Women's GT World Championship 2014 - Season over!

[dr-baker]

Eh? Legge is currently driving for Lotus. And you guys are talking as if we are totally unable to hold onto her for next season? Is she some team's junior driver or something? Because at this rate, I was wanting to retain her services for myself for next season (2015)!

[TomWazzleshaw]

Eh? Legge is currently driving for Lotus. And you guys are talking as if we are totally unable to hold onto her for next season? Is she some team's junior driver or something? Because at this rate, I was wanting to retain her services for myself for next season (2015)!

BMW and Ferrari already came to an agreement about Legge's future that she'd either stay at Ferrari or go to BMW for 2015 depending on her results. Now, unless Mr Bahar wants Munich all over his case, she will not be driving for Lotus next year.

[go_Rubens]

Eh? Legge is currently driving for Lotus. And you guys are talking as if we are totally unable to hold onto her for next season? Is she some team's junior driver or something? Because at this rate, I was wanting to retain her services for myself for next season (2015)!

BMW and Ferrari already came to an agreement about Legge's future that she'd either stay at Ferrari or go to BMW for 2015 depending on her results. Now, unless Mr Bahar wants Munich all over his case, she will not be driving for Lotus next year.

I'm now here with the facts. It seems as a brainfade of mine has occured and we're confused. Melrose and Henri had an agreement going where BMW would sign Legge for 2015 if Ferrari let Juan Ramirez, her race engineer, leave the team. We have let Kathy and Juan go from the team, and since Melrose wants Legge and Ramirez, we decided that Ferrari NART would hand over Legge and Ramirez to BMW from 2015 onwards, as they want a driver with plenty of experience around the world, not 2 drivers with not much racing experience outside Australia. Hence, the agreement took place, the deal settled on screen six days ago:

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?

Wizzie and I have agreed to this, now that he's checked in with the series's goings-on. But think of her at Lotus in a positive way. She certainly has the speed to pull great results. She certainly has experience. She's a capable points scorer along with Gachnang. She is currently at this rate going to replace one of BMW's drivers. Think of her driving for you as both a good replacement for Tinmouth and a way to score more points. Think of Lotus as a way of Legge getting more experience so she can shine and keep her career going. So, we feel there are more positives than negatives. I think Lotus are in the position to benefit even if Kathy doesn't stay on for 2015. So, with that, everything should be clear.

[Turbogirl]

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.

Seems like Michael Bartels is now completely out of the picture, I guess? Okay, Symonds takes over, but (of course) he'll need one race to get used to his new job, so don't expect too much from him in Anderstorp tomorrow.

[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.

Seems like Michael Bartels is now completely out of the picture, I guess? Okay, Symonds takes over, but (of course) he'll need one race to get used to his new job, so don't expect too much from him in Anderstorp tomorrow.

Oh, not at all. Bartels himself might end up co-owning the team alongside Malros next year once a deal is negotiated.

[Turbogirl]

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.

Seems like Michael Bartels is now completely out of the picture, I guess? Okay, Symonds takes over, but (of course) he'll need one race to get used to his new job, so don't expect too much from him in Anderstorp tomorrow.

Oh, not at all. Bartels himself might end up co-owning the team alongside Malros next year once a deal is negotiated.

Or maybe Bartels is interested in managing the BMW GT Junior Team in the feeder series Women's GT Junior Cup I'm currently working on? But more infos about that one after this season is over (otherwise people might get too confused).

[Turbogirl]

13th Round of the Women's GT World Championship

Scandinavian Raceway, Sweden

56 laps / 4.030 km (2,5 mi)


Qualifying

Weather: Warm, dry, sunny

The tickets for the Swedish Round in Anderstorp we're not the hottest sellings since the start of the Women's GT World Championship. The Scandinavian Raceway was certainly none of the more prestigious races this year, unlike Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring or the season's finale in Monza. But one tiny little detail changed things drastically overnight.
To avoid a one-race-ban and further embarrassment, Honda had replaced Milka Duno with up-coming rallye driver Ramona Karlsson. This simple fact alone created an interest within the Swedish motorsport community, so that three days after the news had spread, every single ticket for the Anderstorp race was sold.
Honda is no frontrunner in this year's Championship and chances of Karlsson finishing her first race anywhere near the points were as slim as a supermodel, but that didn't stop the Swedish fans from crowding the Anderstorp circuit on Saturday already. And somehow Ramona Karlsson made a miracle happen by putting her Honda HSV-010 GT1 on the seventh row.
Speedy Cyndie conquered her very first pole position and was optimistic about the race itself. Rahel Frey came second, followed by Ana Beatriz in third, but no one in the leading pack considered the Brazilian Porsche pilot a serious threat. Until now, Ana Beatriz had never been able to profit from her surprisingly good starting positions.
Another major change could be seen within Team BMW. Daniel Melrose had replaced his Technical Director Willy Rampf, a longtime BMW employee, with Pat Symonds, who might be better known as "Mister Crashgate". But that is definitely the wrong name to call the Briton, who is one if not THE best former race engineer Formula 1 has ever had. At least, that's what insiders claim.
Symonds' job was none to envy him for. Since their debut win in Adelaide, BMW Team Australia was going through the deep valley of mediocrity and was last seen fighting for positions against the Hondas and the Lamborghinis. Rampf had not found a proper way to guide the inexperienced drivers and race engineers through all those races they weren't familiar with. Let's see how Symonds will handle this task.

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01    Cyndie Allemann              (Ferrari)                1:30.600
02    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                 1:30.823
03    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                1:31.032
04    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                1:31.170
05    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                 1:31.242
06    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                 1:31.319
07    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                 1:31.455
08    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)          1:31.537
09    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)              1:31.646
10    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                1:31.745

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11    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)          1:31.781
12    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                 1:31.786
13    Ramona Karlsson              (Honda)                  1:32.038
14    Amber Cope                   (Ford)                   1:32.107
15    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)              1:32.108
16    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)               1:32.110
17    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                    1:32.115
18    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                   1:32.123
19    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                   1:32.157
20    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                    1:32.206

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21    Katherine Legge              (Lotus)                  1:32.238
22    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                   1:32.313
23    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)           1:32.329
24    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)            1:32.337
25    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                  1:32.339
26    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                 1:32.354
27    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                  1:32.408
28    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)            1:32.538
29    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)           1:32.631
30    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)               1:32.643

