Chris Dagnall F1 Career -- 1984/????

[Aerond]

Montmeló paddock, Sunday 3rd May, 1992

WIZZIE MAGAZINE: Mr Dagnall, your contract at McLaren expires at the end of next season. Will you be staying at McLaren beyond this season or will you be moving on to new pastures?

CHRIS DAGNALL: My current contractual terms don´t allow me to speak about 1993. We are focused in chasing the Williams and that´s all that matters at the moment. 1993 is very far away and an announcement will be made once we have something to say about that

WIZZIE MAGAZINE: Speaking of Williams Mr Dagnall what do you believe has led to their major turnaround in form this season and in particular Nigel Mansell?

CHRIS DAGNALL: Last year the Williams was as fast as the Mclaren as well, only Nigel had lots of retirements due to reliability problems, but Ayrton could pass Patrese only at the last race for the championship. I said it then, that the Williams would be the team to beat this season; in the slower section of the tracks they simply fly as seen in South Africa or in the mid sector at Sao Paulo. The renault engine seems now on par with our unit as well. They´ve improved in all areas. I have to say that this years Honda engine is much better than the one we had in 1991, but the car is struggling in certain areas. We have to work harder in order to catch up, specially in reliability terms. We were faster in Mexico and today as well, but I know Ayrton is not yet satisfied with the material we´ve got.

WIZZIE MAGAZINE: Finally, what is your take on Michael Schumacher's performance so far this season considering he's scored 3 podiums this season and is second in the championship behind Mansell?

CHRIS DAGNALL: I think Michael´s performance is been a bit of a shock for everyone. He´s a very talented, very focused guy. We´ll have to wait and see where they end the season but Benetton´s taken a step forward and they have a very good combination of experience with Brundle and the talent a driver like Schumacher can bring. It´s good to see new talent coming into Formula One; I spent several years there, Benetton has always given chances to young, talented drivers, so I´m sure that anybody sitting there will be someone to watch.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Speaking of Williams Mr Dagnall what do you believe has led to their major turnaround in form this season and in particular Nigel Mansell?

[Aerond]

Speaking of Williams Mr Dagnall what do you believe has led to their major turnaround in form this season and in particular Nigel Mansell?

Answered (see above)

[TomWazzleshaw]

Finally, what is your take on Michael Schumacher's performance so far this season considering he's scored 3 podiums this season and is second in the championship behind Mansell?

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 5 - SAN MARINO

Qualifying

Another disastrous friday. On Saturday I got a bit closer to Mansell.

1. Mansell -- 1.22.485
2. Dagnall -- 1.22.962
3. Patrese -- 1.23.046
4. Senna -- 1.23.515
5. Schumacher -- 1.23.996
6. Brundle -- 1.24.359

Race

The Williams started better, but the top speed of the McLaren allowed me to pass both of them at Tossa!! However, it was obvious that Mansell was faster than me and only in lap 7 the group started to fragment when disaster struck the Benetton team: Brundle broke his engine and in an attempt by Schumacher to avoid his car, the german went over the grass and damaged the nosecone, having to pit. In lap 10 I made a small mistake and then Mansell passed me, and he inmediately started to pull away at a great speed; having 7.6 secs of advanatge by lap 15 and 8.9 by lap 17; one before my 1st pit-stop, which saw me slip back to 4th. After the stop I was 18.3 seconds behind Ayrton. When Patrese got into the pits, I passed him and had reduced the gap to 11.3, but I made a mistake at the Variante Alta and Patrese got to pass me, keeping that situation until lap 32, when Senna did his first and only stop. Patrese was quick with tyres which were a bit fresher but got to stay behind him until my 2nd stop in lap 37, going back to 4th and 4.3 behind Senna now, which meant I would have to pass Ayrton on track. By lap 42 I was 2 seconds behind him (and within time of passing Patrese when he stopped) when I suffered an electrical problem and had to do an extra stop which ended my chances of a podium finish. To make things worse, a Dallara driver got in my way in lap 48 and damaged my front wing, going back to 5th after Schumacher, who was 9 seconds ahead. Luckily, with the new tyres I started to score better laptimes than him and got to pass him in lap 57, near the end.

1. Mansell -- 1h27m44.949
2. Patrese -- +34.142
3. Senna -- +54.622
4. Dagnall -- +1 lap
5. Schumacher -- +1 lap
6. Boutsen -- +2 laps
7. Alboreto -- +2 laps
8. Comas -- +2 laps
9. Martini -- +2 laps
10. Suzuki -- +2 laps
11. Gachot -- +2 laps
12. Morbidelli -- +2 laps
13. Gugelmin -- +3 laps (r)
14. Lehto -- +3 laps
15. Van de Poele -- +3 laps
16. Katayama -- +3 laps
17. De Cesaris -- +5 laps (r)
18. Grouillard -- +6 laps (r)
19. Wendlinger -- +7 laps (r)

ROTR - Ferrari; Failed to finish in front of their home fans
DOTR - Mansell; Waited patiently behind Dagnall and just flew when he gained the lead
Fastest lap; Chris Dagnall; 1:25.917

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 4 races -

1. Mansell - 40 pts
2. Patrese - 23 pts
3. Schumacher - 20 pts
4. Senna - 16 pts
5. Dagnall - 9 pts
6. Brundle - 7 pts
7. Berger - 5 pts
8. De Cesaris - 4 pts
9. Comas - 3 pts
10. Boutsen - 2 pts
11. Hakkinen - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 63 pts
2. Benetton - 27 pts
3. McLaren - 25 pts
4. Ferrari - 5 pts
=. Ligier - 5 pts
6. Tyrrell - 4 pts
7. Lotus - 1 pt

Chris Dagnall said:

I was close enough to pass Patrese at the second round of stops, but we suffered some sort of electrical problem and the gearbox stuck in 4th. Luckily, the team found the problem before I reached the pit and it was quickly solved. Afterwards, I had a little incident, I think it was Lehto, but thankfully it didn´t alter our result.

[Ferrim]

It's not looking very good...

You clearly have the upper hand on Senna, and could even beat Patrese, but Mansell is probably too quick. Even if he wasn't, there's not a lot you can do with that awful reliability.

[FullMetalJack]

What's up with Ligier being level on points with Ferrari, I know Ferrari were bad but still. In 1993 that would be believable.

[Aerond]

What's up with Ligier being level on points with Ferrari, I know Ferrari were bad but still. In 1993 that would be believable.

The reliability of Ferrari it´s been very bad in these first races; but I have no doubt they´ll get ahead sooner or later.

