Grand Prix Rejects

Qualifying results

1. Toulo de Graffenried (Ferrari) - 1:57.2
2. B. Bira (Talbot-Lago-Talbot) - 1:57.3
3. Troy Ruttman (Ferrari) - 1:57.7
4. Consalvo Sanesi (Gordini) - 1:58.0
5. Giuseppe Farina (Alfa Romeo) - 1:58.1
6. Giovanni Bracco (Ambrosiana-Maserati) - 1:58.2
7. Stirling Moss (Alfa Romeo) - 1:58.3
8. Reg Parnell (Ferrari) - 1:58.6
9. Robert Manzon (Gordini) - 1:58.7
10. Johnny Claes (Maserati) - 1:58.8
11. Juan Manuel Fangio (Alfa Romeo) - 1:59.0
12. Jacques Swaters (Maserati) - 1:59.1
13. Peter Whitehead (Ferrari) - 1:59.2
14. Harry Schell (Talbot-Lago-Talbot) - 1:59.3
15. Piero Taruffi (Aston Martin-Jaguar) - 1:59.4
16. Tony Bettenhausen (Aston Martin-Jaguar) - 1:59.5
17. André Simon (Talbot-Lago-Talbot) - 1:59.6
18. David Hampshire (Alta) - 1:59.7
19. Dorino Serafini (Ferrari) - 1:59.8
20. Nello Pagani (Maserati) - 1:59.9
21. Lance Macklin (Maserati) - 2:00.0
22. José Froilan Gonzalez (Aston Martin-Jaguar) - 2:00.1
23. Alberto Ascari (Phoenix-Ferrari) - 2:00.2
24. Maria Teresa de Filippis (Alfa Romeo) - 2:00.3
25. Manfred von Brauchitsch (Ferrari-Jaguar) - 2:00.4
26. André Pilette (Bugatti) - 2:00.5
27. Edgar Barth (Ultimate-BMW) - 2:01.1
28. Charles de Tornaco (Maserati) - 2:01.2
29. Maurice Trintignant (Bugatti) - 2:01.3
30. Eric Brandon (Ferrari-Jaguar) - 2:01.4
31. Porfirio Rubirosa (Ambrosiana-Maserati) - 2:01.8
32. Louis Chiron (Maserati-Ferrari) - 2:02.1
33. Paul Frère (Maserati) - 2:02.5
34. Mike Hawthorn (Bentley) - 2:02.6

Toulo de Graffenried is the eighth different pole sitter in eight races (after Whitehead, Moss, Fangio, Farina, Serafini, Parnell and Sanesi), Bira is in a good position to take the championship advantage, though Farina is not far behind. Troy Ruttman continues to impress with third place, Bracco and Claes will be very satisfied with top ten runs, Swaters will be delighted with twelfth (the only Francorchamps driver to make it apart from Pilette), as will David Hampshire with 18th and Lance Macklin with 21st. Maria Teresa de Filippis stuns the paddock by scraping onto the grid, in the incredibly close midfield scrap (19 drivers grouped within 2 seconds).

Ascari and Gonzalez will be disappointed with their lowly starting spots, although only a few tenths would have seen them much higher. Gonzalez himself is satisfied at making the grid on his comeback. Eric Brandon, Porfirio Rubirosa and Paul Frère will be disappointed as well after their previous races, while Maurice Trintignant had a shocker and failed to qualify for the first time since Monaco last year. He was even outpaced by the complete rookie Charles de Tornaco, who turned quite a few heads by coming within a few tenths of making the grid!

With a promising grid, a very exciting race is on the cards for Sunday.

Race performance

Pagani -42
Bettenhausen -38
de Graffenried -36
Whitehead -28
Schell -24
Bira -25
Moss -20
Fangio -20
Claes -20
de Filippis -19
Parnell -17
Farina -13
Swaters -13
Ruttman -7
Manzon -6
Gonzalez -6
Ascari -4
Sanesi -2
Serafini 3
Macklin 9
von Brauchitsch 10
Hampshire 13
Bracco 17
Taruffi 19
Pilette 21
Simon 32

Also, 10 cars out of 26 will finish the race (with the odd chance of completing enough laps to be classified for the retired drivers).

