Grand Prix Rejects

Canada GP - Round 3/16 - Friday Qualifying

Mitchell set the pace early on in the session and gave the home crowd something to cheer about, no one came close to ousting his from the provisional pole. Mils who set a blistering time in free practice, was still fast but in 5th and a second off the pace, but this made Aurora the team to beat. Some surprises include Roos just not having the pace and ending up in 10th. The European cars seemed to struggle for pace and grip and are currently 11th and 18th on the grid. Lavezzi surprised himself as well as his team by popping up in 14th, half a second faster then Patrese who is down in 20th.

Koczo was best of the prequalifying cars in 16th, his team mate in no surprise being last. Foxdale on the other hand have a session to forget as Briggs only manages 19th in a car that could put her in 13th and Von Gottorp ended up in 27th and in danger of not qualifying. Zimsport look like they should get onto the grid easily, although Rotondo managed to total his car by taking the final corner well too fast and breaking the back end. Russian Bears are in much better places then they usually are with Buyvolov in 23rd.

Mann did a reasonable job to bring the JLD to 12th, only 8 tenths off the pace of his team mate. Winson was over a second off the pace of his team mate again. Most drivers kept their car on the track, Blackwell was not one of them as he manage two spins but thankfully did not damage the car but he is in a low 17th. Another shock was Vitkin in 21st place although for a lot of the session he was in 25th with a 1:16.394. Waldi must have a problem as he was 2 seconds off the pace of his team mate and until his third run he was in 28th place with a slow 1:17.220.

Stavros GP has announced that Blackwell is now driving for his job. That is all.

Canada GP - Round 3/16 - Saturday Qualifying

Mitchell delighted the crowd once again by going a tiny bit faster but dominating the session right from the start, although there will be questions about his conduct when Mils was one his final run and had posted a quick sector one time, in fact quicker then Mitchell, Mils comes across team mate and overtook him at the turn 6/7 chichane, at turn 8/9 Mitchell overtakes Mils quite forcablely and has to make a few corrections to keep the car on the road. They race to the hairpin and Mils jinks right and wants to take his team mate to try and get a faster lap, but Mitchell takes the outside line and cuts in, causing Mils to brake. Mitchell racing ahead and is 2.5 seconds ahead come the end of the lap with Mils posting a 1:16.5 time. One imagines that Mils might have a few choice words to say to Mitchell after qualifying.

Nicolo was the only driver really to post a much improved time, with Groves making some places on his Friday slot. Otherwise it was business as usual.

Vitkin gave the crowd some action, as in his first run he overtook Zetticci at turn 9 but seemed to nudge him when getting back on the racing line, when he got to the final hairpin he seemed to go into the corner too fast and slamed into the wall and causedhe front half the car to break off. He got of the car and seemeed winded and uneasy but a Marshall came over said something and Vitkin was sprinting back to the pits to get in the spare car. On his second run , he braked for the final hairpin and his suspension collapsed and he was out again. A strong contender for unluckiest driver of the season award if there was one.

Von Gottrop was on a uphill battle and on his first run he posted two sectors that would have given him a 1:16.4ish but he came to turn 12, one before the final turn and span the car, although nothing damaged but his pride, he never got anywhere near a decent run.

Canada GP - Round 3/16 - Overall Times and Grid

The overall times means that only Nicolo improved his grid position from 7th to 5th. Mann and Groves posted the same time but Mann got it in the Friday session so he is 12th and Groves is 13th. Fighting Mongooses will be hoping for some points as McReynolds gets a front row spot with 2nd but Roos just couldn't find the pace and was down in 10th, maybe Roos has the car set up for the race? Benetton will be hoping for a shedload of points with Jones in a fantastic 3rd. White joins him with stand in Mann in a respectable 12th. Unser Jr struggled for grip and will be disappointed with 7th but will be hoping for a good start this race, his team mate in a pathetic 15th. Fleet is in a good position for Chicago to get some good points in 8th with Melrose for Stravos joining him in 9th. Nash was 11th and Kickert was 18th, European who have been impressive so far just looked average, but we still see them grabbing points.

Groves was a reasonable 13th for Phoenix and will give them sometime to smile about after Vitkin had an awful time and was joining the nicer class of person near the back in 21st. Lavezzi clicked on this track and was 14th, however can he creep into the points to get rid of his current reputation of being rubbish? Patrese onthe other hand was down in 20th, EXTRAS will need to find something extra to get something out of the race.

Koczo was 16th and the fastest of the prequalifiers although disappointing last week can he get the Clio to a respectable position? His team mate Zetticci was well off the pace in 28th and last, a joke going around is that bookmakers will ask you to pay them in you bet on Zetticci coming 28th. Blackwell was struggling in 17th well behind his team mate, there are rumours he will be gone in a few races if he can not find any more pace. Briggs will give some cheer to Foxdale by being in 19th, where as team mate Von Gottrop, who scored a point not 2 races ago, struggled for pace and was in 27th and posted a DNQ for the first time, is his age starting to show? Katayama in a great 22nd with team mate Rotondo in 24th, Buyvolov and Sarkozy improved on there last positions last week by getting 23rd and 25th. Waladi was in 26th, he either has a problem or his Chicago bosses will make sure he swims with the fishes if he does not improve.