105 % = 1:37.130


Race

Weather: Warm, dry, sunny

Rahel Frey had the best start of her life and immediately took the lead, demoting Cyndie Allemann to second place right before the first corner. At the same time, Pippa Mann took care of Ana Beatriz and used the Porsche as a moving chicane for the Jaguars. Simona and Danica had to struggle for almost five laps, until they were able to pass Ana Beatriz. The Brazilian had worked out a good set-up, which aided her during the whole race. She would go on to finish fifth, the best result for Porsche so far in this year's Women's GT World Championship.
While Rahel Frey was slowly pulling away, Cyndie and Pippa had a short but harmless battle for positions and finally traded places on lap 10. None of them got the chance to chase after Frey immediately. Instead they had to fully concentrate on keeping the Jaguar duo at bay to finish in front of them. Rahel Frey would later describe this as her most boring race ever, because no one wanted to fight with her for the victory.
On lap 11 Zoe Wenham's fuel pump expired and the Porsche was retired. At this point, Zoe was running in 9th position. Johanna Long was busy fending off Melanie Troxel in the faster Mercedes, while Fiona Leggate and Ramona Karlsson were tailing right behind them.
On lap 14, Sabine Schmitz in 25th position made the first of a series of pitstops caused by a massive handling problem, before finally retiring on lap 33.
In the meantime, Rahel Frey was already leading the Ferrari duo by 8 seconds. The same lap (lap 18) saw Johanna Long spinning at Norra. She had gone beyond her car's limit to fend off Troxel in the Mercedes and now dropped back to 16th before rejoining the race. The Mercedes duo now held 8th and 9th position.
The first regular pitstops came on lap 27. Maryeve Dufault lost a lot of time with the tyre change. While the Toyota was stationary in the pits, both Mercedes passed by. When Dufault rejoined the race, she had a brief battle with Fiona Leggate and Ramona Karlsson, who easily overtook her, because Dufault's tyres weren't completely warmed up yet. With this the Toyota had been demoted to 12th place.
On lap 33 Amber Cope entered the pits with substantial engine problems and retired then and there.
After the pitstops were due, the order was: Frey, Mann, Allemann, de Silvestro, Beatriz, Patrick with the Mercedes duo closing in fast on Danica. This order would remain until the end of this race, turning the whole event into a somewhat boring procession. Rahel Frey was never challenged and won the race with ease. In her many interviews after the race you could hear, that this victory had filled Frey with the confidence, that she could win races in the Nissan GT-R. And with it, the Swiss "Glückskind" had re-entered the battle for the Championship once again.
Pippa Mann and teammate Cyndie Allemann drove a very smart race. As a quick reminder: To keep her Championship chances alive, Pippa needs to finish in front of rival Simona de Silvestro in every race from now on, and that's exactly what she did in Anderstorp. Cyndie kept Simona at bay and prohibited the Jaguar driver from finishing higher than fourth, which also aided Pippa Mann in the end, who celebrated her second place like a victory.
But there are two more little stories, which need to be told:
Ramona Karlsson had driven an outstanding race and even scored 9 Championship points by finishing tenth. With some more showings like this, she might easily land a contract with a top team for next season. Karlsson took the chequered flag to great applause from the cheering Swedish crowd.
Meanwhile, Katherine Legge obviously had taken everything she had learned at Ferrari into consideration and drove one of her best races this season. She was able to keep up with much faster cars and even fended off Audi driver Leanne Tander until the end. But unfortunately for Legge and Team Lotus, she missed out on the points by one position, which made her the saddest person in all of Sweden, at least for this one day.

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01    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                 56 Laps
02    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                +  1.290
03    Cyndie Allemann              (Ferrari)                +  5.578
04    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                 +  6.016
05    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                +  7.365
06    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                 + 11.674
07    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)          + 12.153
08    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)          + 13.845
09    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                 + 16.791
10    Ramona Karlsson              (Honda)                  + 16.999

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11    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                   + 18.452
12    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)              + 19.322
13    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                 + 20.786
14    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)              + 22.895
15    Katherine Legge              (Lotus)                  + 23.000
16    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                   + 25.430
17    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                    + 26.670
18    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                    + 27.909
19    Shirley van der Lof          (Maserati)               + 28.921
20    Corentine Quiniou            (Toyota)                 + 30.533

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21    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)            + 33.364
22    Natacha Gachnang             (Lotus)                  + 34.444
23    Susie Wolff                  (Aston Martin)           + 40.077
24    Angela Cope                  (Ford)                   + 41.345
25    Jutta Kleinschmidt           (Honda)                  + 41.596
26    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)           + 42.010
DNF   Beitske Visser               (Maserati)               35 Laps      Accident
DNF   Amber Cope                   (Ford)                   33 Laps      Engine
DNF   Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)            33 Laps      Handling
DNF   Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                11 Laps      Fuel Pump

Driver's Championship

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01    Simona de Silvestro          (Jaguar)                 386 points
02    Rahel Frey                   (Nissan)                 357 points
03    Danica Patrick               (Jaguar)                 342 points
04    Pippa Mann                   (Ferrari)                341 points
05    Katherine Legge              (Ferrari / Lotus)        263 points
06    Melanie Troxel               (Mercedes-Benz)          222 points
07    Erica Enders                 (Mercedes-Benz)          218 points
08    Leanne Tander                (Audi)                   156 points
09    Vanina Ickx                  (Audi)                   143 points
10    Miranda Throckmorton         (Chevrolet)              131 points

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11    Johanna Long                 (Chevrolet)              126 points
12    Fiona Leggate                (Nissan)                 121 points
13    Ana Beatriz                  (Porsche)                119 points
14    Cyndie Allemann              (Ferrari)                 75 points
15    Emma Kimiläinen              (Chevrolet)               70 points
16    Chelsea Angelo               (BMW)                     68 points
17    Beitske Visser               (Maserati)                64 points
18    Renee Gracie                 (BMW)                     56 points
19    Zoe Wenham                   (Porsche)                 49 points
20    Maryeve Dufault              (Toyota)                  47 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    Ramona Karlsson              (Honda)                    9 points
29    Alice Powell                 (Aston Martin)             7 points
30    Sabine Schmitz               (Lamborghini)              2 points
31    Keiko Ihara                  (Lamborghini)              1 point

Constructor's Championship

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01    Jaguar                 728 points
02    Ferrari                679 points
03    Nissan                 478 points
04    Mercedes-Benz          440 points
05    Chevrolet              327 points
06    Audi                   299 points
07    Porsche                168 points
08    BMW                    124 points

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09    Maserati                87 points
10    Ford                    69 points
11    Toyota                  63 points
12    Aston Martin            44 points
13    Lotus                   21 points
14    Honda                   19 points
15    Lamborghini              3 points

Reject of the Race: Another race without a ROTR from me. We had some retirements due to technical problems, a spin from Long, a horrible pitstop from Toyota, but nothing that screams ROTR for me, to be honest...

Next: Round 14 - Netherlands up on Tuesday the 4th (CET)!

[go_Rubens]

Another podium, more champagne to enjoy. Seriously, everyone did their job today. Cyndie was able to hold off the Jaguars, which is just what we needed. Frey is back in the picture, and we can't count her out yet. We're still positive however.

I had a task today, to keep Jaguar behind. In the end, we prevailed. It feels fantastic to be 2/2 in terms of podiums per race start in my career, and the Ferrari car is certainly giving me the opportunity to shime. I love it!

There may be no problems at Ferrari right now, and certainly not with the race engineers. But we feel we can still gain with our race engineers. So, as a result, David Brown is glad to say goodbye for who we are about to sign, Sebastian Vettel's long time race engineer himself, Guillaume "Rocky" Rocquelin.

[dr-baker]

After a performance like that, Lotus just wishes that they were able to sign Katherine Legge for next season. If only that were possible...

[Turbogirl]

Another podium, more champagne to enjoy. Seriously, everyone did their job today. Cyndie was able to hold off the Jaguars, which is just what we needed. Frey is back in the picture, and we can't count her out yet. We're still positive however.

I had a task today, to keep Jaguar behind. In the end, we prevailed. It feels fantastic to be 2/2 in terms of podiums per race start in my career, and the Ferrari car is certainly giving me the opportunity to shime. I love it!

There may be no problems at Ferrari right now, and certainly not with the race engineers. But we feel we can still gain with our race engineers. So, as a result, David Brown is glad to say goodbye for who we are about to sign, Sebastian Vettel's long time race engineer himself, Guillaume "Rocky" Rocquelin.

Rocquelin it is. But be warned: He needs one race to get accustomed to his new job.

After a performance like that, Lotus just wishes that they were able to sign Katherine Legge for next season. If only that were possible...

The main problem is, that the contract between Ferrari and BMW is almost watertight. I say "almost", because Legge herself could want to breach the contract to stay at Lotus, but this might be a needle in the haystack. You could go for it, but what comes after that might be a pretty long and dirty lawsuit. Especially, since the pre-contract not only included Legge's switch to BMW, but also Ramirez' as well.

My personal tip: Just sign a long-time BMW driver for next year as a compensation. Claudia Hürtgen and Michela Cerruti show great promise, if you ask me. Or you keep an eye on the up-coming Women's GT Junior Cup and hire the gal who wins its inaugural season.

