The New Boys on the Block-YOU Make the Decision.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 20 Jun 2013, 17:33

Paul Ricard, so we can compare the times to those from pre-season testing.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 21 Jun 2013, 12:21

VOTES TALLY:

ISSUE:--Where will Empire test the car with the new wing?--10 votes Paul Ricard,1 vote each Dijon and Nogaro.

Empire Racing will test the car at Paul Ricard
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May 13,1983

Thomas Travers never knew why there was practise on the Thursday,but not the Friday in Monaco. Maybe to give the teams a day off to drink and recover,or to find time to go swimming or to repair the cars that have lurched off into the wall during practise. Whatever it is,Mr. Travers spent the Friday in the Empire garage,making sure that the car can actually go around the station hairpin without Brundle having to powerslide the car. That was a minor complaint with the new design,a slightly larger turning circle. And that slightly meant the difference between nailing the perfect line in the hairpin to probable embarassment in blocking the entire field. Still,the tweaks and bits and bobs the mechanics were doing were enough to convince Mr. Travers that the car will be able to turn around the hairpin come rain or shine.But there was still one problem.

Monaco was small. So small,that the field will be whittled down to 20 instead of the usual 26 during qualifying. That means only the strongest of backmarkers--handling wise,that is--can only see a slim chance of making it through to the race itself. And Empire was determined to prove itself. They qualified 20th last time out. Here's hoping they can do it again...
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1983 Monaco Grand Prix--Qualifying

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1983 Monaco Grand Prix--Qualifying
 1 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       1:23.913
 2 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         1:24.845
 3 Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)        1:24.889
 4 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    1:24.946
 5 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      1:24.996
 6 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)     1:25.013
 7 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    1:25.075
 8 Alain Prost (Renault)             1:25.557
 9 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          1:25.782
10 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         1:26.082
11 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     1:26.112
12 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       1:26.208

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13 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      1:26.463
14 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)        1:26.594
15 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          1:26.883
16 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          1:27.539
17 Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)         1:27.636
18 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           1:27.847
19 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    1:28.345
20 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      1:28.461
----------------------------DNQ------------------------------
21 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  1:29.169
22 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)      1:29.802
23 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      1:29.880
24 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    1:30.079

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25 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         1:30.081
26 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)    1:30.168
27 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Ford)        1:30.419
28 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)          1:31.065
29 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Ford)  1:31.600

Well,at least we know that pole in San Marino was not exactly a fluke. Nelson Piquet once again set the field ablaze as he put in a lap that almost broke the laws of physics. Not daring to lift off at the chicane? Check. Almost phasing through the walls as Piscine? Check. Braking way,way beyond the sane places to slow down? Triple check. Hell,in 30 years,this lap will be repeated over and over and over,attracting millions wondering "How in the bloody f**king world did he do that?" . Jacques Laffite also had a monster of a lap,but it was a monser that followed the laws of physics,and thus he was almost a second down off Piquet. Not far behind Laffite is...Geoff Lees? What? Following him were some naturally aspirated cars that thrived in the tight and twisty conditions in the forms of Michele Alboreto and Keke Rosberg. Following suit was Nigel Mansell,probably dumbfounded at his interim teammate's pace and Riccardo Patrese,who was dumbfounded at his permanent teammate's pace. Off the pace,meanwhile,were Alain Prost and the Ferraris. Meanwhile,the McLarens were seriously off the pace for some unknown reason,and Andrea de Cesaris flat out sucked in the Alfa,going as far as to fail to qualify.

Speaking of fail to qualify, Brian Hart must have heaved a supermassive sigh of relief. The three cars his engine was powering,the Tolemans and the plucky Empire,crept into the bottom three spots on the grid. Most impressive was the Empire,which had just been fitted with a new front end. Those that failed to qualify were the Ligiers,Theodores,Osellas,Andrea de Cesaris,ATS and RAM. As if that was not enough for a day,as night fell on Monaco,thunder roared and lightning flashed and the heavens opened at it was raining buckets and pails. At the time of press of this release,3 am,the rainstorm is continuing,and it is showing no signs of stopping.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 21 Jun 2013, 13:10

Woo! We made it!

Let's hope Martin can bag us another solid finish!

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 21 Jun 2013, 13:28

OK, we're qualifying comfortably right now. Now we need to make a goal for next season to expand to a two-car team.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 21 Jun 2013, 13:30

We qualified! At Monaco! Yes! Perhaps attrition will give us some spectacular result?