Grid

Canada GP - Round 3/16 - Race Commentary

Here we at Montreal, waiting for the lights to go out. The Red light goes on and the green light is on and we are go go go.

Nicolo has a poor start as does Mils, Unser Jr gets blocked, Fleet has a good start and manages to go from the right side to the inside of the first corner and jumps two places. Melrose also has a poor start and falls back to 11th.

Groves gets caught up in the concertina effect and gets wheels caught up with Blackwell and Koczo. Further back before then Koczo has to heavily brake, Kickert slams into the back of him and loses his front wing as well as goes up on two wheels.

Kickert falls to last with no grip and a few minor places in the back midfield change. Blackwell gaining 3 places to put him into 14th.

Fleet is overtaken by Mils at the final Hairpin and Unser Jr takes him before the start/finish line.

Lap 2

Mitchell (-)
McReynolds (-) +2.32
White (+1) +3.73
Jones (-1) +4.34
Nicolo (-) +4.79

Mils (-) +5.52
Unser Jr (-) +6.31
Fleet (-) +6.15
Roos (+1) +7.10
Melrose (-1) +7.58

Nash (-) +8.17
Lavezzi (+2) +8.52
Mann (-1) +8.94
Blackwell (+3) +11.53
Groves (-2) +12.34

Koczo (-) +12.9
Winson (-2) +14.2
Briggs (+1) +15.3
Vitkin (+2) +16.3
Patrese (-)+17.2

Buyvolov (+2) +18.0
Katayama (-) +18.4
Sarkozy (+2) +19.0
Waladi (+2) +21.7
Rotondo (-1) +22.2

Kickert (-8) (Pits)

As soon as Kickert leaves the pits he has an engine problem and is trying to get back to the pits.

Nicolo passes Jones at corner 8 and Roos passes both Melrose at the same corner, but then takes Fleet at the Hairpin. Melrose is being caught by Nash and spins at the final corner but one and into the path of Nash who slams into him and breaks his wing. The pit wall can see the accident and throw their arms in the air.

Lap 3

Mann takes Melrose at the end of the straight.

Nash is being passed by the midfield, he tries to take corner 3 but Groves comes up to fast behind himand he loses his back tyre and will have to retire. Groves seems fine. I am sure the Stewards will be looking at that one.

Winson loses it at Corner 1 and drops to 24th place. Although the clowning does stop there as Rotondo forgets how to driver and spins at Corner 3 and smashes his rear wing off.

Order is

Mitchell
McReynolds +2.90
White +5.35
Nicolo +6.07
Jones +6.89
Mils +7.62
Unser Jr +7.72
Roos +9.27
Fleet +9.76
Mann +14.20

Unser Jr takes Mils at the hairpin to get up to 6th.

Kickert does not go into the pits and retires at the end of the pit straight, all in all a bad day for European.

Mann is over taken by Melrose at turn 8 and by Blackwell at the Hairpin, Blackwell is now behind his team mate.

Briggs passes Koczo at the final corner. Vitkin down the pit straight. Does Koczo have a problem?

Lap 4

Order is

Mitchell
McReynolds +3.53
White +6.84
Nicolo +7.40
Jones +8.55
Unser Jr +9.62
Mils +10.42
Roos +11.94
Fleet +12.09
Melrose +16.43
Blackwell +18.16
Mann +19.35
Lavezzi +19.78
Groves +19.87
Briggs
Vitkin
Koczo
Patrese
Katayama
Buyvolov
Sarkozy
Waldi
Winson
Rotondo

Our answer is yes, Koczo does have a problem, his rear left wheel seems to be loose, can he get back to the pits? He has an entire lap to go.

White is being kept honest by Nicolo who is just waiting to pounce.

Lap 5

Mitchell Is already seeing the rear end of Rotondo.

Koczo does make it back to the pits and still gets out before Rotondo.

Melrose seems to have to make a major correction in the car at Corner 6, he is okay but has lost at least a second.

Roos looses it on corner 8, he is fine, but will have to wait to join the track and drops to 22nd place, that must hurt.

Nicolo brakes late and in the inside of the final corner but one and takes White, White is forced to go wide.

Lavezzi is taken by Groves at the hairpin for 13th.

Lap 6

White is then taken by Jones on the pit straight, Unser Jr is not too far behind.

Mann takes Blackwell on the straight and goes back to 10th. Rotondo is overtaken by Mitchell.

White takes Jones at the hairpin to move back to 4th.

Groves takes Blackwell for 11th at Corner 8. Fantastic! Briggs takes Lavezzi at the same corner. Briggs has a go at Blackwell at the final hairpin and is up to 12th. Does Blackwell have a problem?

Lap 7

Mitchell
McReynolds +4.07
Nicolo +10.49
White +13.31
Jones +13.90
Unser Jr +14.41
Mils +15.94
Fleet +20.17
Melrose +22.49
Mann +26.29
Groves +27.69
Briggs +28.52
Blackwell +29.05
Lavezzi +29.48
Vitkin +30.94
Patrese +31.6
Katayama +35.7
Sarkozy +37.9
Buyvolov +38.7
Waldi +39.8
Winson +41.1
Roos +43.8
Koczo +1:02
Rotondo +1L

Unser Jr takes Jones at the Hairpin for 5th.

