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

[shinji]

I'd say D. More interest throughout the pack rather than just centered on Chris.

That is, if it doesn't inconvenience you, Aerond.

[JeanDenisAlcatraz]

I'd say A, and then have Senna retire at the end of the season.

[Phoenix]

Option A, please. By the way, is it true that Lotus is really struggling with their finances and development on the car for 1994 has been significantly reduced?

[watka]

I vote for A as well please!

[Bleu]

I say British / German -lineup (it was only one which held for two races, and also the line-up for original GP2 carset) but Herbert going to Ligier to replace Bernard. So you would have Zanardi as a team-mate!

[Jack O Melley]

In my opinion it would be great A's situation: Dagnall against Senna, an overboosted Schumacher and so on

[Aerond]

I think I´m going for A in the end; thanks for your opinions! Up to now it´s always been B, but given how weird 1994 was in reality, I think it´s fair.

So, let´s go with the last two races of the 1993 season!!

1993 - ROUND 15 - JAPAN

Qualifying

The output of the Lotus was good for Japan and we both Herbert and me got into mid grid positions with no hassle although I suffered a lot on Friday until I got where I wanted.

1. Prost -- 1.35.165
2. Hill -- 1.36.122
3. Schumacher -- 1.36.688
4. Senna -- 1.36.822
5. Alesi -- 1.37.314
6. Andretti -- 1.37.406
---
10. Herbert -- 1.37.768
11. Brundle -- 1.37.834
12. Dagnall -- 1.37.875
13. Blundell -- 1.37.962
---
DNQ. Lammers -- 1.40.352
DNQ. Badoer -- 1.40.591

Race

I climbed into 10th after a good start and managed to pass Suzuki, Wendlinger and Senna for 7th at the end of the first lap. I was lighter on fuel than everybody as I was going for two stops. It took me 7 laps to pass Patrese and so I passed Andretti inmediately as well, then Alesi spun on lap 9 leaving me 4th, 8.8 secs behind Schumacher. I managed to cut it to 4.7 secs and leave Alesi 10 secs behind before my first pit. I had been passed by Blundell too on the pit, falling to 8th, but Mark went for two stops as well. Then Andretti retired and passed Patrese on lap 20. Alesi retired shortly afterwards which left me 4th again, now 22.6 behind Schumacher, who stopped on lap 27, passing him. I thought I was going to do the same with Hill but he stopped very late, so after my 2nd stop I was set for the 4th place as Schumacher was faster in the 2nd part of the race than me. Nothing really happened except that I spun a few laps to the end and Brundle got very close to me towards the end but had no trouble holding him for an excellent 4th place.

1. Prost -- 1h28m15.388
2. Hill -- +1.10.437
3. Schumacher -- +1.30.498
4. Dagnall -- +1 lap
5. Brundle -- +1 lap
6. Blundell -- +1 lap
7. Berger -- +1 lap
8. Senna -- +1 lap
9. Warwick -- +2 laps
10. Fittipaldi -- +2 laps
11. Lehto -- +2 laps
12. Wendlinger -- +2 laps
13. Barbazza -- +2 laps
14. Comas -- +2 laps
15. Alliot -- +2 laps
16. Katayama -- +2 laps
17. Boutsen -- +3 laps
18. Alboreto -- +4 laps (r)

Fastest lap; 1.37.314 (Alain Prost)
DOTR; Michael Schumacher - For the 1st half of the race looked a real menace to Hill but the brilliant Williams strategy made him look for the 3rd place
ROTR; Thierry Boutsen - Something´s not right when Alboreto in the Lola is faster than you. He´s already thinking about retirement.

ROUND 16 - AUSTRALIA

Qualifying

I had a horrible qualifying. On Friday I crashed with Hill while he was coming out of the pits and couldn´t find a good balance on Saturday, and certainly not a clean lap which meant my very first DNQ of my career! A very disappointing way to close the season.