I was just about to give de Graffenried the sack, and what does he do? Plant it on pole for our home race

Hm, i might consider giving up on Bugatti and focus solely on ENB. By now i got enough Belgian drivers that are eligible to have at least 2 cars (if i can financially afford it, obviously)
So is someone wants to take over Bugatti, they're yours (Trintignant included)

Disappointing at home turf... well, that was expected

September 7th 1952, Italian Grand Prix

The start was clean, and while Toulo de Graffenried got a good getaway, Troy Ruttman and B. Bira had blinders and jumped ahead of de Graffenried! At the end of the lap, the three were coverd by less than two tenths, with Bira ahead, then Farina fourth, Sanesi fifth and Bracco sixth. But Toulo was angry. He desperately needed points to save his drive after retiring from every race of the season. He responded by setting what would remain the fastest lap of the race, on lap 2!

Behind the top three, everything was moving around, with Stirling Moss in fourth place ahead of Farina, Sanesi and Manzon, who also passed Bracco. This all changed on lap 5. Sanesi had just passed Farina for fourth place when the championship leader broke too late at Vedano, slamming into the back of Sanesi. After a second consecutive retirement due to an early accident, Consalvo was seen in tears by the side of the track, and rightly too. With more luck, he could have been right in the championship fight, as he was fighting for points in Monaco and second in Britain, and could have scored major points as well in Germany, the Netherlands and here at Monza.

This left a mission for Bira and Manzon, to score when they had failed to do so in the previous two races. Bracco and Moss were now fighting over fourth place, with Manzon and Parnell just behind. On lap 9, David Hampshire span out at Vialone. He was in 14th position.

The battle for fourth now involved Parnell, Bracco, Moss, Fangio and Manzon. At the very front, de Graffenried was casually increasing his lead, making sure that the win would be his. On lap 14, Ruttman got a puncture on the cobblestones at Vedano, getting passed by Fangio. He decided not to pit, and therefore span off at the Curva Grande on the next lap, out of fourth place.

With the order constantly changing below third place, here was the order on lap 20: de Graffenried with a huge lead over Bira, Moss and Fangio. Further back, the battle for fifth included (in that order) Parnell, Bracco, Bettenhausen, Claes, Schell and Manzon. Then came Whitehead, Serafini, Pagani, Taruffi, Swaters, de Filippis, Simon, Ascari, Gonzalez, Macklin, von Brauchitsch and Pilette.

Very quickly, the number of drivers dropped from 22 to 19, as von Brauchitsch, Simon and Macklin all retired within five lap of each other. Simon span off, while the other two suffered mechanical failures. Manfred was last, André 17th and Lance last as well.

With all that confusion, the order changed a lot (though de Graffenried just extended his lead even more), and at the halfway point, de Graffenried still had a considerable lead over Bira, Fangio and Moss, who were still fighting hard. Parnell was still fifth, but defending from Bettenhausen, Claes and Whitehead, with Schell, Pagani and Bracco following closely as well. Then came Manzon, Taruffi and de Filippis (doing very well indeed in 14th position), then Serafini, Swaters, Gonzalez, Ascari and Pilette.

The man on the move now was Tony Bettenhausen, who had long passed Parnell for fifth and was closing in on Moss for fourth position. Parnell was left to defend from Claes, who was pressurising the Briton, smelling those elusive first points. However, in was Peter Whitehead who passed Parnell, in the first race that both compete against each other since Belgium. In the meantime, Bettenhausen passed Moss on lap 36, with Fangio the next target on his list. Sure enough, two laps later, the Argentine made a mistake, letting the American through into third place!

