Grand Prix Rejects

The GeneRally Racing League is a virtual racing league I'm doing which will be run in GeneRally. All of the races will be on tracks included with the game despite the fact that there are literally (literally) thousands of very good user-created downloadable tracks, literally hundreds of which I have. This is not something you can enter, but I might change that for the next season.

Team/driver lineup
Red Bull Racing
1. Sébastien Buemi
2. David Coulthard
Red Bull are fielding a couple of their old (well, Buemi still tests for them, but you know) drivers.

AMG Mercedes Petronas GR Team
3. Robert Wickens
4. Gary Paffett
Mercedes planned to have Coulthard and Wickens with Gary Paffett as a test driver, but after Coulthard got an offer from Red Bull which he took, Paffett was the only one they had on short notice to fill the seat.

Lotus GR Team
5. Jérôme d'Ambrosio
6. Nick Heidfeld
Like Red Bull, except replace "Red Bull" with "Lotus" and "Buemi" with "d'Ambrosio".

f1rejects.com GeneRally Team
7. Jean-Denis Délétraz
8. Alex Caffi
I know this isn't an original idea what with the Microprose series and all, but it's still neat, right?

Since GeneRally only allows up to six cars, an oval track-style one at a time qualifying session will be held at each race. This is also why there are only four teams in the league.

Races
The races will be 3 kilometres long, which takes about one or two minutes. I know that sounds really short, but if you do it any longer, the races get more predictable and the overall results for each season will be too similar. The point system is 3-2-1.
1. Sewring Grand Prix
2. Kutford 3000
3. Rally Finland
4. Surkit Grand Prix
5. Ohful 3000

Qualifying results from Sewring:
1. Buemi — 9.41
2. Paffett — 9.46
3. Heidfeld — 9.47
4. d'Ambrosio — 9.49 (10.04)
5. Délétraz — 9.49 (10.09)
6. Coulthard — 9.49 (10.14)
DNQ. Wickens — 9.50
DNQ. Caffi — 9.67
There was a three-way tie for fourth, so it was broken by each driver doing one lap from a standing start.

2012 Sewring Grand Prix
Buemi got off to a good start, pulling out a clear lead by the end of lap 1 of 10, whilst the other five were together in one pack jostling for position. At the end of lap two, Buemi was still in the lead, with Heidfeld breaking away in a somewhat isolated second, and Coulthard leading the pack of four behind him. At the end of the third lap, Heidfeld was starting to catch up, with Coulthard now having broken away and taken a clear third.

Délétraz was the first to pit, followed by Coulthard and Paffett. Meanwhile, Heidfeld was still very slowly catching up, but definitely not in a position to pass. At the end of lap 6, Buemi led Heidfeld as they were the only ones yet to pit, with the order after them being Coulthard, Délétraz, Paffett, and d'Ambrosio. Buemi and Heidfeld finally pit on lap 7, Buemi coming out in second and Heidfeld in fourth.

With eight laps completed, Coulthard was leading Buemi in one group, with the other four battling in another. Heidfeld was clearly fastest of the second group, but was struggling to get past anyone. Buemi, on fresher tyres, passed Coulthard for the lead. Going into the final lap, the order was Buemi-Coulthard-d'Ambrosio-Heidfeld-Paffett-Délétraz, which wouldn't change before the end of the race.

1. Sébastien Buemi
2. David Coulthard
3. Jérôme d'Ambrosio
4. Nick Heidfeld
5. Gary Paffett
6. Jean-Denis Délétraz

Points
Drivers
1. Buemi — 3
2. Coulthard — 2
3. d'Ambrosio — 1

Teams
1. Red Bull — 5
2. Lotus — 1

Qualifying results from Kutford:
1. Heidfeld — 7.84
2. Caffi — 7.87
3. Wickens — 7.96
4. d'Ambrosio — 7.99 (8.76)
5. Paffett — 7.99 (9.05)
6. Coulthard — 8.00
DNQ. Buemi — 8.04
DNQ. Délétraz — 8.05

2012 Kutford 3000
Heidfeld led Wickens at the end of the first lap, with a gap to Coulthard, Paffett, and Caffi going three wide down the home straight, followed by d'Ambrosio close behind. It was a similar situation at the end of lap 2, Heidfeld having ever so slightly extended his advantage, with the other four in one big pack far behind them. One lap later, Wickens had gained and was closer than he was at the end of lap 1. The pack behind had now settled down a bit, with Caffi leading Paffett, Coulthard, and d'Ambrosio. On lap 4, Wickens passed Heidfeld for the lead and Paffett got third.

