Grand Prix Rejects

Posted: **31 May 2013, 06:52**

Monza Testing Session Reports

Thomas Travers zipped his jacket up. It was 8 am in Milan,and it was an unusually cold Friday morning at Monza,colder even than the preview showcase at Silverstone almost a month ago.Mr. Travers did the usual,a walk along the length of the pitlane. He was currently the only on there in his team. After walking up and down the length of the pitlane,he realized he was the only one even near the Monza circuit. Their test was due to start at 9:30. Mr.Travers looked around. A sea of empty grandstands greeted him,and a plastic bag bundled across the track.Travers didn't mind. He imagined the grandstand at Silverstone,full of spectators wearing Empire Racing green,and the Empire car in front. He imagine Brundle still at the team,celebrating,holding a trophy. It said "British Grand Prix-1st place". He could not have been happier throughout this month. He was disrupted from his thoughts by a tap on the shoulder from his mechanic,who motioned that help was needed in transferring the car into the garage. Mr.Travers realized that he could imagine all he wants,but his goal was still quite a way away.
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February 25th,Friday

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Monza Testing Session--Friday 25th February
1 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)    1:35.840

Everywhere around the track,there was nothing to be seen on Friday at Monza. Except for a green car travelling around the circuit. That was the Empire Racing car of Martin Brundle,the only driver at Monza today. He set a time in the 1:35s,though with the polesetting pace estimated to be at around 1:30,that was not a time that would set the F1 World ablaze.

February 26th,Saturday

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Monza Testing Session--Saturday 26th February
1 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)        1:30.946
2 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)  1:31.397
3 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)    1:35.775

Finally,more cars. Alfa Romeo joined the lonely Empire in the garage,and were acting as the nice guys,deliberately showing Brundle proper lines through turns and giving the Empire an occasional tow if possible. Still,the Alfas were mighty over Brundle,with Arnoux beating de Cesaris in terms of laptimes.

February 27th,Sunday

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Monza Testing Session--Sunday 27th February
1 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)       1:30.474
2 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)  1:30.862
3 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)        1:31.249
4 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)  1:31.254
5 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)    1:35.764

There were a few fans in the stands,but they were only cheering for one man:Elio de Angelis. The Italian decided to test the Ferrari here today to the delight of some Milanese,while Riccardo Patrese made sure that Brabham was represented by at least an Italian during their test here. In fact,the only team without an Italian connection were Empire,who stayed dead last. The Alfas were much more close this time,but Patrese blew them into the weeds,only for de Angelis to blow Patrese into the weeds himself,taking the fastest time.
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Thomas Travers packed the car in the truck,preparing to fly it off to Brazil anytime soon.Brundle reported that the car felt like magic through the few turns of Monza,but Mr.Travers knew that he mechanics needed to work their magic now. Mr.Travers had decided to let the team work on an upgrade,be it whatever size they want on whatever they want to upgrade it on. As long as it didn't cost the car a few tenths...
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ISSUE 1:What Upgrade should be put on the car?

a)POWER
b)HANDLING
c)RELIABILITY

ISSUE 2:What size should the upgrade be?

a)Small(+0.3 in attributes,75% chance of working)
b)Medium(+0.5 in attributes,50% chance of working)
c)Large(+0.7 in attributes,30% chance of working)

Posted: **31 May 2013, 06:55**

The Monza test has highlighted how gutless the Hart engine is. A medium power upgrade should be in order, I think.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 07:19**

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:The Monza test has highlighted how gutless the Hart engine is. A medium power upgrade should be in order, I think.

I concur.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 09:37**

Medium power upgrade.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 11:30**

Large power upgrade, we're going to need as much help as we can get.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 13:35**

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:The Monza test has highlighted how gutless the Hart engine is. A medium power upgrade should be in order, I think.

I second this

Posted: **31 May 2013, 13:43**

The tests would suggest that what we're behind on is power.
.3*.75=.225
.5*.5=.25
.7*.3=.21

Making medium power the best choice in a risk/reward sense.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 14:05**

I further calls for a medium power upgrade.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 15:25**

Medium power upgrade.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 21:27**

I'm going with the way of McClean's, and going for as much power as we can get.