Then, on lap 41, the race for the championship changed dramatically. Giuseppe Farina will now be thanking his lucky stars (because he has more than a few), as Bira and Manzon's engines simultaneously suffered earth-shattering kabooms, also causing the retirement of Peter Whitehead, who span off on the oil.

Therefore, de Graffenried's lead was now even larger and now over Moss, who had just passed Bettenhausen again. Fangio was now fourth and defending from Parnell. Then came Pagani, Schell, Claes and Bracco, with Dorino Serafini now ending the top ten. Almost immediately though, Tony passed Stirling for second, before the Briton passed him once more. All of this let Fangio catch the two, as well as Parnell, who had left Pagani and Claes a bit behind. Dorino Serafini then retired, lazily spinning off at Lesmo.

By lap 49, Fangio was ahead and in second place. By lap 50, Parnell was ahead, and Moss, Fangio and Bettenhausen were literally side by side for third place! On the very next lap, Parnell was behind Moss and Fangio, with Bettenhausen further behind in fifth place. On the very next lap, the whole course of the race changed with barely 12 laps remaining. Fangio span off, while Moss, Pagani (in sixth) and Ascari (in twelfth) all suffered mechanical failures.

This left just eleven cars in the race, with de Graffenried in a now-unassailable lead ahead of Parnell, Bettenhausen, Schell and Claes, for whom points were finally becoming a certainty. Fighting for the lower places, Bracco was having to fend off the decidedly impressive Maria Teresa de Filippis, who was in an incredible seventh position, ahead of Swaters, Taruffi, Gonzalez and Pilette.

Sadly, Maria Teresa would not be able to collect her finishing position, as her Alfa Romeo heartbreakingly failed with just a few laps remaining. However, she just might stand a chance at classification if Pilette finishes over ten laps behind de Graffenried. With all the points positions pretty much locked, the real fight was now for the honour of sixth position, as Giovanni Bracco was now under attack from the impressive Jacques Swaters, who passed the Ambrosiana on lap 56, with eight laps remaining.

Swaters proceeded to build a gap on Bracco, leaving only one battle remaining, for eighth position between team mates Piero Taruffi and José Froilan Gonzalez (Bettenhausen was third in the third car). The Argentine almost won the battle, but just as he was about to pass Taruffi, de Graffenried lapped him just before crossing the line, ending the race. De Graffenried completely dominated the field, winning from pole with the fastest lap, and coming within one lap of a Grand Chelem. Reg Parnell completes the Ferrari 1-2, while Tony Bettenhausen scores his third career podium. Harry Schell scores his best result and salvages three points for Motorsport Bleu, while Johnny Claes is overjoyed at finally scoring his first career points. At the back, André Pilette managed to finally get his act together and finish 7 laps behind, leaving de Filippis unclassified.

1. Toulo de Graffenried (Ferrari) 2:07:02.4
2. Reg Parnell (Ferrari) +2 laps
3. Tony Bettenhausen (Aston Martin-Jaguar) +2 laps
4. Harry Schell (Talbot-Lago-Talbot) +3 laps
5. Johnny Claes (Maserati) +3 laps
6. Jacques Swaters (Maserati) +4 laps
7. Giovanni Bracco (Ambrosiana-Maserati) +4 laps
8. Piero Taruffi (Aston Martin-Jaguar) +5 laps
9. José Froilan Gonzalez (Aston Martin-Jaguar) +6 laps
10. André Pilette (Bugatti) +7 laps
Ret. Maria Teresa de Filippis (Alfa Romeo) +11 laps/Gearbox
Ret. Stirling Moss (Alfa Romeo) +13 laps/Transmission
Ret. Juan Manuel Fangio (Alfa Romeo) +13 laps/Span off
Ret. Nello Pagani (Maserati) +13 laps/Oil leak
Ret. Alberto Ascari (Phoenix-Ferrari) +13 laps/Gearbox
Ret. Dorino Serafini (Ferrari) +18 laps/Span off
Ret. Peter Whitehead (Ferrari) +23 laps/Span off
Ret. B. Bira (Talbot-Lago-Talbot) +24 laps/Engine
Ret. Robert Manzon (Gordini) +24 laps/Overheating
Ret. Lance Macklin (Maserati) +35 laps/Transmission
Ret. André Simon (Talbot-Lago-Talbot) +37 laps/Span off
Ret. Manfred von Brauchitsch (Ferrari-Jaguar) +39 laps/Engine
Ret. Troy Ruttman (Ferrari) +50 laps/Span off
Ret. David Hampshire (Alta) +56 laps/Span off
Ret. Consalvo Sanesi (Gordini) +59 laps/Collision
Ret. Giuseppe Farina (Alfa Romeo) +59 laps/Collision