Wickens, Heidfeld, Paffett, and Caffi all pitted on the same lap. A couple laps later, the other two pitted, but more importantly Heidfeld passed Wickens for the lead. Caffi was slowly being caught by d'Ambrosio and Coulthard, losing both positions on the final lap.

1. Nick Heidfeld — 124.29 kph
2. Robert Wickens — +0.36
3. Gary Paffett — +1.10
4. David Coulthard — +2.46
5. Jérôme d'Ambrosio — +2.69
6. Alex Caffi — +3.18
Fastest lap: Coulthard (8.12)

Points
Drivers
1. Heidfeld — 3
2. Buemi — 3
3. Coulthard — 2
4. Wickens — 2
5. d'Ambrosio — 1
5. Paffett — 1

Teams
1. Red Bull — 5
2. Lotus — 4
3. Mercedes — 3

Qualifying results from Finland:
1. Buemi — 14.82
2. Paffett — 14.90
3. Délétraz — 14.91
4. Caffi — 14.96
5. Wickens — 14.98
6. Heidfeld — 15.09
DNQ. Coulthard — 15.10
DNQ. d'Ambrosio — 15.17

2012 Rally Finland
The start was very chaotic with lots of position changes in the first two laps, and if I listed every single one it would take forever. Halfway through lap 1, it was Buemi leading Wickens, Paffett, Heidfeld, Délétraz, and Caffi. The latter three all went into a long, sweeping turn wit no runoff at the exit at about the same time, making contact. Heidfeld was on the outside and the contact with the wall left him mildly damaged. Halfway through lap two, it was Buemi with a clear lead, Paffett with a clear second, and once again the slower cars were all in one pack together. At the end of the lap, it was Buemi-Paffett-Caffi-Wickens-Délétraz-Heidfeld. On lap 3, Délétraz made a mistake and Heidfeld went through. Near the end of the lap, Wickens collided with Caffi entering the pit lane, which Wickens would be given a half-second penalty for.

Pitting happened. Around the end of lap 5, Paffett was coming out of the pit lane and hit Heidfeld, earning said Paffett a penalty. At the end of lap 6, it was Buemi way out in the lead, followed by Wickens, Paffett, and Heidfeld, then a gap to Caffi and Délétraz. By the end of the race, Heidfeld dropped to sixth, but nothing else had changed.

1. Buemi — 86.60 kph
2. Paffett — +3.23*
3. Wickens — +3.96^
4. Caffi — +5.46
5. Délétraz — +5.89
6. Heidfeld — +6.22
*Paffett was given a .5-second penalty for his collision with Heidfeld.
^Wickens was given a .5-second penalty for his collision with Caffi.

Points
Drivers
1. Buemi — 6
2. Heidfeld — 3
3. Paffett — 3
4. Wickens — 3
5. Coulthard — 2
6. d'Ambrosio — 1

Teams
1. Red Bull — 8
2. Mercedes — 6
3. Lotus — 4

Qualifying results from Surkit:
1. Buemi — 9.00
2. Heidfeld — 9.08
3. Coulthard — 9.32 (9.89)
4. Délétraz — 9.32 (10.00)
5. Wickens — 9.36
6. d'Ambrosio — 9.38
DNQ. Caffi — 9.54
DNQ. Paffett — 9.57

2012 Surkit Grand Prix
The order after one lap was largely reversed from the grid, being Wickens-Coulthard-d'Ambrosio-Délétraz-Buemi-Heidfeld. d'Ambrosio lost two positions on lap 2 of 9, then pitting ensued on laps 3 and 4. Due to Buemi being a complete moron whilst getting into his pit box, running into other cars and ultimately entering the box backwards, lap 5 ended with him in last. Wickens, meanwhile, had a comfortable lead with the other four in a close pack. All these packs that happen are weird since GeneRally usually isn't like that, but anyway, it was Wickens-d'Ambrosio-Coulthard by the end of lap 6. Buemi was working has way through the field and was 4th with two laps to go, but wasn't able to improve and in fact fell back a bit after that, finishing 5th in the end.