[go_Rubens]

Another podium, more champagne to enjoy. Seriously, everyone did their job today. Cyndie was able to hold off the Jaguars, which is just what we needed. Frey is back in the picture, and we can't count her out yet. We're still positive however.

I had a task today, to keep Jaguar behind. In the end, we prevailed. It feels fantastic to be 2/2 in terms of podiums per race start in my career, and the Ferrari car is certainly giving me the opportunity to shime. I love it!

There may be no problems at Ferrari right now, and certainly not with the race engineers. But we feel we can still gain with our race engineers. So, as a result, David Brown is glad to say goodbye for who we are about to sign, Sebastian Vettel's long time race engineer himself, Guillaume "Rocky" Rocquelin.

Rocquelin it is. But be warned: He needs one race to get accustomed to his new job.

We don't mind. Although the championship is dwindling down, and we aren't staying consistent, we feel Rocquelin will give Mann the guidance through the race distances we need and perform wonderful strategy for us. So, we don't expect much from his first race at Zandvoort, but come Spa he'll be ready to perform heroics. There are still 7 rounds left. Plenty of time for him to guide Pippa to the championship.

[dr-baker]

After a performance like that, Lotus just wishes that they were able to sign Katherine Legge for next season. If only that were possible...

The main problem is, that the contract between Ferrari and BMW is almost watertight. I say "almost", because Legge herself could want to breach the contract to stay at Lotus, but this might be a needle in the haystack. You could go for it, but what comes after that might be a pretty long and dirty lawsuit. Especially, since the pre-contract not only included Legge's switch to BMW, but also Ramirez' as well.

My personal tip: Just sign a long-time BMW driver for next year as a compensation. Claudia Hürtgen and Michela Cerruti show great promise, if you ask me. Or you keep an eye on the up-coming Women's GT Junior Cup and hire the gal who wins its inaugural season.

Oh! A Junior Cup! Sounds intriguing and exciting...

[Turbogirl]

After a performance like that, Lotus just wishes that they were able to sign Katherine Legge for next season. If only that were possible...

The main problem is, that the contract between Ferrari and BMW is almost watertight. I say "almost", because Legge herself could want to breach the contract to stay at Lotus, but this might be a needle in the haystack. You could go for it, but what comes after that might be a pretty long and dirty lawsuit. Especially, since the pre-contract not only included Legge's switch to BMW, but also Ramirez' as well.

My personal tip: Just sign a long-time BMW driver for next year as a compensation. Claudia Hürtgen and Michela Cerruti show great promise, if you ask me. Or you keep an eye on the up-coming Women's GT Junior Cup and hire the gal who wins its inaugural season.

Oh! A Junior Cup! Sounds intriguing and exciting...

Yeah, some on-goings during this season made me think: Wizzie's situation with inexperienced drivers and race engineers, Jenny Tinmouths struggle in the Lotus and Cora Schumacher's DNF due to her personal condition in the heat of Zhuhai, besides some other occurrences. I figured, it might not be such a bad idea to create a young drivers program, in which the current factory teams of the Women's GT World Championship could test out and patronage inexperienced drivers, race engineers and Technical Directors and guide them on their way to the WCS. It's supposed to be a series for new players, who didn't get a place in the WCS, and for each of you, who want to run a young drivers program themselves. Just like in real life or in the F1RWRS universe.

It's still a work in progress, therefore I can't and won't go too much into details now, but be sure to read more about it either right before the last race this season or shortly after.

[mike robers]

I have finally decided some details for my new team. I have already decided who my drivers will be and the make of the car, but I won't announce them until after the season.

[dr-baker]

I have finally decided some details for my new team. I have already decided who my drivers will be and the make of the car, but I won't announce them until after the season.

Hypothetical situation: one of the drivers that you are looking at also gets an offer from a team that finished in the top-3 in the championship. Have you got a plan B as well? Example: If Kevin Magnussen had an offer from McLaren and Caterham/Marussia. Which team is he going to (even with McLaren having a terrible year by their standards)? Not wishing to discourage you but don't want you set on a plan only to have it ruined. I wanted Katherine Legge for next year, hense why I gave her a drive now. But it turns out others had already got plans for her for next year already, so I personally am already needing a plan B myself. I.e. I apologise if my plan B involves you needing a plan B too. Although to be honest, it would be entirely by chance, as you have not revealed your hand yet, so I may do it without knowing.

Hope that wasn't too full of waffle...

[Klon]

I would like to announce that I'll be withdrawing from the series. The Formula Community rebirth is taking up the time and interest devoted to this series.

[dr-baker]

Sorry to see you leave this series Klon.

[Turbogirl]

I would like to announce that I'll be withdrawing from the series. The Formula Community rebirth is taking up the time and interest devoted to this series.

I'm also very sorry to see you leave, but I'm glad you joined in the first place. Maybe some other time. Good luck with Formula Community, by the way!

Alright then, Team Toyota is free for the taking. This would be a neat opportunity for mike robers to take over the operation, if he wants to. If not, then I will run the team until the end of the season (don't worry, I won't cheat in any way) or until someone else shows up to take over. Since they are still battling for positions in the Championship, just shutting down the whole team would be a wasted opportunity.

[mike robers]

OK, i'll take over Toyota. However, I will be releasing both drivers and the Technical Director.
The new Technical Director is Adrian Newey. The 2 new drivers are Ashley Freiberg and Shea Holbrook.

[AustralianStig]

Audi team boss Steffi Schmidt was seen in an animated conversation with technical director Dr. Antonia Terzi, following concerns that the Audi's pace is down in qualifying. Steffi has been extremely hands on in her role, and many believe that tensions may be rising between herself and Dr Terzi. However, Schmidt was quick to play down these rumours.
"Dr Terzi and I were simply frustrated that we haven't been qualifying anywhere near we should be lately, we have a huge amount of respect for each other but I know you guys love to fantasise about half-naked pillow fights. We feel like we've found a solution and I have no doubt we will be toward the front again soon,"

OOC: So yes, we need help from our technical director - any advice?

[Turbogirl]

OK, i'll take over Toyota. However, I will be releasing both drivers and the Technical Director.
The new Technical Director is Adrian Newey. The 2 new drivers are Ashley Freiberg and Shea Holbrook.

Welcome aboard! Replacements are registered on the entry list (page 1). Don't forget, that they will need one race to get accustomed. Newey and the gals will show their full potential in Belgium.
By the way, you need a name for your Team Principal. Can be real or fictional, male or female. If you take on the alias of a real person, he/she has to be alive and well in 2014.

Audi team boss Steffi Schmidt was seen in an animated conversation with technical director Dr. Antonia Terzi, following concerns that the Audi's pace is down in qualifying. Steffi has been extremely hands on in her role, and many believe that tensions may be rising between herself and Dr Terzi. However, Schmidt was quick to play down these rumours.
"Dr Terzi and I were simply frustrated that we haven't been qualifying anywhere near we should be lately, we have a huge amount of respect for each other but I know you guys love to fantasise about half-naked pillow fights. We feel like we've found a solution and I have no doubt we will be toward the front again soon,"

OOC: So yes, we need help from our technical director - any advice?

I would suggest, we replace one, if not both race engineers for starters. They're doing a good job, don't get me wrong, but there is still wiggleroom for improvement. David Brown has recently been replaced at Ferrari NART. So was Remi Taffin at Toyota. Either one of them (or both) might be a perfect addition to our team.
Other possible replacements could be Pascal Aragnouet, a race engineer at Renault F1 in both years when Alonso won the Championship title, or Alba Colon, currently Chevrolet's program manager in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. She started out as a mechanical engineer and is very competent.

Of course, one suggestion Dr. Terzi would never make is, that you could also replace her with someone else. Not that you would have to, but it's an additional possibility.

