The tale of Josh Bartlett - 1988 and Rial

[Gertrand Bachot]

I shall start a driving career (not had one of those for a bit, so why not), as Englishman Josh Bartlett (not my real name - nice try bozos - maybe another time). Some background on the guy: he was born on January 16th, 1965, and spent 1987 driving for Madgwick International in International F3000, scoring 6 points with a best finish of 4th. The goal for the season is to try and score points. With no further ado, let's get on with the 1988 F1 season then.

16th January 1988

Bartlett signs for Rial
23 year-old Josh Bartlett has been announced by Rial Formula One team principal Günter Schmid as the team's 2nd driver, alongside experienced Italian Andrea De Cesaris. Bartlett was reported to be 'enthralled' with the announcement. Stay tuned for the 1st race of the 1988 season, the Brazilian Grand Prix!

[Ciaran]

What is it with career modes here and them beginning around 1988/89?

Anyway, good luck with the venture!

[Enforcer]

What is it with career modes here and them beginning around 1988/89?

Anyway, good luck with the venture!

Peak reject grid.

[Gertrand Bachot]

What is it with career modes here and them beginning around 1988/89?

Anyway, good luck with the venture!

I would really have liked to have started in about 1983, but F1C doesn’t have a 1986 (there’s a WIP one I believe though) or 1987 mod so 1988 it was. Thanks for the kind words though!

I totally didn't get the inspiration from this from your Ciaran O'Driscoll career mode.

[tanel]

Have you tried this one - http://valpaso75.altervista.org/
All seasons from 1950 to 2017 (2018 coming soon). Admittedly, quality varies from season to season.

[Gertrand Bachot]

1st April 1988

Brazilian Grand Prix - Pre-Qualifying

1. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - 1:29.511
2. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - 1:31.888 - +2.377
3. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:32.047 - +2.536
4. Gabriele Tarquini - Coloni-Ford - 1:32.599 - +3.088
DNPQ. Oscar Larrauri - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:32.992 - +3.481
DNPQ. Alex Caffi - Dallara-Ford - 1:38.243 - +8.732

The first pre-qualifying session of the season saw rookie Josh Bartlett top the time sheets for Rial, with teammate Andrea de Cesaris giving the new German team a 1-2. Stefano Modena and Gabriele Tarquini followed suit. Failing to make the cut were Oscar Larrauri, and Alex Caffi, the latter being over 8 seconds slower than Bartlett's time, due to him using a modified F3000 car.

Editor's note: I realised the AI at 105% was too easy, so I'm bumping it up to the maximum level of 120%.

[Gertrand Bachot]

2nd April 1988

Brazilian Grand Prix - Qualifying

1. Ayrton Senna - McLaren-Honda - 1:32.303
2. Alain Prost - McLaren-Honda - 1:32.600
3. Gerhard Berger - Ferrari - 1:33.056
4. Michele Alboreto - Ferrari - 1:33.338
5. Nelson Piquet - Lotus-Honda - 1:34.046
6. Alessandro Nannini - Benetton-Ford - 1:34.414
7. Thierry Boutsen - Benetton-Ford - 1:34.431
8. Nigel Mansell - Williams-Judd - 1:34.585
9. Ivan Capelli - March-Judd - 1:34.791
10. Riccardo Patrese - Williams-Judd - 1:34.914
11. Satoru Nakajima - Lotus-Honda - 1:35.841
12. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - 1:35.854
13. Stefan Johansson - Ligier-Judd - 1:36.260
14. Eddie Cheever - Arrows-Megatron - 1:36.287
15. Philippe Streiff - AGS-Ford - 1:36.377
16. Gabriele Tarquini - Coloni-Ford - 1:36.390
17. Philippe Alliot - Lola-Ford - 1:36.562
18. Mauricio Gugelmin - March-Judd - 1:36.592
19. Derek Warwick - Arrows-Megatron - 1:37.128
20. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:37.139
21. Rene Arnoux - Ligier-Judd - 1:37.697
22. Bernd Schneider - Zakspeed - 1:37.904
23. Jonathan Palmer - Tyrrell-Ford - 1:38.181
24. Adrian Campos - Minardi-Ford - 1:40.745
25. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - 1:40.821
26. Nicola Larini - Osella - 1:41.775
DNQ. Luis Perez-Sala - Minardi-Ford - 1:41.998
DNQ. Yannick Dalmas - Lola-Ford - 1:42.667
DNQ. - Piercarlo Ghinzani - Zakspeed - 1:44.015
DNQ. - Julian Bailey - Tyrrell-Ford - 1:44.015