Lap 8

Although Jones takes his place back at the end of the pit straight. The Benetton showing that they have plenty of power in the Renault engine if the chassis is a little slow around the corners.

Patrese takes Vitkin at the end of the pit straight for 15th. Vitkin does seem slow.

Who is this spinning at turn 8? Why yes you are correct it is Melrose, he is okay but he will have to wait to get back on the track and is being passed hand over fist. That is Roos rushing past so he is in 22nd position. The Stravos management will not be happy.

Lap 9

Vitkin has an engine problem and the engine does sound sick. He parks it at the end of the hairpin. Katayama moves to 15th, she must be pleased.

Lap 10

Winson takes Waldi for 18th at turn 6. Roos does the same at turn 8.

Amateur mistake at the final corner for Katayama, she spins but keeps the car away from the walls and she drops to 17th.

Roos takes Winson at the final corner and moves to 18th.

Lap 11

Order is

Mitchell
McReynolds +6.93
Nicolo +15.45
White +20.11
Jones +24.67
Unser Jr +25.19
Mils +26.87
Fleet +29.96
Mann +34.40
Groves +37.84
Blackwell +39.81
Briggs +40.01
Lavezzi +41.22
Patrese +43.76
Sarkozy +52.94
Buyvolov +54.1
Katayama +54.6
Roos +56.5
Winson +56.9
Waldi +57.9
Melrose +58.7
Koczo +1L
Rotondo +1L

Lap 13

Lavezzi has a wobble at turn 1 and team mate Patrese closes up.

Katayma takes Buyvolov at the end of the pit straight. Roos at turn 8 and Winson at the Hairpin. He is now in 19th place.

Melrose takes Waldi at turn 8 for 20th.

Lap 14

Dan Unser Jr takes Jones at the Hairping to move to 5th.

Lap 15

Top 8 are

Mitchell
McReynolds +9.88
Nicolo +20.16
White +26.66
Unser Jr +30.91
Jones +32.62
Mils +34.72
Fleet +39.12

Lap 16

Roos gets past Katayama and is in 16th place.

Winson following Katayama spins in the final corner and quickly drops to 22nd and gets lapped.

Mitchell is catching Waldi.

Roos takes Sarkozy for 15th before the final hairpin.

Mitchell breezes past Waldi on the hairpin.

Lap 17

Mitchell makes the first pit stop of the day, was he fast because of low fuel? He takes 10.3 seconds and lots like he is on a 2 stopper. He comes out in 3rd ahead of White. McReynolds and Nicolo will have to do fast times if they are going to challenge for the win.

Dan Unser Jr comes into the pits from 5th, he is likely to drop into the midfield. He takes 10.8 seconds and comes out in 14th just behind Patrese but 14.2 seconds ahead of Roos.

Melrose is trying to get past Katayama but despite several tries he just can't make it stick.

Lap 18

Unser Jr is caught Patrese and is trying to get past. He messes up and runs wide in turn 6 and loses some time. However by turn 9 he has caught up again. He manages to breeze past just after the hairpin to take 14th.

Melrose takes Katayama at turn 8 to take 17th.

Lap 19

Nicolo is in the pits from 2nd, he takes 10.1 seconds and comes out in 8th.

Melrose takes Sarkozy after turn 2 to move to 16th.

Lap 20

McReynolds starts the lap by lapping the slow Waldi, is Wakdi really driving a car that his team mate is in the points with?

The crowd are cheering, with a Canadian leading the grand prix.

Order

McReynolds
Mitchell +15.35
White +21.09
Jones +25.78
Mils +30.80
Fleet +36.55
Mann +39.03
Nicolo +41.76
Groves +45.89

Unser Jr is catching Lavezzi for 12th.

Briggs pits from 10th, can she make it count? 11.6 seconds is slow but she may have taken a lot of fuel onboard. She appears back on the track in 19th.

Lap 21

McReynolds comes to pit from the lead. 10.3 seconds in the pit and he comes out in 4th ahead of Mils.

Koczo goes in to the final corners too fast, he looses it, spins 180 degrees and he hits the wall violently, he has lost his left hand rear wheel and side pod. The marshalls are quick to get the car of the track and the drive out of the car. We hope he is unhurt.

Nicolo passes Mann for 7th place at turn 1.

Blackwell comes into the pits from 10th, 9.7 seconds and he comes out in 17th just ahead of Briggs.

Lap 22

Sarkozy pits from 17th and takes 10.3 seconds and comes out in 21st

Mann pits from 8th and takes 10.6 seconds and comes out in 13th.

Patrese pits from 12th and takes 10.8 seconds and comes out in 18th in front of Mitchell so he will soon be a lap down.

Lap 23

Patrese is now a lap down.

Waldi pits from 19th and takes 10.1 seconds and comes out in 21st place

Briggs passes Buyvolov at turn 8 to take 16th.

Lap 24

Order is

Mitchell
White +11.71
Jones +14.74
McReynolds +15.89
Mils +21.35
Nicolo +28.26
Fleet +29.30
Groves +38.58
Unser Jr +42.31
Lavezzi +48.61

McReynolds is challenging Jones but can't get past.