Post by **kevinbotz** » 21 Jun 2013, 13:43

Heavy rain. At Monaco. Could this be Brundle's breakthrough performance?

Julien · Post by **Julien** » 21 Jun 2013, 14:32

Whew.... This was close. I hope Martin knows how to swim...

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 21 Jun 2013, 14:41

Yes! We got in at Monaco!

Let's hope there is no first corner chaos...

The rains seems pretty heavy. A wet Monaco on the scale of '84?

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 23 Jun 2013, 09:16

1983 Monaco Grand Prix

Results

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1983 Monaco Grand Prix (76 Laps)
 1 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      2:01:46.374
 2 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     2:02:36.033
 3 Alain Prost (Renault)             2:02:42.870
 4 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      2:02:55.671
 5 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          2:03:18.604
 6 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)               -1 lap
 7 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)             -1 lap
 8 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)                -1 lap
 9 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)            -1 lap

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- Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)      DNF lap 62
   Jacques Laffite (Renault)          DNF lap 51
   Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)     DNF lap 42
   Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)     DNF lap 26
   Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)       DNF lap 26
   Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)          DNF lap 17
   Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)          DNF lap 16
   Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)         DNF lap 4
   Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)            DNF lap 3
   Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)          DNF lap 2
   Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)      DNF lap 1

Summary

By the time the field gathered on the grid,the heavy rainstorm that had poured all throughout the night had stopped,but the track was still wetter than the swimming pool. Some drivers,like polesitter Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg,made the gamble to go onto dry tyres,while most others chose to go onto intermediate tyres. As soon as the lights went out though,for the first four laps,it didn't matter what tyres you had at the start. You just needed to avoid all the wreckage.

Michele Alboreto started the trend of crashes by spearing straight on at St. Devote,luckily collecting none of the cars ahead of him. Geof Lees slotted into second in the spray and by the next lap,he wanted the lead. Problem was,there was a smal matter of spray and a Nelson Piquet in the way. Fortunately for Lees,he missed the spray. Bad news,he collected Piquet. That resulted in a Lotus-Renault parked at Mirabeau and a broken Brazilian into the pits for a massive repair job in the pits that cost him a lap on the rest of the field that would take advantage of this mess. Patrick Tambay failed to take advantage,primarily because the oil in his Ferrari wanted out,which left Tambay without any oil for the engine to run on.And if the track weren't slippery enough,Derek Warwick found the oil that Tambay had lost. However,Warwick lost one other thing in the process of finding Tambay's oil: control. Cue a hefty smack into the barriers at Tabac and of a Monaco Grand Prix for the fourth person in four laps. John Watson almost made it five in four laps when his car clobbered the stricken Arrows,but escaped with only a puncture.

Meanwhile,Keke Rosberg had taken the lead,and as the track dryed out,Rosberg had an extra pit stop advantage as everyone pitted for slicks. Those who had slicks on were immediately shot up to the top of the field,which led to the improbability of Rene Arnoux in second place for a decent chunk of time. Also,Thierry Boutsen and Martin Brundle,both having chosen the dry tyres,were now in an interesting scrap for fifth place,with Jacques Laffite just ahead of them having been on wet tyres at the start. Ahead of Laffite,though,was Eddie Cheever,who sticked to dry tyres from the beginning of the race like his teammate. Meanwhile, Niki Lauda had a decent amount of trouble climbing up through the field,which was hampered by the brakes completey giving up...before Portier. Not exactly the most terrifying place for your brakes to fail,but no matter,Lauda was out of it. A lap later,and Elio de Angelis parked his Ferrari alongside Lauda's at Portier,this time caused by the exact opposite problem:throttle failure.

By this time,Rosberg was still leading and pulling away by quite a fair margin. Rene Arnoux fell into the clutches of Cheever and Laffite,while Prost got past the dueling Toleman and Empire one by one. After Prost's interruption,the two "backmarkers" were now in a heated battle for sixth place. This was forming quite the train,but nevertheless Brundle and Boutsen fought hard throughout the entire lap. A few waves of complaints from Danny Sullivan and Riccardo Patrese later,Brundle finally got past the Toleman...only for Boutsen to come right back with an insane move through Piscine. That move consisted of launching over the Empire's rear wheel and scaring everyone within the general vicinity of the Swimming Pool by going over the barrier. Thankfully,there are no reported serious injuries from the spectators,although some have had minor cuts due to errant debris,but the Toleman actually seemed drivable when back down on all fours. Unfortunately,there was no way back into the circuit and Boutsen joined Brundle in the walk back to the pits.

