"Grand Prix 2" Championship

[BlindCaveSalamander]

Godammit.

[eurobrun]

I am very pleased with the performance of Daniel Moreno and I hope he can win the championship

Eh? No mention of me and my brilliant drive? I passed 20 people for goodness sake! If I can repeat this in more 'normal' races, I could still win this...

Douglas, it was a good recovery but you shoudn't have been back there in the first place.

[This]

"water leak" and "Gio Van Dycke" ... i think we don't want to know what really happened

[East Londoner]

Well, we got both cars to the finish this time around, so at least we achieved that target...

My race was run by the end of lap 5, when Reiko came barreling out of control into turn 1. I had to get out of it to avoid a collison, but ended up stuffing it into the tyre barriers. Really stupid move, but Reiko seemed quite upset when she found me after the race, so I accept her apologies.

[tristan1117]

Round 10: Hungary
Hungaroring

Grid:

Code: Select all

1. John Zimmer (Benetton) - 1.17.356
2. Douglas Mann (Williams) - 1.17.710
3. Daniel Moreno (Williams) - 1.18.329
4. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) - 1.19.162
5. James Davies (McLaren) - 1.19.952
6. Leonhard von Gottorp (Jordan) - 1.20.039
7. Damon Cannon (Jordan) - 1.20.039
8. Kazuhiko Takagi (Benetton) - 1.20.129
9. Tom Douglas (Ferrari) - 1.20.294
10. Rory McAllister (McLaren) - 1.20.710
11. Dennis Mignolet (Ligier) - 1.21.010
12. Reiko Megumi (Ligier) - 1.21.719
13. Pieter Kickert (Sauber) - 1.22.239

Code: Select all

14. Poppy Whitechapel (Tyrrell) - 1.22.467
15. Gio dan Dycke (Tyrrell) - 1.22.870
16. Andrew Spokes (Minardi) - 1.23.034
17. Pablo da Silva (Sauber) - 1.23.216
18. Kazuyoshi Hoshino (Footwork) - 1.23.346
19. Jorg Scrattenheim (Simtek) - 1.23.909
20. Samael Meerwick (Footwork) - 1.24.589
21. Miko Fakkinen (Minardi) - 1.25.150
22. Anton Kaliniczenko (Pacific) - 1.25.501
23. Artiom Zielenkovski (Pacific) - 1.25.954
24. Pippa Mann (DAMS) - 1.25.955
25. Ben Fleet (DAMS) - 1.26.386
26. George Tramontani (Simtek) - 1.26.619
DNQ Sebastian Gazurek (Forti) - 1.26.922
DNQ Masta Valsattis (Forti) - 1.27.046

Zimmer takes pole while Mann goes ahead of Moreno (team orders possibly?). Kaz Takagi had a bad quali while James Davies had a good one. Oh, and Meerwick picks up his qualifying pace after von Hegel puts down an ultimatum. Typical. Well, time to grab my pillow for a nice rest... What's this? Heavy rain forecasted for tomorrow?

[BlindCaveSalamander]

Now that's more like it, let's kick some more ass tomorrow.

[dr-baker]

Round 10: Hungary
Hungaroring

Grid:

Code: Select all

1. John Zimmer (Benetton) - 1.17.356
2. Douglas Mann (Williams) - 1.17.710
3. Daniel Moreno (Williams) - 1.18.329
4. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) - 1.19.162


Zimmer takes pole while Mann goes ahead of Moreno (team orders possibly?). What's this? Heavy rain forecasted for tomorrow?

Team orders? Usually a bit of a risky strategy in qualifying isn't it? (Although with these time gaps, anything is possible...) Nah, just working on different strategies for the race tomorrow. That's all. Oh, and my sister and her boyfriend, Pippa Mann and Ben Fleet, are happy that they were both able to qualify their DAMS for the race. Pippa is hoping for a good result tomorrow with the anticipation of rain, although Ben Fleet is teasing her that it'll be him, not her, that'll score tomorrow...