Fastest lap: Toulo de Graffenried (Ferrari) - 1:57.4

Championship standings
Drivers
1. Giuseppe Farina - 22.5
2. B. Bira - 21
3. Robert Manzon - 17.5
4. Reg Parnell - 15
5. Alberto Ascari - 14
6. Juan Manuel Fangio - 13
7. André Simon - 12
8. Consalvo Sanesi - 11
9. Tony Bettenhausen - 10
10. Troy Ruttman - 9 (1 win, 1 6th)
11. Dorino Serafini - 9 (1 win, 1 7th)
12. Toulo de Graffenried - 9 (1 win, 6 Rets)
13. Piero Taruffi - 8
14. Giovanni Bracco - 6
15. Harry Schell - 5
16. Eric Brandon - 4
17. Peter Whitehead - 2 (1 5th, 2 6ths)
18. Johnny Claes - 2 (1 5th, 1 6th)
19. Nello Pagani - 2 (1 5th, 1 9th)

Constructors
1. Ferrari - 35
2. Talbot-Lago-Talbot - 32
3. Alfa Romeo - 29.5
4. Gordini - 22.5
5. Aston Martin-Jaguar - 14 (1 2nd, 3 3rds)
6. Phoenix-Ferrari - 14 (1 2nd, 2 3rds)
7. Ambrosiana-Maserati - 6
8. Ferrari-Jaguar - 4 (1 3rd)
9. Maserati - 4 (2 5ths)

Entrants
1. Motorsport Bleu - 32
2. Alfa Romeo SpA - 29.5
3. Scuderia Ferrari - 28
4. Alexander Racing Team - 22.5
5. Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing - 14 (1 2nd, 3 3rds)
6. Phoenix Racing Organisation - 14 (1 2nd, 2 3rds)
7. Group Ultimate - 9
8. Scuderia Ambrosiana - 6
9. Scuderia Maremmana - 4
10. Claes Racing Developments - 2 (1 5th, 1 6th)
11. Redman Racing Team - 2 (1 5th, 1 9th)

The title race doesn't evolve at all, apart from Reg Parnell now having an outside shot at the championship, although he only takes part in just one of the remaining two races. Toulo de Graffenried can finally escape from pre-qualifying with his third career victory, and the third for a Ferrari this season. Ferrari therefore takes the lead in the constructors' championship. Sadly, on the drivers' side, all four wins were taken by different drivers, and only Parnell scored other points on the side.

With only the flyaway rounds in the USA and Australia remaining, the championship is still incredibly close. With only Farina now in danger of dropping points, Bira and Manzon still have the opportunity to steal the title, Farina will need to score more points to secure the title, while Ferrari will need to hand Parnell a drive for both races if they wish to have a chance at the elusive drivers' title.

How many entries does Aston-Jaguar have left this season?

JeremyMcClean wrote:How many entries does Aston-Jaguar have left this season?

Enough to enter five cars in the last two races.

tommykl wrote:

JeremyMcClean wrote:How many entries does Aston-Jaguar have left this season?

Enough to enter five cars in the last two races.

Well, we'll run Bettenhausen, Taruffi and Gonzalez in USA and we'll see which ones has the best performance out of the three and we'll put the best two in Australia. Unless Wizzie has something to say about that.