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 6 - MONACO

Qualifying

As everybody thought, Mansell got the pole with no effort. Good performance by Ferrari and Schumacher did incredibly bad. For some reason, the track didn´t generate any grip during all weekend, making times in the region of 3-4 secs slower than last year!

1. Mansell -- 1.21.195
2. Patrese -- 1.22.301
3. Senna -- 1.22.791
4. Berger -- 1.22.966
5. Dagnall -- 1.23.317
6. Alesi -- 1.23.402
----
19. Schumacher -- 1.24.359

Race

I got passed in the start by both Ferraris, but could recover the 4th position before Mirabeau, with Patrese 3rd. It was very uncomfortable driving with that low level of grip but it was the same for everyone! I started to chase Patrese and got to pass him in lap 6, now there was Mansell in 2nd place 9.7 ahead. Senna and Mansell were faster than me but the english made a mistake and could put the gap down to 7.2 before my pit-stop in lap 17, with Alesi 4th. Back to the track I was 10th, I passed Wendlinger in lap 18 and Comas retired a lap later. Now Hakkinen was 9.4 seconds ahead, and the backmarkers were starting to get lapped and coming into play. Alesi stopped in lap 21, so I climbed to 7th and Senna lost the lead to Mansell when he stopped in lap 23. By lap 24 I was 4.0 secs behind Hakkinen, passing him in lap 28. Together with the stops of Brundle and Berger I was 4th, with Patrese 3.4 seconds ahead (he was for one stop only). Then, my tyres started to die and couldn´t close the gap until my 2nd pit in lap 37, the same lap as Mansell did. I exited the pits in 6th, in front of Hakkinen and when Alesi stopped I climbed to 5th again, with Brundle 6.5 ahead. Patrese stopped in lap 40, snapping 4th position and becoming 3rd a lap later after having passed Brundle. Now Senna was 17.1 secs ahead, and for a moment I thought I could catch him and fight for the win as he was very close to Mansell, but the 2 secs I gained in 4 lap quickly vanished and by lap 50 he was 25 ahead, so I concentrated on keeping the 3rd place, which would be the 2nd as Ayrton´s transmission failed in lap 52. Patrese was 6.7 secs behind when I entered for my last stop in lap 57. When I exited the pits I was 14.2 secs behind Patrese, but having new tyres paid off and I reduced that to 3.9 in lap 62, then passed him in lap 64! I was opening a small gap when I made my only mistake of the race, stepping on the kerb exiting Loews and damaging my front wing!! I decided not to pit, knowing than in Monaco it would be easier to defend my position, even if I slowed down around 4 secs per lap. Soon Patrese and Brundle were just there. In lap 74 Patrese attempted a pass at Mirabeau and we touched with no consequences, but in lap 75 Patrese was suffering from fuel shortage and had to make a late pit stop, and Brundle did one lap later!! So there was only two laps to go and free of trouble... only to lose the transmission exactly like Ayrton when I exited Portier. An extremely annoying experience.

1. Mansell -- 1h52m28.743
2. Patrese -- +1.20.486
3. Alesi -- +1 lap
4. Brundle -- +1 lap
5. Berger -- +1 lap
6. Dagnall -- +2 laps (r)
7. Wendlinger -- +2 laps
8. Schumacher -- +2 laps
9. Alboreto -- +2 laps
10. Suzuki -- +2 laps
11. Martini -- +2 laps
12. Boutsen -- +3 laps
13. Herbert -- +3 laps
14. Fittipaldi -- +3 laps
15. Modena -- +3 laps
16. Katayama -- +3 laps

ROTR - Comas; Featured the only accident of the race
DOTR - Senna; Looked like a real alternative to Mansell until he retired.
Fastest lap - Schumacher, 1:22.658

Chris Dagnall said:

Basically, we could be now around 15 points behind Mansell and waiting for our oportunity if things had gone our way in reliability terms, but instead the championship is not a real possibility anymore... and it´s only been six races! Frank Williams is a nice bloke and I think he will be very thankful for making it easier for Mansell

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 6 races -

1. Mansell - 50 pts
2. Patrese - 29 pts
3. Schumacher - 20 pts
4. Senna - 16 pts
5. Dagnall - 10 pts
=. Brundle - 10 pts
7. Berger - 7 pts
8. Alesi - 4 pts
=. De Cesaris - 4 pts
9. Comas - 3 pts
10. Boutsen - 2 pts
11. Hakkinen - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 63 pts
2. Benetton - 27 pts
3. McLaren - 25 pts
4. Ferrari - 5 pts
=. Ligier - 5 pts
6. Tyrrell - 4 pts
7. Lotus - 1 pt

[the Masked Lapwing]

Transmission this time? You've got to be kidding me...

[Aerond]

Transmission this time? You've got to be kidding me...

lol, that mclaren is as reliable as a 1987 Minardi!!

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 7 - CANADA

Qualifying

Mansell was unbeatable as usual.

1. Mansell -- 1.16.305
2. Senna -- 1.16.765
3. Patrese -- 1.17.009
4. Dagnall -- 1.17.146
5. Schumacher -- 1.17.546
6. Berger -- 1.17.844

Race

I wanted a 2 stop strategy, but the team insisted to take just one. I wasn´t very convinced, but the tyre wear was low, so in the end agreed. A big, big mistake. Schumacher did a great start and passed me, but managed to gain the position to Patrese before the end of the first lap. Schumacher was around 0.5 secs faster per lap so there wasn´t much I could do, but wait to have less fuel in the tank, meanwhile, Senna passed Mansell. Good news for the team. Patrese soon started to press me again and got to pass me in lap 5, we touched wheels and then Brundle and Berger passed as well. After the hairpin I got to the back of Brundle and the next thing that happened has been titled by one Autosport journalist as; "Lesson 1: How to take both Ferraris out in one movement; an essay by Chris Dagnall"; I took the slipstream from Brundle and threw my car on the inside to pass him, and probably Berger as well at the last chicane; only that Brundle decided at the last minute he wanted to pass Berger as well; I slightly touched the back of the Benetton, causing him to touch Berger, who crashed against the wall, while Brundle and I took the gravel trap; Alesi, coming from behind, tried to avoid my car as I was coming back to the track and spun after touching the kerb. I had just rejoined the track and was trying to get some traction when I found Alesi crossed... and I crashed into his wheel, which caused him to retire and me to lose the front wing. Yeah, F1 stars manage to keep the car on track after causing a big wreck. So now I was in lap 7, in 23rd position, with a new nosecone and Brundle (who ended up spinning) 12.8 seconds ahead. Obviously, I didn´t want to stay there and by lap 10 I was passing Lehto for 21st and started to climb, managed to pass Brundle and coming up to 9th by lap 19, with De Cesaris 12.2 ahead. By lap 23 the italian was 8.2 and two laps later Hakkinen stopped, climbing to 8th. By that lap the tyres were quite worn after a big effort passing all the guys, I went for an excursion and dropped to 9th (being back to 8th as Alboreto stopped). By then Mansell was going to lap me, but decided to hold him in order to favour Ayrton, who was faster but going for 3 pit-stops against 2 for the Williams driver... I managed to hold Nigel just for two laps; when the rear left tyre blew out, causing me to spin into a gravel trap and retiring... Mansell ended up winning thanks to his better strategy. Nuff said.

