rFAF1 1980: SEASON OVER

[the Masked Lapwing]

Race report will come later today, but I've re-analysed the start crash footage, and guess who's responsible for utter muppetry and has provoked the banhammer?

Alberto Cara?

Benoit Voeckler!

ZIMSANITY!

[RonDenisDeletraz]

It could be almost anyone that drove in RoLFS this year

[pasta_maldonado]

All good guesses, but not the right anser....

1980 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa Francorchamps

Driver changes
Beppe Gabbiani completed his one race ban, but is still on probation. Valentino Nicchi relinquishes his seat to Gabbiani.

Qualifying, Weather: Dry



The Spa track seems to be suited to the Lotus-Renault combination, withe the fiendishly fast combination gifting Alan Jones pole 7 tenths faster than Harvey Jones, who was half a second faster than the next non-Lotus runner, McAllister's Williams in 3rd. J-P Jabouille could on manage 8th in a poor effort from Renault, and Reutemann was blocked by some of the slower cars, and could only manage 25th on the grid. Restov impressed with a 13th place for Brancatelli, a mixed day for Merzario saw Andretti claim 5th position but Fittipaldi wallowing near the back of the grid, and both Tyrrells qualified again. Rupert Keegan just managed to scrape onto the grid, along with Deyan Rangelov, who will make his first start from the back of the grid. Pierre Depault, Roberto Horford, Padraig O'Connell, Siegfried Stohr, Thomas Nurmester, Piercarlo Ghinzani, Martin Rossler, Bruno Giacomelli, Alain Prost and Riccardo Patrese all missed the cut. Alain Porst and Patrese even managed to be a rejectful 11 seconds slower than Alan's pole time.

The Race - 42 laps, Weather:Dry

A good start from Alan Jones saw him lead into turn one, but the major action unfolded behind him. Perkins made a poor getaway, and was swamped off the line. Then, Beppe Gabbiani proved once again why he is a complete and utter muppet. Gabbiani didn’t brake early enough, slid into Lauda, and pushed him straight into the back of Perkins. Lauda lost his front right and Perkins his front left. Then, Gabbiani, still going waaaaay to fast, collided with his team mate Brancatelli, pushing him into Bellof’s Shadow, knocking his front wing off. These actions were missed by the race director during the race, and only came to light when he viewed the replay footage this morning. Beppe Gabbiani has earned himself Reject of the Race, strong contention for Reject of the Year, and some bans. Specifically, that's a 3 race ban for dangerous driving, a 2 race ban for breaking the terms of his probation, and a one race ban for being a muppet. All in all, that's six races he has to sit out, and the banhammer has been safely replaced back into it's felt-lined hand-crafted wooden box.

The field struggled to get past the stricken cars, with Lammers being hit by Takagi, and Pironi driving into Perkins’ stationary car, putting Pironi out of the race ina stupid incident that would have earned him ROTRT had Gabbianbi not been such a plonker.

Scheckter thrillingly passed Alan through Raidillion to lead into Les Combes, but the Williams Honda couldn't pull away from the Lotus-Renault, Alan managing the gap well. Mario Andretti's strong starting position seemd to be ever more out of psoition, as he couldn't hold off Ed Kevin and J-P Jabouille, both drivers getting past Mario, demoting him to 8th.

Menawhile, at the back of the pack, Lammers had pitted for a new rear wing and Brancatelli for a new front wing on lap 1. Brancatelli was serviced and sent back out, but the RAM mechanics discovered something more serious was wrong with the RAM than a missing rear wing. A minute and a half of furious spanner weilding later, the RAM boys discovered that they couldn't fix the left rear suspension with a spanner some sweary words, forcing Lammers into the garage and early retirement.

Retirement seemed to be the in-thing around the Ardennes forest this weekend, as we were left with just 23 runners after 2 laps. Lauda, Perkins and Pironi were out on the spot thanks to the turn 1 shenanigans, Clarke's Wolf decided that changing gears was for muppets and that it would be far better off sticking in 2nd, Bellof's Ford turbo blew up spectacularly on the start/finish line, Lammers couldn't get going again, and Deyan Rangelov's Honda engine crapped itself heading down to Les Combes. In heartbreaking scenes, Rangelov was forced to stop after just one lap of his F1 debut, from 20th position.

Back at the sharp end of the 23 runners, Kevin passed Jabouille after going side-by-side through Les Combes, for the all-important last points position. Andretti behind in 8th place was being threatened by a resurgent McAllister in 9th, but the Spaniard couldn't get past, and never did, as his Honda engine decided to succumb to the latest fashion of retirement.

Nigel Mansell dropped out after an unispiring 5 laps at the back of the pack, and the field started to settle down. Scheckter lead Jones lead Piquet lead Jones lead Kevin led Laffite starting lap 10, but in the midfield, Carlos Reutemann was trying to make progress after the dissapointing qualifying. Carlos had worked his way up to 12th and was battling with Villeneuve's Ferrari, Henton's Shadow and Surer's Audi, a pack in which he would stay for most of the race.

Derek Daly limped into the pits to retire his McLaren on lap 10, but a shocking reitrement from the front changed the face of the race. Jody Scheckter and Alan Jones had come across Rupert Keegan in the JLD, who didn't put up too much resistance to being lapped through Stavelot, but as the TV cameras waited at Blanchimont for Scheckter's white and green WIlliams to appear first, Alan Jones' Lotus screamed past, followed by Keegan, without Scheckter in sight! Scheckter's gearbox had jammed in 3rd gear exiting Stavelot, and Jones snaked past, whilst Jody was left to crawl back to the pits, stuck on the limiter, and rue what might have been.