JeremyMcClean wrote:

tommykl wrote:

JeremyMcClean wrote:How many entries does Aston-Jaguar have left this season?

Enough to enter five cars in the last two races.

Well, we'll run Bettenhausen, Taruffi and Gonzalez in USA and we'll see which ones has the best performance out of the three and we'll put the best two in Australia. Unless Wizzie has something to say about that.

No, you didn't quite understand. You have enough entries to field five cars for BOTH races

tommykl wrote:No, you didn't quite understand. You have enough entries to field five cars for BOTH races

Details, details!

Well enter them all in then

Whitehead's services will not be required at the last two races, so Parnell will drive in both. A very timely win for Toulo as well

When you consider finishing 7 laps down as 'getting his act together', that's not a good sign. Good job by Swaters though, and congratulations to our good friend Johnny Claes.

So all hopes of getting a point finish for ENB/Bugatti now lies in the hand of Van Acker... At least he'll drive a different car than the unconsistent Bugatti and the mediocre Maserati.

JeremyMcClean wrote:

tommykl wrote:No, you didn't quite understand. You have enough entries to field five cars for BOTH races

Details, details!

Well enter them all in then

Wasn't there a limit for 4 cars per team per race? Anyway, Trintignant is available for the Austrialian race, he'll be happy to return after the succesful one-off he did last year.

Tony Bettenhausen is a freaking boss. Therefore, we're signing him on for next year. Unless McClean has other ideas, Taruffi and Gonzalez will race off in the final two races for the second seat.

And if McClean approves, we'll enter Trintignant in a fourth car for Australia.

With a busy few weeks ahead of me, progress will be slower, so I'll ask you to have a go at solving a few remaining questions for the upcoming events.

To The Lukas, JeremyMcClean and Wizzie
Way back at the beginning of the season, Johnny Claes entered Tony Bettenhausen for the United States Grand Prix alongside Lance Macklin. Due to his complete absence from his thread since then, I'll give JAMR first pick over Tony, but should The Lukas claim Tony for Sebring, he'll get preference.

To everyone

A few remaining details for 1953:

First of all, the calendar is not completely determined. Here is the current tally.
Monza - 15 (Italian GP)
Monaco - 15 (Monaco GP)
Spa-Francorchamps - 14 (Belgian GP)
Silverstone - 12 (British GP)
Nürburgring - 12 (West German GP)
Reims-Gueux - 7 (French GP)
Zandvoort - 6 (Dutch GP)
Sebring - 6 (United States GP)
Bremgarten - 5 (Swiss GP)
Rouen-les-Essarts - 5 (Norman GP)
Brno - 3 (Czechoslovakian GP)
AVUS - 3 (East German GP)
Bathurst - 3 (Australian GP)
Indianapolis - 2 (Indianapolis 500)
La Sarthe - 2 (Loire GP)
Osthafenkurs Rostock - 2 (Rostock GP)
Pedralbes - 2 (Spanish GP)
Leyburn - 1 (Queensland GP)
Oulton Park - 1 (English GP)
Chimay - 1 (Walloon GP)
Buenos Aires - 1 (Argentine GP)
Pau - 1 (Pyrenean GP)
Donington Park - 1 (Leicestershire GP)
Porto - 1 (Portuguese GP)

I'll leave it until the 20 April for any last votes.

Also, we still need concrete plans for budgets and licenses. I'll type out my current plans tomorrow, as I don't have much time right now, so you can make a few suggestions in the meantime.

If you have any more suggestions about anything relating to this series, just say it and I'll try to take it into account.

Have I voted for the tracks yet? Not that it's necessary as I think all the current tracks that are bolded are all good.

Wizzie wrote:Tony Bettenhausen is a freaking boss. Therefore, we're signing him on for next year. Unless McClean has other ideas, Taruffi and Gonzalez will race off in the final two races for the second seat.

And if McClean approves, we'll enter Trintignant in a fourth car for Australia.