[mike robers]

Team:Toyota USA
Team Principal:Sarah Fisher
Technical Director:Adrian Newey
Driver 1:Ashley Freiberg
Driver 2:Shea Holbrook
Tires:Bridgestone
Team Engineer 1:Laurent Fedacou
Team Engineer 2:Andrea Muller

[Turbogirl]

Team:Toyota USA
Team Principal:Sarah Fisher
Technical Director:Adrian Newey
Driver 1:Ashley Freiberg
Driver 2:Shea Holbrook
Tires:Bridgestone
Team Engineer 1:Laurent Fedacou
Team Engineer 2:Andrea Muller

Turning the whole team inside out, are you? Okay, everything is registered. But again: One race for everyone to get accustomed to their new job.

[AustralianStig]

Steffi, unsure of the advice she has been given is now seeking the opinions of race engineers John McGill and Nina Oswald. Before making sweeping changes mid-season she wants all the facts...

[Turbogirl]

Steffi, unsure of the advice she has been given is now seeking the opinions of race engineers John McGill and Nina Oswald. Before making sweeping changes mid-season she wants all the facts...

Leanne thinks, we haven't reached the car's limit yet. Not even if she'd pushed harder. And that is true. Right now our main problem is the fact, that some rival teams have made better improvements than we did. Hiring Kimiläinen, who outright won her first race, gave the Chevrolet crew a big moral boost. And Dr. Ullrich seems to have the Porsche situation fully under control now. We should try and push harder during the races. Our material would play along, I'm sure. Some bold set-up tricks should improve our lap times drastically.

Dr. Terzi has handed us a communique from Ingolstadt recently. Mrs. Braun and her staff have analyzed our performance in the last couple of races compared to the data gathered from Ferrari. It seems, that the Ferrari engineers get the Bridgestones to work more easily than we do. They can even warm them up faster after a pitstop and create a grip level far better than what we get out of these tyres. Dr. Terzi has ordered us to adjust our set-ups with the received data, but so far neither John nor I have found a fitting solution yet. Some paragraphs of the analysis from Ingolstadt just don't add up, it seems.

Important Note: Your race engineers have a slight difference in experience, that's why one of these statements is more accurate than the other. I can't tell you which one it is or I would give you insights you shouldn't have. But, less accuracy doesn't mean the statement is wrong in any way. It's just a little shortsighted.

And again: Those two would never start pointing fingers at themselves or each other, if you ask them directly, who you should replace, if you should replace anyone at all.

You can make your decision based on what you know, but you could also ring up Mrs. Braun and talk to her about that communique, if you're still not sure which advice you should follow. Based on the communique from Ingolstadt, Dr. Terzi seems to have come to a conclusion already, as you could see in her statement. It might help, if you ask her about her reasons, since she didn't give you any the first time around (maybe she wasn't expecting Steffi to "mistrust" her advice).

[Turbogirl]

14th Round of the Women's GT World Championship

Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands

55 laps / 4,320 km (2,68 mi)


Qualifying

Weather: Warm, overcast, dry, later heavy rain

One of the biggest changes to the grid in Zandvoort had taken place behind the scenes. Sarah Fisher had taken over the Toyota operation and moved the base from Japan to the United States. Immediately thereafter, longtime crew members and drivers were dropping left and right. Goodyear was replaced by Bridgestone, Adrian Newey became the new Technical Director, both race engineers were let go and two new drivers would try their luck with the Japanese machinery.
Soon after the teams had arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday, the weather forecast talked about nothing else than the dark clouds closing in on the Circuit Park Zandvoort for the weekend. Everyone knew, what was coming their way. But when it finally arrived in full glory, only a few had actually expected such a devastating effect.
During the first ten minutes after the qualifying had officially begun, it remained dry and the top teams hurried to record a fast lap time, since the weather forecast had predicted heavy rain for the afternoon. No one wanted to risk anything, not so close to the end of this season. Pippa Mann gained pole positions, again shielded by her teammate Cyndie Allemann in second place. Then followed Rahel Frey in third and only a few minutes after her came the rain.
Simona de Silvestro was able to secure sixth place, right behind local heroine Shirley van der Lof, who showed the true potential of the Maserati, when everything went according to plan. Beitske Visser also made good use of her immense knowledge of Zandvoort and set the eighth fastest time. If both should survive the flood on the race day, this might turn into a decent points finish for Maserati.
Danica Patrick's qualifying was completely ruined by the heavy rain that soaked the track and turned the sand, that was blown from the nearby dunes on the asphalt by the wind, into soft soap. Danica spun on her fastest lap before the rain and had to be contented with 12th position, which (of course) she wasn't.
Both Mercedes befell the same fate as Danica and they ended up at the bottom of the time sheets. Troxel and Enders had never encountered such a difficult weather situation during their entire career.

Code: Select all

01    Pippa Mann                 (Ferrari)              1:34.924
02    Cyndie Allemann            (Ferrari)              1:34.958
03    Rahel Frey                 (Nissan)               1:35.381
04    Zoe Wenham                 (Porsche)              1:35.554
05    Shirley van der Lof        (Maserati)             1:35.751
06    Simona de Silvestro        (Jaguar)               1:35.846
07    Natacha Gachnang           (Lotus)                1:36.007
08    Beitske Visser             (Maserati)             1:36.088
09    Fiona Leggate              (Nissan)               1:36.114
10    Katherine Legge            (Lotus)                1:36.159

Code: Select all

11    Renee Gracie               (BMW)                  1:36.209
12    Danica Patrick             (Jaguar)               1:36.516
13    Ramona Karlsson            (Honda)                1:36.678
14    Emma Kimiläinen            (Chevrolet)            1:36.692
15    Chelsea Angelo             (BMW)                  1:36.885
16    Angela Cope                (Ford)                 1:36.890
17    Johanna Long               (Chevrolet)            1:36.897
18    Ana Beatriz                (Porsche)              1:36.933
19    Erica Enders               (Mercedes-Benz)        1:37.054
20    Leanne Tander              (Audi)                 1:37.088

Code: Select all

21    Sabine Schmitz             (Lamborghini)          1:37.241
22    Amber Cope                 (Ford)                 1:37.495
23    Susie Wolff                (Aston Martin)         1:37.510
24    Keiko Ihara                (Lamborghini)          1:37.526
25    Ashley Freiberg            (Toyota)               1:37.577
26    Shea Holbrook              (Toyota)               1:37.585
27    Melanie Troxel             (Mercedes-Benz)        1:38.073
28    Alice Powell               (Aston Martin)         1:38.144
29    Vanina Ickx                (Audi)                 1:38.395
30    Jutta Kleinschmidt         (Honda)                1:38.892

