Grand Prix Rejects

The fact that a world champion is stuck in the midfield doesn't bode well for Melrose's prospects this year.

the Masked Lapwing wrote:From backmarker to 5th is pretty special, ain't it?

It is, but I think it will be a one-off!

Wizzie wrote:The fact that a world champion is stuck in the midfield doesn't bode well for Melrose's prospects this year.

It seems the F1 drivers aren't having the rub of the green...

Test 3 - Phillip Island

At least this session knocked a little sense back into the results, with many drivers sticking to either their form at Donington or Zandvoort. The most consistent driver so far, Aussie Frank Zimmer, put in a 1:08.22, almost half a second ahead of Phoenix McAllister. Zimmer's teammate at Rosenforth, Thomas De Bock, put in his second poor effort, once again the 13th fastest. Nathanael Spencer went from the fastest at Donington to the slowest at Phillip Island, with conspiracy theories about reliability and team orders abound, however, he may just be slowing to trick others into underestimating him. The JLDs were both strong, as was David Koczo, Spencer's teammate at Prospec.

1 Rosenforth Engineering - Frank ZIMMER: 1:08.22
2 Team Calinetic - Phoenix MCALLISTER: 1:08.70, +0.48
3 Prospec - David KOCZO: 1:09.10, +0.88
4 JLD Motorsport - Dave SIMPSON: 1:09.52, +1.30
5 JLD Motorsport - Daniel MELROSE: 1:09.96, +1.74
6 CR Motorsport - Ashley WATKINSON: 1:10.43, +2.21
7 Club Bangelia Racing - Dan BH: 1:10.89, +2.67
8 Kahama Motor Sport - Kay LON: 1:11.23, +3.01
9 West Cliff Racing - Douglas MANN: 1:11.75, +3.53
10 Club Bangelia Racing - James DAVIES: 1:12.14, +3.92
11 KQ Motor Sport - Hagane SHIZUKA: 1:12.64, +4.42
12 West Cliff Racing - Sammy JONES: 1:13.05, +4.83
13 Rosenforth Engineering - Thomas DE BOCK: 1:13.46, +5.24
14 Prospec - Nathanael SPENCER: 1:13.80, +5.58

With the testing for each team done, the first race at Hockenheim will get underway in possibly as little as 24 hours in real time, depending on homework and the like.

See! One-off fifth place! But I like Hockenheim, to be honest.

I tried to be deliberately crap, but it seems I picked the wrong Rosenforth seat...

Sorry, tommy.

AndreaModa wrote:

Wizzie wrote:The fact that a world champion is stuck in the midfield doesn't bode well for Melrose's prospects this year.

It seems the F1 drivers aren't having the rub of the green...

To be honest you're not doing that much better in the Honde either it seems (Although you're almost on par with Button so it's not all bad news.)

Which reminds me where do you want to end up next season? There's an empty seat at Renault thanks to Alonso's departure to McLaren, atleast 1 but probably both seats at Toyota and a seat at Red Bull right now. However seats at Williams, McLaren, Ferrari and even BMW Sauber may open up depending on what Schumacher, Raikkonen, Webber, Fisichella and Heidfeld do.

the Masked Lapwing wrote:I tried to be deliberately crap, but it seems I picked the wrong Rosenforth seat...

Sorry, tommy.

Just do a Schumacher and swap the numbers around

No problem. I'm a backmarker again!

can I enter with my own team?

...with Judd engines

LucaPacchiarini wrote:can I enter with my own team?

...with Judd engines

Hmmm... if you drive #20 and stick with a single-car team only (and your own driver) then sure. If you want you can come up with your own team name, or stick with what the game has.

Wizzie wrote:

AndreaModa wrote:

Wizzie wrote:The fact that a world champion is stuck in the midfield doesn't bode well for Melrose's prospects this year.

It seems the F1 drivers aren't having the rub of the green...

To be honest you're not doing that much better in the Honde either it seems (Although you're almost on par with Button so it's not all bad news.)

Which reminds me where do you want to end up next season? There's an empty seat at Renault thanks to Alonso's departure to McLaren, atleast 1 but probably both seats at Toyota and a seat at Red Bull right now. However seats at Williams, McLaren, Ferrari and even BMW Sauber may open up depending on what Schumacher, Raikkonen, Webber, Fisichella and Heidfeld do.

