1979 rFactor F1 - Please go to 1980 thread

[Wizzie]

Porsche could be looking to enter F1 with ATS/JLD Racing, possibly for 1980.

1980 or 1981 sounds good for me.

It'll probably be a naturally aspirated engine for the first few years before switching to a turbocharged unit.

[pasta_maldonado]

1979 SOUTH AFRICAN GRAND PRIX

Pre-Race News

Ford have made an offer to Shadow to become a full woks team for 1980. The deal, which will see Shadow run as 'Ford Shadow Racing' is waiting for approval by the Shadow team. Rumour has it that Ford could buy Renault RS01 chassis, which were used in 1978, to run next year.

Ferrari installed their turbo engine for the weekend, and in practice team sources indicate that they were 'happy' with the improvements.

ATS/JLD and RAM have opened applicants for title sponsors. Both teams have little cash, and a sponsorship deal is what both could need to improve.


QUALIFYING

The turbo engined cars really strecthed their legs during qualifying taking the first 3 positions on the grid. Rene Arnoux took the first pole position of his career by half a second from Carlos Reutemann, and Jabouille put the sister Renault in 3rd place. The two Brabhams put in a stunning performance to line up fourth and fifth, with Lauda ahead of Piquet. The Arrows A2 looked fast all weekend, ensuring De Cesaris and Sutherland 6th and 7th. Villeneuve could only manage 8th, while the two Ligiers rounded ou the top 10. Williams were dissapointed after McAllister qualified 15th, and Scheckter 18th.

At the back of the grid, it was a tale of firsts. Both Shadows qualified for the first time. The A1B chassis proved to be an improvement to Merzario as Guidetti and de Angelis qualified 26th and 27th, and both Fittipaldis also qualified, with Emerson Fittipaldi releived he could haul the yellow peril onto the grid. Hector Rebaque was also pleased to qualify for the first time. James Hunt was gutted to miss out on making the grid by just 4 thousandths of a second. Reportedly, he was so upset he chucked his packet of Marlboro on the floor, and started to stamp on it repeadtedly while muttering obscenities about Davey Clarke. Walter Wolf appreciated the little bit of peace and quiet generated by James only finding the energy to bonk 1 girl in the Wolf motorhome. Both Jenkins cars failed to qualify for the first time, ending what looked to be a promising weekend. Reportedly, Marshal Jenkins was able to sell several Betamax tapes to a certain Wolf driver for a sizeable sum before Practice, boosting Jenkins' confidence and bank account. Marc Surer was dissapointed to DNQ after a strong Brazil, while Ensign were dissapointed to rack up their first double DNQ. Once again, ATS/JLD racing failed to qualify. It'll be interested to see what'll come first, the rumoured Porsche engine deal, or Pierre Depault and JLD Racing getting the hump and sodding off back to Germany....




RACE

Reutemann got a great start from second to challenge Arnoux into the first corner, with the Brabhams side by side throught the first corner, with Villeneuve losing more places and everyone getting through in one piece at the back. Reutemann managed to get past Arnoux on the run down to turn 3, and Jabouille followed him through.

At the end of lap 1, Reutemann led from Jabouille, Arnoux, Piquet and Laffite, who made a great start from 10th.

Reutemann led until lap 3, when the Renault turbo engine let go, forcing Reutemann out of the race. Three Retirements from the first three races will not please Reutemann or his team.

Reutemann's retirement hand Jabouille the lead from Nelson Piquet and Rene Arnoux.

Jabouille led on lap 10 from Laffite, Arnoux two seconds back, and De Cesaris is a stunning fourth position ahead of Piquet.

With Piquet ending a promising afternoon on lap 19, Jabouille still led, but Laffite had found his way up to second position. Arnoux was 5 seconds back in 3rd, with De Cesaris further back in 4th, with a squabbling Harvey Jones and Ed kevin in 5th and 6th.

