The Duel in the Desert Code: Select all
(+24) 1. James Davies (McLaren) - 1h.57m 36.600
(+13) 2. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) +7.883
(+1) 3. Rory McAllister (McLaren) +9.898
(+16) 4. Niko Nurminen +30.282
(+1) 5. Dennis Mignolet (Ligier)t +1m 00.199
(+4) 6. Sebastian Gazurek (Forti) +1m 01.518
(NC) 7. Chris Dagnall +1m 01.959
(+9) 8. Damon Cannon (Jordan) + 1m 03.985
(+12) 9. Pieter Kickert (Sauber) + 1m 04.950
(+16) 10. Gio van Dycke (Tyrrell) + 1m 04.998
(-6) 11. Leonhard von Gottorp (Jordan) + 1m 05.564
(-3) 12. Samael Meerwick +1m 06.850 (Footwork)
(+11) 13. Tristan Jung + 1m. 09.793
Code: Select all
(-3) 14. Tom Douglas (Ferrari) +1 lap
(+1) 15. George Tramontani (Simtek) +1 lap
(+7) 16. Prince Walik +1 lap
(+1) 17. Jorg Scrattenheim (Simtek) +1 lap
(-5) 18. Poppy Whitechapel (Tyrrell) +1 lap
(-5) 19. Giovanni Roda +1 lap
(-1) 20. Martin McFry +1 lap
(-20) 21. John Zimmer (Benetton) +1 lap
(-14) 22. Daniel Moreno (Williams) +1 lap
(-1) 23. Pippa Mann (DAMS) + 1 lap
(-12) 24. Anton Kaliniczenko (Pacific) +1 lap
(-23) 25. Kazuhiko Takagi (Benetton) +3 laps
(-23) 26. Masta Valsattis (Forti) +3 laps
Fastest Lap: Padraig O'Connell: 1.35.324 (Lap 67)
And it's all over! James Davies has taken one of the most unlikely victories in F1 Rejects history, proving once and for all that the '95 version is truly the best of all! I will do a brief driver-by-driver review.
1. "King James" Davies: It's hard to understate how ridiculous Davies' victory was. He overcame a poor grid position, getting punted off by Meerwick and getting stuck in traffic while his teammate dashed into the lead. Davies managed to go past all of this to catch and pass McAllister at Turn 1 on Lap 65. He then proceeded to pull out a seven second lead in the space of a few laps. He was on it all day and deserves the victory and the five million dollars.
IIDOTR2. Padraig O'Connell: Padraig also had a great day and might have won if he didn't have to make a pit stop in the middle of the race. Padraig caught and retook all the ground that he lost. He was the fastest driver on the track by the end of the race, taking the fastest lap and catching a flagging McAllister on the last lap of the race before breezing by.
3. Rory McAllister: He came
this close to winning. Davies, O'Connell and Nurminen were all bogged down in traffic and he could just sprint off into the lead! He was up by ten seconds with ten laps to go! And somehow he ended up in third! Sorry to say this, but Rory choked this one away. He did put a great fight with Davies before his teammate passed him, going way sideways at Turn 1 and almost crashing into his teammate (wouldn't that have been epic).
4. Niko Nurminen: Not a bad job from the Finnish guest driver! He also had a terrible qualifying session but he was able to come up through the field to finish in a lonely fourth place. He was with the Top 3 for much of the race but he was unable to make it through traffic.
5. Dennis Mignolet: After Mignolet was forced to make his stop, Dennis fell off the lead and was unable to come back. He did finish ahead of Dagnall but O'Connell also made a stop and he finished second.
6. Sebstian Gazurek: Where was this pace during the season? Like Davies, Gazurek had an mid-race crash but he was able to come back nicely. He completely demolished his teammate.
7. Chris Dagnall: The race was a mixed bag for "Daggers". He led the early part of the race but he never regained the lead after Lap 22 and he was forced to make a stop after running down his tyres. Unlike Mignolet, O'Connell and Gazurek (all of whom switched tyres), Dagnall's second half of the race was much slower than the first half. Oh well, he acquitted himself well and had some great dices with Jung, Mignolet and Gazurek (and Roda
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).
8. Damon Cannon: Cannon was doing well before he spun on Lap 37 which stopped his charge through the field. Once that happened, it was all over and Cannon was forced to battle in the midfield for the rest of the race.
9. Pieter Kickert: Solid, unassuming race for Kickert. Not much different from his regular season pace. He did set the second fastest lap of the race.
10. Gio van Dycke: van Dycke was one of those guys who gambled on pitting midway through the race. It didn't work out too well but he started from dead last so anything in the top 10 is an astounding result.
11. Leonhard von Gottorp: Wait, wasn't von Gottorp in second at the last update? Yes, he was, but he was taken out by John Zimmer while he was trying to lap the Benetton which put him way back in the field. Disappointing result but his removal helped O'Connell and Davies get through to challenge McAllister.
12. Samael Meerwick: I'm pretty sure Davies got his revenge on Meerwick.
13. Tristan Jung: Jung was duking it out with Dagnall, Nurminen and Mignolet but he was taken out by Kazuhiko Takagi (another backmarker getting in the way!). The commissioner was not pleased.
14. Tom Douglas: Completely anonymous race for Tom.
15. George Tramontani: Who? Everyone lower than 15th is the traffic that all the leaders ran into in the latter stages of the race.
16. Prince Walik: At least he did better than Douglas Mann. And Pippa Mann!
17. Jorg Scrattenheim: Wait, he qualified for this race? Had some terrible blocking maneuvers on the leaders.
18. Poppy Whitechapel: Where was she again?
19. Giovanni Roda: Other than blocking Chris Dagnall for 15 laps and hitting Kaliniczenko, he was almost non-existent after the requisite amount of chaos was caused.
20. Martin McFry: The Delorean was terrible in the race and McFry complained of vibrations in the post-race.
21. John Zimmer: Oh boy,
John Zimmer wins
Reject of the Race by a country mile! First he got outjumped by Dagnall at the start. Then he passed Dagnall but immediately spun one lap later! Then he ran straight into Meerwick while trying to spin turn (indirectly causing a chain reaction as Meerwick hit Davies and Gazurek). After his stop, he failed to make his way through the field while drivers like Sebastian Gazurek did fine. He then took out Leonhard von Gottorp for no good reason on Lap 56, destroying his front suspension again! This, ladies and gentlemen, is our world champion.
22. Daniel Moreno: Hey, at least your arch-rival had a collapse of epic proportions. Oh, hang on, YOU STILL FINISHED BEHIND HIM!
23. Pippa Mann: 24. Anton Kaliniczenko: He crashed into Roda and never came back.
25. Kazuhiko Takagi: His teammate saved him from ROTR but he earns a gigantic demerit for taking out the COMMISSIONER OF THE ENTIRE SERIES while he was being lapped!
26. Masta Valsattis:
TL;DR James Davies is awesome.