1. Mansell -- 1h34m56.246
2. Senna -- +16.167
3. Schumacher -- +40.673
4. Patrese -- +48.526
5. Brundle -- +1 lap
6. Alboreto -- +2 laps
7. Fittipaldi -- +2 laps
8. Herbert -- +2 laps
9. Martini -- +2 laps
10. Suzuki -- +2 laps
11. Grouillard -- +3 laps
12. Belmondo -- +3 laps
13. Morbidelli -- +3 laps

Fastest lap; Ayrton Senna; 1:20.207
DOTR; Michele Alboreto; Drove as the "best of the rest" for the first points for Footwork since 1990!
ROTR; McLaren strategy; Blew the speed of their guys by chosing 1 and 3 stop strategies when the only correct one was 2 stops.

Chris Dagnall said:

It´s very easy to blame me for the accident, but if you watch carefully the replay you´ll see how Brundle tries to pass Berger when I almost was side by side to him. It was unavoidable. We misunderstood the effect of the fuel load on a one stop strategy and paid the price for it... The retirement?? Just the usual thing this season.

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 8 - FRANCE

Qualifying

Again, no surprises at the front, the Williams of Mansell being inmensely superior. I didn´t start the weekend well, but we tweaked the car on Saturday and got closer to the other guys.

1. Mansell -- 1.16.154
2. Senna -- 1.17.133
3. Patrese -- 1.17.172
4. Schumacher -- 1.17.366
5. Dagnall -- 1.17.498
6. Berger -- 1.17.820

Race

After the Canadian GP the team and I had an argument about team strategies and we decided from now on I would always have the last word over strategy. I chose a 3 stop for this one. I always like to drive as low on fuel as possible, it helps me drive on the edge easier. At the start I was still on 5th position. Schumacher did a horrible start, dropping to 6th, but Berger instead amazed everyone and was in front of me. However, I had a better top speed which allowed me to pass both Berger and Patrese after the Estoril corner. At the end of the 1st lap my car didn´t traction well from the last corner and Patrese tried to stay side by side as he gained speed but didn´t see him and my rear right and his front left wheel collided, much like in Portugal last year with the very same result; he retired from that incident. By the end of lap 2 Mansell was 3.5 ahead, then 4.1 by lap 7 after Senna started well again. In lap 11 I ran a bit wide after the hairpin and damaged the front wing. However, it didn´t prove that wrong to stop that early, as with that set of tyres I could barely keep on Mansell and Senna pace. After the stop I dropped to 12th, passing Martini in lap 12, then both Ligiers next lap. With De Cesaris retiring afterwards, I was 5.4 secs off Hakkinen by lap 14. I passed the Lotus in lap 17 and started to chase Alesi while Senna made his first stop out of three. I got to reduce the 10.2 secs gap to the Ferrari in just 6 laps and started to chase Brundle (4.8 ahead). Berger stopped in lap 25 and Brundle next lap. Now Senna was 7.0 ahead, which wasn´t bad considering I lost time when I lost the front wing. Ayrton looked a bit faster for a few moments but I got to reduce the gap to 6.1 when I made the 2nd stop in lap 33, dropping to 5th and with Mansell and Schumacher still on track, which meant they would be going for one. After the pit Berger was 14.2 seconds ahead, but I had passed Brundle. In lap 35 both Senna and Mansell entered the pits, with Senna beating me for 2 secs only The defining moment of the race came afterwards: Schumacher stopped in lap 36. By the finish line I had managed to reduce the gap by half a second, but it wasn´t enough to attack Senna yet. Schumacher exited the pits just in front of Ayrton, who couldn´t pass the german and got to brake. I was coming at full speed from behind and after Estoril I was just at the back of Senna´s car; The top speed of the mclaren did the rest and I passed both! Senna passed Schumacher as well, but it was late for Ayrton, who was in the same strategy as me. It only took me 7 laps to get to Berger and pass him. Mansell was now only 16.4 ahead, on lap 44, but I got one more stop on schedule. I started to reduce the gap to the Williams, knowing that I would have to fly to have an option (and to exit the pitstop ahead of Schumacher as well). By lap 51 I was just 8.7 off the Williams. I made the stop on lap 52 and didn´t manage to keep the Benetton behind, but the german was on used tyres and only 2.3 secs ahead. I didn´t give him any option on lap 55. Mansell was 31.8 seconds ahead. It was a lot, but, again, I was on new tyres, and by the end of the race he would have used his set for half of the race. By lap 59 the gap was 27.0; I just needed to be lucky with the lapped guys. Reduced to 21.0 by lap 62, but, from then on, it didn´t evolve fast enough, as my lap times started to get worse, while Mansell was suffering the tyre wear less than expected. I gave up on lap 66, when I was 17.6 behind. At least the car didn´t fail me this time!!

1. Mansell -- 1h36m42.490
2. Dagnall -- +17.192
3. Schumacher -- +42.034
4. Senna -- +55.120
5. Berger -- +57.238
6. Martini -- +2 laps
7. Alboreto -- +3 laps
8. Belmondo -- +3 laps
9. Lehto -- +4 laps
10. Suzuki -- +4 laps
11. Grouillard -- +6 laps (r)

Fastest lap; Chris Dagnall; 1:18.049
ROTR; French army; Both ligiers and alesi spun out
DOTR; Chris Dagnall; got his best result this season and drove constantly faster than anyone from his first stop.

Chris Dagnall said;

At least something to celebrate!! It´s been a tough first half of the season. This has been only the 2nd race in which I haven´t suffered any sort of trouble regarding reliability. I just hope we can score much more points in the 2nd half. I´m looking forward to race at home. Mansell is going very hard to beat there, but I just can´t forget the last two years at Silverstone. It´s going to be a special one.