With Laffite hustling Jabouille for the lead, lap after lap, Arnoux eventually clkosed up to the leading 2 and joined the battle. With the top 3 losing time fighting for the lead, de Cesaris closed in, and on lap 25 the top four were covered by just a second.

de Cesaris slipstreamed Arnoux on lap 25, and coming down the pit straight on lap 26 pulled out of Laffite's slipstream, and thundered past the Frenchman and into second place. Ed Kevin had got past Harvey Jones some time earlier and was able to pass Arnoux on lap 26. de Cesaris reeled in Jabouille's 2 second lead in two laps, and on Lap 28 took Jabouille into turn 1. The Arrows team erupted into thunderous applause. Here was a man, who two weeks ago was sitting at the back of the Alfa Romeo garage watching the race, was now in the lead, and was pulling away!

The Williamses had got caught up in the train of cars behind the Arrows of Kevin Sutherland in 8th position, and were fighting RAMS and Alfa Romeos.

de Cesaris had created a 5 second lead, but Arnoux, who had got past Jabouille who was struggling with his tyres, had caught the Italian on lap 35. Jabouille appeared to be going backwards, as Laffite and Kevin had got past the Renault driver. Gilles Villeneuve retire his Ferrari with engine problems, and on lap 38 Kevin was handed second position when Rene Arnoux's Ferrari engine also gave up the ghost. Kevin was hustling de Cesaris for the lead later in the lap, when the Ford engine exploded, forcing the championship leader out of the race, and handing Laffite second position.

Jabouille had dropped back to fouth position, and both Williams had got past 8th placed Geoff Lees.

Laffite managed to get past de Cesaris into the last corner on lap 44, and Niki Lauda was hustling de Cesaris. Lauda collected a puncture on lap 45, which sent him to the back of the pack.

Both Williamses had got past de Cesaris, and on lap 47, Gianfranco Brancatelli moved his RAM up to fourth position.

Jabouille's engine let go down the main straight in while in fourth position down the main straight, ending Renault's hopes of points.

Laffite still led, and in the closing stages, Scheckter was closing on the Ligier. The Ligier team were hoping the engine could last, but traffic eased the pressure of Laffite and he was able to keep the Ligier on the track to win the South African Grand Prix after 51 laps of exciting racing. McAllister was 9 seconds back in 3rd position, while RAM were delighted with Brancatelli's 4th pace. de Cesaris managed to keep it together to finish 5th, but will feel dissapointed after the win evaded him after the tires fell away. Geoff Lees manged to haul the Tyrrell up to 6th position, Alan Jones scored his first points of 79 in 7th place, and Kieran Sutherland rounded out a good afternoon for Arrows by collecting the last point. Renault and Ferrari will feel dissapointed after engine failures deprived them of good points. Merzario managed to finish their first race, albeit with de Angelis a lap down. McLaren had another trying weekend with Andretti only managing 15th place, and Gauthier 18th and a lap down. The new M29 will be ready in time for Spain, and McLaren wil be hoping for vast improvements.



Driver's Championship

1: Jody Scheckter - 18
2: Callum McAllister - 12
3: Jacques Laffite - 10
= Ed Kevin - 10
5: Rene Arnoux - 9
6: Hiroshi Takagi - 8
7: James Hunt - 6
8: Gianfranco Brancatelli - 5
= Jean-Pierre Jabouille - 5
= Gilles Villeneuve - 5
= Mario Andretti - 5
12: Andrea de Cesaris - 4
= Geoff Lees - 4
= Harvey Jones - 4
= Alain Prost - 4
16: Niki Lauda - 3
17: Alan Jones - 2
= Roberto Horford - 2
19: Kieran Sutherland - 1

Constructor's Championship

1: Williams - 30
2: Ligier - 20
3: Ferrari - 14
4: Tyrrell - 12
5: Wolf - 6
= Lotus - 6
= Alfa Romeo - 6
8: Renault - 5
= RAM - 5
= McLaren - 5
= Arrows - 5
12: Brabham - 3

[pasta_maldonado]

Also, this race will also feature video highlights, which will appear on YouTube sometime tomorow. I've collected roughly 10-15 mins of video from the race.

