Grand Prix Rejects

Padraig O Connell wrote:


Another good test run we were doing about half distance today and working on our new aero package and engine set up which seems to be slower than what we had as my time today was only 4/10ths faster than our first test which was a complete diaster, That being said the top 4 were only seperated by a second at most which means either other teams are struggling or we just had a off day I am pleased however that I was faster than Daniel Melrose like I said before I think he is one of the men to beat this year.

James Davies wrote:It's a bit disappointing to still be over a second off of Jeroen's pace, considering that this was the first session in which I was able to set a low fuel run, but I'm still having some difficulty with the car, especially in setting it up. As Jeroen has shown today, though, this car has massive potential just waiting to be unlocked, and you can bet I'll be giving it 110% to try and overcome these difficulties that I am currently facing. Nevertheless, we are showing very good pace, and I'm confident that with our car, Renault engines, and everyone at Prost putting in as much effort as we have been, that we can be a proper force for both championships this year.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:The whole design team, Loic and all, were really pushing hard to get this upgrade package working, and I think today, I showed the whole world what Gauloises Prost Renault is capable of. I concentrated on aero tests in the beginning, and then proceeded to do a race simulation. In the end, there was enough time to do one quali lap, and I managed to go quickest! James did pretty well as well, considering the problems he's been facing lately. Perhaps he's trying to get used to the tyres still. I've got to feel sorry for Tristan, who was stuck with the old package for today. The team could only ship 2 packages, and was spending most of the time trying to get James and I go quicker. We should have an upgraded car for Tristan once we reach Melbourne, however. So far, the Benettons are looking very strong, but I think the Jordans are going to be our opponents once we reach the outback. I'm surprised how badly Williams is doing, considering they still have the Renault engines. Perhaps we'll be blown away on raceday, I hope not!

Tristan Jung wrote:(at today's press conference)
"Tristan, how would you rate your preseason results?"
"Meh."

Daniel Melrose wrote:Phillipe did a brilliant job in qualifying to secure his first pole position in his first race. I'm also happy with my performance in the wet conditions to take second but Jack simply couldn't get to grips with the car and ended up a lowly 19th which means he's got alot of work to do for tomorrow's race.

Philippe Nicolas wrote:I am just so happy! This is so fantastic for me! I mean, the conditions helped me very much, and I must thank the whole entire Jordan team for their hard work. I think I will be praying for rain tomorrow, because after the practice sessions, I am still not the used to grooved tires. But great job to the Jordan, and now Daniel and I are row 1. Maybe Jeroen and James jump on us, but I will not let that happen!

Padraig O Connell wrote:


5th on the grid in my first Race would make most people happy but I am not most people, The Car was great however I couldn't get a clean lap due to one thing and another it didn't matter what I did something either got in my way or I made a mistake, I guess I am still learning. That being said I am confident in the wet and I am hoping for a good result for the team tomorrow and hopefully I'll beat Daniel and Jeroen and record my first victory in F1CC.

Damon Cannon wrote:Well, that was just a nightmare session. Unlike last year's car, this one at the moment just stops working effectivley with the first spot of rain. 16th on the grid, over 3 seconds away from the front runners. The target is to get to the finish in one piece.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Today was a positive day for Prost GP. It's great to see that James has gotten used to the car, though admittedly we were in damp conditions, and the difference in car handling isn't as different as it would be in the dry, due to the tyres. I'm pretty confident that tomorrow, no matter the conditions, he will be on the pace. I'm a bit angry at myself, as I was on course to take pole position, until I messed up my braking at the last turn. Still, I'm on the clean side of the track, and that should be good for me. The aim tomorrow is to win, because I think it's possible. Philippe was absolutely fantastic, especially considering this was his first race weekend. I won't be surprised if he keeps this pace tomorrow. Great job Phillipe!

Daniel Martins wrote:It was a good qualification and I can only be delighted that in my first outing I outqualified my team-mate. Obviously, I expect him to come back in the race! The car pace is good but, given our strong position in that last testing session, I expected a bit more. Nevertheless we will certainly hope for a better race pace and a finish on the points, ideally for both of us, is on the cards.

Barii Mori wrote:After our position last year, qualifying in 10th and 11th is just no good enough and I am sure the Williams team will be looking at ways to make the car faster/

John Zimmer wrote:/wrists.
How the hell did it all go so wrong after the first test?