[JeremyMcClean]

Zimmer takes pole while Mann goes ahead of Moreno (team orders possibly?). Kaz Takagi had a bad quali while James Davies had a good one. Oh, and Meerwick picks up his qualifying pace after von Hegel puts down an ultimatum. Typical. Well, time to grab my pillow for a nice rest... What's this? Heavy rain forecasted for tomorrow?

What? Never heard of any team orders in the paddock, maybe at Benetton, but not here!

[the Masked Lapwing]

Is it me, or does Kickert always seem to qualify 13th?

[Wizzie]

James, you impress me greatly, that's why McLaren are willing to offer you a three year contract should you desire to stay with the team. While Rory hasn't been at his best this year, we're willing to sign him for a few more years as well because we believe he has potential to do fantastically well. Should either of our drivers choose to leave McLaren at the end of the year, then we'll consider our options for next year with Andrew Spokes being the top of our list of potential drivers.

[BlindCaveSalamander]

James, you impress me greatly, that's why McLaren are willing to offer you a three year contract should you desire to stay with the team. While Rory hasn't been at his best this year, we're willing to sign him for a few more years as well because we believe he has potential to do fantastically well. Should either of our drivers choose to leave McLaren at the end of the year, then we'll consider our options for next year with Andrew Spokes being the top of our list of potential drivers.

Oh, that's an offer I can't refuse. I've been really enjoying my time at McLaren and I think by continuing our partnership we can move up the grid, and possibly challenge for championships in 2 or 3 years time.

[East Londoner]

Hockenhiem is a track that suits the Jordan package. If the car doesn't decide to self-destruct halfway through, we could be on for some bumper points...

14th place again!? So bloody boring and insipid

[tristan1117]

This will have to be quick because I have to board a flight in fifteen minutes...

A bullet point review of the Hungarian GP

* John Zimmer is awesome.
* Daniel Moreno is unlucky.
* The above facts will switch depending on the race.
* Rory McAllister is pretty good.
* James Davies was OK.
* Leonhard von Gottorp is great! IIDOTR
* Pieter Kickert is lucky
* Samael Meerwick saved his job for another race
* Pacific, George Tramontani and Miko Fakkinen are slow.
* Kazuhiko Takagi has blown up way too many engines in his career.
* Reject of the Race goes to Damon Cannon for doing a Maldonado with a few laps to go. He crashed it in while running in sixth. Since Enoch gave Maldonado ROTR in Australia, Cannon will take out ROTR for Hungary.
* Oh, and the race was pretty boring otherwise.




Drivers' Championship
1. John Zimmer - 64 (5 wins)
2. Daniel Moreno - 54 (4 wins)
3. Padraig O'Connell - 33
4. Douglas Mann - 31
5. Kazuhiko Takagi - 28 (1 win)
6. Leonhard von Gottorp - 11
7. Rory McAllister - 10
8. Tom Douglas - 8
9. James Davies - 6
=1010 Pablo da Silva - 4
=10 Pieter Kickert - 4
=12 Damon Cannon - 3
=12 Dennis Mignolet - 3
14. Gio van Dycke - 2
15. Miko Fakkinen - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 92
2. Williams - 85
3. Ferrari - 41
4. McLaren - 16
5. Jordan - 14
6. Sauber - 8
7. Ligier 3
8. Tyrrell - 2
9. Minardi - 1

[Shizuka]

Another engine failure. Wow, the Footwork is unreliable. Also, being "as" Inoue doesn't help neither!

[dr-baker]

2nd is alright, but I am desperate now to get a race win, and I have to aim to get at least 3rd in the drivers' championship.

This DAMS is both unreliable and not that fast.

[East Londoner]

I'm gonna protest the decision to award me ROTR. Many, many drivers have crashed out near the end of races whilst in a promising position, so why am I the one to be vilified? Surely Simtek should be awarded ROTR for being the first 2 DNFs in this race, or Forti for failing to qualify that heap of junk yet again? And finally, who in the blue hell is this Pastor Maldonado that the organiser talked about?

