F1RWRS -- 2014 Season

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 25 Jan 2012, 18:09

Warren Hughes wrote:
Aerond wrote:
Phoenix wrote:I can't go on the 9th because I have an exam on the 10th and will need revising, but chances are I can go on the 11th. Where's the place you're going to play that night?

It´s Corredera Baja de San Pablo esq. Calle Puebla (nearest metro is Gran Via). If you come say hi!

Phoenix: "Hey guys, I've got a mate whose playing a gig tonight, want to come?"
Phoenix's friends: "Yeah sure, who is it?"
Phoenix: "Well, I know him on the internet..."
Phoenix's friends: " "

That´s a bad marketing move; it should go like this:

Phoenix: "Hey guys, I´ve got a mate whose playing a gig tonight, want to come?"
Phoenix´s friends: "Yeah sure, who is it?"
Phoenix: "It´s a great indie-electronica band, they´re called Niño Burbuja"
Phoenix´s Friends: "There we go! 8-)

"

By the way, yes, there´s a ticket to be bought. It´s 8€ with a drink included. The support band (good guys, not to miss!), will play from around 10:15pm. We´ll go just after them.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 25 Jan 2012, 19:29

F1RWRS 2014 - ROUND 8 - BRITISH GP - BRANDS HATCH

Weather report:

PreQ - Rain
Q1 - Light Rain
Q2 - Dry
Race - Light Rain

PRE-QUALIFYING (Drivers in bold go into Qualifying)

1. Phoenix McAllister (Phoenix) -- 1.17.405
2. Ron Mignolet (Acuri) -- 1.18.028 (+0.623)
3. James Davies (Mecha) -- 1.18.983 (+1.578)
4. David Koczo (Trueba) -- 1.19.036 (+1.631)
5. Gary Cameron (Prospec) -- 1.19.117 (+1.712)
6. Sebastian Groves (Dofasco) -- 1.19.470 (+2.065)
7. Matthias Valsattis (Mitie) -- 1.19.593 (+2.188)
8. Tomislaw Tajner (Dofasco) -- 1.19.837 (+2.432)
9. Andrea Acuri (Acuri) -- 1.20.164 (+2.759)
10. David Neuberg (Mitie) -- 1.20.203 (+2.798)
11. The Stig (Phoenix) -- 1.20.294 (+2.889)
12. Francois Albertini (Shonan) -- 1.20.888 (+3.483)
13. Jean Luc Schiller (Prospec) -- 1.20.926 (+3.521)
14. Dave Simpson (Trueba) -- 1.20.932 (+3.527)
15. Saeed Al Faisal (Mecha) -- 1.20.936 (+3.531)
16. Gio Van Dycke (Shonan) -- 1.22.392 (+4.987)
17. Miko Fakkinen (Tropico) -- 1.23.153 (+5.749)
18. Darren Older Jr (Tropico) -- 1.25.981 (+8.576)