Melrose pits from 12th, he takes 10 seconds and rejoins in 17th

Katayama pits from 14th also takes 10 seconds and rejoins in 19th just behind Winson.

Lap 25

Fleet has caught up to team mate Waldi.

Mitchell takes briggs at the hairpin, everyone up to 13th has been lapped.

Lap 26

From 15th, Buyvolov suffers an engine failure just before the pits and retires.

Lap 27

In sympathy, from 19th, just before the hairpin, the engine in Sarkozy's car also has a failure and he retires too.

From 3rd, the front right wheel on Ryan McReynolds car starts to wobble, he is on the final stretch and just makes it back to the pits before it flies off. He takes 9.6 seconds in the pits but comes out in 9th just behind Unser Jr.

Blackwell is easily past and Mitchell has lapped every one up to Mann.

Lap 28

McReynolds takes 8th at Turn 3, Unser Jr was powerless to stop him.

Order is

Mitchell
White +16.55
Jones +21.30
Mils +28.90
Nicolo +32.58
Fleet +37.94
Groves +46.18
McReynolds +48.18
Unser Jr +49.71
Lavezzi +57.53
Roos +1:05.08
Mann +1:06.11
Blackwell +1L
Briggs +1L
Patrese +1L

Lap 29

McReynolds easily picks off Groves for 7th at turn 4, but Groves does not take it laying down and retakes his place.

White, Jones, Mils, Fleet, Groves, Lavezzi and Roos are all likely to be on a one stopper. Could it work?

Lap 30

Katayama takes the ever slow Winson for 17th.

Melrose takes Patrese at the final corner to move into 15th.

Lap 31

Groves comes up across Waldi, McReynolds dives in the inside and manages to take them both in the final two corners. What a fantastic move. He really wants to get back into the major points and driving like that he may just do so.

Oh my goodness, White goes a but too wide on turn 9 and touches the grass and spins, thankfully his skill meant he did not damage th car but lost a place to Jones and has Mils breathing up his backside.

Lap 32

Unser Jr takes Groves on turn 8. The one stoppers must have awful tyres by now.

Nicolo loses it at the final corner and bangs slowly into the pitwall. He tries to spin himself forward but manages to end up on the racing line. He is in a dangeroud place and causes other cars to swerve out of the way. He finally gets straight again an falls to 12th and a lap down. The stewards will surely look at that, Nicolo knows that he should not be on the racing line.

Lap 33

Roos in 10th place also has his engine go bang and retires, there is a nice collection of cars building up at the hairpin barriers.

Lap 34

Groves is the first of the one stoppers in the pits, he was in 8th, he takes 12.3 seconds and comes out in 11th and a lap down.

Waldi spins at turn 3 and spins a few more times trying to get the car to face the right way and is in 20th place.

Jones pits from 2nd, he takes 12.1 seconds and comes out in 6th.

Lap 35

Lavezzi pits from 8th, takes 12.3 seconds and comes out in 14th and a lap down.

Mils pits from 3rd, takes 11.8 seconds and comes out in 7th place.

Lap 36

Mann gets lapped, everyone up to Mils in 7th has now been lapped.

Rotondo comes into the pits, he is in 19th and 2 laps down

White pits from 2nd, takes 11.6 seconds and comes out in 5th.

Fleet pits from 3rd, takes 11.7 seconds and comes out in 7th and a lap down.

Lap 37

The order is

Mitchell
McReynolds +50.65
Jones +56.13
Unser Jr +59.68
White +1:04.31
Mils +1:07.46
Mann +1L (+13.2)
Fleet +1L (+13.5)
Nicolo +1L (+22.0)
Groves +1L (+24.6)
Blackwell +1L (+29.6)
Melrose +1L (+33,6)
Lavezzi +1L (+38.7)
Briggs +1L (+41.1)
Patrese +1L (+45.4)
Katayama +1L (+1:02.7
Wilson +1L (+1.08.6)
Waldi +2L (+1:36.8)
Rotondo +2L (+2:04.4)

Fleet takes Mann at the straight before the hairpin for 7th.

Lap 39

Mitchell is in a strong lead. McReynolds is 51.73 seconds behind and Jones is +57.23 seconds behind. Mils may get lapped by his team mate.

Lap 41

Melrose takes Blackwell for 11th at turn 8.

Patrese goes wide on turn 7 but manages to keep the car away from the wall and does not loose too much time.

Lap 43

Winson pits for his 2nd and last time and takes 11 seconds, he stays in 17th place.

Lap 44

Mitchell is in the pits from 1st, he has so much of a lead (52.7 seconds ahead of McReynolds who also has to pit, and +1:03.72 ahead of Jones who does not) he could have an coke and ice cream and go to the toilet and still get out in the lead. He gives a cheeky wave to the camera whilst int he pits. He takes 10.2 seconds in the pites. All drivers up to Groves have unlapped themselves although Groves is just ahead of Mitchell.

Mitchell takes Groves at the end of turn 3.

Katayama loses it at the final turn but keeps the car away from the wall and has not lost anything.

Nicolo pits from 9th, takes 10 seconds and comes out in 12th

Lap 45

Blackwell pits from 12th, takes 10.5 seconds and comes out in a disappointing 15th.