[Aerond]

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 8 races -

1. Mansell - 70 pts
2. Patrese - 32 pts
3. Schumacher - 28 pts
4. Senna - 25 pts
5. Dagnall - 16 pts
6. Brundle - 12 pts
7. Berger - 9 pts
8. Alesi - 4 pts
=. De Cesaris - 4 pts
9. Comas - 3 pts
10. Boutsen - 2 pts
11. Hakkinen - 1 pt
=. Alboreto - 1 pt
=. Martini - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 102 pts
2. McLaren - 41 pts
3. Benetton - 40 pts
4. Ferrari - 13 pts
5. Ligier - 5 pts
6. Tyrrell - 4 pts
7. Lotus - 1 pt
=. Footwork - 1 pt
=. Scuderia Italia - 1 pt

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 9 - GREAT BRITAIN

Qualifying

Everybody was expecting Mansell to be on the edge again, but I told myself this had to be my weekend. The car was perfect, the track perfect; everything was amazing. I didn´t even need to go out on track on Saturday!

1. Dagnall -- 1.25.473
2. Mansell -- 1.26.855
3. Patrese -- 1.27.481
4. Senna -- 1.28.227
5. Brundle -- 1.28.486
6. Alesi -- 1.28.829
---
15. Schumacher -- 1.29.785

Race

Mansell started better and got the lead after the first lap for two seconds while I tried to protect the 2nd position from Brundle, who made a great start and was trying everything to get 2nd! However, I was faster than him and soon approached Mansell, passing him on 3rd lap. Then, with the tyres at their optimal temperature I started to feel as good as during the qualifying. Nobody could believe the McLaren would be faster at this track. The gap to Mansell evolved like this:

L4 - 1.8
L7 - 6.9
L11 - 13.1
L15 - 14.2

It didn´t go that fast from there as I was trying to lap several groups of cars at the back. Suddenly, on lap 19, the team told me that Mansell had suffered an accident! He ran wide at Bridge and had a heavy crash. Now Brundle was 24.0 seconds behind. I did my first stop on lap 21, and exited 2nd, but Brundle stopped next lap. Senna was 2nd now 2.6 secs behind, but he stopped too two laps later and found myself leading again with a good advantage. Now with Patrese 2nd. Brundle retired on lap 25 so, despite Patrese and Schumacher were going for one stop, I was easily leading. Patrese entered the pits on lap 32 and Senna climbed to 2nd again... 50.3 seconds behind me. I had only to drive the car for the 2nd stop and then to the finish line, when I found a group of lapped cars on lap 33. I exited club behind Fittipaldi and he went to the outside at Abbey but he suddenly closed the door and I spun very dangerously; I was very, very, very lucky to escape only with the front wing damaged as it could have perfectly meant the retirement. Alboreto, who was around, also needed a new front wing, and he blocked me when I tried to get first into the pits, losing even more time. I had been lucky enough as well to have one stop left, which I would have done only a handful of laps later. When I exited the pits I was still first, but now Senna was just behind. However, the new set of tyres felt good and opened inmediately a gap of 6.0 secs by lap 37, one before his 2nd pit-stop. That left Patrese 2nd 27.8 seconds behind. I just did my race, with Patrese being very slow compared to my rhythm; The gap was 59.9 seconds by lap 49!!! The race was done, I just had to wait to score an extraordinary race at home. Shamefully, it never came: The engine broke in lap 50 and put an end to my best race of the season so far.

1. Patrese -- 1h33m14.345
2. Schumacher -- +8.920
3. Alesi -- +40.478
4. Hakkinen -- +1.27.009
5. Boutsen -- +1 lap
6. Gugelmin -- +1 lap
7. Grouillard -- +2 laps
8. Martini -- +2 laps
9. Suzuki -- +2 laps
10. Lehto -- +2 laps
11. Fittipaldi -- +2 laps
12. Alboreto -- +2 laps
13. Senna -- +4 laps (r)

Fastest lap; Chris Dagnall; 1:29.913
DOTR; Michael Schumacher; His qualifying position destroyed his options, but he was faster than Patrese and Senna for most of the time.
ROTR; Christian Fittipaldi; Someone must tell him that trying to take out the leader when being lapped is not the best promotional effort for his team.

Chris Dagnall;

I´m heartbroken. I wanted to win here for the team and the fans. Everybody has done an incredible effort to cut the gap to the Williams and they don´t deserve to end like this [...] Fittipaldi is an idiot. I don´t know what he was thinking and I want an explanation from him. He could have caused a very serious accident and the stewards should talk to him

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 9 races -

1. Mansell - 70 pts
2. Patrese - 42 pts
3. Schumacher - 34 pts
4. Senna - 25 pts
5. Dagnall - 16 pts
6. Brundle - 12 pts
7. Berger - 9 pts
8. Alesi - 8 pts
9. De Cesaris - 4 pts
=. Boutsen - 4 pts
=. Hakkinen - 4 pt
12. Comas - 3 pts
13. Alboreto - 1 pt
=. Martini - 1 pt
=. Gugelmin - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 112 pts
2. Benetton - 46 pts
3. McLaren - 41 pts
4. Ferrari - 17 pts
5. Ligier - 7 pts
6. Tyrrell - 4 pts
=. Lotus - 4 pt
8. Footwork - 1 pt
=. Scuderia Italia - 1 pt
=. Jordan - 1 pt

[Shizuka]

The McLaren is fragile as a paper car.

[tommykl]

You could be just as well 2nd or 3rd without the reliability issues...

[AndreaModa]

NO!! My god that's awful luck, hopefully you'll get the win this year at some point. Makes me think about Sammy Jones, he's not suffering half as much as you are!

[Bleu]

Lots of reliability issues and quite a lot of nosecone destructions as well this year...

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 10 - GERMANY

Qualifying

Mansell, on its own. From the rest, Senna was clearly ahead, while Patrese slipped to 7th.

1. Mansell -- 1.39.462
2. Senna -- 1.40.218
3. Dagnall -- 1.40.993
4. Schumacher -- 1.41.057
5. Brundle -- 1.41.456
6. Alesi -- 1.41.653

Race

At the start I kept the 3rd position while Senna went on a direct head to head with Mansell. Patrese, not unexpectedly, did a good start and was 4th. Senna and Mansell were way faster and by lap 3 they were 6 seconds ahead. On lap 4 Patrese passed me on his faster Williams. I was just concentrating on burning fuel as soon as possible to score decent lap times when on lap 5 the engine blew again and that was it. Another nice retirement for the collection.