* Phoenix will skip Pre-Qualifying at Round 9

QUALIFYING

* ARC will have to Pre-Qualify at Round 9

STARTING GRID

RACE

So, mid season has passed and we´re living the contrary situation as last year: We have no clear candidates for the title despite two teams being clearly ahead of the rest, and everything thanks to the extreme unreliability they´re suffering or stupid accidents like the one Spencer suffered in Bathurst or the one by Dagnall in Monaco. The thing is the championship is now wide open.
Despite the rainfall, the plot in Brands Hatch was similar to the last few races: A MRT driver starts dominating, then retires and gives the lead to Dagnall, who proceeds to smash the competition until his car stops or suffers an stupid accident, this time being the first. Then, the best of the rest comes out and takes the win against all odds. This time this fortunate man was Thomas de Bock. Perhaps not so fortunate because both Gillet drivers were extremely fast all weekend, but there were two determinant factors contributing to his win: The first one is that Nicolas Steele retired mid-race. The Kamaha driver proved very determined to get the first win for the team, specially with his agressive move over Ben Fleet, but couldn´t get to the end. Same can be said of Barii Mori, having started last, the Japanese drove amazingly until his car stopped: He was already heading for a podium place then. The other factor contributing to De Bock´s win was Ron Mignolet´s Acuri suffering a brakes problem a few laps to the end. While the Sanmarinese mechanics managed to fix it and Mignolet finished an amazing 3rd, the fact it Mignolet was faster than De Bock and only a little bit of power prevented him to pass De Bock. Whether he´d managed to finally get the win or not, his problem robbed us the spectators of the climax of the battle between both.
The other underdog having a fantastic weekend was The Stig: specially motivated by having his Top Gear mates watching him; he qualified with ease for the first time this season and drove a very solid race which put him in a final 4th. Very much needed points for Phoenix and a shot of morale for the Red Bull sponsored outfit. We can also mark as positive the performance of Mirko Bosevic; having spun in the first lap at Druids, he recovered and patiently moved through the field to pass Sammy Jones in the final moments for the last point.
On a not-so-possitive side, we got an incredibly dull race pace from Nathanael Spencer: He qualified a distant 11th, could only get in the hunt for points because of the retirements ahead, and was embarrasingly passed by drivers in cars clearly slower than his. I bet he doesn´t like rainy conditions as much as we do. Another to have had a bad weekend is Jack Christopherson. He had an ultimatum by Pippa Mann to score points by the end of this race and failed to even come close of it at his home race. A bad way to end his stint at the team, compared to the efforts of Douglas Mann. We end the review with Daniel Martins, who scored the only retirement because of an accident (Sebastian Groves and Daniel Melrose both suffered accidents from mechanical issues, so we won´t count them) and with ARC; although Jesus Plaza started the race in 10th position and looking for points, his car only lasted one and a half lap on track. That, paired with the failure Fredo Mestolio suffered at qualifying on Saturday (preventing him to making to the grid) makes for a well deserved Reject of the race award.

Bosevic spins

Martins accident

Steele moving for 2nd

RESULTS

Fastest lap: Mark Dagnall (DGNgineering) -- 1.14.226
ROTR: ARC - Dismal weekend, one DNQ and packed too early on sunday afternoon.

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP (After Round 8)

1. Mark Dagnall - 28 pts
2. Thomas de Bock - 23 pts
3. Nathanael Spencer - 20 pts
4. Shinobu Katayama - 15 pts
=. Daniel Melrose - 15 pts
=. Douglas Mann - 15 pts
7. Nicolas Steele - 14 pts
=. Aurelien Moll - 14 pts
9. Sammy Jones - 12 pts
10. Phillippe Nicolas - 10 pts
11. Frank Zimmer - 8 pts
=. Mirko Bosevic - 8 pts
13. Ron Mignolet - 7 pts
14. Barii Mori - 6 pts
15. Rhys Davies - 4 pts
16. The Stig - 3 pts
17. Ashley Watkinson - 2 pts
18. Jesus Plaza - 1 pt
=. Daniel Martins - 1 pt
=. Ben Fleet - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS

1. Gillet - 37 pts
2. MRT - 30 pts
3. DGNgineering - 29 pts
4. Jones - 27 pts
5. Kamaha - 20 pts
6. Sunshine - 15 pts
=. Foxdale - 15 pts
8. Arrowtech - 9 pts
9. GRM - 8 pts
10. Acuri - 7 pts
11. HRT - 6 pts
12. Phoenix - 3 pts
13. ARC - 1 pt

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 25 Jan 2012, 21:25

Alasdair Lindsay wrote:So much for Dave Simpson being a wet weather specialist! I think I want Fredo Mestolio back now...

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 25 Jan 2012, 21:45

Andrea Acuri wrote:Great that we finally got through pre-qualifying. Last race was a disaster, we definitely need to improve now.

Sebastian Groves wrote:Fantastic that Dofasco got through Pre-Qualifying. We finally got our act together again.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 25 Jan 2012, 22:43

What an absolutely ridiculous PreQ! As Murray Walker would say, "7 different cars in the top 7 positions!!!"

