Grand Prix Rejects

BBC World News bulletin at 9pm Tropico time wrote:As some of you may be aware, we've been tracking the developing situation in the Caribbean nation of Tropico all evening and for the latest, was have found former F1 World Champion and current F1RWRS driver Daniel Melrose, who is currently trapped in a hotel on the Island Nation and is on the line. Daniel, what's the situation there?

Daniel Melrose, via phone wrote:Evening viewers and the BBC. Well, many of us had been pretty much stuck in the dark all day with what's going on here but we're finally starting to get an idea of what's going on. It's almost unnervingly quiet outside but earlier, there was an almost mournful demonstration just outside the hotel on the street. You've got a real sense that the people have literally no idea what has just happened, except that they feel they've been let down by their beloved leader El Presidente. The entire nation has simply grinded to a halt since his disappearance and the Venezuelan military arriving. The factories have stopped. The farms have stopped. Everything has seemingly frozen except for Chavez's army who are partrolling the streets outside. We heard a few shots earlier but other than that, nothing... *knock on the door*

Tropican Secret Police wrote:State Security. Open up!

BBC World News Presenter wrote:Daniel?

Daniel Melrose wrote:Shite. Now what? *Goes to open the door*

BBC World News Presenter wrote:... we're sorry for the language just th...

Daniel Melrose wrote:This better be bloody important because I'm supposed to leave the country in three days.

Secret Police wrote:Melrose, you're coming with us to the Presidential Palace immediately.

Daniel Melrose wrote:What the hell for?

Secret Police wrote:State secret.

Daniel Melrose wrote:Fair e... *Police take phone and turn it off*

BBC World News Presenter wrote:Melrose? Melrose? *No response* ...Umm, well. *Regains composure* Well, we have some breaking news as F1RWRS driver Daniel Melrose has just been taken to the Tropican Presidential Palace. We'll bring more news to you as it comes to hand.

tristan1117 wrote:

Wizzie wrote:

tristan1117 wrote:
That six-car start crash was nothing. Today I saw the AI cause a sixteen-car chain reaction pileup at the first turn in GP2.

Is this the Hungarian F1RGP2 Round by any chance? If so, you better keep that race just for the sheer rejectfulness of that

No, it was part of the ongoing racing series I run with some friends from school (well, it's really just me, they entered but no one follows it).

Pippa Mann wrote:What a great race! Scoring a first win for a team in a series that isn't your own team is brilliant, but to then have a car from your own team follow you home (albeit at a distance, the only other car on the lead lap) is the icing on the cake. And while Douglas may have been a distant 9th, and therefore ROTR, what nobody knew prior to this race other than myself is that Douglas recently found out that his godfather recently died of cancer in south-west Ireland and so felt somewhat affected by this. I wish to dedicate my victory to the memory of Douglas's godfather.

BaconLettuceNinja wrote:Did I start a Twitter craze? Lawdy...

David Koczo @DavidKoczo wrote:Shout goes out to my good friend @DATorrente for introducing me to twitter! Good luck in #RoLFS!

BaconLettuceNinja wrote:Did I start a Twitter craze? Lawdy...

tommykl wrote:

JeremyMcClean wrote:Well that lasted shorter than the Anglo-Zanzibar War

Actually, no, since this conflict lasted a few hours, while the Anglo-Zanzibar war lasted all of 38 minutes

NBC news broadcast on 6 June 2015 wrote:Daniel Melrose announced new president of Tropico

In a surprising announcement, Tropican gouvernment announced earlier today that it has resumed work at the hands of a new president: former F1 world champion and current F1RWRS driver Daniel Melrose. The Australian was installed as new head of state by the Venezuelan military. The statement also said that Melrose would be in charge for as long as it takes to prepare for democratic elections.

Some political experts assume that Melrose was chosen because both his popularity with the natives, being the most famous tourist to the island and inspriring other racing drivers to spend a holiday or two there, and because of his busy lifestyle may prevent him from properly leading the country, making him nothing but a marionette, with his political strings pulled by Hugo Chavéz. Apparentely, Mr. Melrose is to address the Tropican people and international media in a speech
tomorrow.