[Stramala]

What were the full results? Where exactly did De Angelis finish? And what happened to Guidetti?

[pasta_maldonado]

What were the full results? Where exactly did De Angelis finish? And what happened to Guidetti?

Sorry kostas22, I forgot to post the image

I've edited the original post

[Stramala]

What were the full results? Where exactly did De Angelis finish? And what happened to Guidetti?

Sorry kostas22, I forgot to post the image

I've edited the original post

Why did my drivers make more pit-stops than everyone else?

[pasta_maldonado]

What were the full results? Where exactly did De Angelis finish? And what happened to Guidetti?

Sorry kostas22, I forgot to post the image

I've edited the original post

Why did my drivers make more pit-stops than everyone else?

I forgot to cut that number out; it means nothing. Merzario made tha same amount of pit stops as everyone else. That number is used in rfactor in multi-class racing, here it means nothing.

[Stramala]

I forgot to cut that number out; it means nothing. Merzario made tha same amount of pit stops as everyone else. That number is used in rfactor in multi-class racing, here it means nothing.

Oh okay.

12th place for Guidetti, not bad!

[Pamphlet]

DE CRASHERIS?! You're not supposed to be this good!

Vengence is sweet, isn't it, James?

Mighty impressed with the team. It really looked like they were all on it the entire weekend. I made a few mistakes throughout the race which I feel cost me a good deal of points, but the pace was definitely there. The team, myself and Andrea will gladly take these points and the morale boost that comes with them. Let's hope we can keep this up in the following races. Though I'll really have to ask Andrea what his secret is one day...

I'm building Kieran up as a major rival for Hunt in a slightly different fictionverse. This may extend to Allie (his daughter) and Kimi as well. May write something about it soon.


This will forever be known as the day Andrea de Cesaris had more points than Niki Lauda.

[WaffleCat]

[quote"Teddy Mayer"]I'm mad.I mean,we have a driver with World Champion material in 15th!Beaten by a bloody Wolf that James Hunt failed to qualify in!I seriously hope the M29 comes out fast and now.[/quote]

[JeremyMcClean]

Incomprehensible tirading in various languages

[AdrianSutil]

Shadow Cosworth press release:
We are delighted with this weekend's performances from both Rosberg and Watson. John in particular found a fondness for Kyalami, qualifying inside the top 25 for the first time this year and running well to a 10th placed finish. We are confident we can continue this impressive form into the next race.

Shadow Cosworth will happily accept Ford's offer to become a works team and have accepted the name change. If Ford would like to have turbocharged engines fitted to our cars we would be happy to change the team name to 'Ford Racing' or something similar with immediate effect.

[The Lukas]

Ensign Team press release:
pity that our drivers failed to qualify for the race, but it's not their fault we had the whole weekend trouble with setting the car for the next Grand Prix planning package of amendments to the car.

[FMecha]

I must get better by next race.

[pasta_maldonado]

Drivers at the Test

Day 1

Ed Kevin - Ligier
Jacques Laffite - Ligier
Marshal Jenkins - Jenkins
Ian Schekter - RAM
Pierre Depault - ATS/JLD
Hans-Joachim Stuck - ATS/JLD
Marc Surer - Reabque
Hector Rebaque - Rebaque
Kevin Sutherland - Arrows
Jean-Pierre Jabouille - Renault
Carlos Reutemann - Renault
Hiroshi Takagi - Tyrrell
Geoff Lees- Tyrrell
Keke Rosberg - Shadow
Vittorio Brambilla - Merzario
Elio de Angelis - Merzario
Michele Alboreto - Merzario
Niki Lauda -BRabham
Nelson Piquet - Brabham
Emerson Fittipaldi - Fittipaldi
Danny Ongais - Fittiapldi
Callum McAllister - Williams
Jody Scheckter - Williams
Tommy Byrne - Williams
Rene Arnoux - Ferrari
Gilles Villeneuve - Ferrari
Ladislav Sedlak - Ensign
Martin Rossler - Ensign
Davey Clarke - Wolf