This allowed Riccardo Patrese by,only for his race to end at his second pitstop of the day when,inexplicably,Patrese misjudged the pit entry and ended up into the barrier right next to the Ferrari garage. Meanwhile,Rene Arnoux dropped down to sixth faster than you can say the phrase "I dropped down to sixth",while Jacques Laffite was getting irritated,caught in a sandwich between Eddie Cheever and Alain Prost for second,third and fourth place. On lap 51,near Casino,Laffite slowed to let Prost by,which seemed controversial. Only when Danny Sullivan passed the Frenchman at the Hairpin did the crowd realise that Laffite was going slow not for the heck of it,but because he was stuck in first gear.. By the chicane, Laffite gave up and parked the car.

But in the end,driving an utterly dominant race in drying conditions was Keke Rosberg,taking his first victory as reigning champion in the Williams. Teammate Eddie Cheever followed about a minute after to come second,having extended the gap to Alain Prost in third place. Fourth was Danny Sullivan,once again showing his worth in the Tyrell. Fifth place was Rene Arnoux,who only really got there by virtue of sticking dry tyres on at the start,while Marc Surer claimed sixth by virtue of making no mistakes and finishing the race. Behind him,there were only three,yes,three drivers who finished. John Watson,having clipped Derek Warwick,Teo Fabi,who didn't feel like going fast,and Nelson Piquet,who added a spin or two to his earlier frustration of colliding with Lees. Still,he had that incredible qualifying lap,so at least his weekend was not as dull as he would have considered it to be.

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Driver's Championship (Round 5/19)
1. Jacques Laffite--24
2. Elio de Angelis--15 (1 win,1 2nd)
3. Patrick Tambay--15 (1 win,1 3rd)
4. Eddie Cheever--15 (1 2nd)
5. Keke Rosberg--13
6. Niki Lauda--10 (1 2nd)
7. Alain Prost--10 (2 3rds)
8. Marc Surer--7
9. Michele Alboreto--6
10. Danny Sullivan--4
11. Derek Warwick--2 (1 5th,1 7th)
12. Rene Arnoux--2 (1 5th,4 DNFs)
13. John Watson--1 (1 6th,1 7th,2 8ths)
14. Riccardo Patrese--1 (1 6th,1 7th,1 8th)

Constructor's Standings (Round 5/16)

1. Renault--34
2. Ferrari--30
3. Williams-Ford--28
4. McLaren-Ford--11
5. Tyrell-Ford--10
6. Arrows-Ford--9
7. Alfa Romeo--2
8. Brabham-BMW--1
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NEXT: The post-race party.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 23 Jun 2013, 09:19

I think Boutsen should get a 1 race ban for that

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 24 Jun 2013, 05:47

That was ridiculous. What the hell, Thierry?! Over the barrier at the swimming pool? You can kill yourself. You can kill spectators. You can do a ton of crap that can kill people. Cool down, man!

Julien · Post by **Julien** » 24 Jun 2013, 05:58

Awww Thierry... You were always one of my favorites, but now I really don't like you...

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 24 Jun 2013, 06:03

Julien wrote:Awww Thierry... You were always one of my favorites, but now I really don't like you...

+1

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 24 Jun 2013, 12:59

That was ridiculous by Boutsen. Unfortunately, I doubt the FIA will do anything about him... this is back when they were lenient as all hell to drivers.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 24 Jun 2013, 13:24

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May 15,1983, 9 p.m

The Monaco post-race party was going in full swing,and it was one of a few moments for the people involved in the sport to relax. Everyone from commentators to former world champions to the backmarkers to the team bosses and even a few marshals had turned up for the excitement. Thomas Travers also joined in,knowing that he would take the chance to relieve some stressful thoughts from his mind,to relax and, above all,give out hilarious and quirky gifts to fellow drivers,which was a tradition he started in his offices at the shopping mall that he wanted to bring into Formula One.