Posted: **31 May 2013, 22:14**

Since I'm a dull b**tard, I'm going withe the majority for a medium power upgrade to the hart engine

Posted: **31 May 2013, 23:14**

I'm going to vote for something really unexpected.

A medium power upgrade.

Posted: **01 Jun 2013, 00:02**

I say a medium power upgrade

Posted: **01 Jun 2013, 10:45**

VOTES TALLY

ISSUE 1:--ALL of you voted power. Every single one. First ever unanimous decision

ISSUE 2:--10 Voted for a Medium Upgrade,2 Voted for a Large upgrade.

Upgrade chosen is Medium Power.

Randomizer has 1-50 for successful upgrade,51-100 for unsuccessful upgrade.And the randomizer results are...

...45! Upgrade Successful!

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Thomas Travers looked out from the plane window.He could see the beautiful ity of Rio de Janiero,Copacabana beach,but most importantly,he saw Jacarepagua. The first race of the season would be a do or die session for every team to see how pre-season testing panned out and a true benchmark as to how much performance is packed into their chassis. 29 cars will take to the track,but only 26 will participate in the race itself. Mr. Travers gulped at this thought,but soon his worried drifted away after he had promising testing times for his car. He was ready for 1983. He was ready for Formula One. He was ready for the journey that would start when the lights turned green. That is,if his car ever saw the lights turn green.

Posted: **02 Jun 2013, 07:43**

March 12,1983.

Thomas Travers looked in the garage. He was about to enter a car for a race for the first time. In Formula One, no less. So he was left puzzled,not knowing what to do. Should he go to the bar for a pint as he watches the race on the telly? Should he become reserve tyre changer should one guy get lost on the way to the circuit? His answer was to sit in the garage and to help relay information to Brundle on his laps. It worked nicely during practice,but during qualifying,it would matter whether the Empire will enter or not. With two minutes to go in the session,things were not looking bright as Brundle set off on his final lap of Jacarepagua. He was barely behind Chico Serra in the RAM. He had one lap to qualify...

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1983 Brazilian Grand Prix--Qualifying

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 Brazillian Grand Prix--Qualifying
 1 Alain Prost (Renault)             1:34.331
 2 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         1:35.418
 3 Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)         1:35.519
 4 Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)        1:35.824
 5 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          1:35.973
 6 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         1:36.065
 7 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)        1:36.095
 8 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      1:36.116
 9 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    1:36.243
10 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          1:37.007
11 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    1:37.183
12 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     1:37.751

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13 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           1:37.875
14 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       1:37.902
15 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    1:37.934
16 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          1:38.019
17 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)     1:38.218
18 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       1:38.734
19 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    1:38.820
20 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  1:39.082
21 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      1:39.160
22 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      1:39.438
23 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         1:39.476
24 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)    1:40.245
25 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      1:41.040

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26 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Ford)        1:41.405
-------------------DNQ-------------------
27 Chico Serra (RAM-Ford)            1:42.071
28 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Ford)  1:42.886
29 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)      1:44.135

Many dust and rubber particles were left in Alain Prost's wake as he blitzed the field by over a second at the Jacarepagua circuit to place himself on pole position.His lap was manic and aggresive,yet controlled and smooth.It was a lap worthy of looking up on VHS or highlight reels or whatever they will have for 30 years onwards. In second place was Prost's new teammate,Jacques Laffite,being the best of the rest.Niki Lauda came ahead of Derek Daly,with the two Ferraris not far behind.John Watson came close to nicking Elio de Angelis' sixth place as Keke Rosberg led Michele Alboreto and Rene Arnoux to complete the top 10.

Notably,Nigel Mansell and the two Brabhams have had torrid qualifying sessions,placing 17th throught 19th. It is thought that the Brabhams were having turbo troubles,but Nigel Mansell had no reported problems. The Ligiers are performing horribly compared to last year,while Chico Serra,Piercarlo Ghinzani and Brian Henton,who only set one timed lap before coming in with a puncture,had all failed to qualify,meaning that Corrado Fabi starts in the Osella and Martin Brundle is able to start a race in the new Empire team.

Posted: **02 Jun 2013, 13:07**

Huzzah! Brundle qualified!