Day 2

Patrick Tambay - Ligier
Jacques Laffite - Ligier
Nigel Mansell - RAM
Hector Rebaque - Rebaque
Padraig O'Connell - Rebaque
Kevin Sutherland - Arrows
Jean-Pierre Jabouille - Renault
Carlos Reutemann - Renault
Ddier Pironi - Tyrrell
Thomas Nurmester - Tyrrell
Callum McAllister - Williams
Jody Scheckter - Williams
Tommy Byrne - Williams
Rene Arnoux - Ferrari
Gilles Villeneuve - Ferrari
Niki Lauda -BRabham
Nelson Piquet - Brabham
Emerson Fittipaldi - Fittipaldi
Danny Ongais - Fittiapldi
Simone Guidetti - Merzario
Michele Alboreto - Merzario
Arturo Merzario - Merzario
Beppe Gabbiani - Jenkins
Rupert Keegan - Jenkins
Stefan Bellof - Shadow
Bertram Schäfer - ATS/JLD
Pierre Depault - ATS/JLD
Andrea de Cesaris - Alfa
Roberto Horford - Alfa
Ladislav Sedlak - Ensign
Yuki Emoto - Ensign
Davey Clarke - Wolf

If you are currently not testing and would like to, or would like to add/change/remove drivers from your schedule, please post. Also, if you miss out on this test, don't worry as there'll be another one after Hockenheim

[Nuppiz]

^Don't discuss that again, I've said YMMV on the original post.

Anyways, can I have more test drivers? Thomas Nurmester may be worthy for us.

Nurmester is interested in this!

[Klon]

Alfa Romeo will have Andrea De Cesaris and Roberto Horford share one car on the second day of testing.

[Pamphlet]

Alfa Romeo will have Andrea De Cesaris and Roberto Horford share one car on the second day of testing.

!

I'll allow it though.

[pasta_maldonado]

Alfa Romeo will have Andrea De Cesaris and Roberto Horford share one car on the second day of testing.

!

I'll allow it though.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Andrea de Cesaris has been loaned to Arrows, but will still test with Alfa Romeo (Klon said it earlier.. cant find it now)

[Pamphlet]

Alfa Romeo will have Andrea De Cesaris and Roberto Horford share one car on the second day of testing.

!

I'll allow it though.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Andrea de Cesaris has been loaned to Arrows, but will still test with Alfa Romeo (Klon said it earlier.. cant find it now)

Sounds about right.

[pasta_maldonado]

Just kidding of course, he can go ahead - although he will remain my test driver

Found it

[The Lukas]

Ensign line-up to Test
Day 1
Ladislav Sedlak
Martin Rossler
Day 2
Ladislav Sedlak
Yuki Emoto(Japanese test driver,female)

[JeremyMcClean]

Ferrari will lineup Arnoux and Villeneuve in the test.

[East Londoner]

James Hunt believes that test sessions are 'a load of bollocks' and will not be participating.

Davey Clarke however, will take part on both days.

[shinji]

Patrick Tambay will drive instead of Ed Kevin on Day 2.

[This]

RAM will add Desiré Wilson to the line up of day two, and wants to use Mansell in both sessions.

[tristan1117]

Rebaque will be running Rebaque on both days and Surer on Day 1. Padraig O'Connell will run on Day 2

[Wizzie]

Oh and, for the record, JLD will also be present at the Hockenheim test with one car running a prototype of the Porsche engine for 1980.