Sure,he had gained a minor dislike for Thierry Boutsen for taking him out in such a good position,and Boutsen was getting heat from some drivers and a couple of higher powers,but at least Mr. Travers eased the tension by giving Boutsen a Superman Cape with his high-flying antics. The cape was bought on the way there just for laughs,but Mr. Travers decided to see the funny side of Brundle and Boutsen's crash just for this one night. Besides,he head brought spare parts to fix that part of the car before the test at Paul Ricard,but we'll get back to that later. Meanwhile, Mr. Travers could not pass up the opportunity to give Elio de Angelis sheet music scores of Mozart's finest works after his "performance" in the hotel room at Johannesburg. Another highlight included giving Kenny Acheson a backscratcher,which according to Mr. Travers words,was "in case his back aches". This drew a supermassive groan from the RAM contingent. Still,he was doing what he thought was the right thing to do at any party,and that was to get off work for a while and have fun.

However,despite the light and cheery atmosphere,there were a few notable absentees. Despite Nelson Piquet being up to his usual antics,the entire Brabham team seemed to have called it a day,alongside Renault and Theodore,out of all teams. Andrea de Cesaris also seemed to be nowhere to be found,but popped up as soon as Mr. Travers was leaving. Mr. Travers never liked partying long into the night,being a constant early sleeper. After checking in on his team finishing up repairing Brundle's car,he went to hotel room,set the alarm to 5 a.m to drive to Paul Ricard,and went to bed. He still didn't like Boutsen that much,but at least he apologised to the fans that sustained minor injuries, Brundle and the Empire team,and accepted his cape with a chuckle rather than a scowl, so he couldn't be all that bad.

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NEXT: Testing times at Paul Ricard--literally. Also,get ready to vote again.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 24 Jun 2013, 20:41

Well, at least Mr. Travers showed up at the post-race party! Can't be that bad!

We were running for a points position. Just realized that :oops:

Julien · Post by **Julien** » 25 Jun 2013, 07:18

I don't get the backscraching joke :oops:

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 26 Jun 2013, 00:40

I'm going to guess more upgrades are coming.

This is probably obvious, since that's basically what we vote on.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 26 Jun 2013, 01:31

go_Rubens wrote:I'm going to guess more upgrades are coming.

This is probably obvious, since that's basically what we vote on.

Not really...
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F1 Headlines

Osella to switch engines
Osella have had constant rumours flying by its noses about a switch of engine manufacturere,and Enzo Osella seems to have confirmed those rumors. He held a press conference as soon as the Monaco Grand Prix finished to announce that Alfa Romeo ad Osella have agreed to a five-year deal in which Alfa Romeo will supply engines to the small Italian outfit. Also,Alfa Romeo are "lending" their 1983 to Osella to base their 1984 challenger off it. Osella will debut a completely new chassis with the Alfa engine,the FA1E,at the Detroit Grand Prix for Piercarlo Ghinzani, while Corrado Fabi will drive the second FA1E after the Canadian Grand Prix.
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Paul Ricard Testing Session Report--Tuesday May 17th,1983

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 Paul Ricard Test Session--Tuesday 17 May 1983
1 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)     1:37.167
2 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)  1:37.710
3 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)    1:41.635
4 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)    1:41.867

Funny how three teams came together on the same track at the same day to test,especially with only a week between races.Brabham arrived at Paul Ricard to test a new suspension system,oddly on a billiard table-smooth track,Theodore had an all-new rear wing and Empire came to test their revised front end of the EMP01. As expected,Brabham topped the timesheets,though they don't really have any yardstick to measure from given that they didn't test at Paul Ricard during pre-season. When compared to their qualifying effort during the French Grand Prix,however,their times were a massive improvement. The same cannot be said,however,for Brian Henton in the sole Theodore. Still,at least he reported that the wing felt nice,just that it slowed him down during the long straight. Empire,meanwhile,gained two-tenths from their pre-season testing times,which will please the boys from Milton Keynes.But they,along with all the teams who tested here,better stop celebrating and start packing to go to their next destination in three days time :Spa-Francorchamps.
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May 17-18,1983.

Midnight ticked by,but the Empire truck was still hotwheeling it into Belgium. At least,the truck driver was. The rest of the team were either asleep on the truck or asleep on a coach they had pre booked to follow the truck. Of course,Thomas Travers was piloting the truck,convincing himself for the fifth time this season to get a suitable truck driver. Despite that,he still had happy thoughts in his mind. The test went exactly as planned,and they even managed to get a little more speed out of the Hart engine. But Mr. Travers had his mind further ahead than the next race. In fact it was way,way ahead.