Autosport wrote:Daniel Melrose to lead Tropico race team.
We understand from a report given to us by the Tropico government, that Daniel Melrose as well as being President of Tropico is being made lead driver of Tropico in a deal he can't refuse. We also understand that he will be mentoring Renaldo Jiménez who will take the second Tropico seat for next year. If true then Nathan Scott might end up racing for HRT in a straight swop, Darren OlderJr will retire at the end of the season and Melrose will be racing for a third team this season. However until Daniel Melrose makes his speech we are none the wiser to what his plans are.

Mori furious at Yamaha
After yet another engine fail for the Kamaha team, Mori pounded tables and threw cups of tea around with a meeting with Yamaha, he told Yamaha that they had to make the transmission and engines more reliable without losing speed. It is not known how Yamaha will react if this is true. Kamaha have only managed to score 5 points this season so far. It is rumoured that Mori is in talks with Honda, who he had a strong relationship with.

Mark Dagnall close to signing with Kamaha?
A close friend of Mark Dagnalls told us that Mark Dagnall was very close to signing a two year deal with Kamaha, he said "Yeah, Kamaha offered more money then DGN were paying and as Chris was his father and manager, he ended up taking 75% of his wages anyway, so the poor boy was earning the same as one of those poor drivers down the field. Kamaha are paying his well and he believes that he can take Kamaha to both championships in his second year. He is looking forward to helping the team become great. Neither Kamaha or either Dagnalls returned our calls, although a housekeeper did say "Do you know what the time is, call in 8 hours time you blundering fool."

Leaked engine list
We believe we have a provisional engine list for next year, with new rule changes, it is believed that the F1RWRS management are cutting the number of engine manufacturers to 13 and limiting the number of teams the engine manufacturers can supply. We also believe that the V8 and V12 engines will be banned and only V10s will be used.

The list in full

BMW
Fiat (Lancia, Chrysler)
Ford Cosworth
General Motors (Holden)
Hart
Honda
Ilmor
Isuzu
Judd (Gillet, Yamaha)
Peugeot
Renault (Infiniti)
Toyota (Daihatsu)
Volkswagen (Audi. Lamborghini)


No big surprises on the list, Fiat will use the Chrysler, Lancia and Ferrari marques on their engines, Cosworth will build the Ford engines, General Motors will not be badged on the engines but their subsiduries of Alpheon, Chevrolet, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden and Wuling may make appearances, Mercedes may enter with their shareholding in Ilmor, Judd will still be making F1 engines for Gillet, Toyota will enter officially but will allow Daihatsu (and Subaru) to be badged on the engines, Renault will have luxury car maker Infiniti to make a return, Volkwagen will use their Audi, Lamborghini, Seat and Skoda brands.

It is known that Mitsubishi have applied to join the list, but only time will tell if this list is accurate.

Autosport wrote:Sammy: "Dagnall will be a Jones driver in 2016"

Sammy Jones has tonight rubbished reports that the Kamaha F1RWRS team are on the verge of securing the services of double world champion Mark Dagnall for 2016, as his current DGN team will bow out of the series at the end of the year. Instead, the Jones Racing team boss has assured Autosport reporters that Dagnall is in fact close to agreeing terms with his own team for next year.

"This stuff coming out of Kamaha is complete horsesh*t" asserted Jones, "Mark has been in talks with us for a couple of weeks now and we're already progressing to the stage of some advanced negotiations. He wants to drive for us because his father Chris had such a good relationship with us, and almost won the 2012 title, and DGN took on a lot of our kit when we initially pulled out prior to 2013. There's no doubt in my mind that Mark Dagnall will be a Jones driver in 2016. I haven't a clue where Kamaha and Mori have been coming up with these stories, maybe they've been out the back of the team truck sniffing glue again. Those school kids need to learn to grow up!"

Mark Dagnall himself has yet to be drawn on the issue of who he will drive for next year, and there is speculation from some quarters that he'll leave the F1RWRS altogether at the end of 2015 and follow his father's DGN team to Formula 1 instead. What is clear however is that F1RWRS teams are falling over themselves to try and sign the most successful driver in F1RWRS history, who recently surpassed Nathanael Spencer's long-standing total points scored tally following his win in the United States.