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 26 Jan 2012, 04:35

Davies was fast, but Saeed was bathpluggingly slow to prevent our team to pre-qualify! BATHPLUG! :evil:

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 26 Jan 2012, 07:34

Hahahahaha, no.
12th and 16th is kinda what I was expecting as I predicted 13th and 15th.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 26 Jan 2012, 09:26

I see my drivers couldn't pull a performance out of their arse for our home race. Still, at least I've started a race this year.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 26 Jan 2012, 09:32

El Presidente wrote:Well, I am not worried by our results: our most important mission this year is filtering out all those American spies who wish to sabotage Tropico's glorious racing effort. While we are at it ... there is one, get him!

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 26 Jan 2012, 10:03

BTW Klon, If your worried about Glotch not getting a Superlicense then why don't you put him in a car for a race later in the season.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 26 Jan 2012, 10:21

I was hoping that I could see out the season with the same two drivers - but I guess it can't be helped.

Speedweek wrote:Micko Glotch to get F1RWRS debut in Macau

The German council leading the daily business of Tropico Grand Prix powered by CR Motorsport published a press release saying that Micko Glotch, their 2015 driver, will have to pass an "evaluation drive" at the Macau Grand Prix. While that wording may sound challenging, a trusted source within the team said to us that said evaluation would only consist of testing whether he can drive a car around a street track without crashing it.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 26 Jan 2012, 10:29

Speedweek wrote:Micko Glotch to get F1RWRS debut in Macau

The German council leading the daily business of Tropico Grand Prix powered by CR Motorsport published a press release saying that Micko Glotch, their 2015 driver, will have to pass an "evaluation drive" at the Macau Grand Prix. While that wording may sound challenging, a trusted source within the team said to us that said evaluation would only consist of testing whether he can drive a car around a street track without crashing it.

*Cough*Monaco*Cough*Norising*Cough*

Sorry. Must have the plague or something :lol:

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 26 Jan 2012, 11:05

I want to sack Al Faisal now. Can I? :evil:

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 26 Jan 2012, 11:21

FMecha wrote:I want to sack Al Faisal now. Can I?

Of course, you just have to name a replacement.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 26 Jan 2012, 12:23

Warren Hughes wrote:
Klon wrote:I would like to remind everyone interested in her services that Du Lei has become available as a F1RWRS driver from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards.

Du Lei will most likely be given a ride at Prospec, if she wants it, in the Asian rounds at least.

Well, she is thankful for the offer and will drive the Asian rounds for the legendary Prospec team.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 26 Jan 2012, 12:35

Aerond wrote:
FMecha wrote:I want to sack Al Faisal now. Can I?

Of course, you just have to name a replacement.

Any recommendations?

Post by **tommykl** » 26 Jan 2012, 13:53

FMecha wrote:
Aerond wrote:
FMecha wrote:I want to sack Al Faisal now. Can I?

Of course, you just have to name a replacement.

Any recommendations?

Maybe not the guy with the most recent experience, but Dan BH has been out of a drive since 2010, and does have multiple podiums with a top-three spot in the championship

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 26 Jan 2012, 14:00

FMecha wrote:
Aerond wrote:
FMecha wrote:I want to sack Al Faisal now. Can I?

Of course, you just have to name a replacement.

Any recommendations?

Phil McCracken is a free agent after being sacked by Scuderia Alitalia. :mrgreen:

And unlike Dan BH, he brings sponsorship with him!

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 26 Jan 2012, 15:18

FMecha wrote:
Aerond wrote:
FMecha wrote:I want to sack Al Faisal now. Can I?

Of course, you just have to name a replacement.

Any recommendations?

Steven Mackintosh and Alexey Pchelintsev will probably not return to MA-Racing this year. Both are not pay-drivers and Mackintosh has had 60 credits spent on his qualifying performances.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 26 Jan 2012, 16:37

There aren't any pay drivers I can think of (Phil McCraken is not a pay driver), but if it is a regular driver the most obvious choice is Ashley Watkinson. There's also Nathan Scott, who had credits invested on him at the beggining of this season

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 26 Jan 2012, 17:52

Aerond wrote:There aren't any pay drivers I can think of (Phil McCraken is not a pay driver), but if it is a regular driver the most obvious choice is Ashley Watkinson. There's also Nathan Scott, who had credits invested on him at the beggining of this season

How good is Ashley Watkinson then? I've seen his name in this thread a few times. How much has been invested in him? Who 'owns' him? As you can guess, I'm interested.