Bah! I ran over some debries around turn 3, and the tyre just fell to pieces. I had to park it, as there was no way the car was safe enough to continue.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Zzzzzz... Huh? What? Hey, why'd you wake me up! Why I oughta...

It was a good race for me today, Sauber are a team on the up and I would like to remain with them next season.

[eurobrun]

It was a good race for me today, Sauber are a team on the up and I would like to remain with them next season.

Peiter, you are more than welcome to stay at Sauber for 1996.

[tristan1117]

I'm gonna protest the decision to award me ROTR. Many, many drivers have crashed out near the end of races whilst in a promising position, so why am I the one to be vilified? Surely Simtek should be awarded ROTR for being the first 2 DNFs in this race, or Forti for failing to qualify that heap of junk yet again? And finally, who in the blue hell is this Pastor Maldonado that the organiser talked about?

Bah! I ran over some debries around turn 3, and the tyre just fell to pieces. I had to park it, as there was no way the car was safe enough to continue.

In this thread, dr_baker postulated that most of the drivers in this series are actually time travelers (including the president, Tristan Jung) so we would know who the Reverend is. I think.

[tristan1117]

Entry List for the DUEL IN THE DESERT at Phoenix

Mild Seven Benetton Renault
0. John Zimmer
2. Kazuhiko Takagi

Nokia Tyrrell Yamaha
3. Poppy Whitechapel
4. Gio van Dycke

Rothmans Williams Renault
5. Daniel Moreno
6. Douglas Mann

Marlboro McLaren Mercedes
7. Rory McAllister
8. James Davies

Footwork Ford
9. Kazuyoshi Hoshino
10. Samael Meerwick

MTV Simtek Ford
11. George Tramontani
12. Jorg Scrattenheim

Total Jordan Peugot
14. Leonhard von Gottorp
15. Damon Cannon

Pacific Grand Prix-Ford
16. Anton Kaliniczenko
17. Artiom Zielenkovski

DAMS
19. Pippa Mann
20. Ben Fleet

Parmalat Forti-Ford
21. Masta Valsattis
22. Sebastian Gazurek

Minardi Scuderia Italia-Ford
23. Andrew Spokes
24. Mikko Fakkinnen

Ligier Gitanes Blondes-Mugen-Honda
25. Reiko Megumi
26. Dennis Mignolet

Scuderia Ferrari
27. Padraig O Connell
28. Tom Douglas

Red Bull Sauber Mercedes
29. Pablo da Silva
30. Pieter Kickert

Guest Drivers:
Chris Dagnall
Niko Nurminen
Giovanni Roda
Martin McFry
Clivio Durand

[tristan1117]

Round 11: Belgium
Spa-Francochamps (Q1 Dry, Q2 Intermediate Wet)

Grid:

Code: Select all

1. Douglas Mann (Williams) - 1.50.875
2. John Zimmer (Benetton) - 1.51.231
3. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) - 1.51.770
4. Kazuhiko Takagi (Benetton) - 1.52.617
5. Daniel Moreno (Williams) - 1.52.870
6. Leonhard von Gottorp (Jordan) - 1.53.294
7. Damon Cannon (Jordan) - 1.53.339
8. Tom Douglas (Ferrari) - 1.53.352
9. James Davies (McLaren) - 1.54.011
10. Rory McAllister (McLaren) - 1.55.460
11. Reiko Megumi (Ligier) - 1.56.440
12. Pieter Kickert (Sauber) - 1.56.611
13. Dennis Mignolet (Ligier) - 1.56.796