So far he had depended on just one EMP01 chassis to carry them through the season. Mr. Travers figured that,well,one was simply just not enough.Sure,the chassis was constructed out of carbon fibre to keep it strong,but what would happen if that carbon fibre snapped? Where would be the spare? Furthermore,there was even more cause for concern if the second chassis got mangled under a bulldozer.Would there be a third spare chassis readily available? Their Milton Keynes factory have been churning out spare parts,so all they had do to is create the other chassis to attach those spare parts to. Also,with anohter chassis,there was opportunity to do what Mr. Travers called "chassis rotation". This will mean that chassis 1 gets used a lot,and so its performance decreases. Then,the team switches over to the second chassis. Mr. Travers liked this idea,but he needed to get the idea to the factory back in Milton Keynes. A third chassis could help a greater conservation in performance,and maybe even give a shot for a pay-driver with money and sponsors later in the season,only problem is that the cost of producing a third one may just be a bit to great.Plus,more spare parts will need to be constructed for the third chassis alone. Mr. Travers needed to get the idea back to England. Problem was,which idea will it be?
-------------------------------------------

ISSUE:How many spare chassis will Empire construct?

a) Construct one spare chassis--(Pros:Chassis rotation,backup for first chassis,no need for additional spare parts. Cons:Takes a while to construct,costs money)
b) Construct two spare chassis--(Pros:More chassis rotation,extra backup,pay-driver opportunity. Cons:Not enough parts,second spare created much later,costs more money)
c) Do Nothing.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 26 Jun 2013, 01:50

There really isn't anyone wanting to race for us with loads of cash right now, so building two chassis is not very cost effective. However, building an extra chassis would be a good idea. So I vote for Option A.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 26 Jun 2013, 02:20

I think Option B will work.

Post by **kevinbotz** » 26 Jun 2013, 04:13

Option A.

pycku · Post by **pycku** » 26 Jun 2013, 06:31

Empire should focus efforts and money for next year car, as this season two or three tenths more (or less) don't matter that much, as we are backmarkers. I vote for Option C, saving money which Empire will use to develop a competitive car next year.

HawkAussie · Post by **HawkAussie** » 26 Jun 2013, 07:16

I'm saying Option B

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 26 Jun 2013, 07:33

Option c

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 26 Jun 2013, 08:23

Option A.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 26 Jun 2013, 12:33

I'm thinking Option A, myself. Though I'd prefer to know how much constructing a chassis would cost, and how much money the team currently has at its disposal.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 26 Jun 2013, 12:51

pycku wrote:Empire should focus efforts and money for next year car, as this season two or three tenths more (or less) don't matter that much, as we are backmarkers. I vote for Option C, saving money which Empire will use to develop a competitive car next year.

Hmm, you do have a point. I therefore change my vote to Option C.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 26 Jun 2013, 14:03

A seems like the safest option. Running out of either thing would be bad.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 26 Jun 2013, 18:40

I go option A

pycku · Post by **pycku** » 26 Jun 2013, 22:12

I just came across an idea - if option A is chosen and we get a second chassis - isnt is possible to sign a pay driver for it, too?

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 27 Jun 2013, 14:41

pycku wrote:I just came across an idea - if option A is chosen and we get a second chassis - isnt is possible to sign a pay driver for it, too?

The chassis would be used for Brundle as a spare. No point risking putting a pay driver in there when we only have one spare chassis, which is why I voted for option B.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 29 Jun 2013, 00:46

VOTES TALLY

ISSUE:How many Spare Chassis will Empire construct?

5 Option A,2 Option B & C

Thus,Empire will construct one spare chassis and the chassis will be ready by the European Grand Prix,scheduled after the British Grand Prix.
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1983 Belgian Grand Prix

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 1983 Belgian Grand Prix-Qualifying
 1 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)       2:04.614
 2 Alain Prost (Renault)             2:04.627
 3 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)         2:05.578
 4 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)     2:05.600
 5 Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)        2:05.658
 6 Jacques Laffite (Renault)         2:05.679
 7 Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)         2:05.733
 8 Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)    2:06.570
 9 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)    2:06.761
10 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)     2:06.969
11 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)        2:07.001
12 Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)          2:07.647