The first qualifying session of the 1988 season took place in wet conditions, and at the front, it was a McLaren 1-2, a Ferrari 3-4, with there being some interesting results, such as Gabriele Tarquini putting his Coloni in 16th. Rookie Josh Bartlett could only manage 25th on the grid.

There was no front-end grip whatsoever in the rain, the car just understeered like crazy through every corner. I at least hope tomorrow's race goes better.

Bartlett had a crash in qualifying with Mauricio Gugelmin however, which brought an end to his run.

[Gertrand Bachot]

3rd April 1988

Brazilian Grand Prix - Race

1. Ayrton Senna - McLaren-Honda - 9
2. Alain Prost - McLaren-Honda - +2.088 - 6
3. Gerhard Berger - Ferrari - +8.519 - 4
4. Alessandro Nannini - Benetton-Ford - +20.962 - 3
5. Derek Warwick - Arrows-Megatron - +22.862 - 2
6. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - +43.631 - 120.16
7. Thierry Boutsen - Benetton-Ford - +43.631
8. Philippe Streiff - AGS-Ford - +1 Lap
9. Rene Arnoux - Ligier-Judd - +1 Lap
10. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - +1 Lap
11. Philippe Alliot - Lola-Ford - +1 Lap
12. Nicola Larini - Osella - +1 Lap
13. Eddie Cheever - Arrows-Megatron - +1 Lap
14. Gabriele Tarquini - Coloni-Ford - +1 Lap
Ret. Mauricio Gugelmin - March-Judd - Accident
Ret. Ivan Capelli - March-Judd - Accident
Ret. Satoru Nakajima - Lotus-Honda - Accident
Ret. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - Accident
Ret. Stefan Johansson - Ligier-Judd - Collision
Ret. Bernd Schneider - Zakspeed - Collision
Ret. Riccardo Patrese - Williams-Judd - Collision
Ret. Michele Alboreto - Ferrari - Accident
Ret. Nelson Piquet - Lotus-Honda - Collision
Ret. Jonathan Palmer - Tyrrell-Ford - Collision
Ret. Nigel Mansell - Williams-Judd - Collision

Fastest Lap - Ayrton Senna - 1:31.760

Driver's Championship
1. Ayrton Senna - 9
2. Alain Prost - 6
3. Gerhard Berger - 4
4. Alessandro Nannini - 3
5. Derek Warwick - 2
6. Andrea De Cesaris - 1

Constructor's Championship
1. McLaren-Honda - 15
2. Ferrari - 4
3. Benetton-Ford - 3
4. Arrows-Megatron - 2
5. Rial-Ford - 1

My first race. I jumped pretty much everybody at the start to end up 3rd by Turn 2, and I stayed there until Lap 5, when I stupidly went off at that same turn, but I still managed to rejoin 6th, until: disaster. I lost the car and hit the wall, and when I rejoined the track, I was clattered into by Gabriele Tarquini, which f*cked up my suspension and meant I had to retire. I was gutted to miss out on a podium place on debut, but Andrea's point (which made me all the more bitter at my own errors) should help us escape pre-qualifying at the first reshuffle, after the Mexican Grand Prix. Stay tuned for Round 2, this time at San Marino!

