could rattle off the list, but I won't. Testing was anther disappointment, as she only just beat Kimiläinen's time on Bridgestones when Emma was on the worse Dunlops."

"Nevertheless, despite me not being very happy, we thank Katherine for the time she spent with our team here, and wish her good luck in the future."

Legge is rumoured to be going to BMW on the condition of her race engineer Juan Ramirez leaving the team.

Henri said to us that, "We understand why BMW want Legge and Ramirez together. They extracted potential through a good working relationship, and that's what matters here in the WGTWC. In the end, Ramirez wants to move anyway if Legge wants to or is forced to move, which is most definately happening. (Daniel) Melrose can have them whenever he likes."

Legge's replacement is rumoured to be Cyndie Allemann, while the new race engineer is rumoured to be Giorgio Ascanelli.

Yeah, we now have Ascanelli and Allemann in our sights as replacements. In order to win, you should have to take gambles. We are certainly taking one, and we will fight for the constructor's standings. Allemann will be set to MOD for her first few races, and we'll determine her future from there with regards to driver setting.

[Turbogirl]

Cyndie Allemann very happy to receive phone call from Ferrari

"I tested for Porsche and Lotus in Le Castellet, but the phone didn't ring for several weeks now", Allemann said in an interview with Swiss blick.ch. "I thought, that was it, you know? And when Monsieur Henri called me the other day, at first I thought it was a joke."
Teamed up with the experienced Giorgio Ascanelli as a Race Engineer, much is expected of Allemann. She has to replace Katherine Legge, a driver, who has already won three times for Ferrari NART this season and once was a promising Championship contender, until she wasn't able to live up to the expectations anymore.
Legge is rumored to switch to BMW Team Australia, but so far neither Team Principal Melrose nor Legge herself have confirmed this switch yet.

[Wallio]

MERCEDES DEMANDS DUNO BE SACKED!!!!

Mercedes Benz boss Eva Schultz has publicly called on Honda driver Milka Duno to be sacked. "She ist an embarrassment, as ist her joke of a team! said Schultz. "It ist sad because she ony has a ride because zhey are poor. And she only has money because she used to poke ze dicator! But he is dead, so who is she poking now? Zhis series was supposed to showcase ze best female racers, and yet she buy rides. The Honda team needs to fold up shop, they will be lucky to not finish last and now they must content themselves with taking out the contenders. If the FIA won't look into the matter, and insure only safe, licensed drivers compete, then Mercedes may have to reconsider their participation.

[Nessafox]

Well, at least it's a significant impovement.

[AustralianStig]

Excellent, another consistent performance, well done girls! Let's hope we can turn these top 10s into more podiums before the end of the season. Leanne, I'll be looking for you to step up and get the result, but by no means does that mean you're our Number 2 driver Vanina - we just want to keep seeing consistency from you.

OOC: Leanne Tander will be AGG for the next round, unless she qualifies outside the top 10 in which case she'll return to MOD.

[dr-baker]

Any chance Lotus could sign up Katherine Legge in place of Jenny Tinmouth ASAP?

[Turbogirl]

Any chance Lotus could sign up Katherine Legge in place of Jenny Tinmouth ASAP?

Sure there is. I'm actually a bit surprised, Wizzie hasn't claimed her yet. Don't know why, there is nothing in the Nipping out thread and his profile indicates, he was last logged in today at around 11:05 (CET). I would assume, he saw the post in which go_Rubens fired Legge and Ramirez.

So, yeah, she's all yours, dr-baker. And it's still soon enough for me to calculate her new stats for Lotus, so she will already attend to Round 12 - Great Britain.