Alan now lead by 5 and a half seconds back to Piquet and Alan, but now the race started to settle down. Piquet and Harvey couldn't make any dent into Alan's lead, and the only bit of action came when Henton and Reutemann, who had shaken Surer and the rest, passed Gabbiani for tenth. The stewards were unaware of Gabbiani's actions at thhis stage in the race, although word was beggining to filter back to them thanks to a seething Lauda talking to the press.

Mario Andretti had managed to pass J-P Jabouille, and Scheckter's retirement had elevated Mario to 6th and a point. Alan Jones set about increasing his lead to 11 seconds on lap 22, when Harvey Jones' Lotus spun onto the infield at Les Combes from an unchallenged 3rd position. Harvey climbed out of his car folornly, the chance to extend hsi championship lead over the non-finishing Perkins had gone begging thanks to suspension failure, probably caused by a knock from Scheckter at turn 1 on the first lap.

Alan and Piquet were now unchallenged at the front, Piquet unable to make an indent into Alan's lead 11 second back, and Jacques Laffite a further 17 seconds back in 3rd. Mario found himself in 5th, but when team mate Fittipaldi retired on lap 22 with engine failure from 8th psoition, Mario began to panic, and with reason - when one Merzario retires, the other one usually follows suit shortly after. And he was right to be worried. Brake failure ended his day 4 laps later, with the whole Merzario garage looking on in disbeleif, frustration and dissapointment.

Jabouille had retired a lap before Fittipaldi, and Ed Kevin also retired from the points on lap 29, the Talbot engine crying "Finis! Finis!". Guy Ligier was reported to have cried "Merde". Villeneuve ended a dissapointing day for Ferrari with suspension failure and an examination of the bariers on lap 31, as had a totally oblivious Beppe Gabbiani.

The pack remained in the smae order, save for Rupert Keegan dropping out on lap 37, till the chequered flag. Alan Jones thoroughly deserved his win from pole, collecting fastest lap on the way to complete the first hat-trick of the season, with Piquet in a solid 2nd place. Laffite benefitted from retirements of the faster cars, and Rene Arnoux led an anonymous race to claim 4th for Ferrari, the first Prancing Horse points finish. Rene was running 9th by lap 10, and the gradual retirement of faster runners ahead elevated him further and further into the points. Guilliame Gauthier was similarly anonymous, but strong in a relatively slow McLaren, and is incidentally the only man to finish all 4 races this season, while Reutemann held on for a point. Surer recorded his first finish in 7th and a lap down, ahead of Takagi, who didn't have a chance to collide with Andretti this time out. Sutherland quietly came home 9th in the Arrows, ahead of Brancatelli - who could have been on for a mega result and Restov's first points if not for Gabbiani's stupid actions.

This time out, Drive of the Race goes to Alan Jones, for a commanding win, and Carlos Reutemann, for 25th to 4th

Results:



Pictures:


The start


Gabbiani pushes Lauda


Lauda strikes Piquet


Gabbiani slides on down into Brancatelli


Brancatelli hits Bellof


Pironi hits Perkins' stopped car.



J-P.J. and the Leinsterman side by side


Mansell retires


Scheckter leads commandingly



Action from Reutemann, Henton, Gabbiani, Fittipaldi, Surer, and Villeneuve


Harvey retires


JPJ's smouldering Renault denies him points. Remind you of 1979?


Villeneuve's suspension failure piches him into the barrier at Stavelot


Alan Jones wins the race, Reutemann avoids being lapped.

Driver's Championship

1. Harvey Jones - 17
= Alan Jones - 17
3. Larry Perkins - 13
4. Callum McAllister - 12
= Nelson Piquet - 12
= Jody Scheckter - 12
7. Jacques Laffite - 8
8. Jean-Pierre Jabouille - 7
9. Carlos Reutemann - 4
10. Edward Kevin - 3
= Rene Arnoux - 3
= Guilliame Gaithier - 3
13. Mario Andretti - 1

Constructor's Championship

1. Lotus-Renault - 34
2. Brabham-Renault - 25
3. Williams-Honda - 24
4. Renault - 13
5. Ligier-Talbot - 11
6. McLaren-Ford - 3
7. Ferrari - 3
8. Merzario-Lamborghini - 1

[Salamander]

I thought you gave Reutemann drive of the race? Ah well, doesn't matter, the important thing is that my glorious Renault engines power the top 2 teams now!

[pasta_maldonado]

I thought you gave Reutemann drive of the race? Ah well, doesn't matter, the important thing is that my glorious Renault engines power the top 2 teams now!

Oh yeah, I did. Sorry, I forgot about that, Reutemann and Jones can have joint DOTR!

[Gerudo Dragon]

Beppe Gabbiani has earned himself Reject of the Race, strong contention for Reject of the Year, and some bans. Specifically, that's a 3 race ban for dangerous driving, a 2 race ban for breaking the terms of his probation, and a one race ban for being a muppet. All in all, that's six races he has to sit out, and the banhammer has been safely replaced back into it's felt-lined hand-crafted wooden box.

YESI'MINTHECARAGAIN-I mean, it's a shame that this happened because Beppe is better than that, I think he should maybe relax a bit...

[FMecha]

I almost made it to the points. CURSE YOU, LAMMERS!!

Constructors' Assembly would like to invite Ferrari to the union.

[pasta_maldonado]

I almost made it to the points. CURSE YOU, LAMMERS!!