[Gertrand Bachot]

29th April 1988

San Marino Grand Prix - Pre-Qualifying

1. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - 1:26.739
2. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - 1:29.259
3. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:29.518
4. Oscar Larrauri - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:29.550
DNPQ. Gabriele Tarquini - Coloni-Ford - 1:29.842
DNPQ. Alex Caffi - Dallara-Ford - 1:32.553

The 2nd pre-qualifying session of the season again saw a Rial 1-2, with Bartlett again ahead of De Cesaris, with a EuroBrun 3-4, Modena ahead of Larrauri, who failed to pre-qualify at Brazil. Gabriele Tarquini didn't make the cutoff in his Coloni, adding insult to injury after looking like he could score points in Brazil, and Alex Caffi was, worryingly, last for Dallara by nearly 3 seconds despite the new purpose-built for F1 F188 being ready.

[Gertrand Bachot]

30th April 1988

San Marino Grand Prix - Qualifying
1. Ayrton Senna - McLaren-Honda - 1:26.598
2. Alessandro Nannini - Benetton-Ford - 1:27.001
3. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - 1:27.115
4. Gerhard Berger - Ferrari - 1:27.219
5. Ivan Capelli - March-Judd - 1:27.317
6. Nigel Mansell - Williams-Judd - 1:27.586
7. Alain Prost - McLaren-Honda - 1:27.710
8. Derek Warwick - Arrows-Megatron - 1:27.822
9. Philippe Streiff - AGS-Ford - 1:27.887
10. Oscar Larrauri - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:28.149
11. Michele Alboreto - Ferrari - 1:28.246
12. Nelson Piquet - Lotus-Honda - 1:28.487
13. Thierry Boutsen - Benetton-Ford - 1:28.840
14. Riccardo Patrese - Williams-Judd - 1:29.522
15. Eddie Cheever - Arrows-Megatron - 1:29.805
16. Satoru Nakajima - Lotus-Honda - 1:29.812
17. Mauricio Gugelmin - March-Judd - 1:30.666
18. Luis Perez-Sala - Minardi-Ford - 1:32.257
19. Jonathan Palmer - Tyrrell-Ford - 1:33.355
20. Nicola Larini - Osella - 1:35.087
21. Adrian Campos - Minardi-Ford - 1:35.723
22. Piercarlo Ghinzani - Zakspeed - 1:36.505
23. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:36.869
24. Bernd Schneider - Zakspeed - 1:36.943
25. Philippe Alliot - Lola-Ford - 1:37.012
26. Yannick Dalmas - Lola-Ford - 1:37.186
DNQ. Stefan Johansson - Ligier-Judd - 1:37.228
DNQ. Julian Bailey - Tyrrell-Ford - 1:37.268
DNQ. Rene Arnoux - Ligier-Judd - 1:37.268
DNQ. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - 1:37.452

Qualifying at Imola seemed to have a trend of one car getting a good grid spot, and the other car being pnowhere. Ayrton Senna took pole position, but teammate Alain Prost only got 7th. Alessandro Nannini put his car on the front row, while Thierry Boutsen took 13th. Gerhard Berger was 4th, with teammate Alboreto 11th. Ivan Capelli was 5th for March, but Mauricio Gugelmin was only 17th. Meanwhile Oscar Larrauri did the lap of his life to drag his EuroBrun to 10th on the grid, but Stefano Modena was only 23rd. And finally, Josh Bartlett put his Rial in an astounding 3rd on the grid, but Andrea De Cesaris set the slowest time of anyone, over 10 seconds slower than his teammate.

