F1RMGP's Lost Trophies

[dinizintheoven]

This page is designed to retrospectively award the trophies that F1RMGP's Series Management either forgot to award at the time, or had no concept of. The first one of these is the 2011 Apertura; while the wiki currently says "not applicable for first season", according to tommykl's idea for how to run the 1950 F1 Apertura, it should have been possible to work out seedings for a 2011 Apertura from the qualifying session of the first race. So, why not do that, and see what happens...

Hence the seedings are:

1 – HWNSNBM (F1 Rejects)
2 – James Hunt (H) (Ferrari)
3 – Gilles Villeneuve (H) (Ferrari)
4 – Scott Speed (USGP)
5 – Jean-Denis Délétraz (F1 Rejects)
6 – Bruno Giacomelli (Life)
7 – Paul Belmondo (Pacific)
8 – Yuji Ide (Super Aguri)
9 – Michael Andretti (USGP)
10 – Taki Inoue (Simtek)
11 – Kazuki Nakajima (Super Aguri)
12 – Olivier Grouillard (Prost)
13 – Nelson Piquet Jr. (Toleman)
14 – Philippe Alliot (Prost)
15 – Andrea Montermini (Pacific)
16 – Slim Borgudd (Simtek)

The first round, at Phoenix:

(1) HWNSNBM (5th) v (16) Borgudd (18th)
(2) Hunt (3rd) v (15) Montermini (11th)
(3) Villeneuve (1st) v (14) Alliot (24th)
(4) Speed (4th) v (13) Piquet (7th)
(5) Délétraz (8th) v (12) Grouillard (20th)
(6) Giacomelli (13th) v (11) Nakajima (19th)
(7) Belmondo (12th) v (10) Inoue (6th)
(8) Ide (14th) v (9) Andretti (2nd)

The quarter-finals, at Interlagos:

(1) HWNSNBM (3rd) v (9) Andretti (1st)
(2) Hunt (11th) v (10) Inoue (7th)
(3) Villeneuve (2nd) v (6) Giacomelli (18th)
(4) Speed (6th) v (5) Délétraz (9th)

The semi-finals, at Imola:

(9) Andretti (4th) v (4) Speed (6th)
(10) Inoue (5th) v (3) Villeneuve (9th)

The final, at Monaco:

(9) Andretti (5th) v (10) Inoue (18th)

Actually, it's not that much of a shock, seeing as Michael Andretti and USGP were in the lead for most of the season and HWNSNBM only beat them at the death. Though, for Taki Inoue to be in the final after knocking Gilles Villeneuve out... who saw that coming?

[FMecha]

Tags, Diniz. Use BBcode, not HTML markup.

[dinizintheoven]

Tags, Diniz. Use BBcode, not HTML markup.

I was fixing it as you wrote that post. No idea what I was doing with the HTML. I blame being hungry and thinking of haggis at the time.

[dinizintheoven]

ADx_Wales' original post referred to the Apertura as the first half of the Argentine football season, and a follow-up post which never went anywhere involved the second half – the Clausura. I can't find the post, probably due to SPG issues on the part of whoever made that post, so I'll base F1RMGP's Clausura rules on how it should be, logically, to apply the Apertura rules to the last four races of the season. So, with four races to go, the championship standings determine the 16 seeds necessary, and we start at the beginning...


CLAUSURA 2011 – championship positions after 12 rounds

Hence the seedings are:

1 – HWNSNBM (F1 Rejects) – 198
2 – Michael Andretti (USGP) – 184
3 – Scott Speed (USGP) – 168
4 – Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) – 161
5 - James Hunt (Ferrari) – 104 (one win in first 12 rounds)
6 - Jean-Denis Délétraz (F1 Rejects) – 104 (best result 2nd in first 12 rounds)
7 – Nelson Piquet Jr. (Toleman) – 68
8 – Slim Borgudd (Simtek) – 55
9 – Taki Inoue (Simtek) – 50
10 – Yuji Ide (Super Aguri) – 41
11 – Ralf Schumacher (Toleman) – 35
12 – Paul Belmondo (Pacific) – 16
13 – Andrea Montermini (Pacific) – 9
14 – Bruno Giacomelli (Life) – 6
15 – Johnny Carwash (Minardi) – 5
16 – Gary Brabham (Life) – 4 (two 9ths in first 12 rounds)
---------------------------
17 – Pierluigi Martini (Minardi) – 4 (four 10ths in first 12 rounds – DNQ for Clausura)

