Chris Dagnall F1 Career -- 1984/????

[FullMetalJack]

McLaren are singing that for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBtOt6RlmzQ

I understand you're taking the number 1 to Andrea Moda for 1992, is this correct.

[Klon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBtOt6RlmzQ

There are only two memories in F1 I really try to bury: that ... story about Barrichello and Massa I read once and this. And you had to post that, shame on you.

But disregarding that, congratulations, Aerond, you are the man.

[Phoenix]

Yeah, congratulations to Chris Dagnall. It was clear that he'd win a championship sooner or later. Not even Honda fatcats can stop the fate.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Well done Mr Dagnall, well done

[RAK]

It just had to happen. It was fated. Well done, Chris Dagnall!

[the Masked Lapwing]

Finally, a non-Melrose champion!

[Whis]

great

[Aerond]

1991 - ROUND 15 - JAPAN

Well, the championship isn´t finish, so we have to race in Japan and Australia, although I would take my holidays right now... The team has asked me to help Ayrton take the 2nd position in the drivers championship, so let´s see how we fare in this last two races in order to achieve that!

Qualifying

Ayrton was simply unreachable. I didn´t have a good friday but could get the 2nd place on saturday... very tight!

1. Senna -- 1.37.196
2. Dagnall -- 1.37.437
3. Mansell -- 1.37.445
4. Patrese -- 1.37.719
5. Prost -- 1.38.074
6. Berger -- 1.38.553

Race

I was prepared to protect Ayrton from the Williams, but Patrese did an amazing start while Mansell and Senna had trouble (even though they were on the clean side!), so Senna was 3rd, with me 2nd and Patrese 1st. I decided to go for Patrese and I passed him on lap 3. It took me two laps to find a good way for it but I managed to hold Patrese enough so Senna could pass him, allowing him to take the lead inmediately and holding Patrese. I think I did a good job as Senna gained a good advantage which was 5.5 in lap 6, 8.1 by lap 9, 14.8 in lap 13 and up to 17.9 in lap 16, one before my first pit-stop. I slipped to 8th but recovered soon as Patrese stopped next lap, then Berger and Martini afterwards and also passed Modena. Senna stopped as well and had to come back to the pits in lap 21 due to a loose wheel! That meant we had to re-work the whole strategy. I had to block Patrese once again so I waited for him and hold until Senna could pass us both on lap 25, thanks to a good move on the back straight, as Senna passed Patrese before 130R and I let Ayrton pass at the Casio chicane. Alesi had pit so I let Senna gain some advantage once again which grew to 6.0 secs by lap 28, but we had to face another problem now: Mansell would go for just one stop. The team realized Senna would lose the lead as soon as we went into the 2nd round of stops, so the team told me to forget about Patrese now (who didn´t seem to be as fast as in the beggining), and I went to chase Senna, keeping the gap until the stop in lap 36, while Senna stopped in lap 35. As we thought, Mansell took the lead. I managed to close the gap on Senna to 2.1 secs, while I was 11.1 secs behind Mansell now. I got to the back of Senna in lap 40 and I just decided to stay there, as we were both closing the gap on Mansell, which was down to 6.0 secs by lap 41, but then Senna´s tyres had passed its best time and there wasn´t much I could do about it. Worse; I made a mistake and wide of the kerb at 130R in lap 45 and had to pit for a new front wing, but miracously Patrese spun that lap and didn´t lose the 3rd position. Now there was nothing else I could do but wait. In the meantime I scored the fastest lap and Patrese retired with two laps to go, but Senna couldn´t pass Mansell in the end and now the 2nd place for the championship is everything but closed!

1. Mansell -- 1h30m15.614
2. Senna -- +0.400
3. Dagnall -- +15.570
4. Modena -- +1.27.106
5. Brundle -- +1 lap
6. Hakkinen -- +1 lap
7. Capelli -- +1 lap
8. Gugelmin -- +1 lap
9. Nakajima -- +1 lap
10. Herbert -- +1 lap
11. Pirro -- +1 lap
12. Boutsen -- +1 lap
13. Suzuki -- +2 laps
14. Patrese -- +3 laps (r)
15. Alesi -- +6 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall; 1.37.593
DOTR: Nigel Mansell; Clever win with an alternative strategy
ROTR: Japanese drivers; Went totally unnoticed at their home GP

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP -After 15 races-

1. Dagnall -- 84 pts
2. Patrese -- 60 pts
3. Senna -- 56 pts
4. Mansell -- 54 pts
5. Piquet -- 34 pts
6. Berger -- 23 pts
7. Martini -- 13 pts
8. Prost -- 12 pts
9. Modena -- 11 pts
10. De Cesaris -- 9 pts
11. Gachot -- 7 pts
=. Brundle -- 7 pts
13. Alesi -- 6 pts
14. Morbidelli -- 3 pts
15. Herbert -- 2 pts
=. Lehto -- 2 pts
17. Capelli -- 1 pt
=. Nakajima -- 1 pt
=. Gugelmin -- 1 pt
=. Hakkinen -- 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. McLaren -- 140 pts
2. Williams -- 114 pts
3. Benetton -- 57 pts
4. Ferrari -- 18 pts
5. Minardi -- 16 pts
=. Jordan -- 16 pts
7. Tyrrell -- 12 pts
8. Brabham -- 7 pts
9. Lotus -- 3 pts
10. Leyton House -- 2 pts
=. Scuderia Italia -- 2 pts

[WeirdKerr]

congratulations......