Lap 46

Waldi has a loose wheel before the final hairpin and has to come into the pits. Thankfully he has to refuel anyway so it shoud not cause him any problems, although he still is in 18th and 2nd from last when he comes out.

Katayama comes into the pits from 16th, takes 10.2 seconds and stays 17th.

Mann pits from 8th, taking 10 seconds and coming out in 10th place.

Lap 47

Melrose pits from 10th, taking 9.6 seconds and comes out in 14th place.

Unser Jr pits from 5th, taking a slow 11 seconds and comes out in 7th and is lapped by Mitchell.

Lap 48

McReynolds is in the pits and only has a 14 second gap over Jones, he will lose places but he might have enough grunt to challenge for a podium position. He takes 9.6 seconds and is coming out in 5th place.

Mitchell spins at turn 8, he looks like he is carrying too much speed and ooooooooh, he spins 180 degrees and slams into the wall and breaks off both left hand wheels, a certain win has gone. We hope he is okay.

Lap 49

Now we have battles on our hands. Jones leads but is only +1.48 in front of White, who is 10.91 seconds in front of Mils but McReynolds is only 0.35 seconds behind Mils.

McReynolds does not waste anytime and passes mils at the end of the hairpin of turn 2. The crowd cheer loudly!

Lap 50

The order is

Jones
White +1.33
McReynolds +10.83
Mils +12.59
Fleet +26.71
Unser Jr +31.35
Groves +48.77
Mann +59.10
Nicolo +59.49
Lavezzi +1:04.56
Briggs +1:11.58
Melrose +1:17.90
Patrese +1L
Blackwell +1L
Winson +1L
Katayama +1L
Waldi +2L
Rotondo +2L

Lap 51

White is now +0.65 away from Jones. McReynolds is only 8.16 behind now. McReynolds is racing like a man who knows he can win. The crowd wave flags and cheer, can McReynolds hear and see this?

White takes the lead at turn 7.

Nicolo takes Mann at the final two turns.

Lap 52

Patrese pits from 13th, takes 10.3 seconds and drops to 14th.

lap 53

Order for the top 3 is

White
Jones +1.12
McReynolds +5.51

Unser Jr takes Fleet at turn 6 to climb to 5th, he is 14 seconds behind Mils in 4th.

Lap 54

McReynolds is taking a second a lap and he may win this race yet.

Lap 55

The order is

White
Jones +1.76
McReynolds +3.40

Lap 56

All three are on the pit straight. It is getting close!

White
Jones +1.87
McReynalds +2.46

Turn 6, McReynolds blasts past Jones to take 2nd. It was like stealing sweets from a baby. The crowd are on the edge of their seats can a Canadian win his home Grand Prix?

Lap 57

Just over 3 seconds seperates 1st from 3rd.

White
McReynolds +2.04
Jones +3.14

Lap 58

McReynolds is catching White, White needs to raise his game if he is to win.

White
McReynolds +1.27
Jones +3.27

Turn 7 and McReynolds is less then 1 second behind.

Lap 59

White
McReynolds +0.27
Jones +3.47

Turn 6 and McReynolds is close and he passes white on the short straight. This is racing and the crowd know it as they chear.

Lap 60

Nicolo catches and pass Groves at turn 8 to take 7th.

McReynolds already has a 1.41 gap over White.

Lap 61

Melrose is lapped by McReynolds, everyone up to 10th placed Lavezzi has been lapped.

Oh no, what bad luck for White, his right rear has punctured and he looses control and smacks a wall breaking his suspension. He will be disappointed. Could this be the reason for his slow lap times?

Lap 62

The order is

McReynolds
Jones +4.77
Mils +18.24
Unser Jr +27.81
Fleet +38.80
Nicolo +59.21
Groves +1:02.62
Mann +1:08.10
Melrose +1L
Lavezzi +1L
Blackwell +1L
Briggs +1L
Patrese +1L
Winson +1L
Katayama +2L
Rotondo +2L
Waldi +2L

Lap 64

Rotondo comes in to fix an electrical problem but drops to 17th and last. Not that anyone will notice.

lap 65

Unser Jr is catching Mils at about a second a lap but with only 4 laps to go he is not going to get the 7 seconds he needs.

lap 66

Ben Fleet is crying in his helmet as his engine starts to sound sick and smoke pours out, another points finish gone. He stops on the famous final hairpin.

Lap 67

Mils has been told to step on it as he maintains the gap and goes slightly faster. Unser Jr will have to accept the 5 points for 4th.

Schoolbiy error from Nicolo at turn 6, he turns in too late, catches the kerb, spins and clatters hard into the wall and loses his rear wheel. He will not be popular back in the pit garage.

Briggs has an electrical issue and will need to pit, she was in 11th, it takes 8.0 seconds but she has dropped to 13th.

Lap 68

On the penultimate lap, the top ten is

McReynolds
Jones
Mils
Unser Jr
Groves
Mann
Melrose
Lavezzi
Blackwell
Patrese

Lap 69

Patrese on worn tyres spins at the final hairpin and, spins when he tries to straighten up, he has to wait and will lose 10th and has already fallen to 12th, he spins again and ooh gets in the way of Jones. They make contact and Jones damages his front wing, Jones holds the car and manages to recover, but Patrese with a damaged suspension is out. Patrese will be required to give an explanation to the Stewards about that one.

