Round 6: Anderstorp, Sweden
Friday, 24 July 2015QUALIFYINGCode: Select all
1 – 6 N. Lindgren Restov 1'19.213
2 – 7 A. Powell West Cliff 1'19.933
3 – 16 S. Schmitz Shell JLD 1'20.453
4 – 2 M. Mouton Alitaliana 1'20.762
5 – 1 V. Ickx Alitaliana 1'21.085
6 – 5 D. Patrick Restov 1'21.134
7 – 87 K. Ihara Super Reppu! 1'21.327
8 – 15 An. Cope Cope-ersucar 1'21.566
9 – 54 R. Frey Filles sur Roues 1'22.470
10 – 98 C. Allemann Psycho Soldiers 1'22.634
11 – 4 S. de Silvestro Autodynamics 1'22.638
12 – 40 D. Galica SonicSport 1'22.683
13 – 24 G. Amati Minardivas 1'22.762
Code: Select all
14 – 39 S. Wolff SonicSport 1'22.925
15 – 10 E. Kimiläinen Rosenforth 1'23.043
16 – 97 P. Mann Psycho Soldiers 1'23.110
17 – 23 L. Lombardi (H) Minardivas 1'23.197
18 – 91 S. Reid Team Australia 1'23.283
19 – 3 J. Kleinschmidt Autodynamics 1'23.666
20 – 90 L. Tander Team Australia 1'24.112
21 – 14 Am. Cope Cope-ersucar 1'24.180
22 – 88 M. Bumgarner Super Reppu! 1'24.355
23 – 77 K. Legge Foster's Good Women 1'24.426
24 – 55 V. Piria Filles sur Roues 1'24.749
25 – 8 P. Cow West Cliff 1'25.224
26 – 17 J. Mihara Shell JLD 1'25.829
Code: Select all
DID NOT QUALIFY
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DNQ – 78 K. Mikami Foster's Good Women 1'27.021
DNQ – 11 K. Andrews Rosenforth 1'28.688
Höste göste böste hoobedispedoo bork bork bork, and all that jazz, we're in Sweden for the first time since 1970-something, and with all the Nordic interest in both championships (especially now that Viking Racing have unleashed their car on this championship), is anyone surprised? What might come as a surprise, though, is who's on pole; where it might have previously been thought that this entire season was a two-horse race between Alice Powell and Michèle Mouton, Nettan Lindgren found herself bursting with national pride and pulled out a superb performance to swipe the Thursday prize from under both their noses. Not that young Alice was too bothered, though, joining the Swede (in her Japanese Super Aguri) on the front row. Sabine Schmitz bounced back from a poor showing at Zandvoort to take third, with Michèle Mouton alongside; Vanina Ickx, who has yet to win a race yet this year in sharp contrast to last season, took fifth with Danica Patrick for company. Proving that the race round the sand dunes was no fluke, Keiko Ihara maintained her fine run of form, showing the Super Reppu! Dome in seventh; Angels Cope again demolished her sister in qualifying, and joined Ihara on row four. Row five consisted of two cars generally considered backmarkers; Rahel Frey, in the Filles sur Roues run Stefan, and Cyndie Allemann, fresh from her stinging exit from Foster's Good Women, now demoted to a David Price run by Psycho Soldiers. How did she manage to get that car up to tenth? We may never know. I mean, look who she's beaten – Simona de Silvestro, Divina Galica, Giovanna Amati, Susie Wolff – and that's just the rest of the top half (and a bit). You could almost say row eight was something of a surprise as well – Emma Kimiläinen, in an ever-ailing Minardi that Rosenforth are stuck with, and alongside her, Pippa Mann in the other Psycho Soldiers-run David Price. There are some wonders being worked with that car.
To the stragglers, then, which in this race means anyone beaten by both David Prices. We start with Lella Lombardi, still enjoying a racing afterlife with Scuderia Minardivas whatever the result, with Samantha Reid for once getting the better of her team-mate... but how much does that matter when they're both this far back? Jutta Kleinschmidt was back to her bad old ways again in 19th, with Leanne Tander falling horribly from grace in 20th after a superb race in the Netherlands. Maybe the northern latitude's got to her. Amber Cope looked horribly embarrassed that her twin sister has again taken the spoils at Cope-ersucar, Michèle Bumgarner took her eye off the ball for a bit and ended up in 22nd, which she can't afford knowing that Super Reppu! will axe her for a Japanese driver at the drop of a hat, while row twelve saw a fuming Katherine Legge complaining of something dramatically wrong with her car... face it, the SAC is a huge step up from the David Price she was driving before, but it all seems to be going horribly wrong at Foster's Good Women. Maybe this is the price to be paid for being sponsored by Aussie pisswater. Nerves were certainly jangling down the wrong end of the grid, especially when Pippa Cow posted a time that was good enough to get her on the grid – despite the team handicapping her to ridiculous levels, she made it to the race for the second time. Vicky Piria was the unlucky victim last time, and rallied round to beat Cow's time by half a second. Junko Mihara, though... didn't. But in the end, she did not have to worry. The Plus One group might want to consider renaming themselves to Minus One at this rate... that's the predicament they found themselves in, as Kazumi Mikami pootled round pathetically slowly to miss the cut by over a second. She beat Karen Andrews by a mile, but that carries about as much kudos as winning more votes in an election than the Standing At The Back Smiling Stupidly And Looking Stupid Party.