105 % = 1:40.620


Race

Weather: Heavy rain, warm

The race was started in the pouring rain, which had been lashing down on Zandvoort the whole night. All drivers started on wets and tried to prepare for this situation as good as possible, but none of them knew, what this day might bring. And it would bring a lot of surprise...
Rahel Frey was able to outsmart both Ferraris once again before the first corner and lead the field through the Tarzanboocht. Simona de Silvestro made quite a marvellous start despite the heavy rain and was already chasing Cyndie Allemann through Sheivlak on the first lap.
She finally passed Cyndie on lap 6 and took third. At this point in the race, both Jaguars were obviously the fastest cars on the circuit. Danica Patrick had already worked her way up to eighth and was about to attack Beitske Visser for seventh, when the yellow flags came out. Keiko Ihara was the first victim of aquaplaning and got stuck in the sand trap on Marlboroboocht. Danica had to wait one more lap, before she could finally pass Visser to snatch seventh place.
Rahel Frey came under increasing threat from Pippa Mann, who herself was chased by a determined Simona de Silvestro. And although Pippa could get past the Nissan, Simona was still shadowing her. She overtook Frey on lap 12 and did the same with Pippa on lap 15. At this rate, it was only a matter of time, when Danica Patrick would show up in their mirrors to demonstrate her overtaking skills.
The rain got a little lighter during the next few laps, which aided Danica Patrick on her way up the ranks even more. On lap 18, she was already fifth, right behind Cyndie Allemann, when the heavy rain set in again. In the meantime, Ana Beatriz had been forced to retire with a damaged drive shaft.
After the retirements of Keiko Ihara, Ana Beatriz, Fiona Leggate, Sabine Schmitz and Amber Cope, the field was already down to 25 cars before the pitstops even came due. The first wave came on lap 28. Strangely, instead of calling Simona de Silvestro in first, Danica drove into the pits, although she could have profited the most from a later stop. She rejoined the race in 10th position and had to make up a lot of unnecessarily lost time.
Zoe Wenham found herself in second place right after the Ferraris and Rahel Frey had pitted, but then her engine expired and a furious Zoe had to retire on the spot.
Simona de Silvestro, who drove at a steady race speed despite the lashing rain, had the honor of receiving one of the best pitstops from Jaguar this entire season, and she kept the lead because of it. After the obligatory pitstops, the order was now: De Silvestro, Frey, Mann, Allemann, van der Lof, Kimiläinen, Gachnang, Patrick.
It was a disastrous race for Audi. Tander and Ickx gave it their all, but both had massive handling problems with their R8s and were slowed down. Leanne Tander perfected the farce on lap 33 by spinning off into a sand trap, ending her race. Vanina Ickx would soldier on, but without any chance of scoring a halfway decent point finish.
The Mercedes duo of Erica Enders and Melanie Troxel didn't fare much better, because of their severe lack of experience on the wet Zandvoort track. They would finish in the points, though, but made no secret of the fact, that they had hoped for a much better result.
On lap 41, Danica Patrick, who had worked her way up into fifth again, passed Allemann, Frey and Mann in one clean swipe before the Tarzanboocht, only to slide sideways in said corner due to aquaplaning and spin into the nearby sand trap, where she got stuck and had to retire, throwing her helmet on the grass in anger. But that would only be the beginning of the nightmare for Team Jaguar.
Simona de Silvestro was leading the remaining field dominantly and unchallenged on lap 45, when something went terribly wrong. Rumors about a mysterious technical defect were spread after the race, because de Silvestro's accident happened right on the start-and-finish-straight. The rear of her car suddenly swerved out of line, causing the Jaguar to spin dramatically and crashing into the pit wall. Parts of the bodywork were scattered all over the place. When the ambulance arrived, Simona was already climbing out of her wrecked car, thankfully unhurt.
After this accident, the field was down to 17 cars and the Safety Car took over for a few laps, until the wrecked Jaguar was removed and the debris was cleared away.
The race continued on lap 50. Rahel Frey was still in the lead, followed by Pippa Mann and Cyndie Allemann. Emma Kimiläinen had passed Shirley van der Lof immediately after the restart to grab fourth.
This was definitely the day of the underdogs. Both Lotus' in the top ten, an overjoyed Renee Gracie in 8th position and Emma Kimiläinen proving her talent once again (as if she had the need to do so). But also both Toyotas could be found in the points, even though it was quite a tough race for them. Their combined 8 Championship points scored this day made them enter the top ten in the Constructor's Standings.
With her second consecutive victory, Rahel Frey was still leading the Driver's Standings, followed by Simona de Silvestro in second (21 points behind) and Pippa Mann in third (26 points behind). Each one of the three ladies had a real chance of winning this year's World Championship, but the final decision had yet to be made.

Code: Select all

01    Rahel Frey                 (Nissan)               55 Laps
02    Pippa Mann                 (Ferrari)              +  3.298
03    Cyndie Allemann            (Ferrari)              +  4.571
04    Emma Kimiläinen            (Chevrolet)            +  6.223
05    Shirley van der Lof        (Maserati)             +  9.815
06    Natacha Gachnang           (Lotus)                + 11.909
07    Beitske Visser             (Maserati)             + 12.667
08    Renee Gracie               (BMW)                  + 13.058
09    Katherine Legge            (Lotus)                + 13.826
10    Ramona Karlsson            (Honda)                + 14.879

Code: Select all

11    Melanie Troxel             (Mercedes-Benz)        + 17.498
12    Shea Holbrook              (Toyota)               + 18.990
13    Ashley Freiberg            (Toyota)               + 19.852
14    Erica Enders               (Mercedes-Benz)        + 20.500
15    Johanna Long               (Chevrolet)            + 21.166
16    Chelsea Angelo             (BMW)                  + 27.053
17    Vanina Ickx                (Audi)                 + 28.764
DNF   Simona de Silvestro        (Jaguar)               45 Laps      Accident
DNF   Danica Patrick             (Jaguar)               41 Laps      Spin
DNF   Susie Wolff                (Aston Martin)         39 Laps      Accident

Code: Select all

DNF   Angela Cope                (Ford)                 37 Laps      Brakes
DNF   Jutta Kleinschmidt         (Honda)                34 Laps      Hydraulics
DNF   Leanne Tander              (Audi)                 33 Laps      Spin
DNF   Alice Powell               (Aston Martin)         31 Laps      Accident
DNF   Zoe Wenham                 (Porsche)              29 Laps      Accident
DNF   Amber Cope                 (Ford)                 27 Laps      Engine
DNF   Sabine Schmitz             (Lamborghini)          22 Laps      Spin
DNF   Fiona Leggate              (Nissan)               19 Laps      Spin
DNF   Ana Beatriz                (Porsche)              17 Laps      Drive Shaft
DNF   Keiko Ihara                (Lamborghini)           7 Laps      Accident

Driver's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Rahel Frey                 (Nissan)               407 points
02    Simona de Silvestro        (Jaguar)               386 points
03    Pippa Mann                 (Ferrari)              381 points
04    Danica Patrick             (Jaguar)               342 points
05    Katherine Legge            (Ferrari / Lotus)      275 points
06    Melanie Troxel             (Mercedes-Benz)        229 points
07    Erica Enders               (Mercedes-Benz)        219 points
08    Leanne Tander              (Audi)                 156 points
09    Vanina Ickx                (Audi)                 143 points
10    Miranda Throckmorton       (Chevrolet)            131 points
11    Johanna Long               (Chevrolet)            126 points

Code: Select all

12    Fiona Leggate              (Nissan)               121 points
13    Ana Beatriz                (Porsche)              119 points
14    Cyndie Allemann            (Ferrari)              110 points
15    Emma Kimiläinen            (Chevrolet)            100 points
16    Beitske Visser             (Maserati)              82 points
17    Renee Gracie               (BMW)                   71 points
18    Chelsea Angelo             (BMW)                   68 points
19    Zoe Wenham                 (Porsche)               49 points
20    Shirley van der Lof        (Maserati)              49 points
21    Maryeve Dufault            (Toyota)                47 points

Code: Select all

22    Natacha Gachnang           (Lotus)                 43 points
23    Susie Wolff                (Aston Martin)          37 points
24    Angela Cope                (Ford)                  35 points
25    Amber Cope                 (Ford)                  34 points
26    Ramona Karlsson            (Honda)                 18 points
27    Corentine Quiniou          (Toyota)                16 points
28    Jutta Kleinschmidt         (Honda)                 10 points
29    Alice Powell               (Aston Martin)           7 points
30    Shea Holbrook              (Toyota)                 5 points
31    Ashley Freiberg            (Toyota)                 3 points
32    Sabine Schmitz             (Lamborghini)            2 points
33    Keiko Ihara                (Lamborghini)            1 point

Constructor's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Ferrari                754 points
02    Jaguar                 728 points
03    Nissan                 528 points
04    Mercedes-Benz          448 points
05    Chevrolet              357 points
06    Audi                   299 points
07    Porsche                168 points
08    BMW                    139 points

Code: Select all

09    Maserati               131 points
10    Toyota                  71 points
11    Ford                    69 points
12    Lotus                   55 points
13    Aston Martin            44 points
14    Honda                   28 points
15    Lamborghini              3 points

Reject of the Race: The heavy rain, because it robbed us all of a fight between Jaguar and Ferrari on even ground. Besides the fact, that it made some teams look worse than they actually are...