Ed Kevin wrote:Well at the moment it seems like we're firmly rooted in the midfield, which isn't the improvement over last season that I was hoping for. We'll see how it all goes in the race but for now I'm not expecting much.

About the qualifying itself, towards the end of the session I was on a faster lap, but I was blocked by, I think a Stewart. I could blame that, but I'm not going to. We just aren't quick enough. It's been the same since the second test at Barcelona. Maybe our race pace will be better.

James Davies wrote:This is an excellent result for the team, locking out the second row of the grid. I know Jeroen is a bit disappointed to not be on pole, but I'm ecstatic to be staring alongside him, considering all the problems I had with the car in testing. I did make a mistake on my final lap in braking for turn 15, though, and I think had that not happened, I could've been on the front row. Nonetheless, I'm much more confident now with this result, and I think we should be aiming for a 1-2 here. The Jordans should put up a good fight, but I feel we have a very strong package here. Rain or shine we should be up there, and I'll be personally targeting a win, but if it rains, well, you'd do well to keep an eye on me.

Thomas De Bock wrote:Well, it's been a very disappointing pre-season ans qualifying, and I just can't figure out how I'm so slow compared to Pippa. I've written this weekend off, but I'll do my best to make up the deficit throughout the season as it seems that I won't be reaching anywhere near last year's pace anytime soon.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Well, I think it was a positive race for the team. At the start, James and I got the jump on Philippe and Daniel, and I took the lead, with James not too far behind. I don't know why, but according to the lads on the wall, Philippe was losing places like crazy. There were certainly plenty of retirements, most of them mechanical, and unfortunately James was affected by a suspension problem, which, by looking at replays, looked rather scary. After his retirement, I was struggling with tyre wear, and Daniel eventually caught up, and passed me on the outside, at Prost, I think. Anyway, it's rather disappointing not to have won, but it's only the first race, with another 15 to go!

Thomas De Bock wrote:A horrendous weekend for me. After the whole qualifying fiasco, my gearbox packed in 3 laps in. A race to forget.

Damon Cannon wrote: The car was just a slow shitbox today. The only reason I got into the top 10 was the attrition rate, especially when Douglas Mann and Barii Mori took each other off on the first lap. I was fighting with John Zimmer for much of the race, until I got baulked when Phillipe Nicolas's Jordan, which had according to what my team told me, had lost all gears apart from 4th, came up in front of us. Here's hoping for a far more impressive second race, and to put some points on the board.

Padraig O Connell wrote:

The car was excellent today its a shame the same can't be said about the driver I had a strong start and but I couldn't get past James going into the first corner and then I nearly binned it at Ascari pushing too hard which caused me to drop back to sixth. Then the first round of pit stops went my way and I thankfully got up to 2nd just behind Jereon and I could taken the lead had I not got a puncture going over some debris from someone's engine going I'm not sure who which put the end of my dreams of winning and finishing on the podium, I suppose 4th is still a decent position and in my first race better than I could have hoped however I was targetting a podium and thats what we will be looking for from the next race.

Pippa Mann wrote:A slow but steady start to the championship. 6th isn't a podium, but I would rather score a little and often than just a single podium as I did last season!

Douglas Mann wrote:Damon Cannon thinks it was Barii Mori and I that collided on the first lap, but it was actually lap 5 when this happened. How we got into that situation, I will leave to Barii to explain, suffice it to say that coming back down to earth winded me a bit.

Daniel Melrose wrote:A win is the perfect way to start my title defense. The guys at Prost have done a marvellous job in the off season to be right up there as contenders and I think they will be a force to be reckoned with for the season. Phillipe suffered from a misfiring engine in the early laps but it cured itself with a few laps to go which helped him catch and pass Hughes with a lap to go. I have no idea what happened to Jack but I hope his fortune improves for the rest of the season.

Ed Kevin wrote:Well that was a great race, for the whole team. Coming up through the pack like that, almost as a group, was really satisfying. We clearly have good race pace and good reliability.

The last couple of laps behind Padraig (just to note, to those reading, that's pronounced 'Paw-drig') were pretty frustrating, my tyres were a fair few laps newer and my pace was better. He seemed to run wide on the second to last corner, and I got alongside, but I couldn't make it stick. Still, 5th place and only a photo-finish away from 4th, I'm happy enough after where I started.