[eurobrun]

Lotus will be running on both days with all their drivers.

[BlindCaveSalamander]

I think this is going to be a theme this year.

[pasta_maldonado]

For the record, you can only have 5 permanent test drivers at any one time (that is ctesting for the entire season).

Also, more news....

RAM have asked Ferrari to purchase their old, non-turbo engines.

Ford could be cutting down on the amount of teams it supplies next year, after agreeing a deal with Shadow. The deal will see Ford Shadow run turbo engines during the test, and if all goes well, at Long Beach.

The new M29 will be ready to run from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards.

Ford-Shadow have put in a request to buy Renault's old RS01 chassis.

Just so you know, any team is allowed to announce new title sponsors/possible engine deals at any point. You can also post drivers who you would like to see get a drive. These will be put under 'Drivers for hire' in the first post. You can hire them as test drivers, injury replacements, or proper replacements for your driver if you feel they are underperforming. There is also no limit on driver changes throughout the year.

[Phoenix]

Honda is allegedly interested in entering F1 in 1980, possibly with Williams. A test with an experimental turbocharged engine may be arranged later during the season.

[FMecha]

Pironi and Nurmester at day 2.

[tristan1117]

Penske to Back Rebaque

Penske Racing has announced a technical partnership with the Rebaque team. At a press conference prior to testing at Kyalami, Hector Rebaque told reporters that Penske would be assisting Rebaque in building a chassis for 1979 to replace to old customer Lotus 79 and for the future. The team will still remain under the control of Hector Rebaque.

[pasta_maldonado]

KYALAMI TEST

Pre-Test News Roundup

RAM have secured old Ferrari engines. The team hope they will be catapulted into the sharp end of the midfield, but some remain sceptical

Rebaque announced a tie-up with Penske. The Mexican outfit, which will now be known as Penske Team Rebque, have yet to attract a title sponsor.

Ford Shadow have announced that they will be running Ford's experimental turbo engine at the test. If things go well, it may be in the car from Long Beach.

ATS will be running Porsche engines for 1980, a source has revealed. A top-secret new chassis is also in development

Williams will ditch Cosworth engines to run turbo Honda powerplants in 1980.

Merzario have signed a deal to run Lamborghini engines from next season onwards, with possible further involvement form the Italian manufacturer.

Testing- DAY ONE



Renault topped the timesheets for the first time this year, with the number 16 car remaining in one piece for Carlos Reutemann, allowing the Argentinian to set the fastest time of the day. Gilles Villeneuve set the second fastest time in his turbocharged Ferrari, and Jabouille set a time good enough for 3rd in the other Renault. Rene Arnoux had a massive off in his Ferrari, heavily clouting the barriers, and while the Frenchman was unhurt, the Ferrari mechanics took most of the day to repair the car. The squad form Maranello look to have perfected turbo-charging technology, with Villenuve competing for the fastest time all day. Williams FW07 looks mightily impressive after they hung onto the back of the turbocharged cars, with McAllister, Scheckter and Byrne setting times 4th, 5th, and 6th fastest respectively. The rookie Irishman should be pleased with his efforts in only being 2 tenths of a second behind his team-mates.

Less than a second seperated all thre Lotii, both Brabhams, both Ligiers and the sole Arrows and Shadow. Harvey Jones set a fastest time for 8th position, only two tenths behind Byrne. Brabham will be looking to oust Lotus at the sharp end of the midfield, with Lauda and Piquet slower than Jones. Kevin Sutherland put in a strong reason why he should be team leader at Arrows, finishing 9th. Brazilian youngster showed some spped to put his Lotus 10th fastest, while Aln Jones inn the third Lotus could only manage 13th. Keke Rosberg stunned everyone, and I mean everyone, to haul the Ford Shadow to 11th in the time sheets. That turbo engine must be running nicely in the back of the DN9. Ligier could only manage 12th and 16th, for Laffite and Kevin respectively.