The race is over and McReynolds crosses the line in 1st and a great win by the Fighting Mongoose team. The crowd invade the track and cheer the Canadian winner.

Three races, three different winners. This is going to be an exciting season.

Full Race Result




Fastest Lap - Greg Mitchell - 1:15.584
Slowest Lap - Carlo Waladi - 1:19.350 (ignroes the two European ERT times as neither did a proper lap)

Drivers Championship



Team Championship


ROTR : Stephen Nicolo - Although there were no shortage of drivers wanting to claim this prize, Nicolo gets it for endangering a number of cars as well as spinning off pathetically when in the points.

IDOTR : Ludovic Lavezzi - If someone said that Lavezzi would score EXTRAS first points after the first two races they would have carted you away, but he managed to keep a steady race and mistake free race.

DBTMOR : Carlo Waladi - Yes he finished but he was 2 laps down but was left for dead by Ben Fleet all race, made too many mistakes and looked out of his depth.

Clio Racing Team press release:

We're sorry for David with his loose wheel, as his accident later on resulted in him pushing tkk hard to make up the lost time. But he's still learning. As for Dante Zattecci, we are not happy with his performances so have decidedto decrease his pay from 100 to 20. The money saved will be used to put him through a 'special driving course'. Hopefully, this will improve his confidence and therefore his performances.
We would also like to ask our sponsors for more money. The car clearly has the speed to compete strongly in the midfield, so hopefully they will see this and help improving the car.

So the 80 credits saved will go straight onto Zattecci performances, hopefully that'll put the donkey into main qualifying.

Mitchell should get a driver performance increase.

Jimmy McJimmerson wrote:Ryan McReynolds, you are the winner of the Canadian Grand Prix, well done mate, you really deserved it!

Ryan McReynolds wrote:YEEEEEEESSSSS!! Wooooooooo hoooo hooooooo! Yeah-ha-ha! Well done guys, we really worked for this! Great setup, great pitstops, and I don't think I've driven that hard before! Now let's go out and get these titles!

----------

Jimmy McJimmerson wrote:We all really needed this result. We thought we'dve been right up there at the start, but all we got were DNFs. Ryan was just incredible today, it was the drive of a true great. To win your first race at home is something special - to do so when a wheel fell off your car is just unbelieveable. Unfortunately, Ted's engine exploded when he was in 10th and recovering from an early spin - he was on course to challenge Unser for 4th place. Without either of those difficulties, we believed he may have even challenged for the win. But still, this is a great weight off of our shoulders - we have backed up our pre-season pace. Now, we just need to build from this victory and push to challenge the guys ahead of us.

Ryan McReynolds wrote:Oh man, I'm not sure I'll be able to top that win for a long while. The car was just fantastic today, and I really felt I could win. Greg was flying at the start, though, so he'd always be tough to beat, but I thought I could claw my way back in the last stint - until the wheel fell off. I half expected the car to just give up entirely, but when the crew turned me around fast and Jimmy told me I was still fighting for points, I revved myself up and just went for it. The first guy I breezed past was ol' Dan - that was another boost considering he had free reign over the field in these first couple races. After that, I told my engineer to just call out my laptimes, and the gap ahead. I'd like to thank every single one of the team - the car was an absolute dream out there, pitstops were as smooth as you like, our sponsors, Porsche, Pepsi, Mobil 1, all the fans for turning up, glad I could give you guys what you wanted to see, and the province of Quebec for having such a kickass track! Who says IndyCar guys can't race in F1, eh?

Theodore Roos wrote:Well, that was quite a disappointment. I just could not get the single lap pace that Ryan could. Fleet was all over me before I spun - I though he went for a pass, but he didn't, I got on the grass and just spun out. Frustrating, but I still could've gotten some good points, I was getting quicker the more I lapped the track until the engine went. Well done to Ryan, though, that was one hell of a drive he pulled out

Guillaume Gauthier wrote:The effort today by Ryan was certainly one of the best I have seen in my racing career, both racing and management. Unfortuanately, Ted was unable to join his teammate in the points - we believe a piston cracked in his engie, forcing his retirement, after a spin on lap 5. Still, this is a much more indicative race of our performance - had Ted gotten to the finish without those troubles, we believe we would've had a 1-2, which is very impressive for a first-year effort. However, if we are to challenge for the championship, either one, we need to kncukle down and focus on closing down the gaps as quickly as possible, as our current budget does not allow for any upgrades during the season.

I believe that Foxdale have plenty of credits left? Can they all be spent on engine/power improvements please? Thanks!

Sorry for lack of updates on this, been trying to run practice at Monaco and I have tried four times and 3 times the game crashed out and one time the game froze. However just made a bootable Freedos USB stick and hoping I can try running it from there.

SuperAguri wrote:... Freedos USB stick ...

This was my first thought:

dr-baker wrote:

SuperAguri wrote:... Freedos USB stick ...

This was my first thought:

That's a very old photo. I'm just old enough to remember Freddos being 10p.

Basically, if Monaco doesn't work, make up a funny tale as to why the race didn't take place (such as, all the teams being impounded for some reason).