1. Prost -- 1.15.122
2. Hill -- 1.15.763
3. Schumacher -- 1.16.234
4. Senna -- 1.16.361
5. Alesi -- 1.16.703
6. Suzuki -- 1.16.788
---
8. Herbert -- 1.16.873
---
25. Lammers -- 1.19.091
26. Alboreto -- 1.19.122
DNQ. Badoer -- 1.19.297
DNQ. Dagnall -- 1.19.512

Race

Prost dominated safely, while Senna and Schumacher kept a good battle for 2nd until the Brazilian suffered a water leak; obviously thinking more on his move to Williams for 1994 rather than delivering for McLaren anymore. Herbert scored a fantastic podium finish ahead of the Ligiers and Alesi, who scored his only points of the season.

1. Prost -- 1h47m00.410
2. Schumacher -- +51.872
3. Herbert -- +1.17.967
4. Brundle -- +1 lap
5. Alesi -- +1 lap
6. Blundell -- +1 lap
7. Andretti -- +1 lap
8. Hill -- +1 lap
9. Barrichello -- +1 lap
10. Berger -- +2 laps
11. Lehto -- +2 laps
12. Suzuki -- +2 laps
13. Comas -- +2 laps
14. Fittipaldi -- +2 laps
15. Barbazza -- +3 laps
16. Katayama -- +3 laps
17. Gounon -- +4 laps

Fastest lap: Alain Prost - 1.16.548
DOTR: Johnny Herbert; Impressed everybody by finishing ahead of the Ligiers and Alesi´s Ferrari with a brilliant strategy.
ROTR: Chris Dagnall; Didn´t look like himself and scored a shameful DNQ.

Chris Dagnall said:

Finally an end to this season when everything was very new for me!! Going back to a more relaxed project as Lotus has taken the best out of me; I consider this season to have been way better than 1992 or 1990 and 4 podiums can only be seen as a miracle with this car an engine. Next year we´ll have the Mugen Honda and it should be way more powerful than the Cosworth, so I expect an improvement on that side. This weekend hasn´t been very good but it shouldn´t cast a shadow over the rest of the season. Lotus is back and we haven´t shown the truth potential of the team yet

Alain Prost said:

As you all know, this has been my last race in Formula One. I want to thank Frank Williams and Renault for giving me this chance to win my 3rd world championship. It´s been a fantastic season and my debt to Renault has been finally paid. I wish the Williams team all the best for the future and I foresee a brilliant future with Damon Hill, who has proven to be a very fast and vaild Formula One driver over the season. Thanks and goodbye!

1993 FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Alain Prost -- 123 pts
2. Damon Hill -- 71 pts
3. Michael Schumacher -- 52 pts
4. Ayrton Senna -- 37 pts
5. Martin Brundle -- 35 pts
6. Chris Dagnall -- 32 pts
7. Mark Blundell -- 22 pts
8. Riccardo Patrese -- 15 pts
9. Johnny Herbert -- 11 pts
10. Michael Andretti -- 10 pts
11. Rubens Barrichello -- 2 pts
=. Gerhard Berger -- 2 pts
=. Alesi -- 2 pts
14. J.J. Lehto -- 1pt
=. Philippe Alliot -- 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams-Renault -- 194 pts
2. Benetton-Ford -- 67 pts
3. Ligier-Renault -- 57 pts
4. McLaren-Ford -- 47 pts
5. Lotus-Ford -- 43 pts
6. Ferrari -- 4 pts
7. Jordan-Hart -- 2 pts
8. Sauber-Ilmor -- 1 pt
=. Larrousse-Lamborghini -- 1 pt

[Jack O Melley]

Dagnall, Dagnall! Some questions for Autosprint, please. Reports say Team Lotus is economically in big difficult and reveal Johnny Herbert already contacted by Ligier and Benetton. Can you say this is true? Do you think this situation may take some effects in your first-drive role such as being replaced by a pay-driver?

[Aerond]

Dagnall, Dagnall! Some questions for Autosprint, please. Reports say Team Lotus is economically in big difficult and reveal Johnny Herbert already contacted by Ligier and Benetton. Can you say this is true? Do you think this situation may take some effects in your first-drive role such as being replaced by a pay-driver?