Haha I guess I've got quite a good choice then! It's upto you though tbh, I don't really mind, take it in the direction you best see fit

the Masked Lapwing wrote:

LucaPacchiarini wrote:can I enter with my own team?

...with Judd engines

Hmmm... if you drive #20 and stick with a single-car team only (and your own driver) then sure. If you want you can come up with your own team name, or stick with what the game has.

One car is fine for me.

Pacchia - Coswojuddhartlambo

livery: Black - Yellow

This team, based in Tuscany near the Mugello track was founded by the team boss Luca Pacchiarini with the money he was given by his grandomother on christmas.
He obtained the engines glueing together old Cosworth, Judd, Hart and Lambo engines of the 90's.
He managed to obtain a contract with Dunlop Tyres with a fraud against the english company.
As a consequence, the policemen will constantly hunt the team boss during this season.

Driver: Andrea Montermini no.20

While I appreciate the rejectful effort,

a) The CPU who will represent your team is slightly better than that,
b) Can we not have a real reject please? Make another fake guy, or be team owner and driver (we all know how that ends)

oh well, I'll be the driver then

The Generic Times wrote:New Team Enters WRS
A new team has applied for entry into the World Race Series - Pacchia - Coswojuddhartlambo will be a single car team, running Luca Pacchiarini in car #20. The engine has apparently been built by "glueing together old Cosworth, Judd, Hart and Lambo engines from the '90s", and as a result, it is nearly impossible to get a definite power output reading. Based in Italy, the team has yet to get consent from the others to join,

and I want opinions, otherwise Luca may just have to give up or join another team. And we wouldn't want that, would we?

however Rosenforth Engineering's Frank Zimmer has said "I believe having a 15th driver will be good for the competition, especially if some of the other teams manage to sign 2nd drivers, bumping the numbers up to 19. My only concern is if his "engine", if you can call it that, will hold up for an entire race." The team has attempted to join so late that it will not get to participate in any test sessions.

Any Chance Adam Lewis could have the second seat at KQ Motorsport

Darren Older Junior (UK) wants to join the number 19 CR car. I am sure a massive check from Darren Older Senior will make the team aware of his talents.

-Hans Schmitd, PR for the Older family.

Young Englishman Gary Cameron makes a sensational late bid for the second seat at Calinetic alongside Phoenix McAllister

Quite good so far.

Douglas Mann's PR released a statement on his behalf, but which was not necessarily complimentary, saying how his performances were always a bit all over the place, starting well but then slipping backwards quickly, just like his performances in the American Whelen Modifieds (despite clarifying that he is leading that championship at the time of writing...). And to see an extra one-car team was a surprise, but Douglas would accept it, so long as this Luca guy would make it easy for Douglas to pass when he needed to make a recovery drive back through the pack having initially started on pole...

HOCKENHEIM - RACE #1
Qualifying

It was a very wet qualifying session, with some drivers visibly affected based on times in dry conditions during the tests. Especially notable is David Koczo, who was the fastest at Zandvoort, yet third slowest in the wet at Hockenheim, with a best time of 1:06.94. However, the field is very tight in terms of lap times, with 17 of the 18 drivers within 2 seconds of each other. Of the new drivers, Luca Pacchiarini surprisingly did very, very well, setting, wait for it, the SECOND fastest time! Dave Simpson was the only driver to better him, by 0.17 seconds, to take pole position. Nathanael Spencer will line up third, with Australian Daniel Melrose beside him on the second row. Here are the results of qualifying:

Qualifying Results at Hockenheimring Grand Prix Circuit:

1: JLD Motosport - Dave SIMPSON (1:05.16)
2: Pacchia-Coswojuddhartlambo - Luca PACCHIARINI (+0.17)
3: Prospec - Nathanael SPENCER (+0.19)
4: JLD Motorsport - Daniel MELROSE (+0.40)
5: Team Calinetic - Gary CAMERON (+0.48)
6: Rosenforth Engineering - Frank ZIMMER (+0.58)
7: West Cliff Racing - Douglas MANN (+0.72)
8: West Cliff Racing - Sammy JONES (+0.92)
9: CR Motorsport - Ashley WATKINSON (+1.00)
10: Team Calinetic - Phoenix MCALLISTER (+1.06)
11: Club Bangelia Racing - James DAVIES (+1.34)
12: Kahama Motor Sport - Kay LON (+1.38)
13: Club Bangelia Racing - Dan BH (+1.41)
14: CR Motorsport - Darren OLDER JR (+1.55)
15: KQ Motor Sport - Hagane SHIZUKA (+1.75)
16: Prospec - David KOCZO (+1.78)
17: Rosenforth Engineering - Thomas DE BOCK (+1.92)
18: KQ Motor Sport - Adam LEWIS (+2.09)

Race
Lap 1:
The glued together engine of the Pacchia car conspired to give Pacchiarini a poor start, however, while he lost his spot to Spencer, he held off a fast starting Gary Cameron. Daniel Melrose, meanwhile, went backwards, dropping to 7th, while teammate Simpson jumped out to a small lead. Koczo had a horror start from the back, dropping to last, while Thomas De Bock made a spot. While the two West Cliffs started alongside each other, Douglas Mann gained a spot over Melrose, while Sammy Jones dropped back one. As the teams rounded the hairpin, Cameron tried a desperate Kamui-like move that gained him not one, but two spots, demoting Spencer and Pacchiarini to 3rd and 4th respectively. Melrose also lost ground as he dropped to 9th. Ashley Watkinson had gotten to 6th, while Frank Zimmer dropped to 7th, but was in an epic battle with Watkinson. As they crossed the line, the top 10 were Simpson-Cameron-Spencer-Pacchiarini-Mann-Watkinson-Zimmer-Melrose-Jones-McAllister. Simpson and Cameron were locked in battle, while Spencer, Pacchiarini and Mann all had some clean air, before Zimmer and Watkinson still in battle, and then 5 drivers right in a tight group, before the last 6 drivers (Lon, Shizuka, Older Jr, Lewis, De Bock and Koczo) all had large gaps to the driver in front.
Lap 2:
Then, when he missed his braking point, Koczo spun at the first corner, dropping him back a long way. At the hairpin, another few drivers spun, including Luca Pacchiarini and Ashley Watkinson! Zimmer and Melrose benefitted enormously, and Spencer, free from the slow Pacchiarini, gained on Simpson. But wait, where’s Cameron? He got hit as Pacchiarini spun, but suffered no damage except a poor run out of the corner. Mann was now defending from a quick Zimmer, while Melrose, Pacchiarini and Phoenix McAllister battled, three abreast, for 6th. After that, the drivers were spread out, with minimal gains being made.
Lap 3:
When James Davies joined the battle for 6th, Melrose began to struggle, but manage to keep up. At the back, De Bock’s race was almost run, as a serious spin put him into a wall. He managed to get back to the pits, and got a new front wing, before being sent on his way.
Lap 5:
As he drove past the pits, Cameron, having retaken P2, had a strange noise. In fact, a few cars now had this problem. It seemed to be affecting Koczo, as without pitting he was losing ground rapidly to De Bock. Watkinson was also on a charge, back up to 6th and hunting down Zimmer.
Lap 6:
Watkinson caught and dealt with Zimmer, while Cameron was still plagued by a bad engine noise, but hadn’t lost a place. The field was now starting to properly spread out, with few drivers within two seconds of each other. De Bock had now caught Koczo and was seeking a way past.
Lap 7:
At the hairpin, and Watkinson lost it again! Zimmer got back past, and Watkinson rejoined in 8th place, just in front of Melrose. Not keen on being caught again, Zimmer went on a quick lap, and overtook Mann for fourth. It also seemed that the backmarkers had found new speed, and were catching each other again.
Lap 8:
Cameron’s engine troubles seemed to have passed, but he had lost second to Spencer, and then third to Mann, who got past Zimmer when he spun at the second corner. This put Zimmer right back into the clutches of Watkinson. The field had now bunched right up again, meaning that the race might get interesting.
Lap 9:
And it did, as a quick Nathanael Spencer overtook Dave Simpson, who had been leading since lap 1! This lap also marked the first proper stop of the race, as Darren Older Jr pitted in his CR.
Lap 10:
The order of the race at the one-third mark was:
Spencer and Simpson battling, then Mann and Cameron before the battle pack of Pacchiarini, Melrose, McAllister, Zimmer, Dan BH, Watkinson, Davies, Kay Lon and Jones, with a short gap to James Lewis, Hagane Shizuka and De Bock, with Older Jr a long way behind thanks to his stop.
Lap 11:
It seemed that either the tyres of the front runners were dying, or the glued together engine of Pacchiarini were starting to work, as he made a charge from best of the rest to second place, right on the tail of Spencer at the end of the lap! The top 5 of Spencer, Pacchiarini, Simpson, Cameron and now Daniel Melrose had broken away, while the next 7 were all together, led by Zimmer, before 3 drivers (Watkinson, Jones and Koczo) pitted. A slow stop from Jones saw him come out third best.
Lap 12:
It seemed each driver was doing random stuff as Cameron dropped out of the front runners, being replaced by Mann. Hagane Shizuka popped into the pits, and was out having only lost his spot to both CRs and Koczo. In other words, he was 17th. And then Sammy Jones drove past, demoting him to last.
Lap 13:
The Coswojuddhartlambo engine was dropping off again, as Pacchiarini lost two spots. Otherwise, it was getting a bit boring.
Lap 15:
A spin from Lon saw him lose ground, as the drivers with newer tyres caught those on the old ones.
Lap 16:
Spencer got overtaken by Simpson, restoring his early lead. It looked like most of the frontrunners needed tyres, badly.
Lap 17:
Especially Spencer, who was losing position rapidly. Melrose and, for some reason, both the Calinetics (McAllister and Cameron) came in to pit.
Lap 18:
Simpson once again lost his spot, this time to Douglas Mann. Spencer and Davies came in for their stops. They came out behind the last 3 to pit.
Lap 19:
Mann still led from Watkinson (who was doing brilliantly) and Zimmer, while Simpson dropped to fourth. Pacchiarini and Dan BH pitted. They came out in 17th and 18th.
Lap 20:
Watkinson got past, and now led by quite some margin from Mann, with Zimmer and Simpson also slowing. Yet the three stayed out on track. On corrected order, Watkinson looked set for a maiden victory, having been the only front runner to pit. Sammy Jones, after a lot of work, was 5th on the road, and the next driver who had pitted, leaving Mann, Zimmer, Simpson and Adam Lewis the only drivers who hadn’t stopped yet. And if the other pit stops had taught them anything, they had blown a good opportunity.
Lap 21:
Watkinson now had a huge lead, as Zimmer lost his spot to Jones but overtook Mann, who dropped to 6th, ahead of Simpson.
Lap 22:
Zimmer dropped to fourth yet still didn’t pit, while Simpson got past Mann for 6th, and neither stopped. It became interesting to see who would pit first. Zimmer was in a good position, with huge gap between him and Simpson, and would most likely hold his advantage in the pits.
Lap 23:
Zimmer was now in 5th, with Mann and Simpson 7th and 8th. Well, Mann was 7th, until he spun with basically no tyres, and dropped to 11th. He then decided it would be a good idea to pit.
Lap 24:
Unfortunately, it wasn’t, as he became the first driver to go a lap down! This could not be good for Zimmer or Simpson… When Simpson pitted, it left Zimmer as the last front running driver to stop, pretty much consigning him to a second to last place finish. Crap.
Lap 25:
When Simpson came out, he also got lapped, as well as losing his spot to Mann! By lap 25, Zimmer had become a mobile chicane, and he finally pitted, also dropping to last in the process.
Lap 26:
As the race focussed on Watkinson, it became ultra-dull. However, interest spiked when two more cars pitted… Lewis and De Bock! De Bock, if you remember, pitted early thanks to a brush with the wall. Lewis, meanwhile, hadn’t yet pitted, emoting him to last, behind Zimmer.
Lap 27:
The race settled into a lull, as Watkinson cruised towards victory. Except for when Kay Lon went straight ahead at the hairpin, having to have to pit for the second time.
Lap 30:
And that’s it, ladies and gentlemen, we have the winner of our first F1 Rejects World Race Series – give a round of applause to Ashley Watkinson!! Although the victory was soured a little by a silly last lap spin that saw the 6 lapped drivers get back in front, it was a truly excellent victory. Second went to David Koczo, a magnificent result, considering the poor start and engine troubles. Third was taken by a resilient Sammy Jones, after being the pioneer of the last placed pitters.