Posted: **02 Jun 2013, 14:33**

We have to remind Martin Brundle that "To finish first, first you must finish". Treat this as a test session.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 04:56**

So far so good. Just take it home buddy

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 06:21**

1983 Brazilian Grand Prix

Results

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1983 Brazilian Grand Prix (63 Laps)
 1 Jacques Laffite (Renault)           1:53:40.961
 2 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)           1:54:17.399
 3 Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)           1:54:18.858
 4 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)        1:54:21.514
 5 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)            1:54:24.120
 6 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)      1:54:36.115
 7 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)         1:54:40.079
 8 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)          1:54:59.550
 9 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)         1:55:00.273
10 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)            1:55:17.503
11 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)             1:55:24.821
12 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)       1:55:25.898

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13 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)       1:55:26.610
14 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)    1:55:32.435
15 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)           -1 lap
16 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)                -1 lap
 - Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)       DNF lap 63
   Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)           DNF lap 52
   Corrado Fabi (Osella-Ford)           DNF lap 46
   Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)             DNF lap 36
   Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)       DNF lap 32

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   Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)         DNF lap 17
   Alain Prost (Renault)                 DNF lap 9
   Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)          DNF lap 7
   Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)          DNF lap 6
   Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)        DNF lap 5

Summary

The Renaults were the dominant force throughout this whole race,with at least one Renault leading the race for all 63 laps.At first Alain Prost left the rest of the field for dead,until his transmission went dead,then Jacques Laffite took up his sword and led the rest of the race in convincing fashion. Everyone,though,was watching the battle for second between a fast-starting Elio de Angelis and Niki Lauda,who fought for almost the entire duration of the race after pitstops. de Angelis would always get past on the main striaght,but Lauda would be able to find a way past in the turns. Only when Lauda ran wide at Girao on the penultimate lap was de Angelis able to get a breakaway to cross the line over a second from Lauda. Next behind was reigning champion Keke Rosberg in the Williams,fifth was de Angelis' teammate and sixth,with a bit of luck,was Riccardo Patrese,who only got the position when Michele Alboreto retired with just a few turns to go. Derek Warwick was closing in on Patrese near the final stages,John Watson had a below-average day at the office,Nelson Piquet did not climb as high as his teammate did and Mac Surer completed the top 10.

Other notables were Eddie Cheever and Nigel Mansell finishing down in 12th and 13th respectively,Cheever being stuck behind Teo Fabi's Toleman and Mansell suffered a botched pit stop.A recap of the non finishers: Andrea de Cesaris ran wide at Norte and clipped the barriers,damaging his suspension.Debutant Martin Brundle ran over debris left by de Cesaris' car,which also damaged his suspension.The ATS of Manfred Winklehock caught fire relatively early in the race as,aforementioned,Alain Prost ran into transmission troubles. Danny Sullivan spun at Sul and almost kept the car going,but his tyres were too damaged to make it around Girao and ended up into the barrier on lap 17. Theirry Boutsen ended up with his Toleman a bit Hart-less when the engine let go,Rene Arnoux was running for some points when an oil leak sprung as he entered the pits for a stop. Corrado Fabi ended his miserable afternoon as a backmarker by seeing his Osella's transmission go bust. Derek Daly was latching on to the Lauda-de Angelis battle when he pulled in after his car was stuck in 3rd gear. Finally,on the last lap in 6th place,Michele Alboreto's suspension decided to suspend working for a lap and as a result,pitched Alboreto into the inside wall on the back straight. Thankfully,he was unhut.

Driver's Standings (R1/16)
1.Jacques Laffite--9
2.Elio de Angelis--6
3.Niki Lauda--4
4.Keke Rosberg--3
5.Patrick Tambay--2
6.Riccardo Patrese--1

Constructor's Standings (R1/16)
1.Renault--9
2.Ferrari--8
3.McLaren-Ford--4
4.Williams-Ford--3
5.Brabham-BMW--1
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March 15th,1983

Thomas Travers took one look at the damaged car,before being packed up to go to Long Beach.He knew the repair bill won't be massive,and he already had a few engineers back in the UK working on spare parts.Mr. Travers guessed that they would be ready in time for the race up north at Long Beach,but that was only a guess. To make the "guess" into a "yes",he needed to send a couple of mechanics he brought over to Brazil back to the UK,but that could come with a price to pay. Without spare parts,the car may still act nicely,but will be more prone to breaking up. Without a few extra engineers on hand,there will be a smaller amount of people able to tune the car's setup for the track,thus ruining pace.He had no time for the mechanics to go to the UK and head straight to Long Beach,which left him in a quandry.What should he do?