The first round, at Estoril:

(1) HWNSNBM (9th) v (16) Brabham (24th)
(2) Andretti (3rd) v (15) Carwash (21st)
(3) Speed (13th) v (14) Giacomelli (23rd)
(4) Villeneuve (7th) v (13) Montermini (8th)
(5) Hunt (5th) v (12) Belmondo (6th)
(6) Délétraz (1st) v (11) Schumacher (12th)
(7) Piquet (2nd) v (10) Ide (4th)
(8) Borgudd (10th) v (9) Inoue (11th)

I thought these Clausuras might be a foregone conclusion, but when HWNSNBM can qualify for the next round coming 9th while Yuji Ide is knocked out finishing 4th, maybe it's not going to be so obvious after all...

The quarter-finals, at Barcelona:

(1) HWNSNBM (3rd) v (8) Borgudd (5th)
(2) Andretti (6th) v (7) Piquet (9th)
(3) Speed (10th) v (6) Délétraz (2nd)
(4) Villeneuve (1st) v (5) Hunt (4th)

The semi-finals, at Suzuka:

(1) HWNSNBM (1st) v (4) Villeneuve (4th)
(2) Andretti (5th) v (6) Délétraz (6th)

The final, at Adelaide:

(1) HWNSNBM (4th) v (2) Andretti (11th)

That'll hurt. Remember that this result gave F1 Rejects the Constructors' title from under USGP's noses, now it seems there was another minor trophy that went begging...

[dinizintheoven]

Without further delay, it's time for... possibly a Clausura that will turn out to be less predictable than 2011's was in the end!

Note that these seedings invoke an F1RMGP peculiarity in which drivers on equal points are separated first by number of DNQs then by best result, which has cost Chris Dagnall two places in the seedings... and it's had quite a marked effect on the final destination of the title.

CLAUSURA 2012 – championship positions after 12 rounds

Hence the seedings are:

1 – Jan Magnussen (Viking) - 158
2 – HWNSNBM (F1 Rejects) - 137
3 – Michael Andretti (Team America) - 105
4 – Þorvaldur Einarsson (Viking) - 98
5 – Rrrrrmmmnn Grrrrjjjjnnn (Toleman) - 96
6 - Scott Speed (Team America) – 93 (one win, two 2nds)
7 - Yuji Ide (Super Aguri) – 93 (one win, one 2nd)
8 - Chris Dagnall (Toleman) – 93 (one DNQ overrides best result... which was three wins!)
9 – Jean-Denis Délétraz (F1 Rejects) - 85
10 – Marco Apicella (Super Aguri) - 76
11 – Pedro Diniz (Forti) - 70
12 – Luca Badoer (Forti) - 22
13 – Fabrizio Barbazza (Monteverdi) - 19
14 – Gabriele Tarquini (AGS) - 17
15 – Pedro Chaves (SAC) - 14
16 – Paul Belmondo (Simtek) - 12

The first round, at Estoril:

(1) Magnussen (8th) v (16) Belmondo (15th)
(2) HWNSNBM (6th) v (15) Chaves (10th)
(3) Andretti (5th) v (14) Tarquini (11th)
(4) Einarsson (3rd) v (13) Barbazza (13th)
(5) Grrrrjjjjnnn (16th) v (12) Badoer (17th) – could you be any more lucky, Rrrrrmmmnn? 16th place, Reject Of The Race, and yet you still qualify for the next round of the Clausura...
(6) Speed (DNF) v (11) Diniz (12th)
(7) Ide (2nd) v (10) Apicella (7th)
(8) Dagnall (1st) v (9) Délétraz (4th)

And Marco Apicella will be ab... so... lutely... FURIOUS! at Chris Dagnall for not qualifying earlier in the season. Had that aberration not happened, Daggers would have been 6th seed, Speed 7th and Ide 8th, which would not have affected JDD, he'd have been knocked out anyway, but it'd have been Apicella versus Speed with Apicella going through and Diniz would have been out instead.