1. Mansell -- 1h17m49.763
2. Patrese -- +24.207
3. Senna -- +30.457
4. Schumacher -- +1.03.492
5. Alesi -- +1.40.398
6. Brundle -- +1 lap
7. Comas -- +1 lap
8. Fittipaldi -- +1 lap
9. Alboreto -- +1 lap
10. Suzuki -- +1 lap
11. Hakkinen -- +2 laps
12. Grouillard -- +2 laps
13. Lehto -- +2 laps

Fastest lap; Nigel Mansell; 1:42.492
DOTR; Nigel Mansell -- Beat an agressive Senna at the beggining then had no rival
ROTR; Gerhard Berger -- Starred the only retirement by accident of the race.

1992 - ROUND 11 - HUNGARY

Qualifying

No surprises here. I was ahead of Senna this time while Patrese continued with his string of (relatively) bad results.

1. Mansell -- 1.19.234
2. Dagnall -- 1.19.835
3. Senna -- 1.20.285
4. Schumacher -- 1.20.334
5. Patrese -- 1.20.614
6. Brundle -- 1.20.656

Race

Senna started better than me, but I touched his back slightly at the 3rd corner and sent him into the gravel trap, which proved very costly for him. Herbert did an incredible start and placed himself 3rd!! Before the end of the first lap I went over a kerb too fast and spun, falling to 14th!! As soon as I recovered I also found Patrese around, so the race started good for the usual "top drivers". I had a nice car and I had to take advantage of it, so on lap 2 I shut the mouths of those who say that overtaking at the Hungaroring is impossible... I climbed to 9th after a set of memorable overtakes to Wendlinger, Hakkinen, Patrese, Alboreto and Gachot! At the 3rd lap I overtook both Ligiers and Berger, climbing to 6th, to pass Herbert afterwards. On lap 5 I passed Alesi and Brundle retires. I was 3rd with Schumacher 6.3 ahead. On lap 8 Mansell made a childish mistake and spun, falling to 19th!! By lap 10 Schumacher´s advantage was 5.6, but my tyres started to get worse with the usage and the car was a bit undriveable. Given the circumstances, it wasn´t bad to go into my first stop just 7.5 behind Schumacher, on lap 18. I exited the pits 4th, but climbed to 2nd as soon as Berger and Patrese entered the pits, so on the 23rd lap I was 24.0 secs behind Schumacher, who was going for just two stops, which meant I had to take maximum advantage whenever I had fresh tyres. Schumacher did his stop on lap 26, getting the lead. On his first laps Schumacher was very fast and he even got to pass me on lap 32 and got 2.4 secs ahead, but when he wasted his tyres I passed again on lap 37, just before my pit-stop. It was a crucial moment as I managed to exit ahead of Patrese, so I wouldn´t be held by the Williams. Schumacher was then 23.4 ahead, which I turned into 13.3 by lap 41, 6.9 by 44 and 0.9 by lap 47. I spent two laps pursuing the Benetton with my tyres in really bad condition and got to pass him in lap 49! Schumacher kept around 2.5 secs behind until his stop in lap 55; I decided to do my 3rd stop just one lap later in order to diminish the effect of his new tyres, but he completed an extraordinary exit lap and passed me! However, this had to be my race! I charged again and passed him in lap 60, but never got to a significant advantage, and when my tyres started to wear I had to use the gravel trap and was in 2nd again, but got to the german, who wasn´t much better either and passed him again on lap 74 Now it was done, I was going to win... No, wait! Something started to feel wrong with the rear right tyre next lap... It had become loose!! Schumacher was all over me within seconds. I exited the chicane at the back quite slowly and he attempted to pass, I closed the door, then Schumacher went over the grass and the kerb... and we both went against the wall, but, somehow, I kept pushing and the car kept going as I had touched the wall with the tyre that was already damaged!!. Schumacher disappeared into my mirror. He was out!! Now there was just one lap to go and I could get into the pits as my gap to Patrese was big enough to ensure the win. I was double lucky as Mansell suffered an electrical problem a few laps before, and then spun again. What a great race!!

1. Dagnall -- 1h51m41.101
2. Patrese -- +9.075
3. Berger -- +22.991
4. Mansell -- +30.431
5. Senna -- +41.907
6. Alesi -- +51.792
7. De Cesaris -- +1 lap
8. Boutsen -- +1 lap
9. Schumacher -- +2 laps (r)
10. Herbert -- +2 laps
11. Suzuki -- +2 laps
12. Morbidelli -- +3 laps
13. Van de Poele -- +3 laps
14. Lehto -- +3 laps
15. Katayama -- +3 laps
16. Belmondo -- +3 laps
17. Alboreto -- +5 laps (r)
18. Comas -- +6 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall: 1:23.281
DOTR: Berger; Did a solid race to the podium despite starting 8th
ROTR: The media who kept saying that the Hungaroring couldn´t produce spectacular races.

Chris Dagnall said:

I´m incredibly delighted to have brought the first win from a non-Williams car this season to the McLaren team. It´s been a very exciting race and I´ve had loads of fun, though the car was a bit hard to drive with the tyres worn, as it constantly oversteered. When I noticed the problem with the wheel I thought the win wouldn´t be possible, but Schumacher rushed to get pass. Had he waited, he would have passed me easily at the straight. There´s been lots of action and I´m eager to demonstrate we can do it again! Congratulations to Williams for the Constructors Championship. They´ve built the best car this year and it´s impressive what they´ve achieved.

Michael Schumacher said:

I´m very disappointed with Chris Dagnall, the World Champion. He knew about his problem and shouldn´t have acted like that. I´m not interested in winning the way he did today and I´ll try to really watch out for him the next time we fight for position!

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 11 races -

1. Mansell - 83 pts
2. Patrese - 54 pts
3. Schumacher - 37 pts
4. Senna - 31 pts
5. Dagnall - 26 pts
6. Brundle - 13 pts
=. Berger - 13 pts
8. Alesi - 11 pts
9. De Cesaris - 4 pts
=. Boutsen - 4 pts
=. Hakkinen - 4 pt
12. Comas - 3 pts
13. Alboreto - 1 pt
=. Martini - 1 pt
=. Gugelmin - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

-Williams wins the Constructors championship!-

1. Williams - 137 pts
2. McLaren - 57 pts
3. Benetton - 50 pts
4. Ferrari - 24 pts
5. Ligier - 7 pts
6. Tyrrell - 4 pts
=. Lotus - 4 pt
8. Footwork - 1 pt
=. Scuderia Italia - 1 pt
=. Jordan - 1 pt

[Shizuka]

Huzzah, you finally WON! ...but not after another retirement...

[Aerond]

Huzzah, you finally WON! ...but not after another retirement...

Amazing the Hungaroring produced the most exciting race of the season so far.

[Klon]

I know I am doing an unforgivable thing, but I have to agree with the Schumacher of your universe, your move does not seem to acceptable, but maybe that just the lack of pictures or videos (not implying that you should do that - the story is brilliant enough). Ah well, nevermind, a win is a win, congratulations.