1. Robert Wickens — 125.76 kph
2. Jérôme d'Ambrosio — +3.07
3. David Coulthard — +3.20
4. Nick Heidfeld — +3.98
5. Sébastien Buemi — +4.39
6. Jean-Denis Délétraz — +4.62
Fastest lap: Wickens (9.17)

Points
Drivers
1. Buemi — 6
2. Wickens — 6
3. Heidfeld — 3
4. Coulthard — 3
5. Paffett — 3
5. d'Ambrosio — 3

Teams
1. Red Bull — 9
2. Mercedes — 9
3. Lotus — 6

Looks like nobody is looking at this thread, but I did.

And now looks that we need a tiebreaker race...

FMecha wrote:And now looks that we need a tiebreaker race...

There's still one race, the Ohful 3000, left to go. It's weird, because GeneRally seasons aren't usually this close or unpredictable. Individual races can be a little crazy when you make them this short, but 5–6 race seasons usually have pretty predictable overall standings. In retrospect, it's a good thing I had an odd number of races, since otherwise ties would've really become a problem.

Qualifying results from Ohful:
1. Paffett — 5.30
2. Buemi — 5.32
3. Coulthard — 5.38
4. Heidfeld — 5.40
5. Délétraz — 5.44
6. Wickens — 5.48
DNQ. d'Ambrosio — 5.53
DNQ. Caffi — 5.56

2012 Ohful 3000
Buemi fell back to fourth in the first lap of fourteen, but other than that, nothing changed. Coulthard similarly fell to fourth on lap 2, whilst Wickens passed Délétraz. The very next lap, Wickens also took Coulthard for fourth. He was less than two car lengths behind Buemi at the end of lap 3. Paffett lost some serious pace and lost two positions in the space of a lap.

At the end of lap 5, it was Buemi leading Paffett and Coulthard, with Heidfeld pitting from the lead. Lap 6 saw Buemi and Wickens pit, Buemi coming out about three car lengths ahead of Wickens. He pulled away a little during laps 7 through 9, but Wickens massively came back on him and had cut the lead from five to about three car lengths by the end of lap 11. I have to use car lengths because I'm making these reports from screenshots I took and GeneRally doesn't tell you margins anyway.

With two laps to go, everyone had pitted, and it was Heidfeld with a healthy lead on Buemi with a closing-up Wickens. Wickens was three or four car lengths behind at this point with Coulthard in an isolated fourth and Paffett and Délétraz battling for fifth. Buemi skidded slightly in turn 2, letting Wickens close to within two car lengths as the final lap began, but through the final lap, Buemi was able to match him on pace to win the inaugural GeneRally Racing League season by three tenths of a second.

1. Nick Heidfeld — 131.20 kph
2. Sébastien Buemi — +0.41
3. Robert Wickens — +0.71
4. David Coulthard — +1.39
5. Jean-Denis Délétraz — +3.13
6. Gary Paffett — +3.24

Points
Drivers
1. Buemi — 8
2. Wickens — 7
3. Heidfeld — 6
4. Coulthard — 3
5. Paffett — 3
6. d'Ambrosio — 3

Teams
1. Red Bull — 11
2. Mercedes — 10
3. Lotus — 9

Now that the whole 2013 F1 lineup is confirmed, I’m starting another season of this. And you can control teams.

There are two options. You can take of one of the existing teams; if you do, you can rename the team, change the drivers, and/or downsize to one car. You can also make a new team, in which case you should use the following form:
Nationality:
Team name:
Engine*:
Driver 1:
Driver 2^:
*Choose anyone who currently makes engines for racing teams, or put the name of your own team if they make their own. This is just for flavour and doesn’t have any actual effect on your performance. Maybe next season.
^Leave blank for a one-car team. Running one car will give a very slight performance bonus, at the obvious disadvantage that you have one car. Changing the number of cars your team uses mid-season is permitted.

You can hire any real life driver who was active in 2012 and doesn’t have an F1 race seat for 2013, as long as it obeys the list below. There are no upgrades or money or anything like that; the only management decisions you make are driver changes. Driver performance will be based upon how well they did in their previous GRL season (if applicable) as well as their real life performance in 2012.

the list below
Buemi won’t accept anyone other than Red Bull unless both seats there are filled.
Similarly, Wickens with Red Bull or Mercedes.
Also, Heidfeld with Red Bull/Mercedes/Lotus.

Schedule
Sewring Grand Prix
Ohful 3000
Gilwan Grand Prix
USA 3000

Signups will close at whenever I feel like it.