[Aerond]

1991 - ROUND 16 - AUSTRALIA

Qualifying

After a rather dull friday, I thought I had the pole on saturday but Senna snapped it again at the last minute.

1. Senna -- 1.16.588
2. Dagnall -- 1.16.617
3. Mansell -- 1.16.744
4. Prost -- 1.16.793
5. Patrese -- 1.16.960
6. Berger -- 1.17.600

Race

I had to focus again on helping Ayrton to get the 2nd place in the drivers championship, and we would achieve that if Senna won, regardless what the Williams did, so I had to focus on protecting him from any possible attack. The start went pretty well, as we kept our positions, while Prost passed Mansell. At the beggining of the race Senna was a bit faster than me, then things got even and so I ran behind him for the first stint out of four. When the first stop arrived we had an advantage of over 11 secs to Prost. It took as five laps to reach Mansell, which we did in lap 26, and after Senna managed to pass him so I did, gaining the lead as Prost and Patrese went for their stops in laps 29 and 30. Meanwhile, Mansell stayed on track a bit more, but it was clear the others would go for 2 stops. I stopped in lap 40 for the 2nd time, and landed 5th again, but only 4.7 behind Mansell. Senna stopped in lap 44 but I passed him so we had to work it out to let him pass me at the best possible time. It wasn´t necessary as in lap 48 Patrese spun and, when Mansell avoided his car I took advantage of a better visibility to pass him for 2nd, only to destroy my front wing at the next corner and having to carry on with an extra pit-stop. I exited the pits 6th, and then passed Piquet in lap 50, with Patrese now 15.5 ahead. I started to close the gap, and then the 2nd round of stops came, with Prost entering first and Williams commiting an unbelievable mistake, as both drivers entered the same lap!! Patrese had to wait behind Mansell and he lost a couple of seconds, which came very handy. I kept behind Prost until my last stop in lap 62, falling to 5th again, while Ayrton stopped to laps later and found himself 2nd ahead of Mansell and some 7 seconds off Prost. I thought I could still reach Mansell as standings were in lap 65 out of 82:

1. Prost
2. Senna +3.5
3. Mansell +5.9
4. Patrese +21.8
5. Dagnall +24.1

I lost a bit of time trying to pass Patrese but finally got it in lap 69, then I was 16.2 secs behind Mansell, then 12.8 in lap 73 and 8.3 after losing around 4 secs trying to lap Eric Bernard. Meanwhile Senna had passed Prost and made things easier, as he was safer from Mansell now. I wanted to end up the season in the podium anyway, but the time I lost with Bernard was too much and had some trouble in lap 81 trying to pass another slow car, so ended up 4th but happy with the result for the team in what´s been an incredible season for everybody!!

1. Senna -- 1h49m24.344
2. Prost -- +15.643
3. Mansell -- +16.709
4. Dagnall -- +20.226
5. Patrese -- +35.271
6. Piquet -- +1 lap
7. Berger -- +1 lap
8. De Cesaris -- +1 lap
9. Martini -- +1 lap
10. Lehto -- +2 laps
11. Modena -- +2 laps
12. Gachot -- +2 laps
13. Brundle -- +2 laps
14. Bernard -- +2 laps
15. Blundell -- +2 laps
16. Morbidelli -- +2 laps
17. Suzuki -- +2 laps
18. Herbert -- +3 laps
19. Gugelmin -- +8 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall; 1.16.990
DOTR: Alain Prost; Finally overcame the Ferrari problems to score his one and only podium finish of the season!
ROTR: Ligier drivers: Tangled together early in the race.

[Aerond]

1991 DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP -FINAL STANDINGS- **

1. Dagnall -- 87 pts
2. Senna -- 66 pts
3. Patrese -- 62 pts
4. Mansell -- 58 pts
5. Piquet -- 35 pts
6. Berger -- 23 pts
7. Prost -- 18 pts
8. Martini -- 13 pts
9. Modena -- 11 pts
10. De Cesaris -- 9 pts
11. Gachot -- 7 pts
12. Brundle -- 7 pts
13. Alesi -- 6 pts
14. Morbidelli -- 3 pts
15. Herbert -- 2 pts
16. Lehto -- 2 pts
17. Hakkinen -- 1 pt
18. Capelli -- 1 pt
19. Gugelmin -- 1 pt
20. Nakajima -- 1 pt

1991 CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. McLaren -- 153 pts
2. Williams -- 120 pts
3. Benetton -- 58 pts
4. Ferrari -- 24 pts
5. Minardi -- 16 pts
6. Jordan -- 16 pts
7. Tyrrell -- 12 pts
8. Brabham -- 7 pts
9. Lotus -- 3 pts
10. Scuderia Italia -- 2 pts
11. Leyton House -- 2 pts
12. Ligier -- 0 pts *
13. Lola -- 0 pts
14. Footwork -- 0 pts

* Ligier gets 12th with 1 7th place.
** Tie-breakers updated.