[Turbogirl]

12th Round of the Women's GT World Championship

Silverstone Circuit, Great Britain

50 laps / 5,901 km (3,67 mi)


Qualifying

Weather: Cold, dry, overcast

A huge crowd of British spectators had come to the track on Saturday to watch the qualifying and cheer on the British drivers and teams, especially Pippa Mann and Jaguar. Pippa recorded the overall fastest lap time and snatched pole position, shielded by her new teammate Cyndie Allemann in second place.
There was the smell of gunpowder in the paddock air, since Mercedes-Benz Team Principal Eva Schultz had publicly demanded, Milka Duno to be fired by Honda after the Venezolan's failed passing maneuver against Melanie Troxel in Magny-Cours. Luckily for the Mercedes Team, this time around their drivers had secured 7th and 10th place on the starting grid, while Duno was dead last once again. Therefore chances of her colliding with another Mercedes were non-existent.
The fight for the lead in this season's Driver's Championship was a close one. But since Pippa Mann and Emma Kimiläinen had successfully overcome the once prominent Curse of the Pole Position, Pippa was definitely one of the fan favourites, when they were asked, who they would want to win this race.
Katherine Legge had made a switch to Lotus, where she replaced the struggling Jenny Tinmouth. Although Kathy was still fifth in the Driver's Championship, keeping her slim chances of winning this year's title alive with the Lotus would be quite an impossible task.

Code: Select all

01    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                1:58.792
02    Cyndie Allemann              (Ferrari)                1:58.819
03    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                 1:58.961
04    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                1:59.005
05    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                 1:59.088
06    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                 1:59.096
07    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)          1:59.211
08    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                 1:59.229
09    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                 1:59.237
10    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)          1:59.242

Code: Select all

11    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)              1:59.305
12    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                1:59.406
13    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)              1:59.601
14    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                   1:59.612
15    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)               1:59.625
16    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                   1:59.679
17    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                   1:59.685
18    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                   1:59.692
19    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)           1:59.931
20    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)           2:00.054

Code: Select all

21    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)            2:00.085
22    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                 2:00.113
23    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)            2:00.162
24    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                  2:00.185
25    Katherine Legge              (Lotus)                  2:00.448
26    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                    2:00.533
27    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                    2:00.604
28    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)               2:00.608
29    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                  2:00.723
30    Milka Duno                   (Honda)                  2:01.017