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13 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)       2:07.752
14 Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)    2:08.182
15 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)  2:08.254
16 Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)      2:08.516
17 Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)    2:08.647
18 Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)      2:08.684
19 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)          2:09.524
20 Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)          2:09.950
21 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)      2:10.033
22 Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)      2:10.090
23 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)      2:10.091
24 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)         2:10.205
25 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)    2:10.721

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26 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Ford)  2:11.082
---------------------DNQ--------------------------
27 Corrado Fabi (Osella-Ford)        2:12.153
28 Teo Fabi (Toleman-Hart)           2:12.817
29 Kenny Acheson (RAM-Ford)          2:13.381

It was time to step out of the sun and into Spa,returning to the circuit for the first time in 13 years. In those 13 years,however,things have changed. No more blasting past houses. No more Masta. Now there was a permanent race facility with runoff areas,tyre barriers and even a chicane. However,Blanchimont,La Source and Eau Rouge were all there,and the new sets of turns from Pouhon to Malmendy to Fagnes were all heavily praised by drivers,citing this as an instant classic of a racetrack. Well,except Bus Stop. Maybe.

Anyway,as qualifying ended,it was Nelson Piquet again sitting pretty on pole,with Alain Prost a hungry terrier chopping at his knees in second place.Elio de Angelis led the Lotuses in third with Jacques Laffite sixthg,Niki Lauda seventh and home country hero Thierry Boutsen in eighth,bringing a pleasant surprise to the crowd in the forest.

In for a nasty surprise,however, were Riccardo Patrese Keke Rosberg and championship contender Patrick Tambay,who decided to hold their out laps without any knowledge whatsoever that a rain shower had hit Les Combes.After the trio slipped and slid all over the shop,they went back to the pits expecting more and more rain. Turns out,the shower only hovered Les Combes and a bit of Malmendy before leaving the circuit altogether. Presumably embarassed,the trio tried to set a hot lap in the 94% dry,5% damp and 1% wet conditions. That 6%,however,cost them time,dropping back in a range of positions from 17th to 20th. Also embarassed was Teo Fabi,similarly caught out by the rain,to end up twenty positions and a DNQ away from his teammate. Shame.
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go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 29 Jun 2013, 01:05

Not bad. We qualified again! Things are looking up.

How in the Sam Hell did Ghinzani qualify? Dang... Probably because of the farce that was Teo Fabi. Both Fabi's DNQed.

Julien · Post by **Julien** » 29 Jun 2013, 06:34

I wonder if we lost more time in the straights or in the corners. I expected a bit better from Spa.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 30 Jun 2013, 09:20

1983 Belgian Grand Prix

Results

Code: Select all

1983 Belgian Grand Prix (40 Laps)
 1 Elio de Angelis (Ferrari)           1:30:36.062
 2 Alain Prost (Renault)               1:30:38.192
 3 Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW)         1:30:51.299
 4 Nigel Mansell (Lotus-Renault)       1:30:58.750
 5 Michele Alboreto (Tyrell-Ford)      1:31:15.471
 6 Jacques Laffite (Renault)           1:31:38.957
 7 Eddie Cheever (Williams-Ford)       1:31:45.098
 8 Derek Warwick (Arrows-Ford)         1:31:46.434
 9 Marc Surer (Arrows-Ford)            1:31:57.627
10 Mauro Baldi (Ligier-Ford)           1:32:04.095
11 John Watson (McLaren-Ford)          1:32:04.505
12 Brian Henton (Theodore-Ford)        1:32:21.210

Code: Select all

13 Johnny Cecotto (Theodore-Ford)      1:32:33.967
14 Danny Sullivan (Tyrell-Ford)        1:32:34.995
15 Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier-Ford)    1:32:40.795
16 Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella-Ford)         -1 lap

Code: Select all

 - Keke Rosberg (Williams-Ford)         DNF lap 36
   Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW)       DNF lap 22
   Martin Brundle (Empire-Hart)         DNF lap 21
   Niki Lauda (McLaren-Ford)            DNF lap 19
   Geoff Lees (Lotus-Renault)           DNF lap 19
   Thierry Boutsen (Toleman-Hart)       DNF lap 12
   Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)              DNF lap 8
   Rene Arnoux (Alfa Romeo)              DNF lap 7
   Manfred Winklehock (ATS-BMW)          DNF lap 5
   Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo)        DNF lap 2