RACECode: Select all
1 – 7 A. Powell West Cliff 80 1h 54'17.611
2 – 1 V. Ickx Alitaliana 80 1h 55'25.110
3 – 15 An. Cope Cope-ersucar 79 + 1 lap
4 – 2 M. Mouton Alitaliana 79 + 1 lap
5 – 5 D. Patrick Restov 79 + 1 lap
6 – 97 P. Mann Psycho Soldiers 78 + 2 laps
7 – 40 D. Galica SonicSport 78 + 2 laps
8 – 4 S. de Silvestro Autodynamics 78 + 2 laps
9 – 24 G. Amati Minardivas 78 + 2 laps
10 – 23 L. Lombardi (H) Minardivas 78 + 2 laps
11 – 10 E. Kimiläinen Rosenforth 77 + 3 laps
12 – 90 L. Tander Team Australia 77 + 3 laps
13 – 88 M. Bumgarner Super Reppu! 77 + 3 laps
Code: Select all
14 – 14 Am. Cope Cope-ersucar 76 + 4 laps
15 – 3 J. Kleinschmidt Autodynamics 76 + 4 laps
16 – 77 K. Legge Foster's Good Women 76 + 4 laps
17 – 55 V. Piria Filles sur Roues 74 + 6 laps (DNF, throttle)
18 – 17 J. Mihara Shell JLD 73 + 7 laps
19 – 91 S. Reid Team Australia 71 crash
20 – 39 S. Wolff SonicSport 65 transmission
21 – 87 K. Ihara Super Reppu! 33 transmission
22 – 98 C. Allemann Psycho Soldiers 32 transmission
23 – 6 N. Lindgren Restov 28 suspension
24 – 54 R. Frey Filles sur Roues 27 crash
25 – 8 P. Cow West Cliff 16 throttle
26 – 16 S. Schmitz Shell JLD 12 engine
There seems to be no stopping Alice Powell right now. Some folks have all the luck, and today was no exception.
The race wasn't handed to her on a silver plate by any means, but it seemed that way at times. Nettan Lindgren had a horrible start, dropping her to third, and allowing the usual suspects through to the lead. Vanina Ickx compunded the Swede's misfortune with a very cheeky move at Hansen on the second lap. Alice nipped in front, the French rally queen made an uncharacteristic mistake that dropped her to fourth... but no panic, right? As the race unfolded, behind the leaders, Keiko Ihara, Rahel Frey and Cyndie Allemann were all doing a fine job staying near the sharp end of the grid. But what happened next would alter the course of the race...
...for some reason, as the lead drivers started to lap the backmarkers, said slowcoaches decided to make nuisances of themselves. Michèle Mouton tangled with Amber Cope, and they both mad an excursion into the gravel which lost a lot of time. On the next lap, Alice Powell was clouted heavily by... Amber Cope, who was limping round the track at half speed; Alice lost her entire 10-second lead over Nettan Lindgren. Vanina Ickx found Divina Galica too tough a proposition, Rahel Frey spun off and retired all on her own, Katherine Legge and Junko Mihara – who were at least fighting for position at the back – became a bit too friendly and made a graceful synchronised spin to the tune of the Blue Danube Waltz, and somehow, through the carnage, stepped Cyndie Allemann – who was running fourth, in a David Price. That then became third when Nettan Lindgren's suspension broke, and she retired from the lead, handing it to... Alice Powell, who'd been lucky to get away with a small incident.
Cyndie Allemann's moment of glory was short-lived, as she found herself involved in a three-way crash-and-bash-fest with Susie Wolff and Simona de Silvestro, which bumped the latter two down the field; Allemann retired with driveshaft failure soon afterwards, followed a lap later by Keiko Ihara with a box full of neutrals. Ihara had been running third and a scream of frustration in Japanese is even more terrifying than your worst nightmares could possibly imagine. So who profited from all this mess? Of all the people it could have been... Angela Cope! Her sister sparked off the first bout of chaos, and she managed to pick her way through it excellently in the carrot-orange Spyker. Up the front, Alice Powell was so dominant she managed to lap
Vanina Ickx, who was running second... she still had to pit, and did, then dropped into a lazy spin at Startkurva on the cold tyres. Even so, it took her an unusually long time to recover... and sghe still had a 27-second lead afterwards. That grew to over a minute by the end of the race, and had she cut out the earlier trouble and the spin, she'd have lapped the entire field. Her record this year reads four wins, two seconds, and the championship is fast becoming a foregone conclusion. So amazing is her record that even now that Scuderia Alitaliana have finally recorded a double points finish – Ickx in 2nd and Mouton 4th, despite a very lengthy trip to the pits after the altercation with Amber Cope – that West Cliff are
still in the lead for the Bertha Benz Cup.