[Shizuka]

Chris Dagnall wins! McLaren wins! Hats off!
Although I hoped for Martini to get Minardi to finish fourth in the constructors, but still, they finished fifth!

Let's see what happens next season.

[JeanDenisAlcatraz]

...and I've got to stop, because I've got a lump in my throat....

[Aerond]

AUTOSPORT - 2nd DECEMBER 1991

Exclusive interview with Chris Dagnall, 1991 Formula 1 World Champion

AS - Hello Chris, it´s been a very emotive season for you and the McLaren team, first please tell about how does it feel to be the Formula 1 Champion.

CD - As you said, it´s been a highly emotional season, not only for me, but also for the team. We had a very tough beggining when we realised how fast the Williams would be this year, but from Monaco things started to get better and better and in the end we´ve won most of the races. Reacting to that situation is what made the team act as a team. We thought about how we could solve together the situation and we´ve build our success from there.

AS - How is it to compete with a tough team-mate as Ayrton Senna?

CD - Let me tell you is a pleasure to work with Ayrton. His knowledge about the car is amazing, and he deserves what he has achieved. The team has never given any technical advantage to anyone and is very easy to work like this. It makes the environment much cleaner than in other teams. I think I even prefer to race against people like Ayrton because you know you have to always give your 110% to beat your team-mate. I´ve always had close battles with my team-mates but Senna races in another class. And it´s great because last year I was close to him and this year I´ve been able to beat him, so that means we´re walking the right path.

AS - Did losing the 1990 title change your approach?

CD - I don´t think it changed the approach in a significant way. We won more races than anybody else last season but also suffered a number of retirements due to accidents and mechanical problems which took away our chance of winning the title, but I´m not talking about the Australian GP: We didn´t have enough consistency to win in the end, so we had to find it. I mean the kind of consistency we showed mid-season this year. Scoring four wins was the key to the title.

AS - What can you say about the other teams?

CD - Williams have made an incredible progress and it was very tough. Every time we finished, Patrese was there as well, and Nigel would have been had not had the problems he´s experienced. Only the results of Patrese in the last races allowed us to relax a bit, Benetton have found the consistency for results they lacked when I raced for them, and if they find the speed they´re becoming a very dangerous team, and Ferrari have had bad luck with the reliability, but they´re a big team and they´re going back to wins sooner or later.

AS - What are your plans for 1992?

CD - There was an option in my contract for one extra year and everybody is very happy with me in Mclaren, so there was nothing to discuss.

AS - But, do you had any other offers?

CD - Yes, I had, even for a team at the back of the grid!

AS - How do you foresee the 1992 season?

CD - I think is going to be an spectacular season, and a very tough one as well. Williams have progressed a lot and I think they will be the team to beat. They´re in really good form. Benetton will also be very good, but I can´t talk about their line-up and if Ferrari solve their reliability problems they´ll definitely be there. They have a very powerful engine and I´m sure they´re going to take advantage from it.

AS - If you won the championship in 1992, would you plan to be in Formula 1 in the long term?

CD - My plan is to be in Formula 1 for the long term as long as there´s a team who wants me as their driver. I don´t think there´s any other motorsport championship which can compare to Formula 1 and I understand why everyone wants to be here. Let me tell you a little story; during the Australian GP this year, when I exited the hotel, a 6 year old child called Daniel Melrose came to me with a Mclaren hat and a flag and told me he wanted be like me when he grew up. If only for things like that is worthy to stay in Formula 1.

[Aerond]

1992 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. FIA 13th and 14th ENTRIES QUALIFYING SESSION - Silverstone, 14th and 15th February, 1992

This year, the FIA has changed the ruling for the qualifying session which will grant the 13th and 14th entries into the 1992 Formula 1 World Championship. 1 car entries will be no longer accepted, and every contestant must entry two drivers, although for the qualifying session the teams will be able to run just one car, proven they alternate both drivers, who can´t be commited to another Formula 1 team. To grant the entry the FIA will combine the best time of each driver and the two teams to score the best combined time will be given the entries.