I´ve said it a lot times before this season; the team may not be the strongest in finances, but as much as I understand we´re in a pretty safe position thanks to the results we got in 1993. Finishing 5th in the championship with a string of podiums should allow us to grow for next season. I can´t speak for Johnny but if Lotus wants to replace me with a pay driver they´d have to breach the 3 year contract I have with them and that would mean an awful lot of money.

[FullMetalJack]

Ferrari -- 4 pts

[Aerond]

1994 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST

Rothmans Williams Renault

0 Damon Hill
2 Ayrton Senna

Tyrrell

3 Ukyo Katayama
4 Mark Blundell

Mild Seven Benetton Ford

5 Michael Schumacher
6 J J Lehto

Marlboro McLaren Peugeot

7 Mika Häkkinen
8 Martin Brundle

Footwork Ford

9 Christian Fittipaldi
10 Gianni Morbidelli

Team Lotus

11 Chris Dagnall
12 Alessandro Zanardi

Sasol Jordan

14 Rubens Barrichello
15 Eddie Irvine

Tourtel Larrousse F1

19 Olivier Beretta
20 Erik Comas

Minardi Scuderia Italia

23 Pierluigi Martini
24 Michele Alboreto

Ligier Gitanes Blondes

25 Johnny Herbert
26 Olivier Panis

Scuderia Ferrari

27 Jean Alesi
28 Gerhard Berger

Sauber Mercedes Benz

29 Karl Wendlinger
30 Heinz-Harald Frentzen

MTV Simtek Ford

31 David Brabham
32 Roland Ratzenberger

Ursus Pacific Grand Prix

33 Éric Bernard
34 Bertrand Gachot

[TomWazzleshaw]

Team Lotus

11 Chris Dagnall
12 Alessandro Zanardi

The only thing more awesome than that would be a Dagnall/HWNSNBM driver lineup

[Ferrim]

Poor Paul Belmondo...

[FullMetalJack]

Poor Jos Verstappen

Fixed

[Aerond]

Poor Jos Verstappen

Fixed

It´s a pity I can´t change drivers in-season and someone important has to sit out... I wanted Hideki Noda too!!!

[FullMetalJack]

Don't forget JDD

[Aerond]

1994 - ROUND 1 - BRAZIL

New car, new season, new sensations, new drivers, new teams... it´s always great to be back into the car once again. I´m very confident this season is really productive! The new engine is very good although the car doesn´t generate as much grip as the 107 (I reduced the grip of my car a bit in order to not have such an advantage for having a more powerful engine).

Qualifying

I wasn´t very happy with the handling but surprisingly everybody else was suffering grip problems as well so in the end the time was pretty good. It was great to see after that long 5 different cars on the top 6!

1. Senna -- 1.15.821
2. Schumacher -- 1.16.025
3. Hill -- 1.16.623
4. Hakkinen -- 1.16.702
5. Dagnall -- 1.16.936
6. Irvine -- 1.16.949
---
21. Zanardi -- 1.18.128
---
DNQ. Ratzenberger -- 1.20.612
DNQ. Gachot -- 1.21.155