Code: Select all

14. Poppy Whitechapel (Tyrrell) - 1.57.198
15. Kazuyoshi Hoshino (Footwork) - 1.57.836
16. Jorg Scrattenheim (Simtek) - 1.58.234
17. Gio van Dycke (Tyrrell) - 1.58.337
18. Andrew Spokes (Minardi) - 1.58.468
19. Miko Fakkinen (Minardi) - 1.58.832
20. Pablo da Silva (Sauber) - 1.58.868
21. Samael Meerwick (Footwork) - 1.59.492
22. Artiom Zielenkovski (Pacific) - 1.59.544
23. Anton Kaliniczenko (Pacific) - 2.00.163
24. Ben Fleet (DAMS) - 2.00.578
25. Pippa Mann (DAMS) - 2.01.072
26. George Tramontani (Simtek) - 2.01.381
DNQ Masta Valsattis (Forti) - 2.01.766
DNQ Sebastian Gazurek (Forti) - 2.02.051

The weather in Belgium was not so great on Saturday so the Friday times were the only qualifying times that counted. The unexpected rain caught out Daniel Moreno who put in a slow lap on Friday and was unable to compete. The big surprise was his teammate, however, who became the first driver without the name "Zimmer" or "Moreno" to take pole. He did it by a convincing margin too and is a favorite to win the race on Sunday. Both Jordans looked strong while both McLarens were a bit off the pace. Also, George Tramontani qualified a full three seconds slower than his teammate and is the odds on favorite to win ROTR if no one else steps up. Rain is forecasted for Sunday.

[JeremyMcClean]

Well, at least Douglas claimed pole...

The team said it would not rain today, and what happens? The rain is coming! The installation was completely wrong. At least I left wet (tyres)...

[dr-baker]

Well, finally. This is a burden off my shoulders for this season. But it's tomorrow that counts...

[Shizuka]

I'm seriously expecting an engine failure for Meerwick. In the rain!

[FMecha]

First it was dry, then sudden rain? I must be careful.

Rain? Attrition please, but please don't make my car out of this race...

(Keep in mind that Takagi and Megumi aren't time traveler[s])

[tristan1117]

Weather: Intermediate Wet

Finally stopped being lazy and got around to doing this... Back to the old style.

Positives:

Daniel Moreno: Moreno's win was a textbook case of not giving up. Although Moreno was something like 20 seconds behind the leaders after his miserable qualifying outing and a disastrous start, he kept the car on the road despite the fact he looked set for a fifth place finish while Mann and Zimmer rushed off into the lead. Then Mann spun off, Takagi's car gave up AGAIN!, Zimmer's car failed and Padraig O'Connell crashed at Blanchimont. Suddenly, Moreno was in the lead by over forty seconds with Douglas in second and Davies in third. The championship is now tied!

Tom Douglas and James Davies: Douglas salvaged some of Ferrari's honor after O'Connell's accident, finishing a competent second. James Davies proved that his contract extension was not a mistake as McLaren continues to capitalize on miscues by Jordan.

Tyrrell: Somehow, Tyrrell is now in front of Ligier in the Constructors' Championship after taking a sensational double points finish. Sure it was helped by Jordan's unreliability but it was a fine result nonetheless. They get IIDOTR for their performance.

Samael Meerwick: Well, he finished in the top 15 so he gets another race at Footwork. In fact, Meerwick actually outperformed Hoshino this time after Hoshino spun off twice and retired with a loose wheel. Too bad he suffered a transmission failure.

Negativos:

John Zimmer, Padraig O'Connell and Kazuhiko Takagi: All three had a great chance to win and were either let down or threw the car off the road (we'll get to Mann in a second). Definitely a missed opportunity, especially for O'Connell as he had an open path to become the first non-Williams/Benetton winner this year.

Transmissions: Nine transmission failure in one race?! I guess the rain must've screwed up the circuits or something.

Reiko Megumi:

Rain? Attrition please, but please don't make my car out of this race...

Well, she did finish the race but she was 3 laps down and battling with the likes of DAMS and Minardi! It was really a disaster all-round for Ligier as Mignolet retired with a transmission problem.

Jordan: Once again, Jordan was given a golden opportunity to smash McLaren into the ground. Once again, they failed miserably. Damon Cannon was out early (again) with a suspension failure but Leonhard von Gottorp was looking good for points before his engine blew up. McLaren gains a six point lead on Jordan in the Constructors' which may be insurmountable at this rate.