Post by **tommykl** » 26 Jan 2012, 17:58

AdrianSutil wrote:
Aerond wrote:There aren't any pay drivers I can think of (Phil McCraken is not a pay driver), but if it is a regular driver the most obvious choice is Ashley Watkinson. There's also Nathan Scott, who had credits invested on him at the beggining of this season

How good is Ashley Watkinson then? I've seen his name in this thread a few times. How much has been invested in him? Who 'owns' him? As you can guess, I'm interested.

He's watka's driver, but the guy is rarely here anymore...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 26 Jan 2012, 18:34

Wizzie wrote:Aerond, will it be alright if I take over the running of Jones Racing for the next week until AndreaModa comes back. And with that in mind, can I see the Jones Racing accounts and the car's stats?

*AHEM!*

Yeah I see your shady underhand tactics trying to sabotage my team's effort! I've got my eye on you now laddie! :lol:

Having said that, Aerond, if it's possible, I'd like to view my team's stats myself please!

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 26 Jan 2012, 19:35

AdrianSutil wrote:Steven Mackintosh and Alexey Pchelintsev will probably not return to MA-Racing this year. Both are not pay-drivers and Mackintosh has had 60 credits spent on his qualifying performances.

Picked up.

Crash.net wrote:MECHA: AL-FAISAL OUT, MACKINTOSH IN

The management at the struggling Mecha Grand Prix team has announced it has replaced Saeed al Faisal with Steven Mackintosh, formerly related with MA-Racing Team. Al Faisal was reportedly sacked due to his slow performance which prevented the team to pre-qualify. Al-Faisal and Mackintosh have yet to comment on this.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 26 Jan 2012, 20:12

Aerond wrote:There aren't any pay drivers I can think of (Phil McCraken is not a pay driver)

He has 16 DNPQs and always finished stone dead last in F2RWRS. How is that NOT a pay driver?!

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 26 Jan 2012, 22:18

Wizzie wrote:*Cough*Monaco*Cough*Norising*Cough*

Sorry. Must have the plague or something

Mr. Melrose shouldn't be talking when Monaco 2014 is the topic. :lol:

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 26 Jan 2012, 22:36

Klon wrote:
Wizzie wrote:*Cough*Monaco*Cough*Norising*Cough*

Sorry. Must have the plague or something

Mr. Melrose shouldn't be talking when Monaco 2014 is the topic.

That was a minor blip on the radar for the 5 time Monaco Grand Prix winner :lol:

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 26 Jan 2012, 23:28

Cameron to hang up keys
Prospec driver and team principal Gary Cameron has announced his intention to retire from driving duties later this season. The inaugural world champion and two-time race winner made the announcement in a press conference at the British Grand Prix, having failed to pre-qualify for the third time this season.

Cameron also confirmed the signing of Chinese rookie Du Lei for the final three races of 2014, but revealed that she would take his place, rather than that of team mate Jean-Luc Schiller. This means that Cameron's last F1RWRS entry will, fittingly, be at Zandvoort, scene of his first career victory in 2011.

In calling time on his driving career, Cameron will be able to concentrate solely on his other role as Prospec team principal. The Englishman refused to deny rumours that his team are in talks with Kay Lon about a full-time drive in 2015.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 26 Jan 2012, 23:45

Klon, it seems your desired storyline of Kay Lon fighting to save his career just isn't going to work. At least half the grid is trying to sign your virtual self it seems* :lol:

*Myself included...

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 27 Jan 2012, 00:56

I've just noticed that in half a season, we've made more posts than the ENTIRE first 3 seasons of the championship's existence combined :lol:

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 27 Jan 2012, 02:02

MA-Racing: Goodbye Steven, and good luck.