Autocar wrote:ArrowTech boss The Fox says "I would be surprised if Dagnall turned down our offer"
The Fox gave us an important interview with us, saying that he has talked to Mark Dagnall on racing with ArrowTech-Acuri in the 2016 season. "He seemed quite pleased about the offer, as I'm sure he's gotten a lot of offers in the past few days, but I think that ArrowTech is the best place for him to go." Not stopping there, he goes on to say that Dagnall could be a good fit in the team. "I've met him before in the past, he's a really nice fellow, he doesn't bicker or argue or complain when things go wrong, he just thinks about the positives and suggests what could be done to prevent it from happening again. Let's take a look at his involvement in the pileup at the last race: he could have gone off and complained at Kay Lon for being a clumsy idiot, as he is, but he didn't give it too much trouble, and displayed some of the best class I've ever seen." Further in the interview, when asked about Saeed Al Faisal's slow pace compared to teammate Mirko Bosevic, The Fox declined to comment.

Chris Dagnall: "Mark will continue in F1RWRS"

Chris Dagnall has spoken after the storm of rumours over the future of Mark Dagnall in F1RWRS. Although Dagnall is yet to make an official statement about the future of his team, it's widely believed he'll take the operation to Formula 1 next year, but it's not clear that his son Mark will follow him. This reporter could speak to Chris at the exit of a golf course in the Uk, where the ex-F1 champion was relaxing with Nigel Mansell. Although a bit reluctant to talk to us in the beggining, Dagnall finally decided to speak; "It's not really my choice, it's Mark who'll decide about his future, but I believe he wants to stay in F1RWRS; we don't know where he'll be driving next year, all I can say is we have received offers from four F1RWRS teams at the moment". Three of those teams are believed to be Kamaha, Arrowtech and Jones, but the fourth team to have contacted Dagnall remains a mistery.

La Gazzetta Dello Sport wrote:Dagnall now on our radar says Alitalia

Scuderia Alitalia has admitted they are considering reigning champion Mark Dagnall as a replacement for the outgoing David Koczo, who recently announced his retirement from the sport. The Brit's family team are withdrawing from F1RWRS, leaving him seeking a new team for the 2016 season.

"Who will replace Koczo? Well, we're not looking to compromise, so the best driver possible is what we'll look for. Logically speaking, that's Mark Dagnall. David was supposed to be the senior driver who would drive this team forward - and he has done that job well so far - but Dagnall would be the ideal person to continue this development. We are working heavily towards the 2016 season and can guarantee a far far better year in 2016."

"Kremnicky? He needs to improve in F2RWRS. He is capable of winning that championship comfortably but has made too many mistakes. He still has the rest of the season to turn it around, but he'll need to pick himself up and show what he's made of. I'm sure he has the ability to manage that though."

"We were connected to Nathaniel Spencer a while ago, who is also pretty experienced. We're not interested, he's not the same guy who won the title at Prospec anymore, I hate to say it but I feel he's lost quite a bit of his ability. Age has not gone well for him."

Autosport wrote:Vantini Rosco signed for Jones in 2016.
The normaly quiet and reserved Prince Falik, has gone on record to state "With rumours of where Mark Dagnall will go next year. I would like to confirm that Rosco Vantini after his stunning drives so far has been retained by Jones Racing for the 2016 and 2017 seasons subhject to performance reviews. I have a lot of time and respect for Sammy Jones, but I think Mark Dagnall would be wrong for the team, he would be better off signing a shining talent in F2RWRS and let Mark Dagnall suffer in the Kamaha or let him try his luck in the slow Arrowtech.". If Vantini is signed then it lends more weight that Jones will retire to concentrate on running the teams.

