"Grand Prix 2" Championship

[dr-baker]

I am happy with the qualifying results today. Pole would have been cool, but happy with starting on the clean side of the grid. And both DAMS cars qualified - Pippa has reassured me that if they can help me in any way during the race, they will...

[Shizuka]

Well, that's a step up.

[AdrianSutil]

2 entires, 2 DNQ's.

Getting better...

[JeremyMcClean]

Very pleased with Scrattenheim's performance. Tramontani, however, is slow and dull. Therefore, we're terminating his contract immediately and paying out the rest of his contract. His replacement is Frank Zimmer, brother of John Zimmer. This is, of course, subject to his approval.

[This]

Megumi: Mingolet deserves his point. My race was well until the I undershifted. Otherwise, great race, altough I did not finish it.

That is MISTER Mignolet to you! But good job, keep on doing that

I'm a second faster than puppy? What hapenned girl? You need some assistance?

[East Londoner]

Yeah, this car is a dog, isn't it Gio?

Another good qualifying. Let's see if we can repeat our performance at Interlagos, and take another hatload of points back to Silverstone.

[This]

Yeah, this car is a dog, isn't it Gio?

If we turn the performance around, we can make a god out of it!

[tristan1117]

Alright, I'm giving the championships to Zimmer and Benetton already.

Positives:

John Zimmer: Not much to say. He actually got a terrible start and dropped to fifth, yet he still managed to pass everyone and take the win by a lap. He also took fastest lap by 0.8 seconds.

Padraig O'Connell: Eh, another boring drive for Padraig. He took his second podium in a row but he has managed to coax the Ferrari home twice, something Tom Douglas hasn't done.

Sauber: Well, after the debacle in Brazil, Sauber bounced back with a double points finish! Kickert and da Silva were both consistent, if not spectacular, and benefited greatly from the failure of everyone else who had a chance for points (McAllister, Douglas, van Dycke and Cannon).

Artiom Zielenkovski: This may be shocking to many but Zielenkovski was running in fifteenth place at one points. Okay, so he had a train of seven cars all trying to get past him, but the fact that he got to fifteenth was awesome! He was ahead of the Footworks, DAMS and Minardis cars. Although he retired later on, I will give him IIDOTR

Negatives:

Williams: Williams had a disappointing race. Both Moreno and Mann were running in podium spots before their cars gave out with only a few laps to go. Moreno and Mann both seem to be cursed with bad luck wherever they go.

Footwork: Both Meerwick and Hoshino were terribly slow and the latter could not get past Zielenkovski's Pacific. Meerwick might be on the hot seat from seatholder Max von Hegel soon.

Sebastian Gazurek:

Sebastian Gazurek has been fined $50,000 for dangerous driving.

That should sum it up nicely. How on earth did Gazurek get on the grid in the first place? His fastest lap was 15 seconds! behind the leader. He was also a complete nuisance on the road for anyone who tried to lap him. However, he earned his fine after this particular move on Reiko Megumi. Did Gazurek think that he was racing Reiko? It was so obvious that he was getting lapped! I know its strange to give Reject of the Race to the same guy in two consecutive races but he definitely deserved it.

Drivers' Championship
1. John Zimmer - 20
2. Padraig O'Connell - 10
3. Kazuhiko Takagi - 6
4. Leonhard von Gottorp - 5
5. Douglas Mann - 4
6. Damon Cannon - 3
7. Pieter Kickert- 2
8. Pablo da Silva - 1
8= Dennis Mignolet - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 26
2. Ferrari - 10
3. Jordan - 8
4. Williams - 4
5. Sauber - 3
6. Ligier - 1

EDIT: Standings added.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Very pleased with Scrattenheim's performance. Tramontani, however, is slow and dull. Therefore, we're terminating his contract immediately and paying out the rest of his contract. His replacement is Frank Zimmer, brother of John Zimmer. This is, of course, subject to his approval.