[Aerond]

I know I am doing an unforgivable thing, but I have to agree with the Schumacher of your universe, your move does not seem to acceptable, but maybe that just the lack of pictures or videos (not implying that you should do that - the story is brilliant enough). Ah well, nevermind, a win is a win, congratulations.

Chris Dagnall says he acted on instinct

About the videos or pics... well, I´ve already tried that, but it seems really hard to get any kind of soft under Win 98.

[Ferrim]

Michael Schumacher said: I´m not interested in winning the way he did today

[Aerond]

Michael Schumacher said: I´m not interested in winning the way he did today

hahahaha, I´m glad someone got it

I remember Mr.S talking of Senna like that (not exactly the same words, but the mood, u know)

[Aerond]

Fresh review!

1992 - ROUND 12 - BELGIUM

Qualifying

McLaren gave me a perfect car, and I proudly made use of it!

1. Dagnall -- 1.51.652
2. Mansell -- 1.52.881
3. Patrese -- 1.53.762
4. Schumacher -- 1.53.883
5. Senna -- 1.54.128
6. Berger -- 1.54.581

Race

Despite the qualifying results, I knew the race wouldn´t be that easy. However, I kept first at the start but I pushed the brakes very late and Mansell attempted to pass me, I was quicker on the outside and gained the position, while Mansell slightly touched my wheel and fell to 8th, Alesi tried to pass him into the entrance of Eau Rouge and he touched wheels with the Ferrari flying into the barriers in the scariest accident this season!!! Now I was leading with Patrese 2 seconds behind at the end of first lap. On lap 2, Berger passed Patrese and started to shorten the gap on me and under his pressure I went over a kerb and spun on lap 3, falling to 8th, with Erik Comas 7.4 secs ahead. It took me 3 laps to catch and pass Comas, and another lap to pass Alesi. Meanwhile, Berger was building a substantial lead over Brundle, now 2nd. On lap 10 I passed Senna, and went on for Patrese, passing the Italian for 4th a lap later. On lap 12 Senna retired with a loose wheel, then passed Schumacher on lap 13, with Brundle 6.6 secs ahead at the end of that lap. Berger went for his 1st stop on lap 15, so I climbed to 2nd. Two laps later I was just 1.8 secs behind Brundle, with Berger just behind him, but at the beggining of lap 18 Berger did a weird movement to lap Belmondo at the exit of La Source and crashed into the wall. Brundle entered the pits at the end of that lap so I came into the lead, with Patrese 2nd now. The italian only lasted two extra laps on track, crashing with Modena. That left Brundle, Alesi and me for the win, but the french also retired. I came into the pits on lap 21, for my only pit-stop. I didn´t know if Brundle would be going for one or two stops yet. Brundle passed me during the stop and I had to chase him. With the tank full it took me 6 laps to aproach and pass the Benetton, with Brundle going into the pits on lap 28 for a 2nd stop. It was a huge relief as I would only have to take care of his charge with new tyres. This is how the gap evolved from then on;

Lap 29 - 20.6
Lap 31 - 16.8
Lap 33 - 18.6
Lap 35 - 20.9
Lap 37 - 22.9
Lap 39 - 25.3
Lap 41 - 36.0 (Brundle must have made a mistake)

So I entered the last lap with an advantage of nearly 40 secs, but when I approached Les Combes I heard a familiar noise... The rear left wheel became loose!! To make things worse I spun into the exit and when I passed the 2nd split Brundle was just 3.7 secs behind, so exiting Stavelot I waited for the Benetton to quickly appear on my mirrors and defend my position into the Bus-Stop chicane. So I waited, and waited and, suddenly, on the team radio "Brundle has a loose wheel problem. Repeat, Brundle has a loose wheel problem. He is stopping!" That´s what I call a miracle, winning for the 2nd race in a row under the same circumstances!! Brundle never got to the finish line and, due to my spin, Comas and De Cesaris unlapped themselves when I spun and entered the podium!

1. Dagnall -- 1h25m13.486
2. Comas -- +1.38.624
3. De Cesaris -- +1.47.443
4. Brundle -- +1 lap (r)
5. Alboreto -- +1 lap
6. Boutsen -- +1 lap
7. Hakkinen -- +1 lap
8. Herbert -- +1 lap
9. Suzuki -- +1 lap
10. Lehto -- +1 lap
11. Fittipaldi -- +1 lap
12. Belmondo -- +2 laps

Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall; 1:54.809
DOTR; Alboreto: Made a late pit-stop and climbed from 10th to 5th for two points.
ROTR; Ferrari drivers: Ruined secured podium finishes with embarrasing incidents.

Chris Dagnall:

I´m going to ask the FIA to reduce the distance on 3 or 4 laps for each of the races left!! We´ve been very lucky to finish again under a problem of this characteristics. The rear tyres are giving lots of trouble this season when wasted, but we don´t know the source of the problem yet. I was expecting Brundle to come and pass me at any moment during the final lap but he never appeared, so it was quite a relief when the team told me he was having the same problem as me! I´m glad to have scored another win. I don´t accept any comments on my future yet but we´ll make an announcement after the next race in Monza.

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 12 races -

1. Mansell - 83 pts
2. Patrese - 54 pts
3. Schumacher - 37 pts
4. Dagnall - 36 pts
5. Senna - 31 pts
6. Brundle - 16 pts
7. Berger - 13 pts
8. Alesi - 11 pts
9. Comas - 9 pts
10. De Cesaris - 8 pts
11. Boutsen - 5 pts
12. Hakkinen - 4 pt
13. Alboreto - 3 pt
14. Martini - 1 pt
=. Gugelmin - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 137 pts
2. McLaren - 67 pts
3. Benetton - 53 pts
4. Ferrari - 24 pts
5. Ligier - 14 pts
6. Tyrrell - 8 pts
7. Lotus - 4 pt
8. Footwork - 3 pt
9. Scuderia Italia - 1 pt
=. Jordan - 1 pt

[Shizuka]

What a lucky race... and another win!

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 13 - ITALY

Monza is usually a place where there´s more action in the paddock that on track (and not precisely for the lack of proper action over the asphalt!). Honda announced the retirement from Formula One, and Ferrari the will to keep the current lineup with Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi for the 1993 season. I would also make an announcement, but only after the race!