FISA would like to point out that you were the one to run into Lammers, and if this cost you a points position, then it's your fault.

[FMecha]

I almost made it to the points. CURSE YOU, LAMMERS!!

FISA would like to point out that you were the one to run into Lammers, and if this cost you a points position, then it's your fault.

Then it's "curse you" to whoever prepared my steering wheel. It is bathplugging too sensitive for this circuit. KEN!!

[Salamander]

Uh, yes, it was a very good race for us, ze car is still needing development, so it's good to keep scoring points. I tried 'ard to catch Rene, but ze car was not 'andling good enough to do it, but 5th place is still very nice.

[pasta_maldonado]

For anyone with rFactor, here ar the rFAF1 files.

Part 1
Part 2

You do not need GP79 installed, although if you do have it installed, this will overwrite the files.

[shinji]

the Ulsterman

Ah here. Leinster through and through.

[pasta_maldonado]

the Ulsterman

Ah here. Leinster through and through.

Ah. Cue my next-to-nothing knowledge of Ireland

All I know about Ireland is that it's split in two, is an island, and leprechauns may or may not live there.

I'll take that on board

[shinji]

the Ulsterman

Ah here. Leinster through and through.

Ah. Cue my next-to-nothing knowledge of Ireland

All I know about Ireland is that it's split in two, is an island, and leprechauns may or may not live there.

I'll take that on board

No bother at all. Ulster is a province that encompasses Northern Ireland and some rural counties in the Republic (including Donegal, where takagi_for_the_win hails from as far as I'm aware). Dublin is in Leinster. Munster and Connacht are the other two provinces, but they have a cumulative population of 3 men, a woman and a cow they call Siobhán.

[Nuppiz]

DNQed by less than four tenths, meh.

[JJMonty]

Well Audi are disapointed to have just missed out on points! A fantastic opportunity for us to have knicked some points off the more mis-fortuned runners.

Niki Lauda has refused to comment on the incident, but we feel that it is our responsibility to inform the press of his "displeasure" in the accident and feels strongly that the 6 race ban is a suitable sollution.

We are pleased to see the Audi engine lasting much longer now! With the normal GP legnth at Austria being 54 laps, this is a major improvement! However with the engine lasting so long now, perhaps we have ruined performance in seek of reliability. We will now need to analyse where the lack of performance is coming from. We are proud with our new Turbo Engine and hope we can become a winning factor before the year is over - if Turbos are to be banned in F1 from next year however, we will simply leave. Our project is the turbo, nothing else. If we can't run turbos, then there are plenty of other racing series that will welcome it.

Is testing available?

[takagi_for_the_win]

Argggh Gabbianni you plonker After your 6 race ban, you'll receive your P45. Valentino Nicchi will be promoted to the second race seat, with immediate effect.

[pasta_maldonado]

Well Audi are disapointed to have just missed out on points! A fantastic opportunity for us to have knicked some points off the more mis-fortuned runners.

Niki Lauda has refused to comment on the incident, but we feel that it is our responsibility to inform the press of his "displeasure" in the accident and feels strongly that the 6 race ban is a suitable sollution.

We are pleased to see the Audi engine lasting much longer now! With the normal GP legnth at Austria being 54 laps, this is a major improvement! However with the engine lasting so long now, perhaps we have ruined performance in seek of reliability. We will now need to analyse where the lack of performance is coming from. We are proud with our new Turbo Engine and hope we can become a winning factor before the year is over - if Turbos are to be banned in F1 from next year however, we will simply leave. Our project is the turbo, nothing else. If we can't run turbos, then there are plenty of other racing series that will welcome it.

Is testing available?

I'll come clean - FISA wasn't serious about banning turbos. No, that what makes this series good - why would I kill my own series?

It was an exercise from FISA to see how well the teams clubbed together when presented with drastic rule changes. And, seen as the answer was 'not very well'....

[Gerudo Dragon]

Eeeeexcellent.

[dr-baker]

No bother at all. Ulster is a province that encompasses Northern Ireland and some rural counties in the Republic (including Donegal, where takagi_for_the_win hails from as far as I'm aware). Dublin is in Leinster. Munster and Connacht are the other two provinces, but they have a cumulative population of 3 men, a woman and a cow they call Siobhán.

I always thought Ulster and Northern Ireland were exact synonyms. I didn't realise that Ulster slightly spilt over into the Republic.

By the way, how come they don't match exactly?

[shinji]

No bother at all. Ulster is a province that encompasses Northern Ireland and some rural counties in the Republic (including Donegal, where takagi_for_the_win hails from as far as I'm aware). Dublin is in Leinster. Munster and Connacht are the other two provinces, but they have a cumulative population of 3 men, a woman and a cow they call Siobhán.

I always thought Ulster and Northern Ireland were exact synonyms. I didn't realise that Ulster slightly spilt over into the Republic.

By the way, how come they don't match exactly?

Historically Ulster had been the nine counties - the six that are now in NI, as well as Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan. In the late 1910s/early '20s, those three counties had large nationalist majorities and the other six (supposedly, it's controversial for a couple of them) had unionist ones. So they were made part of NI under the 1920 Government of Ireland Act (spot the History student like ), and the other three, as part of the Republic, were left to feel awkward when Unionists went on about 'Ulster Says No' and so on.

Now that's pretty damn off topic, for that I apologise profusely.

[dr-baker]

Now that's pretty damn off topic, for that I apologise profusely.

I found it interesting thank you. As far as I am concerned, there's no need to apologise.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Now that's pretty damn off topic, for that I apologise profusely.