Frank would be 12 in '95, so no, he's not driving.

[tristan1117]

Very pleased with Scrattenheim's performance. Tramontani, however, is slow and dull. Therefore, we're terminating his contract immediately and paying out the rest of his contract. His replacement is Frank Zimmer, brother of John Zimmer. This is, of course, subject to his approval.

Frank would be 12 in '95, so no, he's not driving.

Giovanni Roda is available! Or you can make a new driver up, I don't really care.

[East Londoner]

Right, where is that bloody mechanic! I'm gonna bash his head in with his own airgun. The race was going so well, and I could easily have taken a
podium, had I not had to pull off at the first corner because of incompetent, cheap mechanics!

Gah, so close to the points!

[Klon]

I say, that was a jolly good race. Tragic what happened to dear Mister Cannon, could have done well.

[dr-baker]

Dammit.

A top-10 isn't bad I guess. Still hoping for points at some point this season, but we would need a higher retirement rate than this to really be sure of it...

Glad to get some race experience. And at least nobody can accuse me of favouring myself with the better, more relaible parts.

No body was saying that you were, Pip...

Really? You sure? I thought they were...

[Phoenix]

McLaren needs to improve soon, because everyone within the team is feeling targets are not being reached. And, for my own admission, I'm struggling with the car and I need testing time with it to get to grips with it.

[JeremyMcClean]

Very pleased with Scrattenheim's performance. Tramontani, however, is slow and dull. Therefore, we're terminating his contract immediately and paying out the rest of his contract. His replacement is Frank Zimmer, brother of John Zimmer. This is, of course, subject to his approval.

Frank would be 12 in '95, so no, he's not driving.

Well this is embarrassing...

Tramontani will stay in the seat until I find another replacement or he suddenly improves. I'll give him the next race to improve.

[FMecha]

It was a fast race. A podium and 1-2 (for Benetton) is great enough.

I think the commision shall have Gazurek's [super]licence revoked immedieately. (Editor's note - or has it?)

And IMO I think it's too soon to give the championships to Zimmer and Benetton (ironically also Takagi's team) - how's the point tally?

[Shizuka]

That's ridiculous, first retirement, with an engine failure...

[tristan1117]

The F1RGP2C Commission has announced several mid-season rule changes.

I. Pacific, DAMS, Forti and Simtek will all receive a 10 BHP boost so that they are less of a danger to oncoming traffic.
II. Sebastian Gazurek, at the request of Ligier, has been put on probation after his dangerous maneuver on Reiko Megumi at Argentina.
III. The pitlane speed limit has been raised to 100 kph.
IV. The race length has been lengthened from 80% to 85%.

[tristan1117]

Round 3: San Marino
Imola, 52 laps (the race will be run on the 1994 version of the circuit)

Code: Select all

1. Daniel Moreno (Williams) - 1.20.389
2. Douglas Mann (Williams) - 1.20.908
3. John Zimmer (Benetton) - 1.20.936
4. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) - 1.21.198
5. Kazuhiko Takagi (Benetton) - 1.21.628
6. Leonhard von Gottorp (Jordan) - 1.21.758
7. Tom Douglas (Ferrari) - 1.21.845
8. James Davies (McLaren) - 1.22.453
9. Damon Cannon (Jordan) - 1.22.532
10. Rory McAllister (McLaren) - 1.23.140
11. Pieter Kickert (Sauber) - 1.23.487
12. Reiko Megumi (Ligier) - 1.23.657
13. Dennis Mignolet (Ligier) - 1.23.738

