The first ever visit by a major open-wheeled racing championship to the overhauled, state-of-the-art Spa-Francorchamps circuit was certainly eventful
PRE-QUALIFYING REPORT
There was only one name people were talking about after pre-qualifying:
Max Speed. He certainly lived up to his name, setting a blistering 2:25 lap which was 1.7 seconds faster than second-placed Spaghetti. Aside from that, there was one question on others' minds: where had the Charibert team gone? They were literally nowhere to be seen all weekend, and never turned up for the event! As a result, only one team failed to pre-qualify at this round, and the unfortunate ones were HEART-DISEASE, who did so for the second time in three races.
QUALIFYING REPORT
Max Speed once again shone in qualifying, though his lead over the rest of the field was less conspicuous now that Hoji Imin and Great Leap Backward competed in this session. Nevertheless, the best of the rest, once more Stefano Spaghetti, was still 1.6 seconds adrift of Speed's time. Debutant Marcin Paulauskas failed to qualify, as did Peter Prince.
RACE REPORT
Two drivers dominated most of the race: Hoji Imin and Stefano Spaghetti. Max Speed, despite being the fastest car on track, was forced to pit early for damage, and later retired from the race after his car disintegrated during an extremely low-speed spin. Elsewhere, the race was marred by a number of high-speed accidents, most notably involving debutant David Souffle at Eau Rouge and the enigmatic "Dom Wings" at Pouhon. In the end, neither Imin nor Spaghetti would finish the race, both suffering late-race technical problems, though they still picked up some points. This resulted in Peter Krieg finally winning his first career race, and taking the championship lead with it. Giuseppe Gasperoni finished a distant second, catpulting his team into the lead of the Team's Championship. Mike Dupp scored Friendly Racing's first points with a third-place finish, and Billy Baker finished fourth for the second time in three races.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION
Drive of the Day:
Peter Krieg - Finally wins his first race, taking care of his car and bringing it home in one piece, unlike his rivals
Reject of the Race:
David Souffle - See below
FASTEST LAPS
INJURY REPORT
A number of high-speed crashes occurred in this race.
Firstly,
Firstly, David Souffle.
He crashed at high speed entering Eau Rouge after his car broke up during cornering.
1-50: misses 7 races
51-75: out for season
76-100: second RNG
28! Souffle has been injured, but he will race again—
or will he?
Next,
Peter Fossett.
He broke down and aggressively steered into an Armco barrier.
1-33: no injury
34-66: concussion (reduced stats at Halle, more severe injury RNGs)
67-99: minor injury - misses one race
100: more severe injury - misses three races
11! He's fine.
Lastly, the enigmatic
"Dom Wings".
He suffered a massive crash at Pouhon.
1-33 - misses 3 races
34-66 - misses 7 races
67-80 - out for season
81-100 - second RNG
83! This does not bode well.
Second RNG Permutations:
1-33 - out for season and first half of 1981
34-66 - career ending injury
67-99 - death
100:
33! This is as close to a career-ender as a crash could be, and a long road to recovery lies ahead of the Czechoslovakian emigre.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Forti wrote:
Da News wrote:
BATMAN BENZI GONE BUST, WELSH NEWCOMERS JOIN DYWA
David Soufflé's Dywa career ended as soon as it began.
The latest Dywa Grand Prix at the refurbished Spa-Francorchamps saw several life-threatening crashes occur. One such victim was Batman Benzi Racing driver David Soufflé. The Belgian baker’s Dywa-002 fell apart at speed, and he crashed hard into the wall, ruling him out of racing for months. Soufflé’s demands for compensation and the corporation being unable to cover the costs of new chassis sent Batman Benzi under. BBR and Sami Yurekendacar were the first Turkish racers to compete on the international stage, but the Turkish dream is over for now. Insiders suggest that Batman Benzi’s history was always riddled with questionable investments, with Dywa proving to be their last.
In their place rises a new team from Wales,
Trefniadaeth Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Dywa Rasio (TLDR). Owned by a quirky, speed-loving Welshman, the TLDR boss has announced that he’d “let anyone drive our Dywas” but is “particularly looking forward to a ride for Heywood Jablowme”. Well, we now know which team is going to DNPQ for every Dywa race now.
Dywa GP Official Communique wrote:
David Souffle is disqualified from the Spa-Francorchamps race for bringing the good name of the Dywa Grand Prix Series into disrepute. Additionally, he is banned from the Dywa Grand Prix Series for life, without possibility of appeal. Furthermore, for their own part in bringing the sport's name into disrepute, Batman Benzi Racing are to be excluded from the championship.