The teams participating in this session will be:

Central Park Venturi Larrousse

29 Bertrand Gachot
30 Ukyo Katayama

Footwork Mugen Honda

9 Michele Alboreto
10 Aguri Suzuki

Fondmetal

14 Andrea Chiesa
15 Gabriele Tarquini

Andrea Moda Formula

34 Roberto Moreno
35 Perry McCarthy

Therefore, the 12 teams already classified for the 1992 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, based on the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship standings are:

Honda Marlboro McLaren
Canon Williams Team
Camel Benetton Ford
Scuderia Ferrari SpA
Minardi Team
Sasol Jordan Yamaha
Tyrrell Racing Organisation
Motor Racing Developments Ltd
Team Lotus
Scuderia Italia SpA
March F1
Ligier Gitanes Blondes

[Aerond]

1992 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. FIA 13th and 14th ENTRIES QUALIFYING SESSION - Silverstone, 14th and 15th February, 1992 - RESULTS

1. Michele Alboreto (Footwork) - 1.29.739
2. Bertrand Gachot (Venturi) - 1.30.033
3. Aguri Suzuki (Footwork) - 1.30.611
4. Gabriele Tarquini (Fondmetal) - 1.30.618
5. Ukyo Katayama (Venturi) - 1.31.157
6. Andrea Chiesa (Fondmetal) - 1.31.322
7. Roberto Moreno (Andrea Moda) - 1.39.015
8. Perry McCarthy (Andrea Moda) - 1.54.433

COMBINED RESULTS -in bold teams qualified for the 1992 World Championship-

1. Footwork - 180.350
2. Venturi - 181.190
3. Fondmetal - 181.940
4. Andrea Moda - 213.448

FIA OFFICIAL ENTRY LIST - 1992 FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Honda Marlboro McLaren

1 Chris Dagnall
2 Ayrton Senna

Tyrrell Racing Organisation

3 Olivier Grouillard
4 Andrea de Cesaris

Canon Williams Team

5 Nigel Mansell
6 Riccardo Patrese

Motor Racing Developments Ltd

7 Eric van de Poele
8 Damon Hill

Footwork Mugen Honda

9 Michele Alboreto
10 Aguri Suzuki

Team Lotus

11 Mika Häkkinen
12 Johnny Herbert

March F1

16 Karl Wendlinger
17 Paul Belmondo

Camel Benetton Ford

19 Michael Schumacher
20 Martin Brundle

Scuderia Italia SpA

21 J J Lehto
22 Pierluigi Martini

Minardi Team

23 Christian Fittipaldi
24 Gianni Morbidelli

Ligier Gitanes Blondes

25 Thierry Boutsen
26 Erik Comas

Scuderia Ferrari SpA

27 Jean Alesi
28 Gerhard Berger

Central Park Venturi Larrousse

29 Bertrand Gachot
30 Ukyo Katayama

Sasol Jordan Yamaha

32 Stefano Modena
33 Mauricio Gugelmin

[Phoenix]

No Andrea Moda then?

[Aerond]

No Andrea Moda then?

If only Moreno was 9 secs faster a lap...

[Ferrim]

At least it's the last time that this will be necessary. Just 26 cars entered in '93, 28 in '94, 26 in '95 and 22 or less since '96 (until this season when they are 24).

[FullMetalJack]

At least it's the last time that this will be necessary. Just 26 cars entered in '93, 28 in '94, 26 in '95 and 22 or less since '96 (until this season when they are 24).

24 for 1997. Do you get Mastercard Lola for GP2 1997?

[WeirdKerr]

At least it's the last time that this will be necessary. Just 26 cars entered in '93, 28 in '94, 26 in '95 and 22 or less since '96 (until this season when they are 24).

24 for 1997. Do you get Mastercard Lola for GP2 1997?

the carsets i used had the lola and also a fictitious team 2 make up 26 cars i replaced the fictitious team with my own Coca Cola -MDK-F1- Seat team

[Aerond]

At least it's the last time that this will be necessary. Just 26 cars entered in '93, 28 in '94, 26 in '95 and 22 or less since '96 (until this season when they are 24).

24 for 1997. Do you get Mastercard Lola for GP2 1997?

the carsets i used had the lola and also a fictitious team 2 make up 26 cars i replaced the fictitious team with my own Coca Cola -MDK-F1- Seat team

I think in 1997 I´ll run Lola and Dome as well. As for 1996 I´ll try to run Dams but I have no solution yet for a 13th team.

[Bleu]

Then you should let Pacific continue, they finished 1995 in real-life and then pulled out.

[TomWazzleshaw]

You should definatly have Precision Motorsport as the 13th team for 1997

[Shizuka]

Then you should let Pacific continue, they finished 1995 in real-life and then pulled out.

My words exactly

[FullMetalJack]

Aerond, Do you have any idea how competitive Tyrrell are in 1992 because i'm near the end of my 1991 season and if there's a 1992 rFactor mod released by then, I'm considering Tyrrell as one of my options.

[Aerond]

Aerond, Do you have any idea how competitive Tyrrell are in 1992 because i'm near the end of my 1991 season and if there's a 1992 rFactor mod released by then, I'm considering Tyrrell as one of my options.