Code: Select all

14. Poppy Whitechapel (Tyrrell) - 1.24.304
15. Gio van Dycke (Tyrrell) - 1.24.605
16. Kazuyoshi Hoshino (Footwork) - 1.24.769
17. Pablo da Silva (Sauber) - 1.25.591
18. Andrew Spokes (Minardi) - 1.25.979
19. Jorg Screttneheim (Simtek) - 1.26.108
20. George Tramontani (Simtek) - 1.26.762
21. Miko Fakkinen (Minardi) - 1.26.767
22. Anton Kaliniczenko (Pacific) - 1.26.801
23. Pippa Mann (DAMS) - 1.26.888
24. Samael Meerwick) - 1.27.229
25. Artiom Zielenkovski (Pacific) - 1.27.372
26. Sebastian Gazurek (Forti) - 1.27.915
DNQ Ben Fleet (DAMS) - 1.27.981
DNQ Masta Valsattis (Forti) - 1.28.313

Daniel Moreno takes his first pole of the season, outpacing the his teammate and Zimmer by six tenths! The middle of the grid was basically the same as last time so there's not much to talk about there. George Tramontani put in a good effort in an attempt to save his job; he will start 20th. Sebastian Gazurek got on the grid again so we will be watching closely for spins and crashes. Ben Fleet failed to qualify for the first time this year and Masta Valsattis still hasn't qualified for a race this year.

[tristan1117]

Round 3: San Marino
Imola, 52 laps, Intermediate Weather

It was a rainy day in Italy as the track dampened over Sunday night with light rain throughout the entire race. Polesitter Daniel Moreno made a brilliant getaway, flying into a comfortable eight second lead over John Zimmer and Padraig O'Connell. Moreno was quick as the race went on but Padraig O'Connell was hanging with John Zimmer nicely. However, unlike most events, strategy would have a major effect on the outcome of the race.

The top three of Moreno, Zimmer and O'Connell were all on two-stop strategies along with Douglas Mann in fifth. That left Kazuhiko Takagi as the only frontrunner on a one-stop strategy. And as the race wore on, it became clear that the one-stop strategy was the one to be on. Takagi was not going particularly fast but he was quick enough to hold a gap between him and Moreno. With tyre wear low due to the rain, Takagi was able to maximize his one-stop strategy while Moreno, Zimmer and O'Connell were all forced to make an extra stop. Moreno might have been able to make a the extra stop has he not had an electrical problem midway through the race. Daniel was unable to make up two stops and eventually ended behind John Zimmer (although Moreno nearly passed Zimmer in the closing stages, taking fastest lap in the process). O'Connell was ahead of Zimmer after the pitstops but had a lackluster third stint. So Kazuhiko Takagi took his first win in the F1RGP2C, leading home a Benetton 1-2.

Positives:

Kazuhiko Takagi: F1GP2C's unlucky number-two finally came through with a victory! It was a solid, if unspectacular drive (he only set the third-fastest lap) but that's what counts in these conditions. I will give him IIDOTR for finally winning a race.

Daniel Moreno: Moreno was this close to winning. Had he not had his electrical problem on Lap 29, he might have been able to pass Takagi for the lead at some point. Zielenkovski and Mignolet's electrics also seized up in the rain so it was a chronic problem for the cars. At least Moreno was able to finish a race for the first time this season.

Tom Douglas: After his initial brush with von Gottorp, Douglas came through the field from last to take his first points of the year in sixth place, barely beating out Pieter Kickert on the way. With four laps to go, Douglas spun his car and Kickert got past. Then, the Ferari caught Kickert on the last lap of the race. As they were battling, Kickert's front wing was knocked off, leaving Douglas with the point.

Pippa Mann: She was the best of the backmarkers and she even battled Reiko Megumi for fourteenth at one point. DAMS is making progress!

Negatives:

John Zimmer and Padraig O'Connell: Yes, I know they finished second and third respectively, but they ruined any hopes they had of catching Takagi and winning the race. Zimmer had a bad strategy to begin with (what was Benetton thinking?) and he compounded it by being slower than Moreno and spinning his car while battling O'Connell. Zimmer has a strange habit of spinning during wet races. Padraig was going well but he suffered a throttle problem and was forced to pit.

Jordan: Damon Cannon was off the pace during the race and Leonhard von Gottorp's race was screwed after his collision with Douglas. It was a disappointing showing for them.