Simtek: Alright, can someone get around to firing George Tramontani now? He was given a reprieve for some good midseason driver but this is the second time he's qualified dead last on the grid in a row and he also recorded the slowest fastest lap of the entire race. Jorg Scrattenheim hasn't been doing much better of late either; he qualifies well but it normally turns to nothing except a gigantic train during the race. He also had a massive off at Blanchimont (same thing happened to O'Connell, by the way) and retired with a transmission problem. This miserable performance escapes ROTR because of the following...

Douglas Mann: It may be strange to give Reject of the Race to the guy who took pole and fastest lap but what the hell, I'm doing it anyway. Mann was all set to go charging off into the distance and take a fine win for Williams (if you think about it, it might have been a Williams 1-2 because both Benettons and O'Connell retired) but after two laps he threw the car into the scenery and fell to the back of the pack. OK, not the end of the world, Mann did pass 20 cars two races ago, right? Wrong. On Lap 4, Mann crashed the car again on the run-up to the Bus Stop Chicane after losing control of his car. I have never seen someone crash there in my entire life! This time, the crash knocked him out of the race and to make matters worse, he was immediately rammed by Ben Fleet's DAMS (so much for sibling loyalty). Here is the video along with Ben Fleet spinning, and spinning and spinning.




Drivers' Championship
1. John Zimmer - 64 (5 wins)
2. Daniel Moreno - 64 (5 wins)
3. Padraig O'Connell - 33
4. Douglas Mann - 31
5. Kazuhiko Takagi - 28 (1 win)
6. Tom Douglas - 14
7. Leonhard von Gottorp - 11
=8 Rory McAllister - 10
=8 James Davies - 10
10. Pieter Kickert - 7
11. Pablo da Silva - 4
=12 Damon Cannon - 3
=12 Dennis Mignolet - 3
14. Gio van Dycke - 3
15. Poppy Whitechapel - 2
16. Miko Fakkinen - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Williams - 95
2. Benetton - 92
3. Ferrari - 47
4. McLaren - 20
5. Jordan - 14
6. Sauber - 11
7. Tyrrell - 5
8. Ligier 3
9. Minardi - 1

[East Londoner]

Bah! I was in the points, running in 5th and running well for once. Coming out of Stavelot, the rear end of the car became very loose. I radioed the team and they told to park it immediately, which was just as well, as the rear suspension had failed. If I had carried on at full speed and it broke completely just up the road at Blanchimont, the consequences don't bear thinking about

Yeah baby! Add a little water to the track and suddenly the crapbox becomes competitive. I enjoy this 5th place!

[BlindCaveSalamander]

Freakin' sweet! Take that, Jordan! It's just such a shame that Rory's transmission gave up, or we could've bagged a whole 7 points.

[eurobrun]

If Douglas Mann doesn't start winning races soon he will be sacked

[Shizuka]

Another retirement. It's just wow.

[dr-baker]

If Douglas Mann doesn't start winning races soon he will be sacked

Maybe if my season continues like this, I may not wish to stay! I'm fed up with my results this year. I wish I had stayed at McLaren.

Douglas Mann: It may be strange to give Reject of the Race to the guy who took pole and fastest lap but what the hell, I'm doing it anyway. Mann was all set to go charging off into the distance and take a fine win for Williams (if you think about it, it might have been a Williams 1-2 because both Benettons and O'Connell retired) but after two laps he threw the car into the scenery and fell to the back of the pack. OK, not the end of the world, Mann did pass 20 cars two races ago, right? Wrong. On Lap 4, Mann crashed the car again on the run-up to the Bus Stop Chicane after losing control of his car. I have never seen someone crash there in my entire life! This time, the crash knocked him out of the race and to make matters worse, he was immediately rammed by Ben Fleet's DAMS (so much for sibling loyalty). Here is the video along with Ben Fleet spinning, and spinning and spinning.

Ben Fleet and Douglas Mann are NOT siblings. Since when do brothers have different surnames? Ben Fleet is Douglas's sister's boyfriend...