East Londoner wrote:

dr-baker wrote:

SuperAguri wrote:... Freedos USB stick ...

This was my first thought:

That's a very old photo. I'm just old enough to remember Freddos being 10p.

Why? How much are they now? (Haven't seen any for a while. Just assumed they still were 10p...)!

Around 17p to 20p nowadays. There are plenty of statements/jokes around the 'net about price increases

East Londoner wrote:Around 17p to 20p nowadays. There are plenty of statements/jokes around the 'net about price increases

Really? Wow. Time really passes by quickly nowadays, doesn't it? (And that image is the very first I found on Google images!).

Monaco GP - Round 4/16 - Free Practice.

No major surprise, although the time sheets never tell the full picture. Dan Unser Jr is top but McReynolds, Mitchell and Roos could have all easily have topped the time sheets but traffic made them lose time. Roos could have got into the high 1:18s with his best sector times.

Foxdale showed off a new aero package and it got them close to the top 10, be interesting to see how they do in prequalifying and qualifying.

Melrose once again struggled with keeping the car on the road and ran over chicanes and into escape roads. Zetticci had a crash in his first out lap and he never looked settled after that. Mori had traffic on ever lap he did, so his time may not reflect what will happen. The usual dead beat team mates are in the rear midfield as per usual. Although EXTRAS do look like they could fail to qualify depending on which driver qualifies for them, Lavezzi who was a hero last week is looking like the tight track might make him a zero.

Prequalifying later today.

...and what is Nicolo doing?

Have you given Zattecci his pay-cut and added the saved wages to his performances?

AdrianSutil wrote:Have you given Zattecci his pay-cut and added the saved wages to his performances?

Yes. See page one as you have credits left.

JeremyMcClean wrote:...and what is Nicolo doing?

Sitting in the garage, reflecting on his dangerous driving mistakes (that made Ron Dennis look like a member of the advanced drivers association) which gave him a two race ban (with one race suspended). At the end of PQ, you'll be randomly assigned a DNPQ driver to race for you for the Monaco race.

Whoops, forgot to address that. His replacement will be there for the two races.

Monaco GP - Round 4/16 - Prequalifying

It was a fairly uneventful session, some light rain at the end of the session did cut short the session as no drivers could go out and set a faster time. The big winners this session were Davies who found a second and Macklin who seemed to love the tight nature of the circuit. Biggest loser was Von Gottorp, is his age slowling him down?




Foxdale were never in any danger of not prequalifying despite the slow time that Von Gottrop posted, the impovements that Hungaruan managed over night was enough to grab them a spot, Donkervoort will be hoping Macklin performs this time and Zimsport creep in ahead of Clio Racing. Russian Bears suffered from the tight nature of the track which did not suit their car or drivers but they were only 6 tenths from 4th unlike Welsh Motoracing who were 6 tenths from Russian Bears.

Florence Briggs - Foxdale Auto Racing - 1:20.594
Rhys Davies - Hungarian Life - 1:21.083
Mitchell Macklin - Donkervoort - 1:21.617
Federico Rotondo - Zimsport - 1:21.853
David Koczo - Clio Racing - 1:21.930
Alexey Buyvolov - Russian Bears - 1:21.974
Donald Mallon - Donkervoort - 1:22.070
Douglas Mann - West Midland F1 - 1:22.229
Leonhard Von Gottorp - Foxdale Auto Racing - 1:22.249
Shinobu Katayama - Zimsport - 1:22.481
Andres Schussler - West Midland F1 - 1:22.579
Dante Zetticci - Clio Racing - 1:22.634
Josh Morton - Welsh Motor Racing - 1:22.647
Barii Mori - Hungarian Life - 1:22.730
Joan Gene - Welsh Motor Racing - 1:22.804
Nikolas Sarkozy - Russian Bears - 1:22.927

Benetton have signed up Dante Zetticci to drive for them this weekend in replacement of the suspended Nicolo.
EXTRAS have signed Josh Morton to drive for them this weekend in replacement of the suspended Patrese.

Allright Mitchell, you finally seem to understand it. But Donald, you're lead driver, you should not be slower than Mitchell!

Monaco GP - Round 4/16 - Thursday Qualifying

The session kicked off with Theodore Roos going out and setting his fastest time on his first flying lap, it was under 1:19 would anyone step up? McReynolds had traffic and could only manage a 1:20.212 that put him then in 9th place. The usual suspects came in and gave it a good try, White, Mitchell, Nash, Unser Jr, Melrose and Fleet all posted sub 1:20 times but they could not find that extra speed. McReynolds went out quite late and taking advantage of a completely clear track he banged in his fastest lap and topped the time sheets. Fantastic run.

Davies also took advantage of the tight nature of the course to post the quickest 1:20 time and put himself in a fantastic 9th position. Morton who had been DNPQing with Welsh MRA gave the paddock something to notice when he got the EXTRAs car in 10th place. Benetton were disappointing being in 13th and 14th but Zetticci showed that he does have some talent by being just over one tenth shy of his team mate.

Mallon toke notice of his team boss and posted the 2nd quickest time of the prequalifiers ahead of the Foxdales, with Von Gottorp finding his form again. Team Phoenix will want to know why the car was so off the pace as their drivers popped up in 18th and 20th.