Miko Fakkinen: Fakkinen had a nasty shunt after aquaplaning in the wet, slamming into the wall and destroying the front of his car. He was fine after the accident. Andrew Spokes has beaten him in every race so far and Spokes was running in thirteenth place before a loose wheel forced him out.

McLaren: McLaren suffered their second double-DNF in a row, with McAllister and Davies retiring within a lap of each other. They are yet to score a point, Rory has already called them out in the press and they can't finish races. A deserved Reject of the Race for them.





(Sorry for putting the results at the end. I didn't want to spoil Takagi's first win!)

Drivers' Championship
1. John Zimmer - 26
2. Kazuhiko Takagi - 16
3. Padraig O'Connell - 14
4. Douglas Mann - 6
5. Leonhard von Gottorp - 5
6. Daniel Moreno - 4
7. Damon Cannon - 3
8. Pieter Kickert - 2
9. Pablo da Silva - 1
9= Dennis Mignolet - 1
9= Tom Douglas - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 42
2. Ferrari - 15
3. Williams - 10
4. Jordan - 8
5. Sauber - 3
6. Ligier - 1

[tristan1117]

Personal Note: I have exams coming up this week so I will not be updating this until next Saturday/Sunday-ish.

[Wizzie]

This, today, is bulls***. *Storms out of garage*

[eurobrun]

Both Williams drivers need to get good results or they will be sacked.

[Shizuka]

Another engine failure? This is pathetic

[AdrianSutil]

3 entries, 3 DNQ's ftw

[FMecha]

...

Phew, what a win!

Again, problematic part preventing me to finish... But I congratulate Takagi on his win.
*after podium ceremony, hugs Takagi*

[Phoenix]

Oh dear. We need to jump out of the blocks quickly, because retiring with a loose wheel is too much of an embarrassment. I desperately need to pick up pace myself too.

[JeremyMcClean]

Both Williams drivers need to get good results or they will be sacked.

Maybe if you give me a more reliable car maybe I can put that in order!!!

Been very pleased with the last two performances, especially the one in Brazil. The car, and as a result, the team, is vastly improving.

[dr-baker]

Both Williams drivers need to get good results or they will be sacked.

Maybe if you give me a more reliable car maybe I can put that in order!!!

Hey, Prince Wallie, sorry Walik, but I am currently 4th in the championship, in a season currently being dominated by the Benetton team. Take them out of it, and my results don't seem so bad, do they? Cut us some slack, get us a car that is faster and more reliable then you'll see. But if you were to sack me, I'm sure my sister will make sure my CV is not affected by sharing the two seats at DAMS between the three of us...

Glad to get a decent result today. Still, it's not points, but I'm sure my day will come. After all, if I can do it in a Simtek last year... Sad that Ben DNQed, but hey, I was in the same boat in the first race of the year, so I can't be too hard on him.

[tristan1117]

Round 4: Monaco
Monaco Street Circuit, 66 laps

Code: Select all

1. Daniel Moreno (Williams) - 1.17.643
2. John Zimmer (Benetton) - 1.18.117
3. Douglas Mann (Williams) - 1.28.435
4. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) - 1..19.176
5. James Davies (McLaren) - 1.19.300
6. Damon Cannon (Jordan) - 1.19.904
7. Kazuhiko Takagi (Benetton) - 1.19.957
8. Tom Douglas (Ferrari) - 1.20.138
9. Rory McAllister (McLaren) - 1.21.013
10. Pieter Kickert (Sauber) - 1.21.188
11. Reiko Megumi (Ligier) - 1.21.642
12. Poppy Whitechapel (Tyrrell) - 1.22.164
13. Andrew Spokes (Minardi) - 1.22.756