Tyrrell had a neatly competitive car in 1992, Andrea De Cesaris could drove his car a couple of times into the points, even though Grouillard didn´t score. I consider this brilliant as the Ilmor engine was never that great and the car wasn´t very reliable either, so finishing 6th in the constructors championship was good. But put this success into its context: In 1992 the top 3 teams (Williams, McLaren and Benetton) had massive advantage, with Ferrari very far behind, and the rest further down the road, so while Lotus shone with a 5th place, they only scored 13 points. The electronic aids meant the bigger teams opened a big gap to the teams behind, so that only 7 different drivers visited the podium in all year!!

[FullMetalJack]

Aerond, Do you have any idea how competitive Tyrrell are in 1992 because i'm near the end of my 1991 season and if there's a 1992 rFactor mod released by then, I'm considering Tyrrell as one of my options.

Tyrrell had a neatly competitive car in 1992, Andrea De Cesaris could drove his car a couple of times into the points, even though Grouillard didn´t score. I consider this brilliant as the Ilmor engine was never that great and the car wasn´t very reliable either, so finishing 6th in the constructors championship was good. But put this success into its context: In 1992 the top 3 teams (Williams, McLaren and Benetton) had massive advantage, with Ferrari very far behind, and the rest further down the road, so while Lotus shone with a 5th place, they only scored 13 points. The electronic aids meant the bigger teams opened a big gap to the teams behind, so that only 7 different drivers visited the podium in all year!!

Oh, because I've scored 8 points so far in 11 races including a 2nd place at Silverstone. If there's a 1992 mod for rFactor by the time i'm finished with this season, would you think that it's a good enough tally to drive for Tyrrell?

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 1 - MEXICO (Yeah, I have to run South Africa 2nd -and I will in 1993 as well- due to technical issues with Gp2)

It´s great to be the World Champion. Everybody looks at you, everybody greets at you and everybody loves you, except for your rivals. But everybody´s been turning their heads this weekend, to two places specially; One is the Williams box, as the guys commanded all the winter tests, and the other is the Benetton box, where a mysterious young guy called Michael Schumacher would be sitting in the new Benetton B192. To have switched a double World Champion like Nelson Piquet, for a german newcomer from the Sport Prototipe Mercedes program is, at least, weird. There was also interest to see how the Ferraris of Alesi and Berger did.

Qualifying

I felt very comfortable with the McLaren from the very beggining and gave nobody else the chance of getting the pole-position. Ayrton was painfully off the pace. The new guy managed to beat Brundle, and Berger qualified a very poor 9th for the Ferrari.

1. Dagnall -- 1.13.319
2. Mansell -- 1.14.350
3. Patrese -- 1.14.903
4. Senna -- 1.15.114
5. Schumacher -- 1.15.517
6. Brundle -- 1.15.830

Race

Mansell started like a rocket while I kept the 2nd position with Senna and Patrese behind. Exiting the infield in lap 1, Mansell opened the door a little bit and I thought I could squeeze the McLaren inside but he suddenly closed his line and we tangled!! He went straight to the wall while I could keep the car running, very, very luckily. Patrese passed Senna for the lead and managed to pass Hakkinen before the end of the lap for 9th. In lap two I passed De Cesaris, Boutsen and Brundle as well, towards the end of the lap, while I passed both Ferraris in lap 3 for 4th. I was doing all my best to make up for the incident and so I passed in consecutive laps Senna, Schumacher and then Patrese in lap 6 for the lead. In lap 7 Senna´s gearbox broke and in lap 9 I made a small mistake which left me 3rd again, before passing Schumacher again. At the end of lap 10 my car hit a big bump exiting the peraltada and I suffered a WILD reaction from it. I could control it, but left no space for Schumacher who destroyed his nosecone... and my rear wing. It was at the worse place possible as I had to complete one lap without any grip, but I managed to carry the McLaren to the pits and get it fixed, albeilt exiting in 20th. At least I did my first stop out of three. In lap 12 I passed Grouillard and Suzuki for 18th, then loads of slower cars up to 8th by lap 18, now 1 second behind Schumacher. I was approaching the Benetton for an overtake when I suffered a brakes problem, and again happened at the beggining of the lap!! The result?? Down to the pits and 20th again, but this time a lap down. It would take a lot of patience to score points under those conditions, but I had to try, so started to get over the slower guys again. In fact, I managed to catch Patrese and was about to unlap him on the same spot as I tangled with Mansell earlier, only that I tried to do it too fast in order to save time and I ended up damaging the front wing: Third pit-stop of the day and down to the back (18th out of 19). Now I was with fuel for just one more stop, in lap 23 and 16.9 secs off Van de Poele. I got him in lap 26 and also got in the lap of the leader as everybody at the front stopped. I climbed up to 5th by lap 31, and now Schumacher was 36.6 secs ahead. I passed the german as he came off the pits in lap 35 and started to chase Berger. The gap was 28.8 at the end of that lap but I managed to reduce it to 17.1 by lap 40. I did my last stop in lap 43, and Alesi retired at the same time, so I didn´t lose any positions. By lap 45 I was 27.0 secs off Schumacher, so I still had time to make it!! I was managing to put a series of very fast laps now but I made just another mistake by losing control of the car at the Peraltada. Again, I was inmensely lucky not to hit anything, but I lost the front wing again. Now, the people at Woking musn´t be very happy due to the extra hours they´ll have to spend making new nosecones. I was down to 6th with the pit-stop, but Herbert retired in lap 52, with De Cesaris 11.3 ahead. I would have yet another stroke of luck when Berger retired in lap 54, at the same time as De Cesaris came into the pits and gaining back the 3rd place! Now Schumacher was too far ahead and managed to reduce the gap to him but only in case something happened, but I was hopeless at that and Patrese finally scored an easy win for Williams.