Definitely agreed on the signing of Bettenhausen for '53, and I approve of Trintignant racing for JAMR in Australia. May I ask on who is currently signed for the '53 season?

JeremyMcClean wrote:Have I voted for the tracks yet? Not that it's necessary as I think all the current tracks that are bolded are all good.

I will vote the same way as well, as I don't see anything wrong with next year's calender as it is.

I'll give a vote for Sebring please.

Samster wrote:I'll give a vote for Sebring please.

You're allowed to vote for ten tracks

Also, bolded means that the track is currently on the calendar. Italic means that a secondary vote will be held to see whether or not the track will be on the calendar or not. There will be between 8 and 10 rounds in 1953.

As for any confirmed drivers, I'm not sure. Leader, O.S.C.A., Garage Francorchamps, Mercedes, Erne and Commesso have confirmed their presence on the grid (with Commesso changing names), but drivers haven't been confirmed as far as I know. Things are getting hot at Alfa, so a couple of drivers might be free. Here's what we know for sure:

Leader (Leader-Ferrari)
TBA

O.S.C.A. Automobili (OSCA)
Felice Bonetto

Garage Francorchamps
André Pilette
Jacques Swaters
Roger Laurent
Georges Berger
Charles de Tornaco
Jan Flinterman

Mercedes Team Europe (Mercedes)
Eric Brandon

Erne Racing Development
Roberto Mières

Hampshire Racing Alliance (HWM-Alta)
David Hampshire

Group Ultimate (Ferrari/Ultimate-BMW)
Troy Ruttman
Edgar Barth

Birmingham Motorsport
Ken Downing

British Bentley Racing Motors
Mike Hawthorn
Geoff Richardson
Roy Salvadori

Redman Racing Team
Nello Pagani

Officine Alfieri Maserati (Maserati)
Paul Frère

Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin-Jaguar)
Tony Bettenhausen
TBA

Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari)
Reg Parnell
Dorino Serafini
Toulo de Graffenried?

Maria Teresa de Filippis (Alfa Romeo)
Maria Teresa de Filippis

Motorsport Bleu
B. Bira
André Simon

Things might change on the chassis/engine front, with manufacturers and engine makers controlled by separate members (to increase participation without increasing grid sizes, therefore making my job easier).

Ok then, following Roberto Mieres' impressive performances for us in our debut season, Erne Racing Development are proud to announce that he'll be kept on for 1953

Birmingham Motorsports will be back next year, but instead of Ken Wharton we'd like to have Ken Downing driving our car. Is anyone getting the reference? No? Oh ok.... We'll decide what car we'll be using at a later time.

As for the calendar, we'll give our support to all nine currently chosen GPs, as well as Rouen-Les-Essarts.

British Bentley Racing Motors will definitely be back for next year, confirming all 3 of this season's drivers. As for the calendar, we'd like to vote for all the tracks currently in bold EXCEPT for Bremgarten.

OSCA would like to continue with Felice Bonetto, also Maria Teresa de Filippis will do some races, how many will depend on the budget.

Depending on how the new rules work we would like to carry on with Ruttman and Barth in the Ferrari and Ultimate BMW. Though if it turns into formula spreadsheet management then both drivers will be free.

We'll continue with Nello for next year. With what car, I'm not sure, and as for the calendar, we already voted.

In the US GP Garage Francorchamps is running a Kurtis-Kraft Offenhauser for Charles Van Acker, under the ENB banner. But i might enter Bill Vukovic in another similar car, as nobody else has claimed him and i used him previous year. He'll enter under his own name (because obviously, he's not Belgian).
ugatti and the regular ENB drivers/cars aren't going to flyaway races. No-one of them is heading to Australia either. (so all Belgians are available)

For 1953 i'm keeping Pilette, Swaters, Laurent, Berger, De Tornaco and Flinterman, and i'm planning on taking Frère back if his current team doesn't want him anymore. The car is TBA, that will depend on which cars are affordable. A Maserati is possible. I will not continue with Bugatti. I will retire Van Acker after this race, as he's not that interested in this 'European BS'