Next: Round 15 - Belgium up on Thursday the 6th (CET)!

[dr-baker]

Lotus 7th and 10th in qualifying? Then both gaining a place in the race to 6th and 9th? With Gachnang outperforming Legge? I like that. I like that very much. Very much indeed!

[Wallio]

It seems we have hit our natural ceiling, we seem to have 4th in the WCC locked up, but there's little hope of advancement. Still, not too shabby for straight line racers......

[tristan1117]

Back-to-back top-10s for Ramona Karlsson! Why didn't we sign her earlier...

[go_Rubens]

Let's make this brief.

Awesome, we're here again!

Three for three!

Yes. Great day. But we still have work to do. At least we'll be in the Spa. Let's make sure I've got my Stella Artois! Guinness won't be bad either, though.

[mike robers]

Sarah Fisher wrote-Awesome! Both girls scored points on their first race! We think we can be a factor for wins by the end of the season!

I would like for both drivers settings to be set for aggressive for the next round. Just to try something out.

[AustralianStig]

Dr. Antonia Terzi sacked
Audi have today announced that Dr. Terzi has been sacked from the team with immediate effect.
"It is clear that unfortunately Dr. Terzi has done all she can with these cars, and we are simply underperforming," Steffi Schmidt announced following the team's dismal showing at Zandvoort, "While we were hoping this series would promote female talent at all facets, it appears other teams are going down the route of hiring the best in the world for their technical directors, and if we are to continue to compete with the best we must do the same."
When asked who would be replacing Dr. Terzi, Steffi was surprisingly open.
"We have been holding talks with Patrick Head, we believe he will bring us the results we are after immediately,"

So, Patrick Head offered the position as technical director!

[Turbogirl]

Awesome! Both girls scored points on their first race! We think we can be a factor for wins by the end of the season!

I would like for both drivers settings to be set for aggressive for the next round. Just to try something out.

Alright, Holbrook and Freiberg both set to Aggressive (AGG).

Dr. Antonia Terzi sacked
Audi have today announced that Dr. Terzi has been sacked from the team with immediate effect.
"It is clear that unfortunately Dr. Terzi has done all she can with these cars, and we are simply underperforming," Steffi Schmidt announced following the team's dismal showing at Zandvoort, "While we were hoping this series would promote female talent at all facets, it appears other teams are going down the route of hiring the best in the world for their technical directors, and if we are to continue to compete with the best we must do the same."
When asked who would be replacing Dr. Terzi, Steffi was surprisingly open.
"We have been holding talks with Patrick Head, we believe he will bring us the results we are after immediately,"

So, Patrick Head offered the position as technical director!

Patrick Head new Technical Director at Audi Motorsports

Long-standing Williams F1 Technical Director and shareholder Patrick Head now confirmed his switch to Audi Motorsports, where the experienced Briton is going to replace Dr. Antonia Terzi as the team's Technical Director.
"I will join Audi at Belgium", Head said in an official statement. "There is a lot of work to do, if we still want to gain fifth place in the Constructor's Standings this year."
"I am very happy to have Patrick on board", said Mrs. Lauretta Braun, the current Head of Audi Motorsports in an interview with German Auto Motor und Sport. "We know exactly, where we stand in comparison to the other Bridgestone-supplied teams. Patrick will make sure, this data is going to be interpreted and utilized correctly. I am sure, Mrs. Schmidt's decision will get us back on the road to success again."

[Turbogirl]

15th Round of the Women's GT World Championship

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

40 laps / 7,004 km (4,35 mi)


Qualifying

Weather: Cold, dry, overcast

After the horrible weather in Zandvoort, many drivers feared the worst for the race at Spa-Francorchamps, a circuit well-known for it's changeable weather. And when the teams arrived in Belgium, it seemed like a repetition of Zandvoort. The weather was cold and windy with a grey, clouded sky, although it did not rain and the circuit remained dry during the qualifying. Drivers reported some fog in the wooded sections of the circuit.
Pippa Mann had been hindered several times during qualification by slower cars, which left her with 5th position, while her immediate rival in the Driver's Championship, Simona de Silvestro, was able to conquer second place on the grid.
A surprise to everyone were the remarkably good starting positions of the Toyotas. Adrian Newey must have worked a miracle, but both Shea Holbrook and Ashley Freiberg still had to get acquainted with the rather difficult Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Their chances of defending these good positions until the end of the race were slim.
The qualifying ended with the very first pole position for Ana Beatriz and Team Porsche in the Women's GT World Championship. But the air was very thin where Ana Beatriz stood now. Next to her in the same row was the fast and determined Simona de Silvestro, and right behind her was Cyndie Allemann in the equally strong Ferrari. A Porsche victory at Spa-Francorchamps should have been a long shot.
Rahel Frey on the other hand was very disappointed with 7th position. After her formidable showings in Sweden and the Netherlands, she had hoped for a much better result to keep her title chances alive against the superior Ferraris and Jaguars.

Code: Select all

01    Ana Beatriz                (Porsche)              2:17.605
02    Simona de Silvestro        (Jaguar)               2:17.649
03    Cyndie Allemann            (Ferrari)              2:17.791
04    Shea Holbrook              (Toyota)               2:18.071
05    Pippa Mann                 (Ferrari)              2:18.122
06    Danica Patrick             (Jaguar)               2:18.384
07    Rahel Frey                 (Nissan)               2:18.417
08    Erica Enders               (Mercedes-Benz)        2:18.532
09    Melanie Troxel             (Mercedes-Benz)        2:18.538
10    Ashley Freiberg            (Toyota)               2:18.643

Code: Select all

11    Zoe Wenham                 (Porsche)              2:18.713
12    Fiona Leggate              (Nissan)               2:18.744
13    Johanna Long               (Chevrolet)            2:18.887
14    Vanina Ickx                (Audi)                 2:18.932
15    Amber Cope                 (Ford)                 2:18.945
16    Emma Kimiläinen            (Chevrolet)            2:18.947
17    Shirley van der Lof        (Maserati)             2:18.950
18    Chelsea Angelo             (BMW)                  2:19.015
19    Ramona Karlsson            (Honda)                2:19.034
20    Leanne Tander              (Audi)                 2:19.040

Code: Select all

21    Renee Gracie               (BMW)                  2:19.086
22    Natacha Gachnang           (Lotus)                2:19.100
23    Susie Wolff                (Aston Martin)         2:19.107
24    Angela Cope                (Ford)                 2:19.123
25    Jutta Kleinschmidt         (Honda)                2:19.238
26    Alice Powell               (Aston Martin)         2:19.349
27    Keiko Ihara                (Lamborghini)          2:19.356
28    Sabine Schmitz             (Lamborghini)          2:19.387
29    Beitske Visser             (Maserati)             2:19.399
30    Katherine Legge            (Lotus)                2:19.431