1st: Ashley Watkinson (CR Motorsport): 33 minutes, 59.45 seconds
2nd: David Koczo (Prospec): +9.90
3rd: Sammy Jones (West Cliff Racing): +27.45
4th: Gary Cameron (Team Calinetic): +31.97
5th: Hagane Shizuka (KQ Motor Sport): +33.67
6th: Nathanael Spencer (Prospec): +34.53
7th: James Davies (Club Bangelia Racing): +48.71
8th: Phoenix McAllister (Team Calinetic): +52.93
9th: Luca Pacchiarini (Pacchia-Coswojuddhartlambo): +56.68
10th: Dan BH (Club Bangelia Racing): +59.80
11th: Daniel Melrose (JLD Motorsport): +1:01.42
12th: Darren Older Jr (CR Motorsport): +1:04.53
13th: Douglas Mann (West Cliff Racing): +1:07.86
14th: Dave Simpson (JLD Motorsport): +1:09.13
15th: Frank Zimmer (Rosenforth Engineering): +1:16.94
16th: Adam Lewis (KQ Motor Sport): +1:41.30
17th: Kay Lon (Kahama Motor Sport): +1:42.94
18th: Thomas De Bock (Rosenforth Engineering): +1:51.89
Fastest Lap: Phoenix McAllister (1:03.48)

Leaders:
Simpson: 1-8, 16-17 (10)
Spencer: 9-15 (7)
Mann: 18-19 (2)
Watkinson: 20-30 (11)


Drivers’ Standings (after Round 1)
1st: Watkinson (10)
2nd: Koczo (9)
3rd: Jones (8)
4th: Cameron (7)
5th: Shizuka (6)
6th: Spencer (5)
7th: Davies (4)
8th: McAllister (3)
9th: Pacchiarini (2)
10th: BH (1)

Team Standings (after Round 1)
1st: Prospec (14)
= 2nd: CR Motorsport (10)
= 2nd: Team Calinetic (10)
4th: West Cliff Racing (8)
5th: KQ Motor Sport (6)
6th: Club Bangelia Racing (5)
7th: Pacchia-Cowsojuddhartlambo (2)

So, it seems that the CPU's pit strategies play a major hand in this. Should get interesting at the Nürburgring.

While we're at it:

The Generic Times wrote:It seems that the WRS will finally have a full field, as Kahama Motor Sport sign a driver to their second seat - Simon Redman, a young Australian. With 19 drivers and 8 races to go, the competition will definitely get very interesting.

Am I still aloud to join? If so, can I join in the only available seat #10 (That's obvious)? My name is Simon Redman, and I am an Aussie.

Woo, seems like my predictions for the race are going normally...

...and I guess I will crash in the race!

Hockenheim results are up.

I feel mortal... very mortal

Fifth place from 15th on the grid! Wow!

Redman's comments:
I feel very privileged to join this series, and feel welcomed at my team Kahama Motor Sports. I do hope for a very good season.
Redman's other racing exploits (not related to this but good to have)
TBK 1996 Truck Series (ran in about 3 test races, all ran very well at different times, league seems to be dead now though)
TBK Winston Cup Series (ran well in qualifying races at Daytona, every other race I have failed to pre-qualify )
In other words, I am an absoulute reject.

Does the F1 Reject rules count here?
So as a 5th place finish equals an unrejectification? ...I might be a lucky bastard, still.

Shizuka wrote:Does the F1 Reject rules count here?
So as a 5th place finish equals an unrejectification? ...I might be a lucky bastard, still.

You only need a 6th to get unrejectified, so you never know...

watka wrote:

Ashley Watkinson wrote:Well that was quite a race! I'm really glad to get a victory first time out for CR. The car was so good on worn tyres, I didn't really have to drop my pace at all. I made my fair share of mistakes during the race, but we still won comfortably. It just shows how much confidence I get have in the car. Even better, I managed to lap Kay Lon!

Yes, and then he unlapped you. And 5 others. Ha!

I assumed because he finished 1.45 down that he was lapped considering the lap record time! Doh!