[This]

Why even bother? This Bennet...eh Ligier is crap. These Mugen engines are crap. These Japanese drivers are crap. Can you seriously believe that crappy Tyrrell team with their crappy Yamaha's scored more points? Well, at least they have two drivers...

Well puppy, i told you to trust me about the car set-up, and trust me in general, i will never ever lie to you! I'm totally over Pippa, i'm following you right at your back!

Really, GVD not doing anything WTF-ish yet is strange...

[JeremyMcClean]

YESSSSSSSS!!!!! Now the championship really begins...

Oh, and don't be too harsh on Douglas, Mr Walik...

Bathplug.

[tristan1117]

Ben Fleet and Douglas Mann are NOT siblings. Since when do brothers have different surnames? Ben Fleet is Douglas's sister's boyfriend...

I was implying that DAMS cars should be more careful around Douglas Mann's Williams considering his sister is the seatholder for the team. Besides, crashing into your potential future brother-in-law doesn't make a good impression.

[tristan1117]

Round 12: Italy
Monza, Dry all weekend

Code: Select all

1. Daniel Moreno (Williams) - 1.22.879
2. John Zimmer (Benetton) - 1.22.928
3. Douglas Mann (Williams) - 1.23.462
4. Damon Cannon (Jordan) - 1.24.018
5. James Davies (McLaren) - 1.24.234
6. Padraig O'Connell (Ferrari) - 1.24.328
7. Kazuhiko Takagi (Benetton) - 1.24.367
8. Tom Douglas (Ferrari) - 1.24.908
9. Leonhard von Gottorp (Jordan) - 1.24.921
10. Rory McAllister (McLaren) - 1.25.470
11. Dennis Mignolet (Ligier) - 1.26.321
12. Pieter Kickert (Sauber) - 1.26.554
13. Reiko Megumi (Ligier) - 1.26.831

Code: Select all

14. Poppy Whitechapel (Tyrrell) - 1.27.950
15. Pablo da Silva (Sauber) - 1.28.009
16. Gio van Dycke (Tyrrell) - 1.28.191
17. Kazuyoshi Hoshino (Footwork) - 1.28.241
18. Andrew Spokes (Minardi) - 1.28.316
19. Jorg Scrattenheim (Simtek) - 1.28.511
20. Samael Meerwick (Footwork) - 1.29.094
21. Miko Fakkinen (Minardi) - 1.29.280
22. Artiom Zielenkovski (Pacific) - 1.29.323
23. George Tramontani (Simtek) - 1.29.771
24. Pippa Mann (DAMS) - 1.29.867
25. Masta Valsattis (Forti) - 1.29.870
26. Anton Kaliniczenko (Pacific) - 1.30.127
DNQ Ben Fleet (DAMS) - 1.30.142
DNQ Sebastian Gazurek (Forti) - 1.31.009

I was getting fairly bored of the cookie cutter grids from the last few races so I decided to switch it up by making each qualifying session only 15 minutes! Daniel Moreno took pole by a fraction of a second while Damon Cannon logged in his best starting position of the season so far. James Davies also had another stellar qualifying session. In the midfield, things didn't change to much although Samael Meerwick has guaranteed another start by qualifying 20th in the Footwork. For the tail-enders, nothing much has changed. Ben Fleet missed out on a start by only 0.015 seconds leaving Masta Valsattis with his third start of the season (ahead of Kaliniczenko!). Sebastian Gazurek is now looking like the favorite to win ROTY after Meerwick's resurgence after qualifying over a second slower than his teammate.

[eurobrun]

Good Pole Daniel, we hope you can win the championship.

3rd is OK Douglas, try and overtake John Zimmer during the race.

[AdrianSutil]

Masta Valsattis:

Delighted to be starting another race, especially at a track like Monza! Hopefully, there will be a high level of attrition and we can steal a top 10 result.

[dr-baker]

Well, at least I am starting from the clean side of the grid, Mr Walik! Ought to make a good start from there, eh? And I feel sorry for the DAMS team - Pippa is starting to lose faith, it will be surprising to see that team carry on into next season under current management.