The quarter-finals, at Barcelona:

(1) Magnussen (9th) v (8) Dagnall (2nd) – just can't get a break, can you, Jan?
(2) HWNSNBM (6th) v (7) Ide (5th)
(3) Andretti (1st) v (11) Diniz (DNF)
(4) Einarsson (4th) v (5) Grrrrjjjjnnn (18th)

The semi-finals, at Suzuka:

(8) Dagnall (10th) v (4) Einarsson (8th)
(7) Ide (6th) v (3) Andretti (5th)

The final, at Adelaide:

(4) Einarsson (6th) v (3) Andretti (4th)

So. It's the Apertura to Andretti and Clausura to HWNSNBM in 2011, and the other way round in 2012. But with both drivers leaving the series at the end of this season, 2013 was always going to be guaranteed two new champions. Daggers won the 2013 Apertura, we now need to work out the end-of-season extravaganza.

Incidentally, I wonder how it would have been if the rules were "normal for F1" and Chris Dagnall's three wins put him as the 6th seed instead of the 8th? Just to check...

(1) Magnussen (8th) v (16) Belmondo (15th)
(2) HWNSNBM (6th) v (15) Chaves (10th)
(3) Andretti (5th) v (14) Tarquini (11th)
(4) Einarsson (3rd) v (13) Barbazza (13th)
(5) Grrrrjjjjnnn (16th) v (12) Badoer (17th)
(6) Dagnall (1st) v (11) Diniz (12th)
(7) Speed (DNF) v (10) Apicella (7th)
(8) Ide (2nd) v (9) Délétraz (4th)

Round one, that's Apicella in the draw instead of Diniz, but in different positions.

(1) Magnussen (9th) v (8) Ide (5th)
(2) HWNSNBM (6th) v (10) Apicella (10th)
(3) Andretti (1st) v (6) Dagnall (2nd)[/b]
(4) Einarsson (4th) v (5) Grrrrjjjjnnn (18th)

Round two, HWNSNBM, beaten by Diniz in the official standings, instead beats Apicella. Magnussen loses out, but to Ide instead of Dagnall, who falls himself at the hands of Andretti.

(8) Ide (6th) v (4) Einarsson (8th)
(2) HWNSNBM (2nd) v (3) Andretti (5th)

So, two different finalists...

(8) Ide (17th) v (2) HWNSNBM (1st)

Drama! Rather than Marco Apicella being livid at Daggers for that DNQ, it should actually be HWNSNBM. Daggers' mishap in Monaco has cost HWNSNBM the Clausura title!

[dinizintheoven]

I am hoping for rather less drama this time out. Chris Dagnall "apologised" to the rest of the field by winning the 2013 Apertura, and we all know he went on to with the most important title of them all that year, but the Clausura is (hopefully) far from certain...

CLAUSURA 2013 – championship positions after 12 rounds

1 – Jan Magnussen (Viking) - 184
2 – Chris Dagnall (F1RM) - 162
3 – Þorvaldur Einarsson (Viking) - 149
4 – Luca Badoer (Forti) - 109
5 – Yuji Ide (Super Aguri) - 76
6 – Andrea Montermini (Forti) - 70
7 – Jean-Denis Délétraz (F1RM) - 58
8 – Ralph Firman (Toleman) - 53 (one 3rd, one 4th)
9 – Gabriele Tarquini (AGS) - 53 (one 3rd, two 5ths)
10 – Marco Apicella (Super Aguri) - 48
11 – Claudio Langes (EuroBrun) - 38
12 – Philippe Alliot (Prost) - 36
13 – Pedro Chaves (SAC) - 29
14 – Perry McCarthy (SAC) - 27
15 – Allan McNish (Toleman) - 25
16 – Scott Speed (Team America) – 21

No potential controversies this time; Ide, Chaves and Apicella all had DNQs but none of them needed to be separated from anyone else.