Race

Lap 1 --> Irvine starts faster but goes to the right and we touch wheels, losing loads of time. I´m 10th at the 1st corner, then I pass Martini shortly afterwards. Barrichello must enter the pits after he hits another car
Lap 2 --> I pass Frentzen for 8th
Lap 3 --> I pass Irvine for 7th
Lap 4 --> Schumacher spins. 6th
Lap 7 --> Pass Wendlinger. 5th
Lap 9 --> Pass Alesi. 4th. Hakkinen is 8.0 ahead
Lap 13 --> Hakkinen is 9.7 ahead. Alesi 2.5 behind
Lap 14 --> Senna makes a mistake and gives the lead to Hill
Lap 16 --> I lose control at the entrance of the hairpin and spin. I´m demoted to 9th
Lap 18 --> I pass Morbidelli for 8th
Lap 19 --> Alesi pits. 7th
Lap 20 --> Pass Martini. 6th. Berger is 3.5 ahead
Lap 23 --> I make my first stop. I´m back in 17th
Lap 24 --> Morbidelli pits. 16th
Lap 25 --> Blundell, Martini and Panis pit. 13th
Lap 26 --> Hill spins losing loads of time! Schumacher pits. 11th
Lap 27 --> Irvine, Lehto and Berger pit. I pass Herbert. 7th
Lap 28 --> I pass Alesi. 6th
Lap 30 --> Barrichello pits. 5th. Wendlinger is 2.1 ahead
Lap 31 --> Katayama (who was running 3rd), pits. 4th. Wendlinger is around 1.5 secs ahead
Lap 36 --> Wendlinger pits. 3rd. Hakkinen is 27.3 ahead
Lap 38 --> After holding him for several laps, Schumacher finds his way through and I´m back to 4th. He quickly gets out of sight.
Lap 44 --> Hakkinen retires. 3rd. Schumacher is 11.8 ahead, Berger 3.0 behind
Lap 50 --> Schumacher and Berger pit.
Lap 51 --> Stop 2. I´m back to 5th but to my relief Berger retires.
Lap 52 --> Barrichello pits. 4th. Wendlinger is 9.4 ahead, having taken advantage of his new set of tyres.
Lap 54 --> Wendlinger pits. 3rd
Lap 56 --> Alesi is 8.3 behind.
Lap 59 --> Hill passes Alesi and is 6.1 behind.
Lap 63 --> Hill is 1.4 behind! Barrichello is close to him.
From lap 65 --> I hold Hill as long as I can.
Lap 71 (last) --> Hill is side by side at the last straight but my low-downforce approach to the setup gets me enough speed to finish 0.1 ahead of him and 0.4 ahead Barrichello for a podium finish!!

1. Ayrton Senna -- 1h36m59.402
2. Michael Schumacher -- +48.061
3. Chris Dagnall -- +1 lap
4. Damon Hill -- +1 lap
5. Rubens Barrichello -- +1 lap
6. Jean Alesi -- +1 lap
7. Karl Wendlinger -- +1 lap
8. Eddie Irvine -- +1 lap
9. Pierluigi Martini -- +1 lap
10. Gianni Morbidelli -- +1 lap
11. Olivier Panis -- +1 lap
12. Johnny Herbert -- +2 laps
13. Christian Fittipaldi -- +2 laps
14. Mark Blundell -- +2 laps
15. Alessandro Zanardi -- +2 laps

Fastest Lap -- Michael Schumacher - 1.18.441
DOTR -- Rubens Barrichello; Passed almost the whole field after a rubbish start to finish just 0.5 secs from the podium
ROTR -- Mark Blundell; Clearly outpaced by a brilliant Katayama.

Chris Dagnall said:

You can´t imagine how happy I am with this result. It´s probably ahead of the real possibilites of this car. Today there were faster drivers who finished behind us and that must be taken as a team win. The new engine works great but the car doesn´t produce the necessary downforce. We need to improve in this area in order to reach higher stakes

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS - After 1 race

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Ayrton Senna -- 10 pts
2. Michael Schumacher -- 6 pts
3. Chris Dagnall -- 4 pts
4. Damon Hill -- 3 pts
5. Rubens Barrichello -- 2 pts
6. Jean Alesi -- 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams-Renault -- 13 pts
2. Benetton-Ford -- 6 pts
3. Lotus-Mugen-Honda -- 4 pts
4. Jordan Hart -- 2 pts
5. Ferrari - 1 pt

[Ferrim]

1. Senna -- 1.15.821
Fastest Lap -- Michael Schumacher - 1.18.441

Pole position 2 Ayrton Senna Williams/Renault 1'15.962
Fastest lap 5 M.Schumacher Benetton/Ford 1'18.455

You've got 1994 to perfection, mate

[Aerond]

YAY!!!

Chris Dagnall has discovered how to comfortably Print Screens from Virtual PC so he may post images soon!!

[FullMetalJack]

YAY!!!

Chris Dagnall has discovered how to comfortably Print Screens from Virtual PC so he may post images soon!!

I'd love to see it, I pay more attention to this career than my own. Although my career has only just begun its second season.

[Barbazza]

Having now happily got GP2 working on a modern computer at last, I was wondering - whose carsets do you use?

I notice there are a fair few different creators who have worked on 80s/90s sets.