ISSUE::What choice should Mr Travers make?

a)Send mechanics to UK (-0.2 Power and Handling for Long Beach only)

b)Leave everything as is (-0.2 Reliability for Long Beach only)

You guys can vote for 24-36 hours.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 06:38**

Leave everything as it is. Getting through qualifying is most important at the moment.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 07:46**

I vote for option b) - Leave it as it is.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 07:53**

Leave it. We'll live without spares for one race.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 10:12**

I say send the mechanics back to the UK. I reckon we should be safe to qualify, so we need to finish the race.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 11:19**

Leave everything as is.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 11:21**

Leave everything as is, we'll need all the power we can get.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 11:26**

Backmarker wrote:I say send the mechanics back to the UK. I reckon we should be safe to qualify, so we need to finish the race.

I concur

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 11:28**

Leave as is - we managed to qualify on our own merit and it's not like reliability caused us to DNF in Round 1!

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 13:32**

I say we leave things as is.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 14:45**

Leave everything as it is

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 14:52**

Leave everything as it is. To finish first, first you have to qualify.

Those results look like they're from xkoranate, so how did you have more than 20 cars?

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 15:18**

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Those results look like they're from xkoranate, so how did you have more than 20 cars?

You can have more than 20 cars in xkoranate. As Ferrarist's F1RICS keenly demonstrates.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 16:15**

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Those results look like they're from xkoranate, so how did you have more than 20 cars?

You can have more than 20 cars in xkoranate. As Ferrarist's F1RICS keenly demonstrates.

I just tried it, and so you can. This of course raises the question of why the hell didn't it work for me before. Maybe I just miscounted the cars I had.

Posted: **04 Jun 2013, 21:31**

Leave everything as is.

Posted: **05 Jun 2013, 10:38**

Votes Tally

ISSUE:What should Mr. Travers do?--10 votes for Leave everything as is,2 votes for Send Mechanics to UK

Empire Racing will leave everything as it is.
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1983 United States Grand Prix West--Qualifying
Results

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1983 United States Grand Prix West--Qualifying
 1 Alain Prost (Renault)             1:26.414
 2 Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)         1:26.582
 3 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          1:26.688
 4 Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)        1:26.905
 5 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)        1:26.911
 6 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       1:27.087
 7 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    1:27.112
 8 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     1:27.613
 9 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)     1:27.645
10 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       1:27.934
11 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          1:27.982
12 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    1:28.638

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13 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      1:28.873
14 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    1:28.882
15 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         1:29.202
16 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         1:29.608
17 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           1:30.052
18 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          1:30.213
19 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         1:30.485
20 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      1:30.744
21 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)      1:31.045
22 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      1:31.161
23 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    1:31.562
24 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)    1:32.037
25 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      1:32.339

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26 Chico Serra (RAM-Ford)            1:32.665
------------------DNQ----------------------
27 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Ford)  1:32.676
28 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Ford)        1:32.786
29 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  1:33.343

Alain Prost topped the timesheets in Qualifying like he did in Brazil,only this time there was more of a challenge coming from Niki Lauda in the naturally-aspirated McLaren. He put on a very spirited drive over the Long Beach streets to beat Patrick Tambay in the Ferrari. Derek Daly squeaked into 4th place by the slimmest of margins over Lauda's teammate John Watson.The Brabhams avenged their poor qualifying outing last time out by qualifying 6th and 7th,Eddie Cheever came eigth in the Williams,ninth went to Nigel Mansell and rounding out the top 10 was Derek Warwick,who barely beat Arrows team-mate Marc Surer.