The first round, at Estoril:

(1) Magnussen (DNF) v (16) Speed (11th) – now, Jan, that's just embarrassing...
(2) Dagnall (2nd) v (15) McNish (4th)
(3) Einarsson (7th) v (14) McCarthy (DNF)
(4) Badoer (3rd) v (13) Chaves (5th)
(5) Ide (DNF) v (12) Alliot (14th)
(6) Montermini (DNF, 48 laps) v (11) Langes (DNF, 0 laps)
(7) Délétraz (1st) v (10) Apicella (DNQ) – could there be more of a difference?
(8) Firman (DNF, 63 laps) v (9) Tarquini (DNF, 12 laps)

So Allan McNish is going to be sore – fourth place, but knocked out, whereas two drivers who retired will be in the next round. And, of course, there was no actual need to separate Firman and Tarquini in the seedings as they were always going to be drawn against each other...

The quarter-finals, at Barcelona:

(16) Speed (16th) v (8) Firman (9th)
(2) Dagnall (2nd) v (7) Délétraz (1st)
(3) Einarsson (3rd) v (6) Montermini (10th)
(4) Badoer (DNF) v (12) Alliot (20th)

And this time it's Daggers who hurts as Philippe Alliot qualifies for the next round by coming 20th...

The semi-finals, at Suzuka:

(8) Firman (15th) v (12) Alliot (DNF)
(7) Délétraz (1st) v (3) Einarsson (7th)

And now it's Þorvaldur Einarsson's turn to hurl curses in the air as The Délétraz End-Of-Season Rampage claims its third victim. And what an unlikely final, given who the title contenders were...

The final, at Adelaide:

(8) Firman (DNF) v (7) Délétraz (5th)

It was all over when Ralph Firman's Toleman developed gearbox gremlins after 18 laps. So what do you know? Jean-Denis Délétraz won something!

[dinizintheoven]

Right! One to go, in the Main Series, anyway. And the seedings couldn't be more different to previous years; last year's Clausura champion hasn't even qualified to defend his title!

CLAUSURA 2014 – championship positions after 12 rounds

1 – Þorvaldur Einarsson (Viking) - 171
2 – Jan Magnussen (Viking) - 110
3 – Bruno Giacomelli (Leyton House) - 99
4 – Yuji Ide (Super Aguri) - 95
5 – Chris Dagnall (F1RM) - 91
6 – Hideki Noda (Leyton House) - 89
7 – Pedro Chaves (SAC) - 73
8 – Luca Badoer (Forti) - 70
9 – Marco Apicella (Dome) - 69
10 – Shinji Nakano (Super Aguri) - 63
11 – Marko Asmer (Simtek) - 48
12 – Paul Belmondo (Simtek) - 35
13 – Gabriele Tarquini (AGS) - 30
14 – Andrea Montermini (Forti) - 26
15 – Volker Weidler (ATS Rial) - 24
16 – Joachim Winkelhock (ATS Rial) - 22

The first round, at Estoril:

(1) Einarsson (DNF) v (16) Winkelhock (19th) – a shock result, and it's worth noting that the crash that took the championship leader out was caused by Wolker Weidler, and if he'd scored three points less, would have been 16th seed, then we'd have had two DNFs both on the same number of laps...
(2) Magnussen (4th) v (15) Weidler (DNF)
(3) Giacomelli (DNF) v (14) Montermini (9th)
(4) Ide (2nd) v (13) Tarquini (18th)
(5) Dagnall (6th) v (12) Belmondo (DNQ)
(6) Noda (1st) v (11) Asmer (14th)
(7) Chaves (3rd) v (10) Nakano (12th)
(8) Badoer (5th) v (9) Apicella (8th)

The quarter-finals, at Jerez:

(16) Winkelhock (7th) v (8) Badoer (1st)
(2) Magnussen (6th) v (7) Chaves (DNF)
(14) Montermini (DNF) v (6) Noda (11th)
(4) Ide (10th) v (5) Dagnall (8th)

The semi-finals, at Suzuka. The Drivers' title is already won, but the Clausura isn't...