1. Patrese -- 1h30m24.231
2. Schumacher -- +41.160
3. Dagnall -- +59.284
4. De Cesaris -- +1 lap
5. Comas -- +1 lap
6. Boutsen -- +1 lap
7. Martini -- +1 lap
8. Gachot -- +2 laps
9. Fittipaldi -- +2 laps
10. Alboreto -- +2 laps
11. Suzuki -- +2 laps
12. Modena -- +6 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall: 1:16.150
ROTR: Chris Dagnall; Drove like a bull in a China shop
DOTR: Michael Schumacher; The young german scored an excellent 2nd in his Formula 1 debut.

Nigel Mansell said:

Chris Dagnall is an idiot. He put us both in a great danger and I have no idea why he thought he could pass there! Someone at the FIA should review his performance today.

Chris Dagnall said:

I can´t be very happy with the result we got today. In normal conditions, we should have won, even with the brakes problem we experienced mid-race. I´m sorry that Nigel ended his race that way, but he has to remember that this is racing and if someone show me the door and I´m faster at one point, obviously I´m going to head for that gap! As for Schumacher, my car had a very strong reaction when I hit a bump and I guess it was hard to predict where my car would head, so I can´t blame him for destroying my rear wing. We have shown today that we must improve the reliability of the car, but the core speed is there and I´m quite optimistic regarding the next races

Ayrton Senna said:

We have to improve what we have done today in order to fight with the Williams for the rest of the season. Otherwise it will be easy for them to win races. Dagnall has always been very fast here and even though he couldn´t hold Mansell at the beggining. With new tyres the Williams simply flew

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 1 race -

1. Patrese - 10 pts
2. Schumacher - 6 pts
3. Dagnall - 4 pts
4. De Cesaris - 3 pts
5. Comas - 2 pts
6. Boutsen - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 10 pts
2. Benetton - 6 pts
3. McLaren - 4 pts
4. Tyrrell - 3 pts
=. Ligier - 3 pts

[Aerond]

Aerond, Do you have any idea how competitive Tyrrell are in 1992 because i'm near the end of my 1991 season and if there's a 1992 rFactor mod released by then, I'm considering Tyrrell as one of my options.

Tyrrell had a neatly competitive car in 1992, Andrea De Cesaris could drove his car a couple of times into the points, even though Grouillard didn´t score. I consider this brilliant as the Ilmor engine was never that great and the car wasn´t very reliable either, so finishing 6th in the constructors championship was good. But put this success into its context: In 1992 the top 3 teams (Williams, McLaren and Benetton) had massive advantage, with Ferrari very far behind, and the rest further down the road, so while Lotus shone with a 5th place, they only scored 13 points. The electronic aids meant the bigger teams opened a big gap to the teams behind, so that only 7 different drivers visited the podium in all year!!

Oh, because I've scored 8 points so far in 11 races including a 2nd place at Silverstone. If there's a 1992 mod for rFactor by the time i'm finished with this season, would you think that it's a good enough tally to drive for Tyrrell?

Well, I always get for reference the results of the current season, rather than how the team will fare next season. Would you think Tyrrell would hire you after 1991 seeing how you fared that season? A good measure could be De Cesaris, who´s the one who ended up in that Tyrrell along Grouillard. A team formed with De Cesaris/Christopherson makes sense though.

[Phoenix]

Pole ahead of Mansell by over a second? In 1992?!?!?!

[FullMetalJack]

Well, I always get for reference the results of the current season, rather than how the team will fare next season. Would you think Tyrrell would hire you after 1991 seeing how you fared that season? A good measure could be De Cesaris, who´s the one who ended up in that Tyrrell along Grouillard. A team formed with De Cesaris/Christopherson makes sense though.

I guess I could do the real season where they swapped Modena for De Cesaris and I could take the #3 Tyrrell. Nakajima only has 3 points and has already announced his retirement. His points were from finishing 4th in the previous race. Modena has 11 points and has scored a podium. So i'm going to Tyrrell for 1992 then.

[Aerond]

Pole ahead of Mansell by over a second? In 1992?!?!?!

Don´t underestimate Chris Dagnall!!!