Lees and Takagi put the two Tyrells 17th and 18th fastest, while Davey Clarke was 20th in the sole Wolf. Ian Scheckter and Nigel Mansell, in their first taste of F1 machinery, managed to set the 20th and 21st fastest times, and Marshal Jenkins set a good time to finish 21st in the Jenkins. Marc Surer was the meat in a Fittipaldi sandwhich in 23rd position,a good result for the Rebaque team. Ongais and Fittiapldi will be pleased with their times too, after DNQing at least once this year. Vittorio Brambilla was the fastes Merzario, setting the 26th fastest time, which impressed the team. Although the test was a one-off, could the experienced Italian find a race seat for 1980? Elio de Angelis could only manage 29th fastest in the other A4b. Not a lot ws expected from Italian youngster Michele Alboreto, and none was delivered - the Italian setting the 31st fastest time, albeit in the rejectfully slow A1b. Stuck managed to haul his ATS to 30th fastest, while Depault was only faster than the painfully slow Hector Rebaque. ATS will be looking forward to the Porsche engine deal and a rumoured new chassis.

[pasta_maldonado]

Kyalami Test - Day 2

Newsflash

New regulations are set to be introduced for next year. Not much else has been said by FIA representatives, but the changes could be sweeping.

Results



Rene Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve top the timesheets for Ferrari after the second day of testing, although it could be said the turbo engine could really stretch it's legs on the Kyalami circuit. Callum McAllister and Tommy Byrne set the 3rd and 4th fastest times of the day for Williams, 0.4 of a second of off Arnoux's time. Renault were plagued with problems affecting both cars; Jean-Pierre Jabouille crashed heavily at turn 1 after a puncture, he managed to walk away from his car complaining of pain in his hand, but he should be fit for the next grand prix. A precautionary change may be neccessary to avoid further injury. Problems with Reutemann's turbo practically eliminated him from setting fast times. Desiree Wilson set a good lap in her first taste of F1 machinery to set the 8th fastest time for RAM, ahead of Mansell. Thomas Nurmester proved to no be too far off the pace, setting the 18th fastest time. Improvements for Ensign meant that Sedlak was able to set the 23rd fastest time, while Padraig O'Connell impressed the paddock by setting the 27th fastest time, 0.35 seconds faster than Alain Prost in the much faster Alfa Romeo. Top teams were impressed by O'Connell's performance, but Michele Alboreto failed to impress, setting the 35th fastest time, ahead of only Merzario in the awful Merzario A1. Team mate Simone Guidetti could only manage 32nd fastest; the A4B not suited to fast circuits it seems. Beppe Gabbiani proved why he is not just a pay driver by only being just 0.1 seconds off the pace of Pironi in the Tyrell. Beppe set the 26th fastest time, while rookie team-mate Rupert Keegan only managed 30th fastest.

Improvements

Shadow gain a turbo charged engine after their link-up with Ford
Ford worked on the reliability of their engine; all Ford engined cars gained reliability improvements.
Ensign managed to shed some weight from their chassis.
Merzario also managed to lose weight from the car
Renault also made their engine more reliable.

[Pamphlet]

Nowhere and with no upgrades? Just another day at Arrows, then!

[AdrianSutil]

Shadow Press Release:
We are delighted with the turbo test with Ford. Results were better than what we expected and we're delighted to introduce the new turbo to both John and Keke from the next round onwards.

[AndreaModa]

Well it was a good test for the boys, we ran the car, mucked about with it for a bit and made some progress with it. Hopefully that will help keep us in the fight in the coming races. Not really sure what else to say, it was only a test session for f*** sake!

I'm really happy with the times I've been able to set for Lotus, I think we're developing it nicely and I think we can look forward to some good results in the future. It's also great to be the fastest driver for the team on both days. That surely has to say something about my talent.

[BlindCaveSalamander]

Renault also made their engine more reliable.