Qualifying

Mansell took another pole, but this time it was closer than usual!! Benetton and Ferrari were very far off the pace

1. Mansell -- 1.20.717
2. Dagnall -- 1.21.153
3. Patrese -- 1.21.227
4. Senna -- 1.21.393
5. Schumacher -- 1.22.970
6. Brundle -- 1.23.009

Race

A light rain and heavy wind on the morning of the race made the track very slippery, although perfect for slick tyres.
Patrese did a great start and arrived 1st to the chicane, while Mansell breaked early and I came in 2nd. I got to pass Patrese before the Parabolica and took the lead. Most of the people would be going for one stop but I chose a 2 stop strategy, which allowed me to be much faster than my rivals. Mansell took the 2nd place on lap 6. By then, my advantage was 6.0, then I started to open about one second per lap, until Mansell spun on lap 18, the same I used for my first pit-stop, which allowed me to exit the pits 3rd, just behind the Williams. Patrese suffered as well the track lack of grip and spun on lap 21! Mansell retired a bit later due to a puncture, and I took the lead with Schumacher 10 secs behind, which I converted to 16.8 by lap 27, one before the german pit-stop. Brundle took the 2nd place, but he was too far behind (more than 30 secs), to really worry so I started to take things easy. On lap 34 Patrese spun to retire and Schumacher suffered a transmission problem. I also took my 2nd pit-stop, before spinning at the exit of the first chicane on lap 38. Anyway, nothing happened as Brundle also spun and lost the 2nd place to Alesi, who was more than one minute behind. On lap 43 Alesi retired as well, leaving Brundle 2nd and Gugelmin 3rd with the Jordan. Everything was set unless something happened, but this time the car was good to me and I could have a quiet final lap, but I was the only one to have a quiet ending; Brundle spun at the beggining of the last lap, losing about 50 seconds (therefore the enormous gap). Fittipaldi suffered a problem while on 6th with two laps to go, De Cesaris´s gearbox expired on last lap while running 4th and Suzuki suffered an accident at the very last corner of the last lap, losing a 6th position to Van de Poele, who was the last finishing driver!! Another heart-stopping end to the race

1. Dagnall -- 1h12m28.353
2. Brundle -- +1.56.847
3. Gugelmin -- +1 lap
4. Boutsen -- +2 laps
5. Grouillard -- +2 laps
6. Van de Poele -- +2 laps
7. De Cesaris -- +3 laps (r)
8. Suzuki -- +3 laps (r)
9. Fittipaldi -- +4 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall: 1:22.472
DOTR: Mauricio Gugelmin; Stayed the whole race at the head of the rest of the pack to score a fantastic podium.
ROTR: Aguri Suzuki; Threw away a points finish by running wide at the last corner on final lap!

Chris Dagnall said:

If you told me I would still be fighting for the 2nd place of the championship three races ago I´d have thought you were crazy, but things have gone my way and the tracks left are among my favourite, so we´re looking forward to end the season in a strong position

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 13 races -

1. Mansell - 83 pts
2. Patrese - 54 pts
3. Dagnall - 46 pts
4. Schumacher - 37 pts
5. Senna - 31 pts
6. Brundle - 22 pts
7. Berger - 13 pts
8. Alesi - 11 pts
9. Comas - 9 pts
10. De Cesaris - 8 pts
=. Boutsen - 8 pts
12. Gugelmin - 5 pt
13. Hakkinen - 4 pt
14. Alboreto - 3 pt
15. Grouillard - 2 pts
16. Martini - 1 pt
=. Van de Poele - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 137 pts
2. McLaren - 77 pts
3. Benetton - 59 pts
4. Ferrari - 24 pts
5. Ligier - 17 pts
6. Tyrrell - 10 pts
7. Jordan - 5 pts
8. Lotus - 4 pt
9. Footwork - 3 pt
10. Scuderia Italia - 1 pt
=. Brabham - 1 pt

[Aerond]

TEAM LOTUS PRESS CONFERENCE - Monza, 13 September 1992, 6 pm

PETER COLLINS:

We are here today to announce our driver line-up for the 1993 season. It´s a privilege for us to inform that the Team Lotus cars will be distributed in the next form for next season:

Car #11 - Chris Dagnall (GBR)
Car #12 - Johnny Herbert (GBR)
Reserve drivers:
Alessandro Zanardi (ITA)
Pedro Lamy (POR)

We have to publicly thank Castrol for their support. This allowed Team Lotus to sign a driver of the experience and talent of Chris Dagnall and we want to thank the current Formula 1 World Champion his will to understand the current position of the team and we would like to welcome him to the Lotus family. I´m completely sure this relationship, which will also continue for the 1994 and 1995 Formula One seasons, is going to help the team come back where it belongs. We would also thank the McLaren team for letting us negotiate with the driver in order to secure his services. Chris Dagnall will be available to any queries from the press if required.

[AndreaModa]

Haha! Brilliant! So you'll be racing in the Lotus next year, but will you alter the performance or will it be as close to the real life performance as possible? Either way, can't wait to see how you get on with that!!

[Shizuka]

Good luck with Lotus and congrats for making it three wins in a row!

[Aerond]

Haha! Brilliant! So you'll be racing in the Lotus next year, but will you alter the performance or will it be as close to the real life performance as possible? Either way, can't wait to see how you get on with that!!

As always, I´ll try to be sure the performance is as close as possible. But, of course, you have to count on how you can tweak GP2. Regarding your car, you can change the Power of the engine (which I try to leave as real as possible, based on real data. You can have different power from the AI, but I always use the same as my team mate), the grip factor (which is exactly the same factor for everybody, I don´t touch it as I don´t understand completely how it affects the handling), and the car weight (you can set different car weights for your car and the AI, but I use the same as well. I increase every year the weight a bit to level the cars up with the increase of power, this is not necessarily the same weight as real cars had, as a weight of, let´s say 500 kg, makes the car very easy to drive, I´m currently running on 575). I also tick the "Random Power Variation" box, which gives you a slight power variation from race to race, making things more interesting. You can also change reliability, of course, I run with all the reliability issues ticked on as you can see! (and, as always, I set them up to try resemble the number of problems that team had in real life)

Regarding the AI, you can also change the Qualifying and Race speed of each driver, and also a grip factor for each driver. This grip factor actually incides on how regular each driver is regarding the Qualifying and Race speed and it helps randomize things a little bit. I use it in a different way and each season I look at the retirements by accident of each driver so I use it to penalise those who suffered more accidents in real life (I also look at the regularity, so the final grip factor is a mixture of regularity and accidents). I use it in such way to avoid a driver who is going to finish most of the races because of realiability if he didn´t achieve that in real life if had a number of retirements by accident (let´s say 3 or more). It also helps spice things up a little bit more.

So, as you can imagine, I spend a few hours tweaking the carsets at the beggining of each season to look as close as possible to real life!