105 % = 2:28.485


Race

Weather: Warm, dry, sunny

Heavy rain had been lashing down during the night, but shortly before lunchtime on Sunday, the sun began to break through the clouds and fog. The warm summer had finally returned to Europe. The wonderful sunshine guided crowds of spectators to the grandstands of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and everyone was happy to leave their umbrella at home.
When the starting lights went out, Ana Beatriz kept her lead in front of Simona de Silvestro in second and Cyndie Allemann in third. Simona wasted no time and attacked the slower Porsche right away, but to no avail. Ana Beatriz was determined to defend her lead as long as possible.
On lap 4 Pippa Mann overtook Shea Holbrook for fourth and began to slowly pull away from the Toyota. She closed in on her teammate Cyndie Allemann during lap 6. Cyndie was still shadowing the leading duo of Ana Beatriz and Simona de Silvestro, but waited for any of them to make a mistake rather than trying to pass both while they kept on fighting for the lead.
On lap 8 Simona de Silvestro finally had enough of battling the Porsche, so she attacked uphill Eau Rouge. Ana Beatriz tried to stay on her line, but was so surprised by Simona's bold move, that she slid a little bit sideways. Not much, but enough to make contact with the Jaguar in Raidillon. This caused Simona de Silvestro to spin and crash into the nearby wall, where her race ended after mere 8 laps. Simona got out of her wrecked car unhurt once again, but was seemingly angered about what had just happened.
Ana Beatriz soldiered on with handling problems, probably due to a damaged suspension, and was immediately passed by Cyndie Allemann down Les Combes. Pippa Mann made her move in front of the bus stop chicane. On lap 10 both Ferraris were marching in the lead.
From thereon the race turned into a rather dull procession. The only things happening were Ana Beatriz steadily falling behind and both Audis climbing up the ranks in return. Vanina Ickx always calls Spa-Francorchamps her "hometrack" and she definitely knows her way about on the twisty circuit. So Leanne Tander did the only logical thing, when looking for a fitting set-up for the race: She copied Vanina's set-up, which proved to be the best move she could have made. On lap 15 both Audi had already entered the top ten.
The order didn't change much during the pitstops around lap 20. Both Audis gained even more positions due to remarkably quick tyre changes and rejoined the race in 6th and 7th. Rahel Frey had taken the lead in the meantime and somehow word had gotten around, that she was not going to stop for tyres. True, the Dunlops were still very durable, but trying a non-stop-strategy on a course like Spa-Francorchamps was too bold even for someone as desperate for another win as Rahel Frey. She drove into the pits on lap 23 and rejoined the race in third.
Vanina Ickx drove in a league of her own, although she wasn't able to outpace the Ferraris at any time during the race, but she was definitely "the best of the rest". On lap 27 she overtook Emma Kimiläinen for fourth and on lap 32 Rahel Frey for third. Kimiläinen had been using the Audi's slipstream to her advantage since Ickx had passed her and got past Frey down Les Combes as well. Ickx was now third, Kimiläinen fourth and Frey fifth.
Ten more laps ahead of them, and it seemed as if Cyndie Allemann would win this race, but Pippa Mann drove faster, and with every remaining lap she made up more ground. Would Cyndie allow her teammate to get any closer? Ferrari had no established teamorder, therefore Cyndie was not forced to back down at all, even though it could endanger Pippa's title winning chances.
When the Ferrari duo passed the finish line on lap 37, Pippa was just five tenths of a second behind the leading Cyndie. Pippa had to persuade her teammate to give up the lead - and by that I mean attacking her time after time in every possible spot, until Cyndie finally backed down and let the faster sister car rush by.
Pippa Mann held on to a narrow lead, while Cyndie Allemann followed her like a shadow, only four tenths of a second behind. Was a pretty nice photo finish, to say the least. While the two Ferraris were covered by less than a second until the end, Vanina Ickx and Emma Kimiläinen had visibly fallen behind.
The short highpoint of Rahel Frey and her Nissan was gone. No doubt, the rather difficult Anderstorp circuit as well as the heavy rain in Zandvoort had helped her gain two consecutive wins, but on the completely dry Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, the Nissan was inferior to the Ferraris and local heroine Vanina Ickx, but strangely enough also to Emma Kimiläinen's Chevrolet Corvette.
Rahel Frey still led the Driver's Championship by 2 points, but that was about to change in Germany. The Ferrari was obviously the superior car and thanks to another DNF from Simona de Silvestro, Pippa Mann now had an advantage of 45 points over the Jaguar driver.
The Constructor's Championship on the other hand seemed to be pretty much decided. Ferrari already led Jaguar by 98 points. It would need a miracle to turn things around here.

Code: Select all

01    Pippa Mann                 (Ferrari)              40 Laps
02    Cyndie Allemann            (Ferrari)              +  0.400
03    Vanina Ickx                (Audi)                 + 19.952
04    Emma Kimiläinen            (Chevrolet)            + 20.182
05    Rahel Frey                 (Nissan)               + 20.839
06    Leanne Tander              (Audi)                 + 21.286
07    Danica Patrick             (Jaguar)               + 21.600
08    Erica Enders               (Mercedes-Benz)        + 22.090
09    Shea Holbrook              (Toyota)               + 22.238
10    Melanie Troxel             (Mercedes-Benz)        + 22.764

Code: Select all

11    Shirley van der Lof        (Maserati)             + 24.757
12    Ashley Freiberg            (Toyota)               + 25.297
13    Chelsea Angelo             (BMW)                  + 26.372
14    Ana Beatriz                (Porsche)              + 26.643
15    Natacha Gachnang           (Lotus)                + 28.188
16    Johanna Long               (Chevrolet)            + 30.120
17    Fiona Leggate              (Nissan)               + 31.099
18    Ramona Karlsson            (Honda)                + 31.921
19    Renee Gracie               (BMW)                  + 34.175
20    Katherine Legge            (Lotus)                + 36.924

Code: Select all

21    Jutta Kleinschmidt         (Honda)                + 37.346
22    Sabine Schmitz             (Lamborghini)          + 37.888
23    Alice Powell               (Aston Martin)         + 41.645
24    Beitske Visser             (Maserati)             + 41.976
25    Susie Wolff                (Aston Martin)         + 42.364
26    Keiko Ihara                (Lamborghini)          + 46.280
DNF   Zoe Wenham                 (Porsche)              35 Laps      Accident
DNF   Angela Cope                (Ford)                 33 Laps      Spin
DNF   Amber Cope                 (Ford)                 31 Laps      Ignition
DNF   Simona de Silvestro        (Jaguar)                8 Laps      Accident

Driver's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Rahel Frey                 (Nissan)               433 points
02    Pippa Mann                 (Ferrari)              431 points
03    Simona de Silvestro        (Jaguar)               386 points
04    Danica Patrick             (Jaguar)               360 points
05    Katherine Legge            (Ferrari / Lotus)      275 points
06    Melanie Troxel             (Mercedes-Benz)        238 points
07    Erica Enders               (Mercedes-Benz)        234 points
08    Leanne Tander              (Audi)                 178 points
09    Vanina Ickx                (Audi)                 178 points
10    Cyndie Allemann            (Ferrari)              150 points
11    Miranda Throckmorton       (Chevrolet)            131 points

Code: Select all

12    Emma Kimiläinen            (Chevrolet)            130 points
13    Johanna Long               (Chevrolet)            126 points
14    Fiona Leggate              (Nissan)               121 points
15    Ana Beatriz                (Porsche)              120 points
16    Beitske Visser             (Maserati)              82 points
17    Renee Gracie               (BMW)                   71 points
18    Chelsea Angelo             (BMW)                   71 points
19    Shirley van der Lof        (Maserati)              56 points
20    Zoe Wenham                 (Porsche)               49 points
21    Maryeve Dufault            (Toyota)                47 points
22    Natacha Gachnang           (Lotus)                 43 points

Code: Select all

23    Susie Wolff                (Aston Martin)          37 points
24    Angela Cope                (Ford)                  35 points
25    Amber Cope                 (Ford)                  34 points
26    Ramona Karlsson            (Honda)                 18 points
27    Shea Holbrook              (Toyota)                17 points
28    Corentine Quiniou          (Toyota)                16 points
29    Jutta Kleinschmidt         (Honda)                 10 points
30    Ashley Freiberg            (Toyota)                 8 points
31    Alice Powell               (Aston Martin)           7 points
32    Sabine Schmitz             (Lamborghini)            2 points
33    Keiko Ihara                (Lamborghini)            1 point

Constructor's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Ferrari              844 points
02    Jaguar               746 points
03    Nissan               554 points
04    Mercedes-Benz        472 points
05    Chevrolet            387 points
06    Audi                 356 points
07    Porsche              169 points
08    BMW                  142 points

Code: Select all

09    Maserati             138 points
10    Toyota                88 points
11    Ford                  69 points
12    Lotus                 55 points
13    Aston Martin          44 points
14    Honda                 28 points
15    Lamborghini            3 points

Reject of the Race: Simona de Silvestro. She must have known, the Porsche was slower than her Jaguar, and yet the increasing pressure from the two Ferraris right behind her made Simona lose her patience. The result: an unnecessary DNF and maybe even a preliminary decision in the Driver's Championship.