After David Neuberg impressed the team so much with his raw pace, Steven Mackintosh was found to be out of a full-time drive. Mecha Grand Prix, forever struggling in pre-qualifying, offered Mackintosh the chance to replace sacked Saeed Al-Faisal. "We knew Steven wouldn't be back in the car this year. So we owed it to him to help him get a drive elsewhere. After being linked with Tropico, it was Mecha Grand Prix who made a formal offer to take him from us. It's always disappointing to lose a popular guy from the team. But we wish him all the best. I just hope he doesn't stop us from qualifying again!"
with Steven now gone from Mitie Aviation, attention now turns to who will pilot the MA-02's next year. "At the moment, no driver has a contract for next year. We have been pleased with Matthias and David though."
And would there be any other drivers on the radar? "Ashley Watkinson. We've yet to speak to his agent, but are confident we can talk soon. Kay Lon too, another good driver we'd perhaps like to see next year with us. I'm sure he'd live the challenge of getting us onto the grid on a regular basis. We will talk to him soon."

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 27 Jan 2012, 12:02

Qualifying results up!! (Page 47)

Someone whose name starts with Kay and ends with Lon is not going to be happy... :lol:

By the way, which time do you prefer I run the race? Either Saturday late night (European time) or Sunday late night???

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 27 Jan 2012, 12:06

Aerond wrote:Qualifying results up!! (Page 47)

Someone whose name starts with Kay and ends with Lon is not going to be happy...

By the way, which time do you prefer I run the race? Either Saturday late night (European time) or Sunday late night???

Neither his team bosses... What happened? He fluffed his out lap? Nevertheless he is spared of another early retirement...

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 27 Jan 2012, 12:07

Mark Dagnall said:

I´m not very happy. I need to push harder tomorrow in front of home fans, I want to show that I can win in the rain too and then we´ll party hard later.

Fredo Mestolio said:

Unfortunately the car failed during my first quick lap and I wasn´t able to post a time on Saturday. The weather didn´t help me either. I feel terribly sorry for the team as they work non-stop and qualify the car is the minimum I can do. I´m sure we´ll have no trouble to pass Pre-Q at Norisring. I´ll be tomorrow at the wall cheering for Jesus to score a great result.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 27 Jan 2012, 12:10

DanielPT wrote:
Aerond wrote:Qualifying results up!! (Page 47)

Someone whose name starts with Kay and ends with Lon is not going to be happy...

By the way, which time do you prefer I run the race? Either Saturday late night (European time) or Sunday late night???

Neither his team bosses... What happened? He fluffed his out lap? Nevertheless he is spared of another early retirement...

Well, as I run very short sessions (15 min each), sometimes a car fail to post a time. That, together with the weather change, produce situations like this. I´m not particularly happy that it´s happened to Klon, but I must confess I was seeking this kind of situation when I decided to run short sessions with mixed weather. It helps produce crazy results

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 27 Jan 2012, 12:29

How the hell did the pay driver get to 8th!?

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 27 Jan 2012, 12:40

Kay Lon wrote:Well, apparentely someone in our team managed to screw up timing that badly that I didn't have enough time to cross the line before the timer hit zero ... if that DNQ is a disappointment? That is the dumbest question I've heard in a while. Now, excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 27 Jan 2012, 13:16

Phoenix McAllister wrote:Well, what can I say? Many people doesn't bother celebrating when both cars qualify 16th and 13th, but right now for us is well and truly a thrilling prospect. It shows we're improving, and more improvements are going to be introduced after this round. It's possible that neither me nor Stiggie will finish the race, but if we can have a good and solid race pace it'll be okay. We'll sort out reliability when we make sure the car is faster.

BTW, as for the race, I'd prefer Sunday night if possible since I usually go dinning out with friends on Saturday night.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 27 Jan 2012, 18:32

Normally, Sunday nights are no good for me - church and then uni at 9 am Monday. But I''m not always around on a Saturday evening either...

And I'm glad that Ben Fleet is second - wondering whether I really should move him back to Foxdale as it would be a backwards step? Got to think about it soon, because Pippa Mann's threat is real - If Jack Christopherson does not score by the end of round 8 (this round I do believe), he WILL be replaced. Pippa herself may be an option of course, I suppose... But she isn't a paydriver...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 27 Jan 2012, 22:08

Ron Mignolet wrote:Now what, i'm more than 3 seconds faster than my teammate? How did he do that?