To say that this session was uneventful would be quite false. Bumps across the track at Seaside Way were causing problematic problems,and calls for the bumps to be smoothened were heightened when Jean-Pierre Jarier's suspension snapped after giddy-upping over them in practice.The bumps were smoothened but still caused trouble as at least 4 cars-Danny Sullivan,Rene Arnoux,Johnny Cecotto and Corrado Fabi-all spun on the turn after those bumps.And then it rained. At first,the rain was a soft,pitter-patter of a drizzle that eventually turned into continous rain with 15 minutes to go. Elio de Angelis,Jacques Laffite,Rene Arnoux and Keke Rosberg were all caught out by the rain,ruining their acutal hotlaps and forcing them to stick with the banker laps they set earlier,with Rosberg's lap being slowed by a train of Martin Brundle,Mauro Baldi and Andrea de Cesaris. In fact,the only person to go out within the last 15 minutes was Jean-Pierre Jarier. He went out for one time to try and set a lap after the mechanics fixed his car in place,but was only able to set a time half a second slower than the Osellas,and failed to qualify.Mind you,Piercarlo Ghinzani was oh-so close to getting into the race,but was pipped by Chico Serra at the last second when the track was still dry.
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Posted: **05 Jun 2013, 13:55**

We qualified 22nd! That's amazing!

Posted: **05 Jun 2013, 20:00**

This is good news.

Posted: **05 Jun 2013, 20:38**

Now let's hope that Brundle can make it to the finish line.

Posted: **05 Jun 2013, 23:59**

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:We qualified 22nd! That's amazing!

Yes, Yes, YES!!!

Julien wrote:Now let's hope that Brundle can make it to the finish line.

Yeah, Brundle had a bit of bad luck in Rio, but if there are no problems like debris, I think the team should be good to go. But anything and everything will happen. Look at Williams's '06 :lol:

Posted: **07 Jun 2013, 11:13**

1983 United States Grand Prix West

Results

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1983 United States Grand Prix West (75 Laps)
 1 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         2:01:50.329
 2 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          2:02:14.175
 3 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          2:02:39.646
 4 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     2:02:43.758
 5 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       2:02:46.880
 6 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      2:03:06.618
 7 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    2:03:08.174
 8 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)                -1 lap
 9 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)              -1 lap
10 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)           -1 lap
11 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)         -1 lap
12 Chico Serra (RAM-Ford)                 -1 lap

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 - Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)       DNF lap 70
   John Watson (McLaren-Ford)         DNF lap 69
   Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)       DNF lap 56
   Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)       DNF lap 56
   Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)     DNF lap 54
   Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)     DNF lap 39
   Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)          DNF lap 27
   Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)           DNF lap 27
   Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)     DNF lap 12
   Alain Prost (Renault)               DNF lap 7
   Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)           DNF lap 7
   Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)       DNF lap 3
   Derek Daly (Lotus-Renault)          DNF lap 3

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   Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)         DNF lap 1

Summary

It was a bright and windy noon,with all signs from the weather showing that this race would be a bright,happy one without incident.Boy,were those signs wrong.

As soon as the red lights turned to green there was trouble.Alain Prost somehow fluffed the start and left the grid approximately a day after everyone else...bar Nelson Piquet. Piquet's engine stalled on the grid and the car refused to budge,which caused everyone to slightly crap their pants as they went past the Brabham. While Bernie Ecclestone was consoling the Brazilian, in the garage next door,Peter Warr was screaming his head and toes off. Derek Daly,in a bold attempt at a pass on John Watson,had spun into the escape road at Toyota Corner.While waiting to get back on track,his teammate Nigel Mansell locked up his brakes in an attempt to re-overtake Prost,who was fighting back from his early slip-up. Mansell straightlined the turn...directly into Daly. Both cars were out on the spot. The lead was inherited by one Niki Lauda,with teammate John Watson locked in a battle with Patrick Tambay behind,followed by Cheever,Surer,Patrese,Laffite who made his way from 16th,Alboreto,Sullivan and de Angelis.