Code: Select all

14. Pablo da Silva (Sauber) - 1.22.981
15. Kazuyoshi Hoshino (Footwork) - 1.23.253
16. Jorg Scrattenheim (Simtek) - 1.23.575
17. Gio van Dycke (Tyrrell) - 1.23.594
18. Dennis Mignolet (Ligier) - 1.24.593
19. Miko Fakkinen (Minardi) - 1.24.780
20. Anton Kaliniczenko (Pacific) 1.25.006
21. Pippa Mann (DAMS) - 1.25.099
22. George Tramontani (Simtek) - 1.25.362
23. Samael Meerwick (Footwork) - 1.25.514
24. Artiom Zielenkovski (Pacific) - 1.25.797
25. Ben Fleet (DAMS) - 1.26.161
26. Sebastian Gazurek (Forti) - 1.26.387
DNQ Masta Valsattis (Forti) - 1.26.700
DNQ Leonhard von Gottorp (Jordan) - 1.29.340

And for the first time, Reject of the Race has been decided before the race has even started. This time, the award goes to Jordan team for not checking a water leak in von Gottorp's car on his Saturday qualifying run. Now Leonhard von Gottorp has a big DNQ by his name and one extra backmarker will participate on Sunday. Thursday qualifying was a wash (literally, it rained buckets) and the drivers had to go for broke on Sunday. Moreno drove extremely well to take pole position by over a second even though Zimmer had barely outpaced him in the wet. The one qualifying session threw up some surprise results; Dennis Mignolet will start in eighteenth after a poor run in the Ligier. Kazuhiko Takagi was badly blocked by Artiom Zielenkovski on both his runs but the F1RGP2C Commission has not taken any action against Artiom. Takagi and Benetton are free to launch a motion in the Court for Arbitration of Sport (Takagi lost about five seconds on his second run).

[FMecha]

I'm talking to my team and FIA now. Artiom has done a Deletraz move against me!

Minor improvement. That's all.

And since when Takagi went to Ferrari? (Though I may consider him for Ferrari for 1997/1998)

[AdrianSutil]

Masta Valsattis fakebook page:

"4 entires and 4 DNQ's. I'm absolutely loving my time at the very back of the grid!"

[Ferrim]

Masta Valsattis fakebook page:

"4 entires and 4 DNQ's. I'm absolutely loving my time at the very back of the motorhome!"

Fixed.

[tristan1117]

Round 4: Monaco




This year's Monaco Grand Prix was about the same as the last one-high attrition, no overtaking and a 1-2 finish. Everything was the same, even the large amount of transmission failures!

Positives:

Daniel Moreno and Williams: Eh, perfect race for them. Once John Zimmer screwed himself over, it was a walk in the park for Moreno. Douglas Mann didn't do too badly either but he also benefited from the high attrition rate. This result puts them right back in the championship hunt, although it is still early in the year.

James Davies: After last week's embarrassing RoTR, Davies and McLaren responded well by taking their first podium and points of the year. Davies was in clean air for much of the race and he trounced Rory McAllister again.

Pablo da Silva: da Silva always shows up for Monaco. He finished fourth for Sauber here last year and he finished fourth again this year. da Silva is also on the points table.

Pippa Mann: Another driver who seems to be a Monaco specialist, Pippa was driving brilliantly in the DAMS car. She was ahead of Megumi, both Footworks and the rest of the backmarkers and looked on course for a fifth place finish, DAMS' first points and unrejectification. Sadly, it was not to be. Something in Monaco corrodes away transmissions which cost Pippa a great result. Another IIDOTR for her.

Miko Fakkinen: Any time that Minardi scores points is a good result. This is also Miko's first point of his career so he deserves to be in the positives.

Negatives:

Benetton: Well, they were due for a crap race and they finally delivered. Zimmer started off well, pressuring Moreno and hanging on by less then three seconds. Then he lost it coming out of the tunnel and spun the car, dropping him back to fifth. Zimmer has a strange habit of spinning off and getting back on track. However, because this is Monaco, he was unable to make up for lost time and pass people. He proceeded to have a tiff with his teammate over fourth place and nearly ran Takagi off the road. Takagi didn't last for much longer after that as his engine blew. Near the end of the race, Zimmer's transmission gave up and completed a terrible weekend for Benetton.