Blackwall, Waldi, Winson, Gawron were all looking at the deadbeat team mate prize again with Lavezzi not really liking the tight nature of the track.

Macklin, Mori and Rotondo all are in danger of not qualifying and all three were involved in 3 car pile up, Rotondo span at the swimming pool chicane, Mori smashed straight into him and Macklin hitting the wall trying to avoid them. Rotondo lost his rear wing but got back to the pits but Mori and Macklin lost wheels and lost half the session.

Wow, even we didn't expect that from Rhys, brilliant performance.

QuickYoda41 wrote:Wow, even we didn't expect that from Rhys, brilliant performance.

But Rhys has always been special around Monaco. Possibly even better than a Mr D. Melrose whose skill around Monaco might be down to being generally brilliant at street circuits.

Wizzie wrote:

QuickYoda41 wrote:Wow, even we didn't expect that from Rhys, brilliant performance.

But Rhys has always been special around Monaco. Possibly even better than a Mr D. Melrose whose skill around Monaco might be down to being generally brilliant at turning the difficulty level down to easy.

Fixed

eurobrun wrote:

Wizzie wrote:

QuickYoda41 wrote:Wow, even we didn't expect that from Rhys, brilliant performance.

But Rhys has always been special around Monaco. Possibly even better than a Mr D. Melrose whose skill around Monaco might be down to being generally brilliant at turning the difficulty level down to easy.

Fixed

Corrected post of the year.

eurobrun wrote:

Wizzie wrote:

QuickYoda41 wrote:Wow, even we didn't expect that from Rhys, brilliant performance.

But Rhys has always been special around Monaco. Possibly even better than a Mr D. Melrose whose skill around Monaco might be down to being generally brilliant at turning the difficulty level down to easy.

Fixed

You do realise I can quite easily make your guy crap in the F2RWRS don't you?

Crap, I didnt think of that.

You would still probably be a fair bit better than me because you don't crash every single race

A usual qualify result so far.

Monaco GP - Round 4/16 - Saturday Qualifying

There was not much change at the front, for most of the session Mitchell topped the time sheets as Roos and McReynolds just could not get a decent timed run, Roos being stuck behind Zetticci who was slower but not slow enough for Roos to get a run past and McReynolds being stuck in a slow train with Waldi, Lavezzi and Winson. However they managed to get clearer runs in their second runs and posted 1:18 times again with Roos being the faster this session. Mitchell going faster then White this session to change 3rd and 4th spots.

Kickert found the speed he needed and was 6th just behind his team mate, this could be a good race for European. Fleet and Melrose were the only two other drivers to get times in the 1:19s. Unser Jr just had traffic in nearly all his runs, he passed Gawron only to come across Vitkin and then Groves. He looked like he would have a clear run in his second run only for Rotondo to leave the pits and cause Unser Jr to brake and lose over 2 seconds in the lap. Davies showed that his speed was not a fluke by getting a similar time as thursday.

Morton showed he had talent and was wasted in Welsh MRA, the team will be looking for a way to improve the car and should be begging their sponsors after this showing by Morton. Zetticci improved and was mere hunderths off Jones, however Benetton will be looking at why they were only 12th and 13th, their car has power but was slow in the corners. Team Phoenix will be wanting to know why the car was slow too, 20th and 21st with equal times show that the car lacks grip.

Mori and Macklin seemed to do enough to secure a place on the grid, Mori finding nearly a second to lift him from 27th to 22nd. Rotondo not finding an pace and ended up still being last. Lavezzi looking like a zero since his points of last week.

The session was trouble free with no spins or crashes.

Monaco GP - Round 4/16 - Combined Times and Grid

Fighting Mongooses lead the pack and are the only team to have both drivers getting a time in the 1:18s, McReynolds getting the speed on Thursday with Roos getting close on Saturday. Mitchell leaping over White and Kickert jumping to 6th to give European some hope, apart from that it is business as usual. Davies does fantastically well in a slow car using his skill to find grip, it is possible that Davies may score points here a good points haul might even get Hungarian Life out of prequalifying. Morton gave EXTRAS something to cheer about by coming 11th in replacement of Patrese who is excluded, he will be on a few teams shopping lists next year as he can do nothing but struggle in the hopeless Welsh MRA car. Benetton and Phoenix were well of the pace being in 13/14th and 20th/21st, althogh Zetticci showed he had some skill by being very close to team mate Jones in his one off apperance as Nicolo is excluded from this race.

Mallon posted a quick time to put him in 15th, Von Gottrop forgot about last week and posted a time that got him 16th. Mori will be happy with his improved time to clear him from the DNQ block to be 22nd and Macklin will be happy to just stay out and qualify. Gawron is still disappointing and was only a tenth and a half from not qualifying. The Deadbeat team mates do look strong this qualifying. The DBTMOTR award does look like it will be going to Lavezzi who failed to qualify the EXTRAS despite his team mate who just jumped in the car being 11th. Rotondo was last in both qualifying sessions and both DNQ drivers could not get a faster time then the 1:22s.






Deadbeat team mate qualifying list..



The quite close team mate list...

That's actually pretty good for a replacement who only got two days notice!