You've forgotten how F1 Rejects works again, haven't you?

[tristan1117]

Rebaque would like a medium chassis mass upgrade.

[pasta_maldonado]

Rebaque would like a medium chassis mass upgrade.

Sorry, this is not allowed. Upgrades are only allowed every three races, and Rebaque applied for an upgrade at the start of this 3 race period (Belgium)

The 1980 French GP at Paul Ricard will take place on Friday 15th February at the usual 8:00GMT, the deadline for driver changes is 00:01GMT Friday.

[Londoner]

The 1980 French GP at Paul Ricard will take place on Friday 15th February at the usual 8:00GMT, the deadline for driver changes is 00:01GMT Friday.

And then both Wolfs fail to qualify...

[pasta_maldonado]

Just to remind you, the French Gp is Tonight 20:00 GMT

[Gerudo Dragon]

Hate to be impatient but...where's the race?

there it is
vvvvvvvv

[pasta_maldonado]

CHAT LIVE NOW; http://client02.chat.mibbit.com/, CHAT ROOM IS #1980

[Gerudo Dragon]

French GP Commentary:

Code: Select all

21:20   Salamander   Wizzie yeah lag is pretty bad
21:20   Pasta   deals with Mansell eeasily
21:20   Pasta   And gets by Horford too
21:20   Pasta   McAllister's being held up
21:20      *** DefinitelyMaybe quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
21:21   WilliamsHonda   Stupid James Hunt, get out of the way!!!!
21:21   Pasta   With an amitious Pironi looking to unlap himself in the Tyrell
21:21   Pasta   Powers past Horford
21:21   Pasta   But Jones is now 4 seconds up the road!
21:21   Pasta   Traffic really is the defining feature this year
21:22   Valentino_Nicchi   yeah, same thing happened in SA with beppe bathplugging gabbiani
21:22   Pasta   In South Africa, Harvey won thanks to Scheckter ebing caught in traffic
21:22   Pasta   Now, traffic is helping him again
21:23   Pasta   Reutemann'spast Villeneuve and Lammers, and is now 11th
21:23   WilliamsHonda   Those stupid backmarkers, they should be driven out of the sport
21:23   Salamander   nah theyre cool
21:23   WilliamsHonda   They only degrade the image of F1
21:23   Stramala   you mean...Andretti got overtaken?
21:23   Wizzie   Is that any better guys? I've reduced the bitrate and lowered the input resolution
21:23   Salamander   you just need a good enough engine
21:23   Stramala   he lost a place at the same time he gained it?
21:23   Pasta   Order - Harvey, McAllister, Andretti, Scheckter, Laffite, Kevin, Perkins, Bellof, Surer, Gauthier, Reutemann, Lammers, Villeneuve, Takagi, Rossler, Keegen, Arnoux, Horford, Mansell, Pironi, Prost
21:24   LotusGP   What are you doing on F1 Rejects then
21:24   WilliamsHonda   I was just trying to impersonate Montezuma
21:24   WilliamsHonda   lol
21:24   LotusGP   Ahh lol
21:24   Valentino_Nicchi   i guess there's going to be a new union made up of lapped cars and DNQs called the "Backmarkers Union" now
21:24   Pasta   Andretti's still fending off Scheckter
21:24   Pasta   Meanwhile, Harvey's come across Arnoux and Keegan
21:25   Pasta   Laps the underpowered Arnoux down the straight
21:25   Stramala   why are so few people interested in SOFA?
21:25   Pasta   BUT WAIT!
21:25   Stramala   it's nice and comfy
21:25   Stramala   no worries about politics
21:25   LotusGP   I was interested Stramala
21:25   Stramala   so why did you not join?
21:25   Stramala   I only saw a post from This' team
21:26   Stramala   I don't remember which that is lol
21:26   Pasta   Andreti's is now 4th!
21:26   Stramala   FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
21:26   WilliamsHonda   Nice job Jody!!!!
21:26   Pasta   Scheckter passed in traffic!
21:26   Salamander   Wizzie lag is pretty much gone now
21:26   WilliamsHonda   Hahahaha
21:26   Wizzie   I think This is Ligier or something like that
21:26   Stramala   CCCCCCCCCCCCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
21:26   Pasta   Prost held Mario up, allowing Scheckter through
21:26   Salamander   no, shinji is ligier
21:26   Stramala   F*** OFF PROST
21:26   LotusGP   Oh, I thought I did. Nevermind, consider me a member of SOFA from now on
21:27   Wizzie   Ok. I'll run the first lap just to test it first and then we'll run the race for real as soon as this is over
21:27   Pasta   Scheckter will hit Arnoux soon, so there's time for a comeback!
21:27   Pasta   This is RAM, by the way
21:27   WilliamsHonda   Jody, now watch out, Arnoux is ahead
21:28   Pasta   He's quite a bit down the road though, and currently holding up McAllister
21:28   Salamander   XD
21:28   Pasta   Gauthier is all over the back of Surer now
21:28   WilliamsHonda   bathplug Arnoux, get out of the way you hopeless fool!!!!
21:29   Wizzie   So, was the stream still good Salamander?
21:29   Salamander   dunno
21:29   Salamander   it didnt update for me for some reason
21:29   Pasta   McAllister's past, but Harvey is 5 seconds up the road
21:29   Salamander   and now i have an ad
21:29   Salamander   and am juggling 4 windows
21:29   Pasta   Keegan is 17th and fighting with Arnoux, and a lap down