Summary

Well,despite the rain early this morning,by race time,Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps dried up to almost desert levels,providing the background for a probable high speed battle. As the lights went out,Nelson Piquet got off to an okay start,maintaining his lead,but by Pouhon he was already threatened by the Ferrari of de Angelis and Alain Prost in his trusty Renault. The other Renault,however, had already dropped to a miserable tenth by the first lap and Laffite ended up stuck behind Cheever,primarily because he just could not get a run out of Eau Rouge to overtake Cheever down the circuit's flat out bit,and the Williams thrived in the twisty areas. Another thing that went twisty after lap one was Andrea de Cesaris' suspension after having an unfortunate meet and greet session with the barrier at La Source. Manfred Winklehock kept de Cesaris company in the paddock early on when his BMW engine expired. Rene Arnoux had a charge going up the field,but ended that charge moments later with a blown turbo spewing out pieces of turbocharger rather than air. Then another blow arrived for Patrick Tambay and his championship challenge by hitting the inside barrier entering La Source in a brave attempt to pass Keke Rosberg. The contact with the unmovable movable barrier sent the unlucky Frenchman out of the race.

In the meantime,there was a battle heating up between Alain Prost and Elio de Angelis. Nelson Piquet had been well and truly disposed of,leaving the two to fight out a fast,fantastic,fight.It was vintage Prost; calculated,cool,and only comitting whenever de Angelis made a mistake. But the young Italian remained unfazed,his Ferrari rooted to the racing line,even setting some fastest laps along the way,ignoring Prost's looks and heavy drafting sessions in a vain attempt to pressure de Angelis into a mistake. Only a burnt Toleman of Thierry Boutsen,running spectacularly well in his home race,distracted the crowd from the heavy action. Geoff Lees and Niki Lauda tried to create a poor man's version of the battle for fourth place,and ended up poorly for both when Lees shut the door on Lauda,rather forcibly I might add, into Fagnes. Cue an unpleased Lees and a slightly unpleased and very ticked off Lauda.

In pitstops,the battle was halted when Alain Prost pitted one lap earlier than de Angelis,and due to a fascinating out lap from Prost,a not at all good in-lap from de Angelis and some fantastic Renault pitcrew action,Prost ended up seven seconds of de Angelis. de Angelis knew it was time for a comeback,but first he had to negotiate a parked Empire around the pit exit. Martin Brundle was keeping Danny Sullivan's Tyrell quite humble indeed by the time his pitstop came. He stopped for four new tyres and went out again. Well,three attached new tyres and one very loosely attached rear tyre,which set itself free at the pit exit. Cue the facepalm from Mr. Travers. Riccardo Patrese,probably from laughing too much at the stricken Empire,made a mistake at Eau Rouge and found himself spinning,not exactly what you want to be doing there. He went into the barrier with some,but not a lot of force,and walked away from the crash site.

In the meantime,Elio de Angelis engaged comeback mode.Within 10 laps,he was already looking for ways past the Renault. Now it was the exact same battle,just roles and temperment reversed. de Angelis looked for every opportunity to pass,Prost looked to remain calm and cool and frustrate the Italian with calculated blocks. de Angelis,however,was random,not calculated. With 3 laps to go,a broken down Keke Rosberg distracted Prost out of Malmendy,and that was all de Angelis needed. Without hesitation,he stuck the Ferrari up the inside into the left hander afterwards and booked it. Now de Angelis was streaking away from Prost,and ended up taking his second victory of the season. Alain Prost ended up second,while third was Nelson Piquet in the Brabham,finally picking up some points. Fourth was Nigel Mansell,again picking up his first points of the year. Michele Alboreto snuck the Tyrell into 5th,while Jacques Laffite found a way past Cheever for 6th place,maintaining the championship lead by only a single point.