This wrote:In the US GP Garage Francorchamps is running a Kurtis-Kraft Offenhauser for Charles Van Acker, under the ENB banner. But i might enter Bill Vukovic in another similar car, as nobody else has claimed him and i used him previous year. He'll enter under his own name (because obviously, he's not Belgian).
ugatti and the regular ENB drivers/cars aren't going to flyaway races. No-one of them is heading to Australia either. (so all Belgians are available)

For 1953 i'm keeping Pilette, Swaters, Laurent, Berger, De Tornaco and Flinterman, and i'm planning on taking Frère back if his current team doesn't want him anymore. The car is TBA, that will depend on which cars are affordable. A Maserati is possible. I will not continue with Bugatti. I will retire Van Acker after this race, as he's not that interested in this 'European BS'

Maserati would like to stay with Frére for 1953, but might 'lend' it to ENB-based teams as an extension of the previous deal of letting the Belgian team use Maseratis.

As stated before, Aston Martin-Jaguar's 1953 season will be spearheaded by Tony Bettenhausen but our second driver won't be announced until the end of this year.

And if it helps, I'll relinquish full control of AMR-J to Jeremy and run Jaguar as an engine supplier, with Aston Martin remaining our works team for the foreseeable future.

Mercedes Team Europe's effort will be mainly focused on Eric Brandon, but we will have other drivers ready for various races.

Ferrari will keep Parnell and Serafini for 1953, and de Graffenried if he puts on another good result. Whitehead has gotten the sack. I'd also like to vote for Mount Panorama for next season, but I couldn't care less about the other races (especially since Monza seems certain to stick around )

No, Maria Teresa de Filippis won't drive an OSCA, she's going to continue with the Alfa.

Can I rename Commesso to Scuderia Asso di Fiori and become a customer Ferrari team, the Life GP and Prost GP team is meant to be a revival of the name and unrelated in ownership. As for the driver lineup, can I run Fischer and Whitehead in two full time cars with a third car being alternated between an aging Louis Chiron and Dries van der Lof. Just to be clear it is the same team as 1952, just with a different name. All of this is TBA

eurobrun wrote:Can I rename Commesso to Scuderia Asso di Fiori and become a customer Ferrari team, the Life GP and Prost GP team is meant to be a revival of the name and unrelated in ownership. As for the driver lineup, can I run Fischer and Whitehead in two full time cars with a third car being alternated between an aging Louis Chiron and Dries van der Lof. Just to be clear it is the same team as 1952, just with a different name. All of this is TBA

I don't see any problems, but with budgets coming into play, things will depend on what you can afford and any deals you strike with TMLW (who owns Ferrari).

Crap forgot about the budget things. I am now totally screwed

Here's what I've got about the budgets so far:

Chassis
Design cost/Building cost/Performance
10 000//2 500//0-3
20 000//5 000//0-6
30 000//7 500//3-9
40 000//10 000//6-12
50 000//12 500//9-15
60 000//15 000//12-18
70 000//17 500//15-21
80 000//20 000//18-24
90 000//22 500//21-27
100 000//25 000//24-30

Engines
7 500//1 875//0-3
15 000//3 750//0-6
22 500//5 625//3-9
30 000//7 500//6-12
37 500//9 375//9-15
45 000//11 250//12-18
52 500//13 125//15-21
60 000//15 000//18-24

All figures in pounds sterling

Entry costs will be 2 000£ per car, plus 1£ for every km the car travels (to keep things a bit more realistic).

Upgrades
Upgrades may be done by individual entrants once they have purchased a chassis or engine, or by the manufacturer itself before the sale. An upgrade is specific to a single car, and if a user owns two chassis, he would have to pay twice to upgrade both cars.