21:29   WilliamsHonda   How the mighty fall
21:30   Wizzie   I'll have to do the test again anyway because something reset itself partway through it
21:30   Pasta   Wizzie - does Martin vdM have a chance to score points today?
21:30   Pasta   Or will he dissapoint, again?
21:30   Wizzie   Considering the mile long back straight, he stands a good chance of snaring a point or two
21:31   Pasta   WilliamsHonda it's one of those rare seasons where a win from Ferrari is considered shocking
21:31   Wizzie   Valsattis is more often than not the better of the two in race trim though
21:31   WilliamsHonda   Just like 1980 in real life
21:31   Pasta   Reutemann is behind Gauuther now
21:31   LotusGP   Oh, MVDM. The next big thing apparently, despite scoring absolutely no points lol
21:31   Salamander   oh dear
21:31   Wizzie   Except in 1980, Ferrari scoring a point was a miracle
21:31   Salamander   well this race is kind of crap for me
21:32   Salamander   aside from harvey jones, of course
21:32   WilliamsHonda   Well, judging the performance of Ferrari at this race, this year pretty much is like that
21:32   Pasta   Arnoux scraped one last time out thanks to attrition
21:32   Pasta   I dont want to curse things, but we're half way through and there's more than 20 runners
21:33   Wizzie   Strange. The encoder reset itself again
21:33   WilliamsHonda   We need some Zimsanity
21:33   Pasta   LotusGP MVDM has been unlucky, m ostly. Sometimes he has flopped but mostly, car failures let him down
21:34   Wizzie   And both times, it was at roughly the same point
21:34   LotusGP   He is quite a good qualifier, I have to admit
21:34   Pasta   At the NorsiRing h was barged off from about 4th place by Kremnicky
21:34   Salamander   Wizzie from your mouse movements, the lag in gp4 is pretty bad
21:34   Pasta   *NorisRing
21:34   Wizzie   Nah, he was about 7th when he got punted off
21:34   Salamander   its okay out of it though
21:35   Pasta   30 gone now, Harvey about to lap Takagi
21:36   Pasta   If the race finishes like this, Lotus would make it 3 from 5
21:37   LotusGP   AWW YEA
21:37   Valentino_Nicchi   the jones' are just running away with the title
21:37   Salamander   and 4 wins in a row for renault engines
21:39   Pasta   The championship would look like this: Harvey - 27 McAllister- 18 Scheckter - 16 Perkins-13 Piquet - 12
21:40   Pasta   Andretti would jump to equal 9th with Reutemann, on 4 points
21:40   Valentino_Nicchi   how many laps left?
21:40   Pasta   lap 33 now, Harvey leads by 7.7 seconds
21:40   WilliamsHonda   But wasn't Andretti 4th?
21:40   Wizzie   Is Keegan still running?
21:40   WilliamsHonda   I'm beginning to concede this race is lost
21:41   Pasta   Phoenix, Andretti is still 4th
21:41   WilliamsHonda   My biggest hope is for Harvey Jones to retire
21:41   Pasta   Keegan still 17th, but of20 runners
21:41   WilliamsHonda   That's what I was talking about, shouldn't he receive 5 points?
21:42   Pasta   The points system I'm using is 10-6-4-3-2-1
21:42   WilliamsHonda   Oh, OK
21:43   Pasta   The championship was REALLY close this time last year, now Harvey appears to be running away with it
21:43   Wizzie   I'm guessing the lag's still pretty bad, right?
21:43   Valentino_Nicchi   put 30kg of success ballast on his car!!
21:43   Pasta   Wizzie, the F2 feed appears to be incredibly laggy
21:44   Salamander   Wizzie im hearing engines but theres no video...
21:44   Pasta   23 laps to go, and still 20 cars!
21:44   WilliamsHonda   The image quality is atrocious
21:44   Pasta   Harvey laps prost for a second time!
21:45   Pasta   Wizzie, it looks like it's being filmed from inside Barbazza's hair
21:45   WilliamsHonda   OK, guys, it's time for me to get shitfaced
21:45   WilliamsHonda   See you at the forums
21:45   Salamander   why is prost so bad in this?
21:45      *** WilliamsHonda quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
21:45   Pasta   Bad news for those Merzario-ites...
21:45   Pasta   OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
21:45   Wizzie   I'm working on it. Although it does seem slightly odd that the audio's working fine yet the video's having so many problems
21:46   Valentino_Nicchi   because of the shitebox that is the alfa
21:46   Pasta   THATS CHANGED THE FACE OF THE RACE AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
21:46   Pasta   HARVEY JONES IS OUT!
21:46   Pasta   IT'S A WILLIAMS 1-2!
21:46   Salamander   NOOOOOOOO D:
21:46   Valentino_Nicchi   yes!! the championship is interesting again!!
21:46   Pasta   WHAT A DEVELOPMENT
21:47   Salamander   it would happen just as phoenix leaves as well
21:47   Pasta   Larry Perkins has found himself in the points, after stating 23rd
21:47   Pasta   Now, McAllister leads Sscheckter by 35 seconds
21:47   Pasta   Keegan's out, brake failure
21:47   LotusGP   het stront
21:48   Pasta   Surer's suspensions packed in
21:48   Salamander   are gauthier and reutemann anywhere near the points?