[Gertrand Bachot]

1st May 1988

San Marino Grand Prix - Race

1. Ayrton Senna - McLaren-Honda - 9
2. Nigel Mansell - Williams-Judd - +5.838 - 6
3. Nelson Piquet - Lotus-Honda - +12.215 - 4
4. Michele Alboreto - Ferrari - +27.284 - 3
5. Oscar Larrauri - EuroBrun-Ford - +38.470 - 2
6. Philippe Alliot - Lola-Ford - +42.545 - 1
7. Philippe Streiff - AGS-Ford - +42.826
8. Adrian Campos - Minardi-Ford - +45.342
9†. Mauricio Gugelmin - March-Judd - Suspension
Ret. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - Accident
Ret. Piercarlo Ghinzani - Zakspeed - Gearbox
Ret. Eddie Cheever - Arrows-Megatron - Engine
Ret. Luis Perez-Sala - Minardi-Ford - Accident
Ret. Ivan Capelli - March-Judd - Suspension
Ret. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - Engine
Ret. Bernd Schneider - Zakspeed - Accident
Ret. Thierry Boutsen - Benetton-Ford - Accident
Ret. Derek Warwick - Arrows-Megatron - Collision
Ret. Riccardo Patrese - Williams-Judd - Collision
Ret. Gerhard Berger - Ferrari - Collision
Ret. Satoru Nakajima - Lotus-Honda - Accident
Ret. Yannick Dalmas - Lola-Ford - Collision
Ret. Jonathan Palmer - Tyrrell-Ford - Collision
Ret. Nicola Larini - Osella - Collision
Ret. Alain Prost - McLaren-Honda - Accident
Ret. Alessandro Nannini - Benetton-Ford - Stalled

Fastest Lap - Ayrton Senna - 1:27.762

Driver's Championship
Ayrton Senna - 18
Alain Prost - 6 (countback: 1xDNF)
Nigel Mansell - 6 (countback: 1xDNF)
Gerhard Berger - 4 (countback: 1xDNF)
Nelson Piquet - 4 (countback: 1xDNF)
Alessandro Nannini - 3 (countback: 1xDNF)
Michele Alboreto - 3 (countback: 1xDNF)
Derek Warwick - 2 (countback: 1xDNF)
Oscar Larrauri - 2 (countback: 1xDNPQ)
Philippe Alliot - 1 (countback: 1x11th)
Andrea De Cesaris - 1 (countback: 1xDNQ)

Constructor's Championship
1. McLaren-Honda - 24
2. Ferrari - 7
3. Williams-Judd - 6
4. Lotus-Honda - 4
5. Benetton-Ford - 3
6. EuroBrun-Ford - 2 (countback: 1x10th, 1xDNF, 1xDNPQ)
7. Arrows-Megatron - 2 (countback: 1x13th, 2xDNF)
8. Lola-Ford - 1 (countback: 1x11th, 1xDNF, 1xDNQ)
9. Rial-Ford - 1 (countback: 2xDNF, 1xDNQ)

Well, the race had drama from the start line, as Nannini stalled, then Prost clattered into the back of him like an absolute spoon. I'd managed to slot into 2nd behind Senna and stayed there until Lap 3, when I over-revved the engine going into the Variante Alta and blew it . But at the end of the race, Senna took the win, with Nigel Mansell following him in 2nd. Nelson Piquet took 3rd, and Michele Alboreto was in 4th. But the story of the afternoon was:

OSCAR LARRAURI FINISHED 5TH FOR EUROBRUN!

A storming drive from the Argentine from 10th on the grid see him, and EuroBrun, gain 2 valuable points (it also adds detriment to Rial's hope of escaping pre-Q ). Philippe Alliot finished 6th in his Larrousse, although he was being hounded hard by Philippe Streiff in the AGS in the closing stages of the race.

But I am disappointed at (again) throwing away a great result from a dumb mistake, and I only hope that the race in Monaco goes better.