105 % = 2:06.731


Race

Weather: Cold, dry, overcast

Eva Schultz might have felt contentment after the first lap of Round 12 was over. Milka Duno had caused a heavy collision right at the start, taking not only herself and her teammate Jutta Kleinschmidt, but also Beitske Visser out with her. This being the second accident caused by the Venezolan driver within two consecutive races (and her fourth this season), the sporting commission penalized her with a one-race-ban for the next Round in Sweden.
"It was the only logical cause of action in this case", Michele Mouton told some reporters after the race. "Milka is dead last during qualification most of the time, so simply dropping her back a couple of positions wouldn't have changed a thing."
Mouton was asked, if the WDA or the FIA would be considering a special drivers license, so that only the best of the best would be allowed to compete in this Championship from now on (just as Mercedes-Benz Team Principal Eva Schultz had demanded), to which Mouton answered: "We can always consider that, but Milka has a lot of GT experience and also some victories under her belt. She would have been granted such a license anyway."
The Ferrari duo made a very good start and led the field through Abbey and the Arena, followed by Danica Patrick and Simona de Silvestro in 3rd and 4th, who traded places down Becketts and Maggots on lap 4. Danica was fast, but not fast enough to stay close to the Ferraris. Simona on the other hand was determined to win this race for sure, and she was definitely posing a serious threat for Pippa and Cyndie.
Vanina Ickx retired on lap 10 with electronics failure and was very disappointed, to say the least. She had been running in the points the whole time and, judging from her teammate's performance during the rest of the race, had a realistic chance of easily finishing in the top ten.
By the time the pitstops came due (around lap 25), the Ferrari duo had established a clear lead over the Jaguars. If nothing went wrong during the tyre change, both Pippa and Cyndie would stay in the lead when they rejoined the race. Pippa's stop was perfect, but when Cyndie pitted one lap later, her left front wheel wouldn't come off as easy as planned. The second Ferrari only rejoined in third place, passed by Simona de Silvestro, who immediately chased after the leading Pippa Mann.
This hunt went on for a few more laps, with Simona making up more and more ground. Sadly, the excited audience was robbed of a wheel-to-wheel fight between Pippa Mann and Simona de Silvestro, when Pippa was confronted with an old friend on lap 28 - the dreaded gearbox gremlin. Her Ferrari was stuck in second gear and Simona rushed by, as if she was lapping a backmarker.
Pippa finally made it into the pits, dropped back to 15th in the meantime, and had to retire there. Obviously, her problem could not be solved by simply switching steering wheels, as Jaguar had done in France.
On lap 39 Danica passed Cyndie, so that the Jaguar Team was now marching in the lead, shadowed by Allemann in third and the Mercedes-Benz duo in fourth and fifth. On the same lap Fiona Leggate was out with a blown engine - not the first time this season.
From lap 45 onwards, Danica Patrick, who thought she had Cyndie Allemann well under control at that point, began to slow down, so that Simona could pull away and secure her victory without being pestered by Danica or anyone else behind her.
What no one knew: Danica and Simona had a bet going on. Whoever was in front after the first lap, would be allowed to win the race, if both Jaguars should have the opportunity to do so in the first place.
But Danica was relying too much on her supposed advantage over newcomer Allemann. She definitely underestimated her rival at this point in the race. Cyndie picked up speed and was able to move ahead of Danica again, regaining second place. Danica was caught completely by surprise and hesitated for a moment, before she tried to shut the door last minute.
The spectators began to cheer loudly for "Speedy" Cyndie (yes, that's really her nickname), when she dived inside Copse Corner and left Danica wondering what just had happened. There was still a slight chance, Cyndie might be able to pull off a Kimiläinen and win this race on her first showing for Ferrari.
In the closing laps Cyndie managed to reduce the gap between herself and Simona, but the Jaguar driver suddenly responded with faster lap times and was able to hold off Cyndie by a couple of car lengths.
Simona took the chequered flag in front of Allemann in second and Patrick in third and was now leading the Driver's Championship by 36 points over her own teammate. Because of her disappointing DNF Pippa Mann had now dropped back to fourth, 55 points behind the leading Simona de Silvestro. With only eight rounds left to go, this might have been the preliminary decision in this year's Women's GT World Championship...

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01    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                 50 Laps
02    Cyndie Allemann              (Ferrari)                +  4.580
03    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                 +  6.102
04    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)          +  7.254
05    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                 +  8.439
06    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)          +  8.857
07    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                + 10.066
08    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)              + 10.929
09    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                   + 15.031
10    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)              + 15.617

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11    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)               + 15.999
12    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)           + 18.563
13    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                   + 19.314
14    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                 + 20.906
15    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                + 21.678
16    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                    + 23.898
17    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                    + 26.661
18    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)           + 29.090
19    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                   + 29.765
20    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                  + 30.242

Code: Select all

21    Katherine Legge              (Lotus)                  + 30.807
22    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)            + 32.393
23    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)            + 33.600
DNF   Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                 39 Laps      Engine
DNF   Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                29 Laps      Gearbox
DNF   Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                 15 Laps      Clutch
DNF   Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                   10 Laps      Electronics
DNF   Beitske Visser               (Maserati)                0 Laps      Collision
DNF   Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                   0 Laps      Collision
DNF   Milka Duno                   (Honda)                   0 Laps      Collision

Driver's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                 356 points
02    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                 320 points
03    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                 307 points
04    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                301 points
05    Katherine Legge              (Ferrari / Lotus)        263 points
06    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)          207 points
07    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)          200 points
08    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                   156 points
09    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                   136 points
10    Miranda Throckmorton         (Chevrolet)              131 points

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11    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)              125 points
12    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                 109 points
13    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                 93 points
14    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                     68 points
15    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)               65 points
16    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)                64 points
17    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                     56 points
18    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                 49 points
19    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                  44 points
20    Cyndie Allemann              (Ferrari)                 40 points