21:48   Salamander   at all?
21:48   Pasta   Gauthier's 9th, Reutemann's 10th
21:48   Pasta   Somehow, Lammers has passed them both....
21:48   Pasta   in the NA RAM
21:48   Salamander   gauthier only has a fords
21:48   Valentino_Nicchi   good thing he didn't RAM them off
21:48   Salamander   reutemann has no excuse though
21:49   Pasta   Rossler holds up Andretti and he slips to 5th behind Kevin
21:49   Pasta   And Laffite is just a second behind Scheckter?
21:49   Pasta   Could there be a French themed upset?
21:50   Pasta   Est-ce-que je peux envoyer un fax d'ici?
21:50   Pasta   We'll find out soon
21:50   Salamander   how did harvey jones retire, anyway?
21:51   Pasta   Scheckter goes to lap Arnoux
21:51   Pasta   Engine failure, I forgot to mention that...
21:51   Valentino_Nicchi   oh dear
21:51   Salamander   it bloody would be wouldnt it
21:51   Pasta   OOOOH!
21:51   Pasta   BAD LCUK!
21:51   Pasta   SCHECKTER'S OUT!
21:52   Salamander   well thats something
21:52   Pasta   ENGINE FAILURE PITCHES HIM INTO THE PIT WALL!
21:52   Salamander   oh dear
21:52   Pasta   It;s been a bad day for South Africans, both in alternate 1980 and in RL....
21:52   Salamander   that makes andretti 2nd now, doesnt it?
21:52   Pasta   Andretti passed Kevin, and Scheckters retirement promotes him to 3rd!
21:53   Salamander   whos 2nd then
21:53   Pasta   ANDRETTI!
21:53   Pasta   McAllister leads Andretti!
21:53   Salamander   you just said he was 3rd
21:53   Pasta   Laffite has retired
21:53   Pasta   robbing Ligier of 2nd place
21:53   Pasta   Prmoting Andretti to 3rd
21:54   Pasta   *2nd
21:54   Pasta   And Kevin to 3rd
21:54   Pasta   10 to go!
21:54   Pasta   It's a big result for some!
21:55   Salamander   does that mean gauthier is now 7th
21:55   Pasta   McAllister leads Andretti leads Kevin leads Perkins leads Lammers leads Gauthier leads Reutemann leads Villeneuve leads Arnoux
21:55   Salamander   YES
21:55   Salamander   SOMETHING
21:55   Pasta   Gauthier is 6th, Bellof retired as well
21:56   Pasta   but Gauthier's a lap down, so is Reutemann
21:56   Salamander   doesnt matter, hes still scoring points
21:56   Pasta   Perkins has passed Kevin!
21:56   Salamander   well a point
21:56   Pasta   4 to go!
21:56   Pasta   But traffic!
21:57   Salamander   everything is going wrong for france in this gp
21:57   Pasta   Andretti, Kevin and Perkins are nose to tail
21:57   Pasta   With the lapped Arnoux in front, trying to lap once the double lapped Prost in the shitebox Alf
21:58   Pasta   Andretti's got past Prost!
21:58   Pasta   And takes Arnoux down the straight
21:58   Pasta   The last lap now!
21:58   Pasta   McAllister is trying to lap Lammers, but that won't matter
21:59   Pasta   He leads Andretti by 49 seconds
21:59   Pasta   Andretti has to fend off one last attack from Perkins
21:59   Pasta   And does so with ease!
21:59   Pasta   MCALLISTER WINS IN FRANCE!!!!!!
22:00   Pasta   Andretti has to hold it to the line
22:00   Wizzie   Ok, I'm giving it one last shot and if this doesn't work, I'll just do the usual text commentary
22:00   Pasta   And leads home Perkins by just 3 tenths of a second!
22:00   Pasta   Kevin is 3rd
22:00   Pasta   *4th
22:00   Pasta   Lammers 5th
22:00   Pasta   Gauthier 6th
22:00   Pasta   Reutemann comes home 7th after a poor day for France in general
22:01   Salamander   carlosssss *shakes fist*
22:01   Pasta   Villeneuve and Arnoux take both Ferraris to the finish for the first time in 8th and 9th
22:01   Salamander   but at least gauthiers 100% finishing record is still intact
22:01   Pasta   Both Tyrrells come home for the frist time, in 10th and 11th
22:01   Valentino_Nicchi   it's a good day for spain
22:01   Wizzie   Can someone post in the F2RWRS thread that the race will be here rather than the usual chat room?
22:02   Pasta   With both Alfa's coming home 12th and 13th
22:02   Valentino_Nicchi   fastest lap??
22:02   Salamander   Wizzie its practically a slideshow for me
22:03   Salamander   but at least i can see things this time
22:03   Salamander   and sound is fine
22:03   Pasta   Fastest lap is Harvey Jones
22:03   Pasta   That isn't the actual race, is it Wizzie?
22:03   Valentino_Nicchi   just updated the wiki
22:04   Pasta   With that, McAllister leaps to the top of the standings with 22 points, ahead of the Joneses tied on 17
22:05   Pasta   The rest of the table is mostly the same thanks to the mass retirements of the front runners
22:06   Pasta   Andretti's first podium since Argentina 79 takes him to 7 points
22:06   Valentino_Nicchi   me and my big mouth saying that joneses were running away with the title
22:06   Pasta   Fun Fact: Guilliame Gauthier has finished every race this year, somehow
22:07   Salamander   hes just that awesome
22:07   Valentino_Nicchi   ROTR?....probably nicchi
22:07   Salamander   renault
22:07   Salamander   in general
22:07      *** AsecondhelpingofPasta joined #1980
22:08   Salamander   everything associated with renault just went so very wrong