Let me finish getting back to the point. What I wanted to say is that, although I can make my car less powerful (it will, as Lotus had a 3rd tier Ford V8 engine for 1993), and heavier, is quite possible I will be at the front during some races (or at least, quite ahead of my team mate), due to the own nature of Gp2 and, why not say it, my abbility to play it.

[FullMetalJack]

ERIC VAN DE POELE IN THE POINTS!!!

[AndreaModa]

Good explanation Aerond that clears things up nicely, it's the one flaw with these computer game careers that the player can obviously influence the performance and difficulty of the opposition, thus making it much easier to achieve good results in perhaps an inferior car (I'm looking at you Melrose ). Sammy Jones has his AI on 100% difficulty with a mod installed to make the cars and drivers behave more like they did in real life which although makes it seem quite real, it's incredibly infuriating when you so desperately want a good result yet are unable to get it because no matter how good your driving is, the car simply won't perform to that level.

So yeah, good luck with the Lotus project!

[Aerond]

Good explanation Aerond that clears things up nicely, it's the one flaw with these computer game careers that the player can obviously influence the performance and difficulty of the opposition, thus making it much easier to achieve good results in perhaps an inferior car (I'm looking at you Melrose ). Sammy Jones has his AI on 100% difficulty with a mod installed to make the cars and drivers behave more like they did in real life which although makes it seem quite real, it's incredibly infuriating when you so desperately want a good result yet are unable to get it because no matter how good your driving is, the car simply won't perform to that level.

So yeah, good luck with the Lotus project!

Oh, and forgot to say I run on ace difficulty level

[TomWazzleshaw]

...thus making it much easier to achieve good results in perhaps an inferior car (I'm looking at you Melrose ).

Oi! It's not my fault the 2006 mod is far too easy on Ace Difficulty. Seriously though I would start tweaking it a little bit but last time I did I just about screwed up my ChampCar mod so now only 4 cars finish a race.

On a completely irrelevent note I did a quick comparison between the time I did at Brazil to score pole (Which was a 1:11.659) and the times the BMW cars did during Qualifying for the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix (Heidfeld did a 1:11.882 and Kubica did a 1:12.131). I was only 2 tenths faster than Heidfeld yet I'm still a second off the pole time which was Felipe Massa's 1:10.680 during Q3. So essentially all I have to do is make the AI a second a lap faster than it is right now and I'll be set.

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 14 - PORTUGAL

Qualifying

It´s not strange the FIA looked everywhere to find something illegal in my McLaren after the qualifying results!! Of course, nothing was found... My performance astonished everyone!

1. Dagnall -- 1.12.895
2. Mansell -- 1.14.440
3. Patrese -- 1.15.105
4. Senna -- 1.15.336
5. Schumacher -- 1.15.641
6. Brundle -- 1.15.751

Race

The first part of the race was quite boring. I went for a two stop strategy and the car felt absolutely perfect. Ayrton got the 2nd place at the start and was faster than the rest, so for a good time it looked like a McLaren 1-2. The others looked like turtles compared to me! So far, the gap to Senna evolved like this:

Lap 2 - 2.1
Lap 5 - 10.8
Lap 10 - 24.3
Lap 15 - 32.9

On lap 20, 3 before my pit-stop I suffered an electrical problem and lost several seconds going to the box. I got it solved, but came back on 3rd place, although it only took me one lap to regain the lead!! Mansell broke his engine before the end of that lap and Ayrton came into the pits, now with Brundle 2nd 7.2 secs behind, which grew up to 15.2 by lap 25. On lap 26 I broke too late at turn 7 and drove into the back of Hakkinen Lotus, who was for a solid points finish... my front wing flew and he retired. I guess that made my future boss not to happy. I decided to put enough fuel to finish, and got passed by Brundle, who stopped next lap anyway. With such a heavy car, my laptimes increased, but the gap to Senna evolved nicely:

Lap 27 - 6.8
Lap 30 - 7.5
Lap 35 - 15.7

He entered the pits on lap 39, now Brundle was 2nd, me being faster than him. The gap was about 49 seconds on lap 50. As I had a huge advantage I decided to do a last pit for new tyres and ended up lapping everybody else, with Brundle 2nd after his 2 stop strategy allowed him to beat Senna (on a 3 stop strategy).
Now I can go for the 2nd place in the championship!

1. Dagnall -- 1h31m19.411
2. Brundle -- +1 lap
3. Senna -- +1 lap
4. Patrese -- +1 lap
5. Alboreto -- +3 laps
6. Herbert -- +3 laps
7. Boutsen -- +3 laps
8. Martini -- +3 laps
9. Wendlinger -- +3 laps
10. Grouillard -- +3 laps
11. Fittipaldi -- +4 laps
12. Suzuki -- +4 laps
13. Katayama -- +5 laps
14. Lehto -- +6 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Dagnall -- 1.14.771
DOTR: Brundle; Beat Senna and Patrese with a better strategy
ROTR: Katayama; Made the expression "mobile chicane" come alive. He was a lap down after only 12 laps!!

Chris Dagnall said:

I´m all for the 2nd place in the championship now. We still have reliability problems but these don´t seem to affect us as much as they did in the first part of the season. Now we´re off to Japan. The restant tracks are among my favourite so we should have fun. I´ve almost assured the 3rd place in the championship, which given how the first half of the season turned out must be considered a miracle. I´m very proud of the team and now we must go for the 2nd place in the drivers and constructors championship!

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 13 races -

1. Mansell - 83 pts
2. Patrese - 57 pts
3. Dagnall - 56 pts
4. Schumacher - 37 pts
5. Senna - 35 pts
6. Brundle - 28 pts
7. Berger - 13 pts
8. Alesi - 11 pts
9. Comas - 9 pts
10. De Cesaris - 8 pts
=. Boutsen - 8 pts
12. Gugelmin - 5 pt
=. Alboreto - 5 pt
14. Hakkinen - 4 pt
15. Grouillard - 2 pts
16. Martini - 1 pt
=. Van de Poele - 1 pt
=. Herbert - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 140 pts
2. McLaren - 91 pts
3. Benetton - 65 pts
4. Ferrari - 24 pts
5. Ligier - 17 pts
6. Tyrrell - 10 pts
7. Jordan - 5 pts
=. Lotus - 5 pts
=. Footwork - 5 pts
10. Scuderia Italia - 1 pt
=. Brabham - 1 pt

[gnrpoison]

an astonishing drive and the moment a young Adam Randle decided to become a racing driver. Hopefully he can emulate Dagnell achievements with the Randle Racing team in the future.

[Shizuka]

That's 4 wins in a row now?