Next: Round 16 - Germany up on Saturday the 8th (CET)!

[dr-baker]

From both drivers in the top-10 in both qualifying and the race, back down to reality again. Natacha Gachnang again proving to be the more competitive of the two means I'll be happy she's the one that isn't leaving for next year (although Lotus does appreciate her scoring of points last time out...).

[Wallio]

MERCEDS-BENZ CONFIRMS TROXEL, ENDERS-STEVENS FOR 2015
Mercedes-Benz president and CEO Tim Ruess confirmed today that Mercedes will once again compete in the FIA's new Women's GT championship in the 2015 season. "We are very pleased with how the SLS is competing this year." said Ruess, "And we are trilled to be part of this historic season". The team will be lead by Eva Schultz again, and will once again feature American drag racers Melanie Troxel and Erica Enders-Stevens. "People laughed at us for hiring drag racers, but they have done well all year." Ruess continued "Last race at Spa, an undeniable drivers track, they did very well, that cemented what was an already easy decision to make". Ross Brawn will also be brought back to lead the technical department, and while the race engineers have not been resigned yet, rumors say that too is a mere formality. It will be quite interesting to see how well the team goes with a year of experience under its belt.

[Turbogirl]

An important question about Rules and Regulations

I've been thinking about this since go_Rubens asked, if we could make a rules discussion at the end of this season (which we'll do). Then Wizzie and go_Rubens already made a driver deal for 2015 (Legge) and now Wallio is confirming his drivers and also Ross Brawn as his Technical Director. So, this is as good a time as any...

In (almost) every racing league, teams make contracts for the new season during the actual one. Usually at the halfway point, but that's just a formality. I was thinking about a new regulation, that would allow all of you to do so, too. And I'm bringing it up now, because some of you have already started with it.

So, I thought about allowing all of you to make bids on drivers and staff for the next season after the 15th race of each season or at any other given time. Since money plays no part in this, I would introduce a RNG with the established D20 system. This way, two (or more) players could "bid" for the same driver / race engineer / Technical Director and the D20 would determine, which contract would be signed (after certain conditions are met, of course).

Such a system is pretty common in serieses with team budgets, so I'm not really sure, if we should introduce a variation in the Women's GT World Championship, but it might add a little bit more depth and realism (and even thrill) to the game.

The same regulation would also apply to the feeder series Women's GT3 Junior Cup, which I'll be hosting soon on the Flat out flat broke subforum. There, players can make contracts with young drivers, race engineers and Technical Directors for the World Championship or for another season of the Junior Cup.

Of course, introducing such a transfer system could theoretically mean, that some players can lose their current drivers, if a more successful team bids for them (just like in real life). And that's exactly, where my issue with such a system lies: Current backmarkers with the advantage of having secured one or two decent drivers could lose both to the frontrunners, if such an offer should be made. In a series with a BoP in play (theoretically each and every car is a potential winner), this could lead to the situation, that less successful teams will never be able to lure experienced drivers and crew members to them, because the bigger fishes will always eat first.

So, to summarize this: A bidding system with RNG could give less successful teams a fair chance of securing a good and experienced driver or crew member for the up-coming season, but chances are very high, that the more successful teams could harvest the best drivers and crew members before anyone else has a shot at them. Then again, that's real life, but do we really need to be THIS realistic?

It could also screw over those players, who aren't following this series regularly or are just nipping out, when the biddings are made.

I'm leaving this one to you. Please post your answers and tell me, what you think about this idea. Is it good, is it bad, is it even necessary?

[Wallio]

An important question about Rules and Regulations

I've been thinking about this since go_Rubens asked, if we could make a rules discussion at the end of this season (which we'll do). Then Wizzie and go_Rubens already made a driver deal for 2015 (Legge) and now Wallio is confirming his drivers and also Ross Brawn as his Technical Director. So, this is as good a time as any...

In (almost) every racing league, teams make contracts for the new season during the actual one. Usually at the halfway point, but that's just a formality. I was thinking about a new regulation, that would allow all of you to do so, too. And I'm bringing it up now, because some of you have already started with it.

So, I thought about allowing all of you to make bids on drivers and staff for the next season after the 15th race of each season or at any other given time. Since money plays no part in this, I would introduce a RNG with the established D20 system. This way, two (or more) players could "bid" for the same driver / race engineer / Technical Director and the D20 would determine, which contract would be signed (after certain conditions are met, of course).

Such a system is pretty common in serieses with team budgets, so I'm not really sure, if we should introduce a variation in the Women's GT World Championship, but it might add a little bit more depth and realism (and even thrill) to the game.

The same regulation would also apply to the feeder series Women's GT3 Junior Cup, which I'll be hosting soon on the Flat out flat broke subforum. There, players can make contracts with young drivers, race engineers and Technical Directors for the World Championship or for another season of the Junior Cup.

Of course, introducing such a transfer system could theoretically mean, that some players can lose their current drivers, if a more successful team bids for them (just like in real life). And that's exactly, where my issue with such a system lies: Current backmarkers with the advantage of having secured one or two decent drivers could lose both to the frontrunners, if such an offer should be made. In a series with a BoP in play (theoretically each and every car is a potential winner), this could lead to the situation, that less successful teams will never be able to lure experienced drivers and crew members to them, because the bigger fishes will always eat first.

So, to summarize this: A bidding system with RNG could give less successful teams a fair chance of securing a good and experienced driver or crew member for the up-coming season, but chances are very high, that the more successful teams could harvest the best drivers and crew members before anyone else has a shot at them. Then again, that's real life, but do we really need to be THIS realistic?

It could also screw over those players, who aren't following this series regularly or are just nipping out, when the biddings are made.

I'm leaving this one to you. Please post your answers and tell me, what you think about this idea. Is it good, is it bad, is it even necessary?

I'd be fine with it, provided the RG remembers we gave Melanie and Erica their big GT break.

It could be rough for the little teams though, because again, as years of D&D have taught me, the die are a cruel mistress.

[go_Rubens]

An RNG would be a very good idea. However, hosting the Women's GT3 Cup in the Flat Out, Flat Broke forum souldn't be done, as it's where the season of a series goes when it comes to an end. So I suggest this, either we make the WGTWC and the WGT3 Cup canon, or we run both series here. Look at Klon's AltF1 Current Era series, and it as real life drivers, but we could let a few fictional drivers race as well, just like that series. Do whatever you want, but the FOFB forum is an archive so the other subforums (ASMF, 18MD, and BS) don't get too cluttered.

And after Spa, Ferrari NART screamed at the top of their lungs in excitement. No really, Jean lost his voice. And myself somewhat, but for completely different reasons unfortunately.

[mike robers]

Top 10 for Shea, and both scored points again AND both qualified in the top 10! FAN-TASTIC!
However, we would like to switch makes to McLaren next season. Nothing against Toyota, but this was the plan all along. Otherwise, everybody will be back next season.