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21    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)            37 points
22    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                    35 points
23    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                    34 points
24    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)                23 points
25    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                   21 points
26    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                  16 points
27    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                   10 points
28    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)             7 points
29    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)              2 points
30    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)              1 point

Constructor's Championship

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01    Jaguar                 676 points
02    Ferrari                604 points
03    Nissan                 416 points
04    Mercedes-Benz          407 points
05    Chevrolet              321 points
06    Audi                   292 points
07    Porsche                142 points
08    BMW                    124 points

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09    Maserati                87 points
10    Ford                    69 points
11    Toyota                  60 points
12    Aston Martin            44 points
13    Lotus                   21 points
14    Honda                   10 points
15    Lamborghini              3 points

Penalties: One-race-ban for Milka Duno, effective at Round 13, Sweden.

Reject of the Race: Danica Patrick. If I may borrow some lines from Kenny Rogers: You never count your money when you're sitting at the table. There'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done.

Next: Round 13 - Sweden up on Sunday the 2nd (CET)!

[tristan1117]

Milka Duno will be replaced by Ramona Karlsson for the remainder of the season.

[Turbogirl]

Milka Duno will be replaced by Ramona Karlsson for the remainder of the season.

Honda avoids one-race-ban by firing Milka Duno

Honda driver Milka Duno was the centre of attention and criticism right after the 12th Round of the Women's GT World Championship in Silverstone, where the Venezolan lady had caused a heavy starting collision and received a one-race-ban from the FIA in return.
Mercedes-Benz Team Principal Eva Schultz had already demanded Duno to be fired after her failed passing maneuvre on Mercedes driver Melanie Troxel in France on the fortnight.
To escape further embarrassment, Honda has now replaced Milka Duno with immediate effect. Ramona Karlsson, a young and up-coming Rallye driver from Sweden, will take over the vacant cockpit from the 13th Round onwards.
The pressure is high for Karlsson, since her very first race is going to be in her Homeland of Sweden. "I would lie, if I said I'm not nervous. But I already had the opportunity to test for Honda in Le Castellet, so I definitely feel well prepared for this new task", Karlsson stated in an interview with a Swedish newspaper.

[Wallio]

I am very pleased to see both ze FIA and ze leaders at HPD and Honda vake up and realize what a menace "Milk and Doughnuts" vas. As ve said last race, this series has ze great intentions to show ze vorld ze best female racers on earth, Milka certainly does not fit zhat description. As for our race, ve did vell. Both cars in the poits. 3rd place in the WCC vill be ours. It would have been ours alveady if a certain South American didn't take us out last race, but I digress. Everyvone at AMG is working furiously in ze factory to prepare for ze next round. Ve vill not fail!

[go_Rubens]

Damn these gearboxes. Is there any bloody way I can get them to Maranello so they can be fixed?!

I had that race in the bag. Another gearbox cut our run short again. But, with 8 rounds left, we have plenty of time. Don't worry. We'll be back!

I thought the dream was over. Henri gave me the call, out of my complete surprise. I knew I had large shoes to fill. To come away with starting and finishing second in my first race is fantastic! The Henri's management team are very happy, and I'm very proud to please them and begin on a high note! Sure, not as good as Emma, but it's awesome nonetheless, and I actually expected a little less of myself. Let's go on and aid Ferrari to another win in a racing series!

Besides the gesrboxes, we are very pleased that we were able to come away with this. The Bridgestones worked flawlessly well for us, and are better than the Dunlops we used to use. The car works extremely well with the Bridgestones, and we are very proud to say we wish to continue to use them for a very long time indeed.

Cyndie was also a great choice we made. It was starting to become clear Kathy was getting a little out of her depth that we'd have liked. As a result, she was kicked. Cyndie could have won today without her pitstop issue. And for that, we are very happy about this. The team just needs to get their act together next time and we can have her contending for wins for sure.