[Gertrand Bachot]

13th May 1988

Monaco Grand Prix - Pre-Qualifying

1. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - 1:24.667
2. Oscar Larrauri - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:28.078
3. Alex Caffi - Dallara-Ford - 1:30.527
4. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - 1:33.067
DNPQ. Stefano Modena - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:34.949
DNPQ. Gabriele Tarquini - Coloni-Ford - 1:36.551

The AI at Monaco hit the wall everytime they try and do a lap, which explains why they're so much slower than I am. I've turned the AI aggression off completely to try and stop them crashing, but to no avail. I'll probably just turn the damage down so the race isn't a complete wreckfest (anybody know a good aggression setting for the AI on this mod?), but anyways. Alex Caffi and Dallara make it into qualifying for the first time this season, at the expense of Stefano Modena and EuroBrun, with Coloni and Gabriele Tarquini again failing to make the cut.

[Gertrand Bachot]

14th May 1988

Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying
1. Ayrton Senna - McLaren-Honda - 1:21.596
2. Alain Prost - McLaren-Honda - 1:22.266
3. Nelson Piquet - Lotus-Honda - 1:22.966
4. Gerhard Berger - Ferrari - 1:23.190
5. Nigel Mansell - Williams-Judd - 1:23.205
6. Michele Alboreto - Ferrari - 1:23.421
7. Ivan Capelli - March-Judd - 1:23.422
8. Alessandro Nannini - Benetton-Ford - 1:23.626
9. Mauricio Gugelmin - March-Judd - 1:23.631
10. Eddie Cheever - Arrows-Megatron - 1:24.033
11. Riccardo Patrese - Williams-Judd - 1:24.303
12. Thierry Boutsen - Benetton-Ford - 1:24.321
13. Satoru Nakajima - Lotus-Honda - 1:25.242
14. Derek Warwick - Arrows-Megatron - 1:25.249
15. Josh Bartlett - Rial-Ford - 1:25.837
16. Luis Perez-Sala - Minardi-Ford - 1:27.040
17. Alex Caffi - Dallara-Ford - 1:27.517
18. Andrea De Cesaris - Rial-Ford - 1:28.522
19. Jonathan Palmer - Tyrrell-Ford - 1:28.555
20. Adrian Campos - Minardi-Ford - 1:28.769
21. Piercarlo Ghinzani - Zakspeed - 1:29.177
22. Yannick Dalmas - Lola-Ford - 1:29.657
23. Bernd Schneider - Zakspeed - 1:30.437
24. Rene Arnoux - Ligier-Judd - 1:31.020
25. Oscar Larrauri - EuroBrun-Ford - 1:31.173
26. Philippe Alliot - Lola-Ford - 1:31.410
DNQ. Philippe Streiff - AGS-Ford - 1:31.482
DNQ. Nicola Larini - Osella - 1:32.088
DNQ. Stefan Johansson - Ligier-Judd - 1:32.413
DNQ. Julian Bailey - Tyrrell-Ford - 1:33.024

The streets of Monte Carlo produced another Ayrton Senna pole position, with team mate Prost completing a McLaren front-row lockout. I qualified in 15th place, ahead of De Cesaris in 18th. Julian Bailey racking up his 3rd straight DNQ has reportedly caused Ken Tyrrell to be questioning his place at the team.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it? I've been caught up doing other things, plus a general lack of motivation after failing to get the AI in F1C to not completely wipe themselves out after a few laps. I tried using a spreadsheet to do the rest of the season, but generally lost my motivation to continue. However, I've decided not to stop entirely. Rather, wipe the slate clean somewhat and move a year forward, to 1989.
-----------IC line-----------
16th May 1988

Bartlett gets ze sack
Rial driver Josh Bartlett has gotten ze sack from Gunter Schmid, after failing to impress in comparison to teammate Andrea De Cesaris. Ze Brit has subsequently moved to International F3000 for ze rest of ze seasobscured by baguette stain

29th November 1988

Brabham confirms Le Lineup for 1989
The return of ze Brabham team for 1989 has brought about Le new driver lineup. Ze team 'ave Italian Stefano Modena, and Brit Josh Bartlett in ze wings. We should 'ope zat such a creative young lineup will deliver ze results for zem, especially after zey are stuck in Le pre-qualifying for the first 'alf of ze season.