[FullMetalJack]

Pole ahead of Mansell by over a second? In 1992?!?!?!

Don´t underestimate Chris Dagnall!!!

Dagnall could have done that in an Andrea Moda. Infact, he only does it in a McLaren to appear human rather than just below HWNSNBM level.

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 2 - SOUTH AFRICA

On friday morning I got to a meeting with Gerhard (Berger), Thierry (Boutsen), Ayrton and Nigel to discuss about the security of the new Kyalami track, and the memories from the old track came into talk. I didn´t have good races at the old track, and, despite the fact that the new one is much safer than the old would ever be, all what made the old track good has sadly disappeared. I guess is a sign of how modern F1 is.

Qualifying

I had a terrible friday and ended up 19th and, while I managed to significantly improve on Saturday, I lost loads of time trying different setups, only to end up with something very close to what I use at Monaco.

1. Mansell -- 1.08.404
2. Patrese -- 1.09.014
3. Senna -- 1.09.291
4. Schumacher -- 1.09.633
5. Brundle -- 1.09.783
6. Berger -- 1.10.071
---
8. Boutsen -- 1.10.299
9. Dagnall -- 1.10.448
10. Comas -- 1.10.454
---
18. Alesi -- 1.10.835

Race

I put a good start and passed Boutsen and Berger at the start. On 2nd lap I passed Herbert and then Brundle had to retire afterwards, being promoted to 5th. By then, Senna was almost 5 secs ahead and I couldn´t keep his rhythm, but I was leaving Herbert and Berger behind as well. On lap 7 the rear right wheel started to vibrate and had to enter the pits to get it solved, so I went back to the track 22nd! I quickly started to climb and despite a spin on lap 12, by lap 16 I was 8th, with Alesi 10 secs ahead. Then Alesi retired and started to chase Herbert, passing the Lotus on lap 20, and focused on the other Ferrari. Berger was 19 secs ahead and I managed to reduce the gap to 11.9 by lap 23, one before my first proper pit-stop. Berger stopped at the same time as me and I came back 7th, recovering the 6th pos. when Herbert stopped a lap later. In lap 26 Berger´s engine said goodbye and I climbed to 5th, now with Senna 29.7 ahead. Schumacher stopped in lap 27, and Senna did in lap 29, with the tyres very worn; that advantage on new tyres allowed me to pass him for 4th, and to pass Patrese as well for 3rd as he stopped on lap 31. By then, I had managed to reduce the gap to Schumacher to 4.2, but my tyres were starting to lose lots of grip and I lost 6 secs in just 3 laps. Having in count that I was using the Monaco setup and my car didn´t have a good top speed, it took no time for Senna to pass me in lap 36, and quickly disappeared. Now I had to take care of Patrese. In lap 40 on the approach to the hairpin we touched and went off track but on next lap he passed me and then I decided to pit earlier in order to keep the tyres fresh and have an option to recover the position when the others stopped. After my stop Patrese was 29.2 secs ahead, and then he entered the pits again on lap 48, coming out the pits just ahead of me!! With the new tyres I had nothing to do but watch the Williams go and I just decided to do an extra stop on lap 56 to keep the car doing good lap times by the end of the race, but the race finished for me as soon as I couldn´t pass Patrese on the last round of stops.

1. Mansell -- 1h30m54.926
2. Schumacher -- +48.896
3. Senna -- +1.02.209
4. Patrese -- +1.07.217
5. Dagnall -- +1 lap
6. Comas -- +2 laps
7. Martini -- +3 laps
8. Grouillard -- +3 laps
9. Suzuki -- +3 laps
10. Morbidelli -- +3 laps
11. Gachot -- +3 laps
12. Van de Poele -- +4 laps
13. Alboreto -- +7 laps (r)

Fastest lap: Nigel Mansell; 1.12.618
ROTR: Ferrari; Missed a good opportunity to score with a dreadful reliability and a terrible qualifying by Alesi
DOTR: Nigel Mansell; Comfortably won despite suffering an electrical problem at the beggining.

[Aerond]

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 2 races -

1. Patrese - 13 pts
2. Schumacher - 12 pts
3. Mansell - 10 pts
4. Dagnall - 6 pts
5. Senna - 4 pts
6. De Cesaris - 3 pts
=. Comas - 3 pts
8. Boutsen - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 23 pts
2. Benetton - 12 pts
3. McLaren - 10 pts
4. Ligier - 4 pts
5. Tyrrell - 3 pts

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 3 - BRAZIL

Qualifying

Found my pace better at Interlagos than previous years, and I Patrese and I scored exactly the same time!