Well,by lap 7,you could remove de Angelis from that list. He had a charging Alain Prost behind him for about a lap now,and the young Italian was sniffing his gearbox left,right and centre. It was only at the end of Seaside Way did Prost look for a gap to the inside,but as de Angelis moved inside,that gap became tighter and tighter...until it just closed.This left de Angelis and Prost out of the race,both cars stranded at the inside of the turn,blocking the racing line for a few laps. There would be a few laps before anything of note happened to give the fans a breather. Unfortunately,their breath was filled with fumes from Thierry Boutsen's Toleman,whose Hart engine started smoking like a cigar. Meanwhile,Jacques Laffite was smoking up the track,having found his way to 4th from the dreaded 16th place on the grid. Keke Rosberg was also making up good ground,inheriting de Angelis' position. On lap 27,Rene Arnoux spun across the exact same bumps alongside Seaside Way he spun at yesterday,only this time,he stepped out of his car. However,he was not the only one to step out of his car. That other driver was...NIKI LAUDA! FROM THE LEAD! And how he dropped out...he collected the wall at the exit of Le Gasomet hairpin and his suspension parted ways with his car,leaving Lauda left out.

The race settled down for a while,with Surer passing Cheever and Laffite joining the massive battle for the lead that was ongoing. Andrea de Cesaris,who had a lengthy pitstop, had an even lengthier one when he pulled into the pits to report on a problem,stopped and..just...didn't get going again.Odd.But then again,no one was looking at the pits. By now the battle for the lead was turning serious.Watson was dicing with Tambay in every turn,Tambay was dicing with Watson on every straight,and Laffite would be the guy taking the scraps off the table,taking one's place whenever they made mistake,their roles would be reversed and the show will go on.Despite their interesting battle,they were still going at some speed.The action would continue for quite some time,even occuring past backmarkers.On lap 57,having just lapped the Empire of Martin Brundle,the group decided to group-lap Manfred Winklehock in the ATS heading into Michelob corner.Brundle decided to try and follow the battle past Winklehock for 12th place. Problem was, Winklehock knew the Empire was not lapping him,and shut the door.End result: Both ATS and Empire are sent packing prematurely.

Eventually,the awesome battle began to be taken up to twelve. Watson was banging wheels against the wall, Tambay was banging his car against others,and Laffite was banging the steering wheel after one too many rubs with Tambay.Finally,on lap 69,the banging came to an end in a slightly sad way. John Watson outbraked himself heading into the Hyatt Hotel,and Tambay closed right up.Through the chicane at the Convention Centre,Tambay dared to take Watson on the inside,while Watson stuck to his own line. They locked wheels and went straight on at the chicane,leaving Laffite clear and easy for the race win with six laps to go.Tambay got out of the locky situation and got out,barely ahead of Eddie Cheever in fourth. Watson,meanwhile,leapt from his car and went out of the race.His car was not out of punishment yet.Keke Rosberg went through the Hyatt Hotel a bit wide and clipped the dead McLaren,snapping his suspension. However,through some spark in his brain,he decided to drive the three-wheeler of a Williams for half a lap back to the pits! At almost full racing speed! The American crowd responded with a wall of applause for Rosberg when he got back into the pitlane.

However,the one receiving the most points this race is Jacques Laffite in the Renault,making it two out of two wins for this year and for Renault.And in second place,benefiting from the Watson/Tambay quarrel is... MARC SURER! He had a sublime race,and somehow dragged the Arrows into second place in a stunning drive! In third would be Patrick Tambay,holding off Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick to the line. And finally,in sixth place,home hero Danny Sullivan,bringing in his first points for Tyrell having passed Riccardo Patrese in the closing stages of the race.

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Driver's Championship (Round 2/16)
1.Jacques Laffite--18
2.Marc Surer--6 (1 2nd,1 10th)
3.Elio de Angelis--6 (1 2nd,1 DNF)
4.Patrick Tambay--6 (1 3rd)
5.Niki Lauda--4
6.Eddie Cheever--3 (1 4th,1 12th)
7.Keke Rosberg--3 (1 4th,1 DNF)
8.Derek Warwick--2
9.Riccardo Patrese--1 (1 6th,1 7th)
10.Danny Sullivan--1 (1 6th,1 DNF)

Constructor's Championship (Round 2/16)
1.Renault--18
2.Ferrari--12
3.Arrows-Ford--8
4.Williams-Ford--6
5.McLaren-Ford--4
6.Brabham-BMW--1 (1 6th,1 7th)
7. Tyrell--1(1 6th,3 DNF)
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Posted: **08 Jun 2013, 01:26**

Looked promising until Brundle was taken out. For 12th place, too! Ah, c'mon!

Grand Prix Rejects

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