Phoenix McAllister wrote:I'm slightly bored.

Barii Mori wrote:Well I got a great start and jumped ahead of my team mate, who also made up a number of places too. On Lap 5, I had exited the last corner badly but was still fast, I saw that Mann was behind me and saw him go left, so I jinked right, only for him to driver right too and hit the back of my car. I must say it was poor judgement of Mann to be so close and then crash into me. Still I am glad he was just winded and nothing bad happened.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:I really don't know what it is with me, but so far this season, it seems I can't do a single lap without making a single mistake. I was pretty confident with the car, and I think I could have beaten James to 2nd, if not taken pole from Padraig, had it not been for a silly mistake at Juncao, which cost me seconds, meaning I had to settle for 9th place, which is certainly not acceptable considering how well the team has been doing. Good job to James, and to Padraig, for taking pole in only his second qualifying session.

Damon Cannon wrote:That's more like it! 3rd on the grid, just 3 tenths away from pole. The benefits of a more powerful engine are definitely coming into sight. It also looks like Mr Barnard has ironed out the bugs in this gearbox package, as the car ran beautifully today. Hopefully, I can get the jump on Padraig and James at the start and launch my bid to become this year's F1CC champion with a win.

Padraig O Connell Wrote:


I am delighted with Pole today in only my second race I felt really in tune with the car and it was almost as if it had a mind of its own. Again the top 3 were very close in regards to times which shows that anyone has a chance with Tomorrow's race but we will be hoping for a strong performance tomorrow.

Philippe Nicolas wrote:The race in Australia, was terrible very bad. Unfortunately. Everything in the car went wrong, and I could not do anything about it. Here in Brazil I was hoping to be that better, but sadly I'm still bad with the new grooves tires, and the track is very bumpy so I spun off a lot. Hopefully things can get better on Sunday.

Philippe Nicolas wrote:The race in Australia, was terrible very bad. Unfortunately. Everything in the car went wrong, and I could not do anything about it. Here in Brazil I was hoping to be that better, but sadly I'm still bad with the new grooves tires, and the track is very bumpy so I spun off a lot. Hopefully things can get better on Sunday.

Damon Cannon wrote:We're racing on grooved tyres!? When did this happen? How the hell have I not noticed. No wonder the car was so bad in testing. I must still be suffering some side affects from the pre-testing booze up the drivers had. God, I'm a awful eejit. Someone get me a copy of the rulebook for this year.

James Davies wrote:Ahhhh, so close to pole! Like Jeroen, I had a problem at Juncao, ran a little wide and had to stay out of the throttle longer than I would've liked. Still, a front row start is nothing to scoff at, and given that both Prosts made flying starts in Australia, I'm confident that I can take the lead into the Senna S on lap 1. I've also been very quick in the practice sessions here, which bodes well. So, assuming all goes well and the car doesn't break down again, I should be a strong challenger for the win tomorrow.

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Well, my bloody suspension just collapsed at the Senna S, and I was sent flying front first into the wall. Suffice to say, it hurt quite a bit, and my legs feel a bit sore. Should be better by Argentina though. I don't know what happened to James as I was still at the medical centre when he retired, but I think it was mechanical too. Whatever it was, the team really needs to iron out these terrible reliability issues, and hopefully we'll have a slight upgrade by San Marino. I can confirm that the team will be using 'X-Wings' in Argentina. We were planning to use them here, but they, erm, got stuck in customs, not that it cost us much anyway. Congratulations to Philippe, he's really shining in the wet. It's a shame I wasn't there to dice with him, as my retirement occurred on lap 3.

Padraig O Connell Wrote:


0.003 seconds that must be closest finish in racing history I can't believe I finished 2nd after dominating all weekend and if I hadn't locked up on the Senna S and let Philippe pass me then I'd have won which would have completed a great weekend for Ferrari. The Car felt great all weekend and we will take this positive step and hope to do one better next race.

Douglas Mann wrote:Well, unfortunately, Pippa and I had a bit of a misunderstanding on the first lap which put her out and me 2 laps down. The rest of the race saw me regain one of those laps, and if the race was just a bit longer, I could have unlapped myself. But I had a brilliant view of that incredibly close finish and I had absolutely no way of telling who had won. Magnificent stuff!