Mori confirms Mark Dagnall interest
Barii Mori gave a press conference today after we published the story that "Dagnall will be a Jones Driver in 2016" and he had gone on record as saying that he also had long meetings with Mark Dagnall. "It is not secret that Mark and Chris Dagnall has been seen several times coming in and out of the Kamaha motorhome, I have signed a few of the DGN engineers and mechanics to bolster our own crew in 2016 as some did not want to go to Italy and we have given Mark a contract, which he is reviewing and in principle has signed.", when asked about his drive and of Nicolas Steele, he replied "Nicolas Steele knows that he must score more points then me or at least have a bette finished to points ratio average, if he does then he is signed for another season and if he doesn't then we will talk about it. if wee do sign Dagnall then I will retire at the end of the season.".

SuperAguri wrote:

Autosport wrote:Leaked engine list
We believe we have a provisional engine list for next year, with new rule changes, it is believed that the F1RWRS management are cutting the number of engine manufacturers to 13 and limiting the number of teams the engine manufacturers can supply. We also believe that the V8 and V12 engines will be banned and only V10s will be used.

The list in full

BMW
Fiat (Lancia, Chrysler)
Ford Cosworth
General Motors (Holden)
Hart
Honda
Ilmor
Isuzu
Judd (Gillet, Yamaha)
Peugeot
Renault (Infiniti)
Toyota (Daihatsu)
Volkswagen (Audi. Lamborghini)

Shizuka wrote:

SuperAguri wrote:

Autosport wrote:Leaked engine list
We believe we have a provisional engine list for next year, with new rule changes, it is believed that the F1RWRS management are cutting the number of engine manufacturers to 13 and limiting the number of teams the engine manufacturers can supply. We also believe that the V8 and V12 engines will be banned and only V10s will be used.

The list in full

BMW
Fiat (Lancia, Chrysler)
Ford Cosworth
General Motors (Holden)
Hart
Honda
Ilmor
Isuzu
Judd (Gillet, Yamaha)
Peugeot
Renault (Infiniti)
Toyota (Daihatsu)
Volkswagen (Audi. Lamborghini)

Yes.
I'm wondering who will choose Mitsubishi, if they do enter.

Aerond wrote:

Shizuka wrote:
Yes.
I'm wondering who will choose Mitsubishi, if they do enter.

That list is wrong.

Wizzie wrote:Just cut to the chase already, Kimi. We don't have time for the long-winded explanation

Shizuka wrote:

Wizzie wrote:Just cut to the chase already, Kimi. We don't have time for the long-winded explanation

I was having a shite.

FMecha wrote:

Shizuka wrote:

Wizzie wrote:Just cut to the chase already, Kimi. We don't have time for the long-winded explanation

I was having a shite.

... and I can't Pic up any Mori bathplugs. (Get the pun? )

João Lagos wrote:I am quite happy to see that we scored our first points of the season. Hopefully this will work as a turn around point of the season where we can pick up our performances and that those latest upgrades worked better for our drivers. Our goal? To avoid falling into PQ again.

Moe Sewers wrote:The new engine leaked list

I have seen going forward and backwards in the Internet a story about a list of possible engines, being sold as a leaked list and close to the official one. All I can say is that this is rubbish. Some monkey writers picked up on the story, which was published on Autosport, and took it with the face of the truth before verifying sources and confirm if it was indeed true. Now, Autosport isn't one of being wrong, but sometimes, some people with interests on F1RWRS might be leaking wrong information just to have some feathers ruffled or even to help their own agendas. Obviously, my sources have no such agendas nor any kind of interests as they are pure as angels and completely righteous. As am I, being their mighty overlord but I digress... Actually I could publish photos of myself speaking to very important people in the F1RWRS to prove how important I am, but I am too busy telling off idiots who propagate such stories that don't have me as a point of origin. Anyway, one could tell the list was completely fake because there is no point for Toyota to have their engines rebadged as Daihatsu nor the latter would want that even if Toyota is the parent company. Daihatsu and Toyota's interest is to promote Daihatsu technology. That is why they entered the sport in the first place and that is why the team is called Sunshine-Daihatsu and not Sunshine-Toyota. Daihatsu still operates in an independent level in this universe. That is why I think it is a complete waste of time to propagate such stories, never mind that I just spoke about it, and not because Mr Prieto came out to say that the list was wrong.

kostas22 wrote:I wonder why Fukuda is so much faster than everyone else despite being a pay-driver? There could be a one-off race for him in Fuji if he is really that quick! How much more running does he need to do to get his Reject License?