Driver's Championship (Round 6/16)

1.Jacques Laffite--25
2.Elio de Angelis--24
3.Alain Prost--16
4.Patrick Tambay--15 (1 win)
5.Eddie Cheever--15 (1 2nd)
6.Keke Rosberg--13
7.Niki Lauda--10
8.Michele Alboreto--8
9.Marc Surer--7
10. Nelson Piquet--4 (1 3rd)
11.Danny Sullivan--4 (1 4th)
12.Nigel Mansell--3
13.Derek Warwick--2 (1 5th,1 7th)
14.Rene Arnoux--2 (1 5th, 5 DNFs)
15.John Watson--1 (1 6th,1 7th,2 8ths)
16.Riccardo Patrese--1 (1 6th,1 7th,1 8th)

Constructor's Championship (Round 5/16)

1.Renault--41
2.Ferrari--39
3.Williams-Ford--28
4.Tyrrell-Ford--12
5.McLaren-Ford--11
6.Arrows-Ford--9
7.Brabham-BMW--5
8.Lotus-Renault--3
9.Alfa Romeo--2
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OOC Note:From today onwards,expect to see much,much,much(well,maybe not that much) less activity from me not only in this thread but on the forums altogether save for the weekends. I have 'O' levels coming up,which could affect whether I can even take 'A' levels or not,so I'll take some time off to study and practice for this exam. I'll still keep up to date on info needed from me on other PMMF or just any other threads in general. Just shoot a PM my way if you need anything from me.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 30 Jun 2013, 12:51

Well, pit stop FAIL sees us DNF again. God...

Julien · Post by **Julien** » 01 Jul 2013, 11:42

I can't believe that we are not able to finish any race...

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 02 Jul 2013, 12:15

-------------------------------
May 30,1983.

Thomas Travers relaxed in his office next to the factory floor. He hadn't planned on doing much today,and only visited the office to do a quick check of his finances and whatever parts the team was churning out. With the extra costs for the spare chassis and the repairs after Monaco,Mr. Travers still had a healthy 2.5 million in the bank to spend on stuff,like additional staff and so on,or he could just save the amount until next season.He went to check on whatever the engineering team were doing now and to give a stern lesson to the rear tyre changer on how to secure a wheel nut properly. However,though,he was interrupted by a man.

"Excuse me,Mr. Travers."

It was Brian Hart,manager of Brian Hart Ltd. and also his engine supplier. Mr. Travers was caught a bit off guard by his presence, but since Hart wouldn't just go down to Empire personally for no good reason at all,it was best to engage in conversation. Throughout all these thoughts wandering about in his head,Mr. Travers only squeaked out a "Hello there."that sounded in the confused-surprised-dull-lively range.

"Didn't expect to see me,huh? Anyways,how's your team coming along?"

"Fairly well for an upstart. Got a good result at the ROC,but I'm quite on the short side of reliability now..." Mr.Travers figured this would be a perfect segue for Hart to continue on,and lo and behold...

"Don't worry about that reliability problem you've got there,"Hart took a quick sudden glance to the engine bay,where Mr. Travers had Hart's 415T engines in tow,before coming back into the chat, "I've already approached Toleman about this about two days ago,just took me so long to come here because this has been quite hard to develop..."

"What is 'this'?" ,Mr Travers interrupted,something that had become quite a habit ever since he entered Formula One.

"Well," Hart continued unfazed, "We have worked on the 415t engines and have managed to upgrade the turbocharger and the cooling systems. Good news,the turbo provides a litle more kick,though theres the emphasis on the little,and the cooling systems seem to have made the engine more reliable." Mr. Travers was liking this,but he knew that every good news comes with..."Bad news,well,let's just say your car won't be blazing around turns as fast as it used to,given the added weight even slowed my van down on the way here..."

"Wait,you brought the upgraded bits with you?" Mr. Travers seemed slightly puzzled by this.

"Well,if you accept,we can upgrade one now engine right now,you bring it to North America hoping it does not blow itself to bits,come back to find two more engines upgraded. Or,take engines without upgrades with you to North America,and when you come back,your engines will be upgraded come the British Grand Prix.Or you can live without upgraded Harts in the hopes of turning better. It's all up to you." Hart immediately signalled Mr. Travers to make his choice,on the spot...

Mr. Travers paused in thought for a moment,then started,"Well then,I'll....."
------------------------------------------------
ISSUE: What option of Hart's upgrade package should Mr. Traver's take?

a)Fit one engine with upgrade immediately--(Top Speed & Reliability +0.1,Handling -0.2,reverts to normal if engine fails up until Britian,all engines with upgrade from Britian onwards)
b)Fit engines with upgrade--(Same stats as a),leaves Detroit and Canada with old engine stats,new engine stats from Britian onwards)
c)Refuse Hart's offer--(No change at all)

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 02 Jul 2013, 12:25

Tough choice. I'll stick my neck on the line and refuse the offer.