[tristan1117]

Round 12:Italy



Positives:
John Zimmer: Another race where one championship contender retired while the other won. It seems like no one can string two victories together. Not taking away from Zimmer's win, it was brilliant, but the championship looks like it will go down to the wire at this rate. With Zimmer's win and Takagi's podium, Benetton takes the lead in Constructors' Championship.

Jordan: After last week's awful performance, Jordan bounced back with a fourth place for Damon Cannon. It wasn't all positive; Leonhard von Gottorp picked up an unfortunate puncture, ending his race early, but the team made up valuable ground on McLaren after their disastrous performance at Monza.

Samael Meerwick: Somehow, Meerwick keeps his seat for another race. Footwork has already announced they will not be retaining Meerwick's services but that hasn't stopped the German. This time, he actually made it to the end of the race, something he hasn't done for a while.

Padraig O'Connell: He single-handedly made the last half othe race interesting by catching Kazuhiko Takagi and passing him with only two laps left, spoiling a Benetton 1-2.

Negatives:
Reiko Megumi: Reiko can't catch a break this year. She seems to be getting the brunt of the reliability problems on the team. Mignolet didn't do much better as it seems the Ligiers aren't in contention for points this year.

Daniel Moreno: I'm pretty sure that it's impossible for both Zimmer and Moreno to finish a race together. Once again, Moreno was in a brilliant position to take the lead in the championship before the Williams gave up on Lap 35. He got there after a spectacular battle with Zimmer for second place which included several banzai overtaking moves. On Lap 10, Moreno used the Fakkinen's Minardi to balk Moreno and dived down the inside (reminiscent of Mika's pass on Schumi at Spa in 2000, for you time travelers) . Zimmer tried to repass at the next corner but nearly went off the circuit in the process. Despite all his good work, Moreno can only hope that Zimmer DNFs in Estoril.

Douglas Mann: Mann actually took the lead of the race at the start and held it for until Lap 9. Then everything went to hell. First Zimmer went by, then his teammate went by, then Mann hit a backmarker or something (I didn't really catch what happened) and broke his front wing. Once again. Douglas dropped to the back of the field and made his way up through some nice overtaking maneuvers. I don't understand why he keeps doing this.

McLaren: ARGH! On Lap 9, Rory McAllister's engine blew up. Right in front of his teammate. Hilarity ensued. By the way, Damon Cannon should get a medal for avoiding both McLarens.




Lead Changes:
Douglas Mann: 1-8
John Zimmer: 9-10
Moreno: 11-20
Zimmer: 21-24
Moreno: 25-35
Zimmer: 36-45

Drivers' Championship
1. John Zimmer - 74 (6 wins)
2. Daniel Moreno - 64 (5 wins)
3. Padraig O'Connell - 39
4. Douglas Mann - 33
5. Kazuhiko Takagi - 32 (1 win)
6. Tom Douglas - 15
7. Leonhard von Gottorp - 11
=8 Rory McAllister - 10
=8 James Davies - 10
10. Pieter Kickert - 7
11. Damon Cannon - 6
12. Pablo da Silva - 4
=13 Dennis Mignolet - 3
=13. Gio van Dycke - 3
15. Poppy Whitechapel - 2
16. Miko Fakkinen - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Benetton - 106
2. Williams - 97
3. Ferrari - 54
4. McLaren - 20
5. Jordan - 17
6. Sauber - 11
7. Tyrrell - 5
8. Ligier 3
9. Minardi - 1

[East Londoner]

The Benettons and O'Connell were out of reach today, so I concentrated on holding onto a good minor point score, which I did so. Those two tools at McLaren almost wiped me out on lap 9. WHY didn't McAllister park it if his engine was dying in such a fashion and what was Davies doing? I have to say, I'm impressed with the avoidence job that I had undertake to get past those idiots. 4th place is very valuable indeed.

The race started. Some cars lapped me. The race finished. I think that sums up my afternoon.