Also, just to confirm, despite the recent chaos at Alitalia, we will be running the same lineup as before.

Aerond wrote:

kostas22 wrote:I wonder why Fukuda is so much faster than everyone else despite being a pay-driver? There could be a one-off race for him in Fuji if he is really that quick! How much more running does he need to do to get his Reject License?

Also, just to confirm, despite the recent chaos at Alitalia, we will be running the same lineup as before.

He'd need to participate at least in one official test session to get a reject license through that method. I don't know if this is explained correctly in the rules, but to get a license through testing, drivers must drive in three testing sessions, with at least one of them being official.

kostas22 wrote:

Aerond wrote:

kostas22 wrote:I wonder why Fukuda is so much faster than everyone else despite being a pay-driver? There could be a one-off race for him in Fuji if he is really that quick! How much more running does he need to do to get his Reject License?

Also, just to confirm, despite the recent chaos at Alitalia, we will be running the same lineup as before.

He'd need to participate at least in one official test session to get a reject license through that method. I don't know if this is explained correctly in the rules, but to get a license through testing, drivers must drive in three testing sessions, with at least one of them being official.

Well nuts to that idea...shame. I'm guessing there won't be any more of those until the season is over?

FMecha wrote:FYA Aerond, Kurniawan (pay driver!) will also take part in Brands Hatch test.

MTV.fi wrote:Finnish teenager to make F1RWRS debut at only 15!

Finland has not had much to cheer about recently in the Rejects World Race Series franchise, but finally there is hope for a new generation of Finns to succeed in the now incredibly popular racing category. Tonu Pykälistö has been making a name for himself in the F1 Rejects Development Series, and has also appeared in F3RWRS as a guest driver. Now though, he will make the step up to the biggest racing series of them all, F1RWRS.

The 15 year old will get a taste of top-spec machinery for the first time at Mugello next month, where he will test alongside other memebers of the Scuderia Alitalia youth squad such as F2RWRS championship contenders Andrej Kremnicky and Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen.

"Is it nice to have this chance? Yes." he said. "I am happy they have given me the chance to drive this car. But it's only a test, still a long way to get before I am racing at a high level. But I am patient."

Team principal Alasdair Lindsay was looking forward to the youngster getting his first drive in a top level racing car, and doesn't expect the rookie to be fazed by the machinery.

"Tonu is a calm and composed lad, but he isn't afraid of much. He'll be able to get on top of the car without doubt, and hopefully with more seat time he will hone his skills over the coming years. We felt this test was a good reward for his efforts in F1RDS."

"It also fits the strategy of the organisation as a whole. We are placing a lot of emphasis on youth development, and giving our young drivers more seat time than any other team. It may be a few years yet before it's possible to see him in an F1RWRS race driver - he's not old enough to have a reject license to start with - but when it comes, he'll certainly have thousands of testing miles under his belt by then, as will our other young prospects."

FMecha wrote:^He still have to wait 3 seasons, though.

(To properly drive a F1RWRS machine in outside tests, that is... unless Aerond says otherwise)

SuperAguri wrote:Aerond - Could you clear something up about pay drivers? Realistically nearly all the F2RWRS and F3RWRS drivers would be pay drivers (mostly by sponsors).

If a F2RWRS or F3RWRS driver did a F1RWRS would they be counted as a paydriver?
If they did or were requested to be one, would it effect their future ratings? Would it if when they enter F1RWRS they were no longer a pay driver?

Warren Hughes wrote:

SuperAguri wrote:Aerond - Could you clear something up about pay drivers? Realistically nearly all the F2RWRS and F3RWRS drivers would be pay drivers (mostly by sponsors).

If a F2RWRS or F3RWRS driver did a F1RWRS would they be counted as a paydriver?
If they did or were requested to be one, would it effect their future ratings? Would it if when they enter F1RWRS they were no longer a pay driver?

Pretty sure that if you enter F1RWRS as a pay-driver you're a pay-driver forever until you score 10 points. I'd assume this would also apply to tests but I'll leave it to Aerond to clarify that.