Upgrades cost 20% of the chassis or engine's design costs. However, their potential effect will be the same. A proverbial dice will be thrown, and the result will be a performance difference of -1, 0, +1 or +2. Upgrades may only be carried out at the team or manufacturer HQ, so bringing the car back to HQ for upgrading will also bring about transport costs, leaving the dilemma of saving money by going straight from race to race, or returning to the team base between each race to upgrade the car.

With all of this in mind, I believe a small new private team just looking for a race or two could make do with 75 000£ a year.

I still need to figure out how prize money will work though...

Motorsport Bleu will be in the series next year as well. B.Bira and Andre Simon as full-time drivers.

FantometteBR wrote:

This wrote:In the US GP Garage Francorchamps is running a Kurtis-Kraft Offenhauser for Charles Van Acker, under the ENB banner. But i might enter Bill Vukovic in another similar car, as nobody else has claimed him and i used him previous year. He'll enter under his own name (because obviously, he's not Belgian).
ugatti and the regular ENB drivers/cars aren't going to flyaway races. No-one of them is heading to Australia either. (so all Belgians are available)

For 1953 i'm keeping Pilette, Swaters, Laurent, Berger, De Tornaco and Flinterman, and i'm planning on taking Frère back if his current team doesn't want him anymore. The car is TBA, that will depend on which cars are affordable. A Maserati is possible. I will not continue with Bugatti. I will retire Van Acker after this race, as he's not that interested in this 'European BS'

Maserati would like to stay with Frére for 1953, but might 'lend' it to ENB-based teams as an extension of the previous deal of letting the Belgian team use Maseratis.

I prefer if you wouldn't call Paul Frère 'it', but 'him'.
So you give this guy a works car, and in exchange i will buy a Maserati customer car. (he doesn't need to drive all races, as long as he drives his home race, it's fine by me)
I'm hoping to find a constructor team to set up a similar deal with André Pilette. You run the guy for a few races (or at least his home race), and i will buy one of your chassis.
This is obviously a win for all involved. You get money from selling a car. I will promote talented Belgian drivers, which is the idea behind ENB.
Of course, this deal will only go trough if your customer car is affordable. (so probably Alfa Romeo or Ferrari will not be realistic)

About the French side: Bugatti gets sold, this sale will unclude Trintignant, however if nobody takes over Bugatti, then Maurice will become a free agent. Chaboud is retired and Behra had only a one-race contract.

(Sorry, but sometimes English is still tricky to me)

Maserati keeps Frére for the Belgian race and will sell ENB a customer car for the upcoming season.

If Behra is a free agent, Maserati would be glad to approach him for a deal

No one seems to be entering any more races this year, so the entry list for the United States Grand Prix is closed. There will be 28 cars (29 if The Lukas decides to keep Bettenhausen and JAMR find a replacement). This means that no pre-qualifying session will be held and every car will start the race.

After imagining a situation in which a member is a manufacturer and decides to build two top-of-the-line chassis and engines and build 20 of each (thinking that it should be a bit of a stretch), I've decided to give the teams with the biggest budgets (Alfa and Ferrari) 1 000 000 £ to work with. Then something like 500 000 £ for works-level customer teams (like Bleu, Ultimate or ART) as well as their manufacturers (plus manufacturers like Maserati, Aston Martin, Jaguar or Phoenix), maybe 400 000£ for smaller manufacturers (say, Alta, HWM, Cooper or O.S.C.A.), 200 000£ for the bigger private teams (Hampshire, E.N.B., Claes or Redman), 100 000£ for smaller privateer teams (All-Ireland, Commesso, Erne,...) and 75 000£ for complete start-ups.

As for prize money, things are still pretty vague. The pot will consist of the entry fee plus an additional sum determined according to the historical importance of the race. 3/4 of the pot will be redistributed after the race, the rest going into a bigger pot for the end of the season. Since an entry costs 1 000£, I was thinking of giving back the 1 000£ for making the grid, 500£ for failing to qualify and nothing for failing to pre-qualify. Add to that 10£ for every percent of the race completed, then a further prize according to finishing position and which will vary according to the pot.

Thoughts?