[Aerond]

Having now happily got GP2 working on a modern computer at last, I was wondering - whose carsets do you use?

I notice there are a fair few different creators who have worked on 80s/90s sets.

I use whoever I feel is more accurate respecting liveries. Martin Ursua´s are usually quite good. P. Augusto Lopes are also good, but I use the most accurate I find. I don´t care about the performance, as I totally rework it to try give it a more realistic feeling.

[Aerond]

1994 - ROUND 2 - PACIFIC

Everybody kept saying that this track is more like a karting track, but I actually prefer it over the Hungaroring. At least it has one straight

Qualifying

Not good, tried a little bit of everything but the car seemed too slow, specially on 2nd sector.

1. Schumacher -- 1.10.373
2. Senna -- 1.10.563
3. Barrichello -- 1.10.913
4. Irvine -- 1.10.953
5. Hakkinen -- 1.10.962
6. Hill -- 1.10.991
----
20. Zanardi -- 1.12.188
21. Dagnall -- 1.12.264
22. Panis -- 1.12.344
----
DNQ. Ratzenberger -- 1.14.392
DNQ. Gachot -- 1.15.435

Race

Lap 1 --> 18th after the first corner. Passed Brundle later with Panis ahead after an incredible start by the french!
Lap 2 --> Passed Panis. 16th
Lap 4 --> Passed Herbert and Martini. 14th. The car is working better than on qualifying. Going for 3 stops, though.
Lap 5 --> Passed Blundell. 13th
Lap 6 --> Passed Morbidelli. 12th
Lap 7 --> Frentzen is 2.2 ahead
Lap 9 --> Passed Frentzen. 11th
Lap 10 --> Passed Katayama. 10th
Lap 15 --> Passed Irvine. 9th. Wendlinger is ahead.
Lap 17 --> Passed Wendlinger. 8th. Alesi is 5.4 ahead.
Lap 20 --> Alesi is 4.6 ahead before my stop.
Lap 21 --> 1st stop. Wendlinger and Berger stop too, with the Austrian passing me after the Lotus crew is a bit slow (9.4 secs). Back 19th.
Lap 22 --> Passed Wendlinger. Frentzen and Blundell pit. 16th
Lap 23 --> Passed Fittipaldi. 15th
Lap 24 --> Passed Herbert and Lehto. 13th. Nobody else seems to go for 3 stops
Lap 25 --> Senna is out due to a water leak. 12th.
Lap 26 --> Passed Panis. 11th
Lap 27 --> I suffer an oil leak and the engine caughts fire...

Race results

1. Michael Schumacher - 1h45m52.508
2. Damon Hill - +45.227
3. Rubens Barrichello - +1 lap
4. Mika Hakkinen - +1 lap
5. Martin Brundle - +1 lap
6. Karl Wendlinger - +1 lap
7. Ukyo Katayama - +2 laps
8. Pierluigi Martini - +2 laps
9. Mark Blundell - +2 laps
10.Gianni Morbidelli - +2 laps
11. JJ Lehto - +2 laps
12. Michelle Alboreto - +3 laps
13. Erik Comas - +3 laps
14. Alessandro Zanardi - +9 laps (ret)

Fastest lap; Michael Schumacher - 1.14.140
DOTR - Michael Schumacher; He was simply perfect the whole weekend.
ROTR - Ligier; Dreadful weekend with both drivers spinning out on race day.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS - After 2 races

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Michael Schumacher -- 16 pts
2. Ayrton Senna -- 10 pts
3. Damon Hill -- 9 pts
4. Rubens Barrichello -- 6 pts
5. Chris Dagnall -- 4 pts
6. Mika Hakkinen -- 3 pts
7. Martin Brundle -- 2 pts
8. Jean Alesi -- 1 pt
=. Karl Wendlinger -- 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams-Renault -- 19 pts
2. Benetton-Ford -- 16 pts
3. Jordan-Hart -- 6 pts
4. McLaren-Peugeot -- 5 pts
5. Lotus-Mugen-Honda -- 4 pts
6. Ferrari - 1 pt
=. Sauber-Mercedes - 1 pt

[Aerond]