Reiko Megumi: Reiko had her first bad performance of the year. Although she handily out-qualified Mignolet, Dennis beat out Megumi in the race. Reiko also had a big shunt at the Mirabeau, wasting her good starting position and knocking her out of the race.

Sebastian Gazurek and Samael Meerwick: This is just getting pitiful. No, Gazurek and Meerwick did not spin off. They were both so slow that they were not able to be classified as they had not completed the minimum distance. Yes, this actually happened. Samael Inou- sorry, Meerwick was stuck behind the Forti for most of the race and only got by after the last round of stops. Max von Hegel has announced that Meerwick's seat is in imminent danger.

Drivers' Championship
1. John Zimmer - 26
2. Kazuhiko Takagi - 16
=3. Padraig O'Connell - 14
=3. Daniel Moreno - 14
5. Douglas Mann - 12
6. Leonhard von Gottorp - 5
=7 Pablo da Silva - 4
=7 James Davies - 4
9. Damon Cannon - 3
=10 Pieter Kickert - 2
=10 Gio van Dycke - 2
=11 Dennis Mignolet - 1
=11 Tom Douglas - 1
=11 Miko Fakkinen - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 42
2. Williams - 26
3. Ferrari - 15
4. Jordan - 8
5. Sauber - 6
6. McLaren - 4
7. Tyrrell - 2
=8 Ligier - 1
=8 Minardi - 1

[dr-baker]

I had a dream last night. It was an alternative universe to this one. It was based in the near future, about 1997 I think. And there was a guy in it whose name sounded a bit like look-how-bad-you-are or something like that, and he drove for the Minardi team. He had never scored points before, but was running 4th in a high attrition race but had to retire close to the end of the race. He was devasted and very upset. Well, it happened to me today, didn't it? And I feel just like him too. So please excuse me.

Well, yes, my sister has had a rather bad day, which has taken the edge off my day a bit, but I'm sure Ben Fleet will be able to provide some degree of comfort to her.

[East Londoner]

Have you ever had neutral and 4th gear at a start? If you haven't, I wouldn't recommend it. bathplug pissed off, I really am! I get it together, it was a bathplug nightmare, it happened again a few laps later, and someone stuffs me up the back when I stopped.

Engine gave up on me. No bother, I was absolutely nowhere at the time. I'm gonna go and comfort Pippa, try and cheer her up.

[dr-baker]

I had a dream last night. It was an alternative universe to this one. It was based in the near future, about 1997 I think. And there was a guy in it whose name sounded a bit like look-how-bad-you-are or something like that, and he drove for the Minardi team. He had never scored points before, but was running 4th in a high attrition race but had to retire close to the end of the race. He was devasted and very upset. Well, it happened to me today, didn't it? And I feel just like him too. So please excuse me.

Well, yes, my sister has had a rather bad day, which has taken the edge off my day a bit, but I'm sure Ben Fleet will be able to provide some degree of comfort to her.

Engine gave up on me. No bother, I was absolutely nowhere at the time. I'm gonna go and comfort Pippa, try and cheer her up.

That's not a bad idea, Poppy - you know how incompetant us men can be when it comes to comforting a crying lady...

[This]

And you'll dream this night about something else, but that one will come true.
Hint: it has something to do with Gio Van Dycke and the puppy is involved too

I came fifth in the race, that's pretty good.

[JeremyMcClean]

Perfect race! We need more races like these!!!

[tristan1117]

And you'll dream this night about something else, but that one will come true.
Hint: it has something to do with Gio Van Dycke and the puppy is involved too

I came fifth in the race, that's pretty good.

No comment.

Anyway, Artiom Zielenkovski and Samael Meerwick have been put on probation for ignoring blue flags during the Monaco weekend, after an appeal from Benetton.