Alice wasn't the happiest driver on the podium, though. That honour must go to Angela Cope, who kept her head when a lot around her were losing theirs, and she will not care one bit to have been lapped within the last ten laps – that's par for the course for a Spyker. The notoriously unreliable Dutch car actually held together as well as Angela's head did, she bagged a hatful of points, a trophy, instant unrejectification, and finally something for the Spyker mechanics to shout about. There'll be a party there tonight, despite the continuing race weekend which also includes the Grand Reversal. That Michèle Mouton managed fourth after all her troubles – she was 11th at one stage but used the power of the Viking MJØLNER-03 to its maximum extent to claw her way back up the field – was something of a victory, but her deficit to the championship leader has increased just the same. Danica Patrick was fifth, eventually, also a lap down, and the last to be – because, leading the two-lappers, what's this...
Pippa Mann?
Sixth in a David Price? Surely you joke? Actually, we don't – Pip was one of the few drivers to get through the entire race completely trouble-free, amazing when you consider the clunker she's driving. So it's another highly unexpected eight points for Psycho Soldiers, and no doubt Ai will get very smug about that. Divina Galica and Simona de Silvestro were seventh and eighth, and would have been higher had it not been for their earlier tangles; Giovanna Amati and Lella Lombardi rounded out the points, they managed to stay out of trouble... but were slow. Emma Kimiläinen did everything she could with the slowly dying Minardi at her disposal, but all that her efforts were rewarded with was the Golden Papaya, and the first to be three down, Leanne Tander and Michele Bumgarner, not really at the races either of them, kept her company. Into the real rejectdom, Amber Cope was four laps down and had sparked all the craziness up front in the first place – but she escapes
Reject Of The Race, as do Jutta Kleinschmidt and Katherine Legge, who were both also four laps down. The award can only go to
Junko Mihara for being
so slow that, despite being on the same lap as Legge when they clashed earlier on, she finished
seven laps adrift without being involved in any more indicents. Is she for real? She was dropped last season, even if it was Super Reppu! wielding the axe. In fact, she was even a lap behind Vicky Piria – not the fastest driver out there, in a crap car, and who didn't make the finish line, being sidelined with throttle gremlins.
As for the other retirements – Sabine Schmitz was the first to go, her engine giving up the ghost after only 12 laps; Pippa Cow followed on lap 17, with an unresponsive throttle. Some would say it's impossible to tell with the standard of her driving, but it was definitely a car failure this time. Frey, Lindgren, Allemann, Ihara, we've covered, but not Susie Wolff, whose retirement with transmission trouble after 65 laps was what promoted Pippa Mann into the unrejectification positions (which, actually, she doesn't need, but her team does). And finally, Samantha Reid was on for her first points - running eighth, she thought she'd take a closer look at the local scenery... bad move, there, Sam, because gravel traps are rather ugly up close!
So, how do we sum that one up? Madness. I'm half expecting Suggs and co to show up and play an impromptu gig in the evening before the Main Series race...
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIPfor the Maria Teresa de Filippis Cup* indicates a driver who has switched teams – only the latest team is shownCode: Select all
1 – 7 A. Powell West Cliff 136
2 – 1 V. Ickx Alitaliana 66
3 – 2 M. Mouton Alitaliana 62
4 – 40 D. Galica SonicSport 49
5 = 5 D. Patrick Restov 48
5 = 6 N. Lindgren Restov 48
7 = 4 S. de Silvestro Autodynamics 42
7 = 39 S. Wolff SonicSport 42
9 – 16 S. Schmitz Shell JLD 27
10 – 15 An. Cope Cope-ersucar 25
11 – 24 G. Amati Minardivas 16
12 – 87 K. Ihara Super Reppu! 12
13 – 23 L. Lombardi (H) Minardivas 9
Code: Select all
14 – 97 P. Mann Psycho Soldiers 8
15 – 90 L. Tander Team Australia 5
16 – 10 E. Kimiläinen Rosenforth 4
17 = 54 R. Frey Filles sur Roues 2
17 = *77 K. Legge Foster's Good Women 2
19 = 3 J. Kleinschmidt Autodynamics 1
19 = 14 Am. Cope Cope-ersucar 1
19 = *98 C. Allemann Psycho Soldiers 1
TEAMS' CHAMPIONSHIPfor the Bertha Benz CupCode: Select all
1 – West Cliff Racing / SPAM 136
2 – Scuderia Alitaliana / Viking 128
3 – Restov Racing / Super Aguri 96
4 – SonicSport / ATS Rial 91
5 – Autodynamics Simtek Grand Prix / Simtek 43
6 – Shell JLD Motorsport / F1RM 27
7 – Cope-ersucar / Spyker 26
Code: Select all
8 – Scuderia Minardivas / Forti 25
9 – Super Reppu! / Dome 12
10 – Psycho Soldiers / David Price 10
11 – Team Australia / Monteverdi 5
12 – Rosenforth Engineering / Minardi 4
13 – Filles sur Roues / Stefan 2
14 – Foster's Good Women with Plus One / SAC 1
There'll be a look at the Qualifying Cup standings at the half-way point... later. No prizes for guessing who's likely to be leading it.