1994 - ROUND 3 - SAN MARINO

Qualifying

As hard as it was in the Pacific GP although I expected the car to fare better. It´s being hard to get enough grip with a low fuel load on qualifying (while it works ok during the race)

1. Senna -- 1.21.038
2. Hill -- 1.21.771
3. Schumacher -- 1.21.808
4. Hakkinen -- 1.22.274
5. Alesi -- 1.22.281
6. Berger -- 1.22.633
---
19. Zanardi -- 1.23.458
20. Alboreto -- 1.23.532
21. Dagnall -- 1.23.646
22. Comas -- 1.23.692
---
DNQ. Ratzenberger -- 1.26.280
DNQ. Gachot -- 1.26.671

Race

Lap 1 -- I keep my position at the start, but get to pass three drivers at Tossa. 18th.
Lap 2 -- I pass Zanardi for 17th
Lap 3 -- Pass Lehto. 16th
Lap 4 -- Pass Frentzen. 15th. The car is driving quite good
Lap 5 -- Pass Blundell and Morbidelli.
Lap 6 -- Pass Irvine
Lap 7 -- Pass Brundle
Lap 9 -- Pass Herbert for 10th
Lap 11 -- Alesi is out. 9th. Martini runs 1.5 secs ahead and I´ve left Herbert 4.4 behind.
Lap 13 -- I pass Martini. Katayama is 5.4 seconds ahead.
Lap 15 -- I make a mistake and run wide at Variante Alta
Lap 17 -- Katayama is 6.6 ahead
Lap 22 -- Katayama is 2.1 ahead
Lap 23 -- Me and Katayama pit at the same time. The Tyrrell team is way faster than Lotus. I exit 12th.
Lap 25 -- Brundle pits. 11th. Katayama is 10.0 secs ahead (after running wide again due to cold tyres)
Lap 26 -- Martini pits. 10th
Lap 29 -- Irvine is 2.6 ahead.
Lap 32 -- I pass Herbert. Irvine pits. Katayama is 4.2 ahead
Lap 36 -- Katayama is 1.6 ahead
Lap 39 -- I get to pass Katayama at Acque Mineralli
Lap 40 -- I do my 2nd pit stop --> 9th
Lap 43 -- Katayama pits. 8th
Lap 44 -- I pass Brundle. 7th. Barrichello is 14.5 ahead (just after his pit-stop)
Lap 50 -- Barrichello is clearly faster and lies over 19 seconds ahead. Just cruising fast enough to keep Katayama behind.
Lap 57 -- Berger is out. 6th!




Fastest lap: Ayrton Senna -- 1.23.933
DOTR: Ayrton Senna; unstopable all weekend
ROTR: Ferrari; both retirements led to massive disappointment for the Tifossi

Chris Dagnall said:

I´m very happy with this result. It confirms that the car is faster during race than in qualifying. It´s a good sign because it actually is when you get points for the championship. Two points finishes out of three races is very good and I´m really looking forward to achieve more and more.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS - After 3 races

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Michael Schumacher -- 20 pts
=. Ayrton Senna -- 20 pts
3. Damon Hill -- 15 pts
4. Rubens Barrichello -- 8 pts
5. Mika Hakkinen -- 6 pts
6. Chris Dagnall -- 5 pts
7. Martin Brundle -- 2 pts
8. Jean Alesi -- 1 pt
=. Karl Wendlinger -- 1 pt

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams-Renault -- 35 pts
2. Benetton-Ford -- 20 pts
3. Jordan-Hart -- 8 pts
=. McLaren-Peugeot -- 8 pts
5. Lotus-Mugen-Honda -- 5 pts
6. Ferrari - 1 pt
=. Sauber-Mercedes - 1 pt

[TomWazzleshaw]

I quite like the screenshot of the race results. Can you do the same thing for Qualy?

And now a few questions for Dagnall himself:

Firstly two points results out of three is a good start to the season but how long do you think it'll be before the Lotus is back to challenging for race victories consistantly? Secondly some of my sources are saying that Senna wants to go to Ferrari next season. Considering the form of Ferrari in recent seasons could you elaborate on why he would want to do that? Finally what is it like having one of the young guns in Alessandro as your teammate compared to Johnny Herbert last season?