(8) Badoer (DNF, 16 laps) v (5) Dagnall (DNF, 19 laps) – Badoer was Reject Of The Race here, after deliberately driving into a patch of oil and crashing – Dagnall slid off on the same oil three laps later, but this round was already settled...
(2) Magnussen (1st) v (6) Noda (3rd)

...and Hideki is as sick as a parrot with Jamaican vomiting sickness. Don't eat the green ackee.

The final, at Adelaide, is a repeat of the 2013 Drivers' title showdown!

(5) Dagnall (7th) v (2) Magnussen (3rd)

...but this minor trophy went the other way, and Jan wins a consolation prize for the 2014 season. And Chris Dagnall had a car that was neither as fast nor reliable as he's used to but still made it to the Clausura final. Anything can happen in 2015!

[dinizintheoven]

And so, we must also look at the Women's European Cup. It's pointless me working out an Apertura – Vanina Ickx won the first six races, and so took it by default in a Schumacher-esque display of dominance. Don't bet on the Clausura looking the same, though, as the pack started to shuffle afterwards. The championship standings after the seventh round in Belgium will determine the seedings, much to the annoyance of Natacha Gachnang who won that race and would have guaranteed herself a free passage through the first round if only she could have held off winning for another race...

CLAUSURA 2014 – championship positions after 7 rounds

1 – Vanina Ickx (Scuderia Minardivas) - 150
2 – Simona de Silvestro (Scuderia Minardivas) - 64
3 – Sarah Fisher (Team America WEC) - 61
4 – Michèle Mouton (Toleman WEC) - 51
5 – Natacha Gachnang (ATS Rial WEC) - 50
6 – SWNSNBM (Team America WEC) - 49
7 – Ana Beatriz (Mastercard Lola Bunny) – 45
8 – Divina Galica (AGS WEC) - 44
9 – Emma Kimiläinen (Simtek WEC) - 36
10 – Susie Wolff (Mastercard Lola Bunny) - 31
11 – Katherine Legge (AGS WEC) - 30
12 – Giovanna Amati (ATS Rial WEC) - 22
13 – Milka Duno (Milk & Doughnuts) – 20
14 – Natasha Firman (Isle of (wo)Man) – 15

Now, here's our first aberration – a driver who was 15th in the standings, and who had qualified for the Clausura, but her team boss had given her the elbow after the seventh round and so she can no longer be considered for it!

(NA) – Jutta Kleinschmidt (ex-Toleman WEC) – 8 (but dropped after 7 rounds)

And there were four drivers tied on six points, two of which could now qualify for the Clausura:

15 – Rahel Frey (Milk & Doughnuts) – 6 (one 7th, one 11th, two 12ths)
16 – Michele Bumgarner (American Rejects) - 6 (one 7th, one 11th, one 14th, one 15th)
17 (DNQ) – Lella Lombardi (H) (American Rejects) - 6 (one 7th, one 11th, one 14th, one 16th)
18 (DNQ) – Keiko Ihara (Super Reppu!) - 6 (one 7th, two 13ths)

American Rejects, I'll say, their results were both so terribly similar they had to be separated with a crowbar, and ultimately that meant one of them in the Clausura and the other not. To be fair to Keiko Ihara, she had only had three races and finished all three, but the results weren't good enough to see her into the Clausura.