[DemocalypseNow]

Andretti finished in 2nd, in a MERZARIO?



YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BBBBAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[Phoenix]

McAllister's win is fabulous, but it's a shame Scheckter retired with engine failure, since a 1-2 would have done wonders for our options. But well, the car seems fast enough so we'll try to sort out the reliability a bit next time around to prevent something similar to happen when we are in such an advantageous situation.

[pycku]

Where are race results? Where were Arrows?

[pasta_maldonado]

1980 French Grand Prix - Paul Ricard

Talking Points

Beppe Gabbiani found himself out of the Restov again following his antics at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, with Vatican hotshot Valentino Nicchi again replacing Black Flag for the duration of his 6 race ban.

Qualifying



Strangely, the biggest talking point of qualifying wasn't who lined up first on the grid, but rather who lined up 31st. Normally, just missing out on the grid is frustrating for the unfortunate driver who found himself there, but even more so for Nelson Piquet, who arguably could of been in with a shout of winning this race. Instead, engine failure coming out of the last corner meant he coasted across the line on his only hot lap, and now has the embarrassment of a DNQ on his season record

Back at the front of the grid, Harvey Jones took his first pole position in the Renault-powered Lotus, making it two poles from the last two races for Colin Chapman's team. Callum McAllister lined up his Williams in second place, with Mario Andretti proving the pace of the Merzario with a stunning 3rd place. Ligier seemed to have improved pace, with much better times for Laffite and Kevin, and Valentino Nicchi impressed with an amazing time to go 8th in the Restov. Rupert Keegan also qualified out of position in 15th place.

Jean-Pierre Jabouille just scraped onto the grid, after only setting a banker lap before his engine expired, while Piquet, Brancatelli, Depault, Nurmester, Ghinzani, Rangelov, Patrese, Clarke, O'Connell, and Stohr all failed to make the grid.

RACE - 57 LAPS

POSITIVES

Drive of the Race - Larry Perkins: Lining up 22nd on the grid would have demoralised most other drivers. Thanks to Renault's misfortunes, which will be discussed later, Perkins found himself out of position and stuck behind notably hard to pass drivers like Villeneuve, whilst rivals Harvey, Alan, McAllister, and Scheckter were at the front. Still, Perkins was determined to capitalise on Piquet's DNQ, and produced one of the best drives I've seen in a while. After slipping down to 23rd after lap one, he was soon 16th after 3 laps. The field began to spread out, but Perkins was the only man on the move, passing Reutemann and Villeneuve to be 10th after 20 laps, and he quickly disposed of Surer and Gauthier. Bellof's retirement granted him an easy place, and in the final stages, overtook Laffite and Kevin to be 3rd across the line. The most impressive part of it all was that most other Renault engined cars seemed to be going backwards!

Mario Andretti: Merzario had set their cars up expertly in qualifying to get their cars as far up the grid as possible; Fittipaldi was blocked, but Mario made the most of the car to take 3rd on the grid. Off the line, he cut in front of the fast starting Scheckter, forcing the South African to slot in behind, and that's where he stayed for the next 25 laps. Despite being faster out of the corners, Andretti kept Scheckter behind, even down the Mistal straight, where the mid-range power of the Honda was no match for the high-end torque of the Lambo-engined Merzario. Traffic in the form of Alain Prost's horridly slow Alfa allowed Scheckter through, but his retirement promoted Andretti to 2nd, where he venetually finished after fending off the two Ligiers and Perkin's Brabham for the last 10 laps.

Guilliame Gauthier: While he was more anonymous than a 21st Century computer hacker's association, Guilliame certianly deserves a mention here. Gauthier is the only man to finish all 5 races this season, and 6th place in France is the second race in succession where he's scored points. And in a McLaren that is not an out-and-out points scorer too, powered by a turbo engine that's far from the most powerful. Meanwhile, in the sister McLaren, Derek Daly's recorded a best finish of 11th...

Williams: A much better race from Frank William's eponymous squad sees them back in the hunt for both titles, after being out of contention for the win at Spa. McAllister had hounded Jones for 40 laps, and although traffic hampered him, the gap was less than 10 seconds when Harvey's Renault blew. Scheckter spent most of the afternoon examining the rear wing of Andretti's Merzario, but when he did go through, thanks to a bold move round the outside in traffic, he immediately pulled away until his demise a few laps later. Still, Williams have genuine contenders in the form of Lotus for the title, as McAllister couldn't close on Harvey at the time of the Lotus' retirement, but the extra reliability of the Honda may just give it the edge over the Renault engines of the Brabhams and Lotii.

NEGATIVES

Reject of the Race - Renault: If it could go wrong for Renault, it did. Embarrassing DNQ? Check. Embarrassing engine failure in qualifying for your own car? Check. Dismal pace from your own cars? Check En-mass retirements? Check. Retirement from the comfortable lead of the race? Check. Renault's weekend on home soil, as both an engine supplier and a team, was far, far, far from impressive. Reutemann and Jabouille simply didn't have the pace to challenge anything, with Reutemann even finishing behind Gauthier. Jean Pierre Jabouille crashing into the pit wall after engine failure was the low point of a dismal weekend to forget for Renault.

Brabham: Renault wasn't the only ones with pace problems on Saturday, as Brabham also struggled. Horrendously. Piquet may have been forced into the bottom 10 of the grid thanks to Renault engine failure, but even if he did make it onto the grid, he wouldn't have been able to do much. Perkin's pace illustrates the problems Brabham were facing, in what appears to be down to a wrong direction in setup, and from the first part of his lap, Piquet would only have been marginally faster than the Aussie. However, Perkins race pace proves that if the Brabhams had qualified up at the front of the grid, a win would certainly be possible.