[Aerond]

I quite like the screenshot of the race results. Can you do the same thing for Qualy?

And now a few questions for Dagnall himself:

Firstly two points results out of three is a good start to the season but how long do you think it'll be before the Lotus is back to challenging for race victories consistantly? Secondly some of my sources are saying that Senna wants to go to Ferrari next season. Considering the form of Ferrari in recent seasons could you elaborate on why he would want to do that? Finally what is it like having one of the young guns in Alessandro as your teammate compared to Johnny Herbert last season?

I don´t know about the quali as quali results are showed in a different kind of window and it requires 3 captures to get the full grid. It´s more work so it depends on laziness

----

1st question - It´s hard to tell. It´s not certainly happening this year, that´s very obvious, but the fact of having the support of a brand like Honda is very, very important and it means a lot in terms of both financial and technical resources, so the team is going the right way.
2nd q - You know I can´t speak for Ayrton, but every driver wants to drive for Ferrari. Ayrton has achieved everything so I can see his point.
3rd q - Alessandro brings a good vibe to the team. Maybe being an all-british team wasn´t a very good idea so it´s always nice to have people bringing fresh ideas. My approach to all of my mates has always been the same; it was in the days of Senna and it´s now as I always try to treat them with the maximum respect. What has changed a bit is the technical approach to my relation with them as being the most experienced driver within the team makes me give more advice in certain areas. It feels like being a father at times!

[dr-baker]

Is Roland Ratzenberger ever going to qualify? And this San Marino weekend is much more positive than in reality...

[FullMetalJack]

Is Roland Ratzenberger ever going to qualify?

Yes, believe in him.

[Aerond]

Is Roland Ratzenberger ever going to qualify? And this San Marino weekend is much more positive than in reality...

Drivers don´t die in Gp2; it´s more of a Carmageddon thing

[dr-baker]

Is Roland Ratzenberger ever going to qualify? And this San Marino weekend is much more positive than in reality...

Drivers don´t die in Gp2; it´s more of a Carmageddon thing

If only reality could be a bit more like that.

[WeirdKerr]

very poignant to see that screen shot of your imola '94 result.....

[FullMetalJack]

And this San Marino weekend is much more positive than in reality...

Spygate, Liegate and Crashgate rolled into one would have still been much more positive than the real 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

[dr-baker]

And this San Marino weekend is much more positive than in reality...

Spygate, Liegate and Crashgate rolled into one would have still been much more positive than the real 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

True.

[Aerond]

very poignant to see that screen shot of your imola '94 result.....

¿¿¿???

[Salamander]

very poignant to see that screen shot of your imola '94 result.....

¿¿¿???

I'm assuming he's referring to the fact that Senna won the race that he died in real life.

[Aerond]

1994 - ROUND 4 - MONACO

One of my all-time favourites. The fact that even the fruit stall man round the corner may be richer than you makes me laugh!

Qualifying

Surprisingly good for what it had been until this race. I wouldn´t have expected this level of performance!

1. Senna -- 1.18.525
2. Schumacher -- 1.18.781
3. Hakkinen -- 1.19.207
4. Barrichello -- 1.19.250
5. Irvine -- 1.19.371
6. Hill -- 1.19.455
7. Dagnall -- 1.19.535
8. Morbidelli -- 1.19.913
---
21. Zanardi -- 1.20.875
---
DNQ. Ratzenberger -- 1.23.036
DNQ. Gachot -- 1.23.971