These gearboxes we have are problematic. Out of 24 race starts for 2 cars, 5 have seen retirements, and 4 are down to gearbox issues. This has cost us a valuable amount of points, and an issue I'd like to see resolved. We seek assistance from Eghbal first, then Maranello as a whole, if we can't find out what's wrong.

We have been looking at the drivers in this series, and are glad to see Duno sacked. She was doing nothing in this series driving the woeful Honda but aualifying and racing last. Oh, causing collisions too. This is the 4th collision she's caused this year, 2 of them have taken out her teammate, who's actually capable of scoring points in that car. Overall, this was a good decision by Honda.

Overall, the white and blue machines are very good indeed, and we are certainly in contention for the championship. The thing is, we've got to work harder than we have been. And that is it. We can get this! We will achieve this objective!

[Turbogirl]

Damn these gearboxes. Is there any bloody way I can get them to Maranello so they can be fixed?!

Actually, no. The funny thing is: All DNFs during a race are determined by dice result (without going too much into details here) and so is the cause for a DNF, if a DNF occurs.

I have worked out 14 different (common) reasons for a DNF, all put into a list for the D20 (so some causes are more likely than others, just like in real life). And although "gearbox" only fills one single slot in this list, Pippa seems somehow strangely attracted to this specific cause for her DNFs.

As Wallio once put it: The die is a cruel mistress.

[go_Rubens]

Damn these gearboxes. Is there any bloody way I can get them to Maranello so they can be fixed?!

Actually, no. The funny thing is: All DNFs during a race are determined by dice result (without going too much into details here) and so is the cause for a DNF, if a DNF occurs.

I have worked out 14 different (common) reasons for a DNF, all put into a list for the D20 (so some causes are more likely than others, just like in real life). And although "gearbox" only fills one single slot in this list, Pippa seems somehow strangely attracted to this specific cause for her DNFs.

As Wallio once put it: The die is a cruel mistress.

Well, it's a little intriguing. Because the gearbox is the source of all our mechanical retirements this season Kathy got one, while Pippa got 3. I don't know. We'll just have to push on. If that did cost us the championship though...

Jean would rage. You don't want to see that...

[Turbogirl]

Damn these gearboxes. Is there any bloody way I can get them to Maranello so they can be fixed?!

Actually, no. The funny thing is: All DNFs during a race are determined by dice result (without going too much into details here) and so is the cause for a DNF, if a DNF occurs.

I have worked out 14 different (common) reasons for a DNF, all put into a list for the D20 (so some causes are more likely than others, just like in real life). And although "gearbox" only fills one single slot in this list, Pippa seems somehow strangely attracted to this specific cause for her DNFs.

As Wallio once put it: The die is a cruel mistress.

Well, it's a little intriguing. Because the gearbox is the source of all our mechanical retirements this season Kathy got one, while Pippa got 3. I don't know. We'll just have to push on. If that did cost us the championship though...

Jean would rage. You don't want to see that...

I guess, the D20 follows its own probability rules. For example, I found out during my 12 years of roleplaying, that higher numbers seem to be more likely than lower numbers when you roll the D20. That's not the case with other dices like a D6. Maybe I could get rid of the whole gearbox issue by just connecting it to a lower number. But who knows, what strange reasons for DNFs might pop up then.
And I wouldn't worry too much about the Championship, if I were you. Simona also had 2 DNFs this season already, so the chance of her retiring in a race is as equally high as with Pippa. And since Ferrari and Jaguar are on par with each other, losing the title through DNF in the 12th Round is almost impossible, taking the Point System into consideration. There is still enough room for surprises, believe me.

[dr-baker]

Pleased to see Katherine Legge being almost on a par with Gachnang in both qually and the race. Jenny Tinmouth did a reasonable job, considering the transition from motorbikes to cars. But as Katherine Legge was 'on the market', it was too good an opportunity to pass up on, so the change was made.