The first round, at Hungaroring:

(1) Ickx (9th) v (16) Bumgarner (DNQ) – brilliant, Michele, just brilliant. Vanina's worst result of the season by a mile, and you had to choose this race to be your only DNQ of the season...
(2) de Silvestro (10th) v (15) Frey (3rd) – now, I didn't see that coming!
(3) Fisher (DNF) v (14) Firman (14th)
(4) Mouton (4th) v (13) Duno (DNF)
(5) Gachnang (12th) v (12) Amati (11th) – brilliant, Natacha, just brilliant. You win the last race, then get beaten in this race by your team-mate who's been rubbish since the third round!
(6) SWNSNBM (DNF) v (11) Legge (6th)
(7) Beatriz (17th) v (10) Wolff (1st)
(8) Galica (2nd) v (9) Kimiläinen (7th)

The quarter-finals, at Monza:

(1) Ickx (1st) v (8) Galica (DNF)
(15) Frey (DNF) v (10) Wolff (15th)
(14) Firman (12th) v (11) Legge (5th)
(4) Mouton (2nd) v (12) Amati (16th)

The semi-finals, at Estoril:

(1) Ickx (3rd) v (4) Mouton (2nd) – Michèle never won a race this year, but that's what you might call a small amount of payback...
(10) Wolff (DNF) v (11) Legge (8th)

The final, at Jerez:

(4) Mouton (2nd) v (11) Legge (5th)

As it was with Jan Magnussen, I suppose that's a consolation prize for France's finest.


Actually, I wonder what would have happened if I'd let Jutta Kleinschmidt get the official 15th place? That would have knocked out Michele Bumgarner, and it'd have all worked out this way...

(1) Ickx (9th) v (15) Frey (3rd) – and if that isn't a significant development, I don't know what is...
(2) de Silvestro (10th) v (15) Kleinschmidt (not competing)
(3) Fisher (DNF) v (14) Firman (14th)
(4) Mouton (4th) v (13) Duno (DNF)
(5) Gachnang (12th) v (12) Amati (11th) – brilliant, Natacha, just brilliant. You win the last race, then get beaten in this race by your team-mate who's been rubbish since the third round!
(6) SWNSNBM (DNF) v (11) Legge (6th)
(7) Beatriz (17th) v (10) Wolff (1st)
(8) Galica (2nd) v (9) Kimiläinen (7th)

So the second round looks like this:

(15) Frey (DNF, 13 laps) v (8) Galica (DNF, 6 laps)
(2) de Silvestro (3rd) v (10) Wolff (15th)
(14) Firman (12th) v (11) Legge (5th)
(4) Mouton (2nd) v (12) Amati (16th)

And that propagates to the semis...

(15) Frey (12th) v (4) Mouton (2nd) – one finalist the same...
(2) de Silvestro (1st) v (11) Legge (8th) – ...but the other isn't!

To the alternative final...

(4) Mouton (2nd) v (2) de Silvestro (1st)

Simona is going to be hopping mad... at Toleman, for throwing out Jutta Kleinschmidt! Or would she? If Jutta had competed in Hungary, the two of them would be up against each other, although Toleman's replacement driver, Pippa Mann, trundled in 15th... it could have been so different.

Not that Michèle Mouton cares one bit.

[dinizintheoven]

And now, one that seemed like a good idea after watching my free weekend of Sky Sports F1. Their presentation team has put together an unofficial Qualifying Cup that's based on 25 points for pole, 18 points for second on the grid, and so on down to tenth. If this proves anything, it's that qualifying form doesn't always translate to the race...

So, here's how the Qualifying Cup worked for the 2011 season:



Two by two at the top, HWNSNBM taking the Qualifying Cup with the largest number of points ever amassed over 16 qualifying sessions. This table broadly reflects how the season itself worked, with each lead driver in the top three teams heading the other, in the order they were ranked as constructors, and with no real surprises, bar possibly Pierluigi Martini who did far better in a Minardi than might be expected.

[dinizintheoven]

The Qualifying Cup, 2012:



In the first season in which he so nearly won the Drivers' title, Jan Magnussen was at least king of the Friday afternoon, beating HWNSNBM by four clear pole positions. Surprisingly, it was Rrrrrmmmnn Grrrrjjjjnnn who wasn't far behind, beating both the Team America cars and Chris Dagnall who went on to win four rces that year, more than anyone else. Grrrrjjjjnnn and Daggers also had a DNQ each, don't forget. Þorvaldur Einarsson was particularly wayward in his early days, Super Aguri weren't quite the force we'd later know them for, one freakishly brilliant qualifying sent Fabrizio Barbazza into the mid-table and even those who didn't score any championship points managed to make an impact on this table - Montermini and Ghinzani, for FTM and Osella respectively, being particular stand-out cases.