Race

Lap 1 --> Morbidelli passes me at the start but I move into 5th before the end of the first lap passing the italian, then Irvine and Hakkinen.
Lap 5 --> Hill is 1.5 ahead and I can´t get very close to him
Lap 10 --> I approach Hill and pass him for 4th.
Lap 15 --> Barrichello is 5.8 ahead.
Lap 20 --> Barrichello is 0.6 ahead
Lap 21 --> 1st pit-stop. I fall to 5th, exiting to the track just in front of Irvine.
Lap 22 --> Barrichello stops but he´s still ahead.
Lap 23 --> I pass Barrichello at Mirabeau. 4th
Lap 24 --> Hill pits. 3rd. Schumacher is 34.5 ahead
Lap 28 --> Schumacher is 23.6
Lap 29 --> Senna and Schumacher stop. I pass Schumacher! 2nd
Lap 30 --> I start chasing Senna while lapping loads of drivers. The race it´s in its decisive phase. Senna is 1.9 ahead and Barrichello 3.0 behind
Lap 33 --> Senna makes a mistake while lapping Wendlinger and Schumacher passes me at that same moment, but I take slipstream on him to gain the lead!
Lap 35 --> Schumacher is 1.8 behind
Lap 39 --> Schumacher is just 0.7 behind
Lap 40 --> Pit-stop 2. I fall to 4th, ahead of Hill.
Lap 41 --> Barrichello pits and I get back 3rd, Senna is 19.3 ahead
Lap 45 --> Senna is 14.4 ahead
Lap 51 --> Senna is 5.1 ahead, Hill 22.3 behind
Lap 52 --> Schumacher pits. 2nd
Lap 55 --> Senna pits, 1st. Schumacher is 15.2 behind
Lap 57 --> Schumacher starts to fly; he´s 12.3 behind
Lap 58 --> Pit-stop 3. Back to 3rd.
Lap 59 --> Senna is 3.3 ahead, we´re both faster than Schumacher, who´s around 9 secs ahead of Senna now.
Lap 63 --> I approach Senna as he has difficulties to lap Martini. I try to pass him at Casino but I misscalculate the distance and I crash into Senna´s rear right wheel!! He´s out of the race inmediately and I continue on 3 wheels. Then Hill and Barrichello pass me before I can reach the pits. I´m back into 4th, still ahead of Alesi.
Lap 64 --> Barrichello is 22.2 ahead
Lap 69 --> Barrichello is 17.1 ahead and now totally out of reach, I cruise to a final 4th which is a great result but a bit bitter having in count I had 2nd practically asured.




Fastest lap: Chris Dagnall -- 1.20.945
DOTR: Michael Schumacher; Rock Solid. Attacked at the right moment and got a brilliant win in the 2nd fastest car.
ROTR: Olivier Beretta; More was expected from the local hero rather than fighting the Simtek and Pacific drivers.

Pictures of the race!


The starting grid


Senna leads


Passing Hakkinen


... and Barrichello


Dagnall goes rallying??


Schumacher passes Senna...



... Then I get the lead


Lap 59 standings

The Senna accident sequence;

I miss the distance into Casino square:

Then he´s out:

And I´m on 3 wheels...


----

Chris Dagnall said:
I´m terribly sorry of the crash with Ayrton. I understand why he´s upset about it. I just saw the gap and went for it but I should have gotten the car closer to the wall as there was space enough. I didn´t and we crashed and it didn´t go the right way for me too as I lost the chance to fight Schumacher, which was there for real as I was faster at that point and in fresher tyres. At least we got some very important points and we´re looking forward to the next GP in Barcelona.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS - After 4 races

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Michael Schumacher -- 30 pts
2. Damon Hill -- 21 pts
3. Ayrton Senna -- 20 pts
4. Rubens Barrichello -- 12 pts
5. Chris Dagnall -- 8 pts
6. Mika Hakkinen -- 6 pts
7. Jean Alesi -- 3 pts
8. Martin Brundle -- 2 pts
9. Karl Wendlinger -- 1 pt
=. Eddie Irvine

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Williams-Renault -- 41 pts
2. Benetton-Ford -- 30 pts
3. Jordan-Hart -- 13 pts
4. McLaren-Peugeot -- 8 pts
=. Lotus-Mugen-Honda -- 8 pts
6. Ferrari - 3 pts
7. Sauber-Mercedes - 1 pt

[FullMetalJack]

Kudos to making it back for the 4th wheel.

[Shizuka]

Chris Dagnall did a Schumacher! Applause for him, please!

[MigelNansell]

Chris better watch out from the reprisals from Senna we all know how bad he can be when he thinks he has been slighted.

[FullMetalJack]

I got back with just 3 wheels on my career at Canada, although it was the last lap and I didn't want to make it 3 DNF's in a row.