[go_Rubens]

Pleased to see Katherine Legge being almost on a par with Gachnang in both qually and the race. Jenny Tinmouth did a reasonable job, considering the transition from motorbikes to cars. But as Katherine Legge was 'on the market', it was too good an opportunity to pass up on, so the change was made.

This is good news for us at Ferrari as well to see her driving well for another team. We were hoping to get her in a team that could help us determine if we should try to resign her or not. I don't know. She's proving herself a little favor.

However, Allemann's great pace, Pippa's great pace, and Bridgestone's great pace, all mean that we have no incentive to sign anyone else to our team. Although we may try to experiment with a different technical director in the future. Eghbal's doing his job, but we may see better potential out there. Or better experience. We'll see.

And we sincerely hope for no gearbox failures

[dr-baker]

Pleased to see Katherine Legge being almost on a par with Gachnang in both qually and the race. Jenny Tinmouth did a reasonable job, considering the transition from motorbikes to cars. But as Katherine Legge was 'on the market', it was too good an opportunity to pass up on, so the change was made.

This is good news for us at Ferrari as well to see her driving well for another team. We were hoping to get her in a team that could help us determine if we should try to resign her or not. I don't know. She's proving herself a little favor.

I see. Depending on how the remainder of the season goes, we at Lotus may wish to keep hold of her!

[go_Rubens]

Pleased to see Katherine Legge being almost on a par with Gachnang in both qually and the race. Jenny Tinmouth did a reasonable job, considering the transition from motorbikes to cars. But as Katherine Legge was 'on the market', it was too good an opportunity to pass up on, so the change was made.

This is good news for us at Ferrari as well to see her driving well for another team. We were hoping to get her in a team that could help us determine if we should try to resign her or not. I don't know. She's proving herself a little favor.

I see. Depending on how the remainder of the season goes, we at Lotus may wish to keep hold of her!

Oh, I'm hanging on to Cyndie. I mean, she's got the speed and the looks

In all seriousness, the earliest we'd consider getting Legge back would be 2015. We think Allemann is a more valuable asset right now. Don't worry Baker!

[TomWazzleshaw]

Since I've been paying attention to other stuff that wasn't this, this is the first time I've actually had a proper look at this thread in a while.

Firstly, while we appreciate Ferrari wanting to give us Legge immediately, it's in our best interests to give both Gracie and Angelo all the seat-time available this year, in order to prepare the one we eventually choose to keep for next year. Secondly, Legge and Ramirez are both on our radar for next year, and since we are under the impression that Ferrari and BMW already agreed to a pre-contract in principle, we believe that if Lotus are to try and sign her and her race engineer for 2015, that it would be breach of this pre-contract and make both Lotus and Ferrari liable to litigation from Munich.

As far as our incumbent race engineers and technical director go, we'll send Rampf to retirement immediately, with Pat Symonds taking over the role. Moore and Lacroix will remain as race engineers for the rest of the year, and then I'll get back to it next year.

[go_Rubens]

Firstly, while we appreciate Ferrari wanting to give us Legge immediately, it's in our best interests to give both Gracie and Angelo all the seat-time available this year, in order to prepare the one we eventually choose to keep for next year. Secondly, Legge and Ramirez are both on our radar for next year, and since we are under the impression that Ferrari and BMW already agreed to a pre-contract in principle, we believe that if Lotus are to try and sign her and her race engineer for 2015, that it would be breach of this pre-contract and make both Lotus and Ferrari liable to litigation from Munich.

It appears I have forgotten completely about that pre-contract. Then we can still work this out. Lotus are using Legge as a replacement. Sure, it's all okay for her to be a replacement. But we will make sure that this pre-contract agreement keeps in place. We here at Ferrari NART have absolutely no interest in legal papers despite the fact that the staff are so redneck they'd rather do the job themselves. Legge and Ramirez are free for your taking for when the need arises, so we're good on that front. This agreement will work.

Ferrari are going to observe the actions we make very closely in these next few rounds. This will determine how we'll make our late season charge. It may even involve replacing someone. We'll see.