[dinizintheoven]

The Qualifying Cup, 2013:



Þorvaldur Einarsson vowed to sharpen up his qualifying after a debut season of mixed Friday fortunes, and ended up as 2013's qualifying maestro. Five poles, but also three front row places and only one failure to make the top ten saw him edge out Chris Dagnall, the eventual Drivers' champion, who had six poles but five blanks. Jan Magnussen managed only two poles in the early season but rememberd it was the points on Saturday that really counted. Jean-Denis Délétraz was Mr Consistency for most of the season, coming in anywhere from second to sixth if he was in the top ten, which he usually was, so even with no pole positions he still edged out the other three drivers who did. Allan McNish was surprisingly high before Toleman completely lost the plot, Fabrizio Barbazza punched above his car's weight again, while Yuji Ide was thrashed in qualifying by team-mate Marco Apicella even harder than the previous year. Olivier Grouillard was another Friday revelation, so it was surprising to see him beaten consistently in the races by Philippe Alliot, which would cost him his seat at the merged SPAM squad for 2014. Team America's slide towards oblivion was even more obvious on this table than in the race standings, EuroBrun weren't quite so hot at qualifying as they ended up in the races either, and Alex Yoong may have scored no points for the ever-more-ailing FTM but still put it far enough up the grid - once - to scare some of the faster cars.

[dinizintheoven]

The Qualifying Cup, 2014:



2014 on the Friday was another Þorvaldur masterclass, but the biggest surprise was that Yuji Ide finally picked himself off the floor and put in enough stellar performances to put him second in the qualifying table, ahead of Jan Magnussen. The Dane, it seems, was either on pole or nowhere, hence inconsistency let him down - six poles for him, four for the two drivers who beat him, but they had more front and second row starts. Luca Badoer was the only other driver to take pole, as Chris Dagnall's weedy PURE engine couldn't carry him to the lap times he needed. Even so, he beat the all-new Leyton House squad with their hand-grenade Suzuki engine, they just hadn't worked out how to use it properly yet. An interesting battle is in the midfield - Forti and F1RM were pitted against each other for four-pot-turbo honours, but whereas both their second drivers were said to have let the side down and were sacked for it, on the Friday at least, Montermini was far better than Délétraz with 83 points to 44. SAC versus AGS was more of a one-sided battle with AGS' charge blunted by Pierre-Henri Raphanel's repeated failures, and Tarquini's qualifying performance was about equal with Perry McCarthy, the lower-ranked of the SAC drivers. How badly it went wrong for both Toleman and Emanuele Naspetti can be easily seen here, and the proof that the story isn't all told on Friday is very obvious... Marko Asmer only scored one qualifying point, coming tenth once in Italy, but he won the race in Hungary and added a third place to that later in the season, and now has two top teams fighting over his services.

[dinizintheoven]

The Qualifying Cup, 2014 WEC:



Admit it, you all thought Vanina Ickx had this one bought and paid for, right? Wrong. Michèle Mouton didn't even manage to win a race while the buck-toothed Belgian showed the whole field the way in the first six events, but as with the Main Series, the poles were shared between only four drivers and it was Mouton who prevailed in the qualifying by only dropping out of the top three once. If only that had counted for something on race day, she wouldn't have been so frustrated. Consistency wasn't the key for everyone, though; neither Natacha Gachnang (8th) not Katherine Legge (9th) ever qualified higher than fifth, but the seven drivers below them all managed to do so at least once - and one slightly freakish performance from each is what has done most to determine their positions. And again, don't believe everything you see about qualifying determining race pace, as Alice Powell's presence in the last four races saw her make a lot more impact on the races than she did in qualifying, with a mere two tenth places... in an awful Stefan, admittedly, which is more than the men ever did.