1. Mansell -- 1.13.885
2. Senna -- 1.14.552
3. Dagnall -- 1.14.873
4. Patrese -- 1.14.873
5. Schumacher -- 1.15.137
6. Berger -- 1.15.660

Race
I was passed by Patrese at the start, but catched the slipstream on the back straight and passed both Senna and Patrese, anyway, couldn´t do anything to intimidate Mansell, who at the end of the first lap was 2 secs away. Behind me Senna and Patrese started a good fight for 3rd. By lap 5 Mansell´s advantage
grew up to 7.6 and it was clear that he was unbeatable, at least on new tyres. On lap 7 Patrese tried to pass me at the 4th corner, I broke a little bit late and he got the inside, but I didn´t give him the position and we tangled. him spinning and losing several positions, me... hitting the wall and retiring inmediately.
To make things worse, Senna retired at the last lap. Not a good weekend.

1. Mansell -- 1h34m05.790
2. Schumacher -- +17.565
3. Brundle -- +37.834
4. Berger -- +1.10.918
5. Senna -- +1 lap
6. De Cesaris -- +1 lap
7. Alboreto -- +1 lap
8. Boutsen -- +2 laps
9. Martini -- +2 laps
10. Gachot -- +3 laps
11. Suzuki -- +3 laps
12. Katayama -- +4 laps
13. Comas -- +6 laps (r)
14. Wendlinger -- +7 laps (r)
15. Patrese -- +8 laps (r)
16. Modena -- +8 laps (r)

Fastest lap; Michael Schumacher; 1.17.421
DOTR; Benetton; Completed the podium behind the unbeatable Williams.
ROTR; Japanese drivers; Completely off the pace.

Chris Dagnall said;

I won´t blame on Riccardo for what happened. Of course it´s a shame to have ended the race like that, but we can take things on the positive side: The car has been quite fast in a track like this and it will probably behave better in the faster tracks; so we may suffer a little bit in places like Monaco or Hungary but we could fight the Williams more often than not.

[Aerond]

1992 - ROUND 4 - SPAIN

If you win, you´re going to have good memories from that track until the next year; but if you win a championship, you´re going to be delighted to go back again and again to that place; so it´s montmeló, and it´s the place where I won the championship last year, so I´m very keen to drive here again!!

Qualifying

Got a terrible friday and could only score a time 7 secs slower and also ruined Mansell´s try, but on Saturday I could beat both Williams and snap the 2nd pole of the season!!

1. Dagnall -- 1.25.761
2. Mansell -- 1.25.807
3. Patrese -- 1.26.185
4. Senna -- 1.26.268
5. Schumacher -- 1.26.763
6. Berger -- 1.27.596

Race

At the start Mansell passed me, but during the long way to the first corner I catched the Williams and passed him, with Senna 3rd. I was prepared to have a very close fight after what happened on Saturday at the qualifying, but to my own surprise nobody could follow me, plus Mansell was losing time fighting with Senna for the 2nd position, so at the end of the first lap I was 1.6 ahead, then 4.1 by lap 2, 11.3 by lap 5!! With that rhythm nobody would have options so I decided to slow down between 0.5 and 1 sec per lap in order not to mess it up. By lap 10 I started to lap the slowest guys and by lap 17 the gap was over 30 secs!! It was certainly a dream, and I suddenly woke up when the engine broke at the beggining of lap 19. I parked the car, and spoke to nobody afterwards. What an opportunity!

1. Mansell -- 1h39m23.294
2. Senna -- +11.962
3. Patrese -- +50.455
4. Brundle -- +1.13.235
5. Berger -- +1.16.321
6. Hakkinen -- +1 lap
7. De Cesaris -- +1 lap
8. Boutsen -- +2 laps
9. Alboreto -- +2 laps
10. Comas -- +2 laps
11. Martini -- +2 laps
12. Alesi -- +3 laps (r)
13. Suzuki -- +3 laps
14. Van de Poele -- +3 laps
15. Belmondo -- +4 laps

Fastest lap; Chris Dagnall; 1:27.611
DOTR; Boutsen; Climbed to 8th despite an early extra stop due to some problem.
ROTR; Belmondo; Painfully slow with a car which is able to race with the rest of the pack.

Chris Dagnall said;

I don´t want to talk much about today´s race. All I know is we can´t miss a chance like this because we´ll miss those points at the end of the year. My job is to drive the car to the win but if the engineers aren´t able to produce a car which can finish the races then we are in trouble. I don´t wanna go further on this to not cause trouble on anyone at McLaren or Honda.

[Aerond]

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - After 4 races -

1. Mansell - 30 pts
2. Schumacher - 18 pts
3. Patrese - 17 pts
4. Senna - 12 pts
5. Brundle - 7 pts
6. Dagnall - 6 pts
7. Berger - 5 pts
8. De Cesaris - 4 pts
9. Comas - 3 pts
10. Boutsen - 1 pt
=. Hakkinen - 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams - 47 pts
2. Benetton - 25 pts
3. McLaren - 18 pts
4. Ferrari - 5 pts
5. Ligier - 4 pts
=. Tyrrell - 4 pts
7. Lotus - 1 pt

[TomWazzleshaw]

Mr Dagnall, your contract at McLaren expires at the end of next season. Will you be staying at McLaren beyond this season or will you be moving on to new pastures?