Ferrari: The Scuderia are so far off the pace this year, it's unbelievable compared to the assault on both titles last year. The engine is down on power, unreliable, and the chassis is not efficient in the slightest. Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux will have to push to the limit this year to get anything resembling a decent points haul - Arnoux lucked into a 4th place last time out thanks to attrition, but the team's first double finish of the year in 8th and 9th and a lap down highlights the problems the Italian squad are facing. With the Prancing horse more like a lame horse, a win would be a shock, shock result.

Valentino Nicchi: Saturday hero to raceday zero for the Vatican's fastest man. In Nicchi's first start, brake failure forced him into a scary crash, and although this time his race was ended by another crash, this time it was all his fault. After qualifying 8th, Nicchi feel back to 10th by the end of the first lap, where he put the power down to early exiting the final turn, sending the Restov sliding into Fittipaldi's Merzario, putting both out on the spot. Nicchi's actions earned him a suspended race ban from FISA and a £2,000 pound fine, with FISA keen to stamp out dangerous driving.




SNAPSHOTS


McAllister gets the jump off the line


Rookie mistake for Nicchi, denying Fittipaldi of a podium, perhaps?


The gap back to Scheckter from Andretti coming onto the Mistral Straight ....


Halfway down the straight, Scheckter was able to pull almost alongside Andretti...


But the torqueyness of the Lambo meant that Scheckter was always to far back to make the move


JPJ retires in what seems to be a recurring feature this year


Prost holds up ANdretti, allowing Scheckter to leap past on the outside


Harvey retires from the race and a comfortable lead


Followed by 2nd placed man Scheckter


Andretti, Kevin, and Perkins fight for 2nd place late in the race


McAllister wins the French GP


Andretti fights off Perkins across the line to claim 2nd place

Driver's Championship

1. Callum McAllister - 22
2. Harvey Jones - 17
= Alan Jones - 17
= Larry Perkins - 17
4. Nelson Piquet - 12
= Jody Scheckter - 12
6. Jacques Laffite - 8
7. Mario Andretti - 7
= Jean-Pierre Jabouille - 7
9. Edward Kevin - 6
10. Carlos Reutemann - 4
= Guilliame Gaithier - 4
12. Rene Arnoux - 3
13. Jan Lammers - 2

Constructor's Championship

1. Lotus-Renault - 34
= Williams-Honda - 34
3. Brabham-Renault - 29
4. Ligier-Talbot - 14
5. Renault - 13
6. Merzario-Lamborghini - 7
7. McLaren-Ford - 4
8. Ferrari - 3
9. RAM-Ferrari - 2

The Monaco GP is likely to take place on Monday or Tuesday next week.

[Gerudo Dragon]

I am very sorry to Emerson, it was a stupid mistake on my part.

[Salamander]

Yes, it was another good race for us. Again, ze car was not good enough to really do much, but ze 'ole team worked very 'ard to do our best, and I zink we did zat today. We also moved ahead of Ferrari, which is very nice, but we ''ave more work to do in developing ze car if we are to keep scoring points.

It's also worth noting that Gauthier's worst finish is better than Daly's best... and given how he destroyed a World Champion in his rookie year, I'm really interested to see how he'd do in a winning car...

[takagi_for_the_win]

I am very sorry to Emerson, it was a stupid mistake on my part.

Emersons not the only person you should be apologising to, we had a shot of a good result there. Ah well, at least you qualified well, thats a start.

[JJMonty]

The Daily Gossip

Niki Lauda in quit threat rumours.

Niki Lauda was seen after the French Grand-Prix arguing with the managers of the Audi Motorsport Team, a poor weekend for the Austrian saw him qualify a lowly 27th - 2 seconds and 17 places behind his lesser rated team-mate Marc Surer, followed by a DNF early in the race due to yet another engine failure.

Although Lauda was unavailable for interviewing, it was heard in the padock during the arguement that Lauda "Had not signed with the team for this type of failure and had expected a much better start to the season". Audi are new to F1 and had introduced a new turbocharged unit, so far the car has been a mid-field runner but has suffered from poor reliability. Niki Lauda was brought in to help move the team forward, though there was doubt over his motivation before the season started - after what we saw this weekend, it would appear that the public's fears were true.

Audi would like to rubbish these rumours about Niki Lauda quitting the team. He has expressed frustration with the Audi not performing as well as we had all expected. In a way, we have let down Niki as we have not been able to produce a car reliable enough for him to mount a challenge during the races. We are confident that the performance from our engine is perfect and the our main focus should be on the chassis and reliability of the engine. We are still confident that we can score points before the season has finished.

Is Audi allowed to apply for any upgrades or arrange a test session?

[The Lukas]

Ensign Team change line-up to next Grand Prix
OUT=Martin Rossler(relegated to the role of test driver)
IN=Ladislav Sedlak
I asked if my team can arrange a test session at the moment?

[pasta_maldonado]

Is Audi allowed to apply for any upgrades or arrange a test session?

Audi tested at the start of this 3 race period, so sorry, no test or upgrades at the moment.

Ensign Team change line-up to next Grand Prix
OUT=Martin Rossler(relegated to the role of test driver)
IN=Ladislav Sedlak
I asked if my team can arrange a test session at the moment?

Noted, Ensign didn't test after Brazil so you can test. What track would you like to go to with what driver?

And after this 3 race period is up (After Monaco) I'll be redesigning the testing/upgrades schedule