2001 CART - Test #1 completed.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 09 Jun 2015, 11:58

The win was handed to us on a plate, and we dropped it and spilled it all over the floor :facepalm:

Wheldon was running last? Oh dear. We understand he is a rookie, but he must at least be in the midfield! He's not doing anything to justify a salary so far.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 09 Jun 2015, 12:42

Biscione wrote:The win was handed to us on a plate, and we dropped it and spilled it all over the floor

Wheldon was running last? Oh dear. We understand he is a rookie, but he must at least be in the midfield! He's not doing anything to justify a salary so far.

Wheldon lost his front wing in the Brack ordeal and spun again after contact with Boss (I think it was Boss, not sure)

Dom_Wings · Post by **Dom_Wings** » 10 Jun 2015, 07:42

Rabbi Gordon wrote:after contact with Boss (I think it was Boss, not sure)

Dom_Wings · Post by **Dom_Wings** » 10 Jun 2015, 08:56

Kenny Brack was apparently given the Ilmor engine without knowing!

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 10 Jun 2015, 09:11

Reject_Dom wrote:Kenny Brack was apparently given the Ilmor engine without knowing!

If Bobby can ship it back to Plainfield, Illinois, it'd be much appreciated. We kinda need it as a spare and all

Post by **Miguel98** » 10 Jun 2015, 13:46

We hope that Tony Kanaan get's baned for his actions during the race.

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 10 Jun 2015, 18:07

Not a good race for Penske seems we didnt have luck on our side

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 10 Jun 2015, 19:54

Pretty happy with driver performances. Just a shame that Fernandez suffered mechanical failure in the race. We will investigate why that happened and try to avoid it happening in upcoming races.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 12 Jun 2015, 11:56

Bills:

Penske: 2 wrecks, Dario's can be fixed for a smaller amount, but Castroneves damaged the tub. It is a 100k repair.
Rahal: Brack blew the engine and Ford takes responsibility for having a faulty part so early in the race and overhauls it for free.
Newman-Haas: Junqueira only needed a new wing, which is not a too expensive part, Kanaan however had extensive damage to the car. 100k it is.
Forsythe: The cars did not suffer any damage, but Paul Tracy decided to buy a round for everyone after the race. 500$.
Patrick Racing's cars were also intact at the end of the race.
Team Green: Wheldon had various bits of damage and a failed engine on him. 100k.
Mo Nunn Racing: Gugelmin totaled his car requiring a complete rebuild. 150k.
Ganassi: Papis had an impact from behind after a spin, but it wasn't that bad, Fisher blew a transmission. 50k.
Andretti finished without as much as a scratch.
Poor PacWest had their cars crash into eachother. Saelens's car is repairable, but Carpentier's is a total write-off, except the engine. 200k.
Fernandez had no structural damage to either car and a small part failure on the #51. Frustrating, but at least
infinitesimal in cost and Bilstein offered to give an experimental oval model to one of the cars as a compensation.
Sigma and Walker, although both cars were damaged, they were minimal.
Bettenhausen survived without problems.
Arciero, although troubled by an accident, were actually eliminated by an electrical failure, which Infineon offered to change free of charge.
Coyne had a transmission and a rear wing go flying, also damaging a suspension a bit. 50k

Post by **Miguel98** » 12 Jun 2015, 15:24

Arciero thanks Infineon, and repais the car electrics.

Is Kanaan getting a ban for his awful driving in round 1 Rabbi?

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 12 Jun 2015, 16:57

Miguel98 wrote:Arciero thanks Infineon, and repais the car electrics.

Is Kanaan getting a ban for his awful driving in round 1 Rabbi?

No, he is getting a 3-race probation first.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 12 Jun 2015, 19:01

Rabbi Gordon wrote:Forsythe: The cars did not suffer any damage, but Paul Tracy decided to buy a round for everyone after the race. 500$.

While Gerald Forsythe is very happy with PT's team spirit, he is wondering why he is picking up the tab on this, and not Tracy himself.

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 12 Jun 2015, 19:45

After the team has sobered up, they will get around to repairing to cars in time for the next round

Dom_Wings · Post by **Dom_Wings** » 12 Jun 2015, 19:47

I have to thank Ford that they did not give me any bills to pay

V8fan12 · Post by **V8fan12** » 13 Jun 2015, 03:42

We will repair Kanaan's car

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 13 Jun 2015, 04:46

After much yelling in the workshop for no discernible reason, Dale Coyne will pay their bills before the next race

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 22 Jun 2015, 02:38

PacWest will pay whatever they need to have both cars in the next race

FortiFord · Post by **FortiFord** » 22 Jun 2015, 12:37

Mo Nunn will rebuild Gugelmin's car.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 22 Jun 2015, 17:13

Round 2 - Long Beach

The 18th Grand Prix of Long Beach. One of CART's better known events, taking place on sunny California streets, where pit strategy and qualifying positions matter more than anything.
Qualifying:
Given to its vital nature, everybody went all out which resulted in something interesting, quite an amount of surprises in the back and a huge one up front.

The rear seven: You expected the Coyne cars... Yep, both here. You expected Boss and Nakano, maybe Fisher. They're all here... You expected Paul Tra... Wat?

The midfield 8: Quite close once again, having performed very well in the past few time trials, Zanardi ran into problems (or to be specific, into Minassian) and will be here, also here is Wheldon, Carpentier with his brand new car and surprisingly, Max Papis.

The oudsiders: Ending the top 12 and starting barely in the last point scoring spot is Brack, who had a promising lap ruined by a spun Lazier, who despite that mishap managed to get in the top 10. Only seventh is de Ferran, but Junqueira almost got into the top 5.

The promised five: Fifth goes to Michael Andretti, who was menacingly fast, but wrecked early on. This lap is basically a warm-up lap of his. Expect Michael to attack fiercely in the race. Fourth is a man who is consistently fast, but lacking the pace to be in the very front, Christian Fittipaldi. The 3rd spot on the grid went to somebody you'd not expect to see here, given that he is a pay driver AND a rookie, but hats off to David Saelens. The first two remain the same, butt he order changed, as this time, it was Helio, who had the perfect lap and will lead the field to the green tomorrow.

The grid:
1. Helio Castroneves
2. Cristiano da Matta
3. David Saelens
4. Christian Fittipaldi
5. Michael Andretti
6. Bruno Junqueira
7. Gil de Ferran
8. Dario Franchitti
9. Roberto Moreno
10. Buddy Lazier
11. Tony Kanaan
12. Kenny Brack
13. Scott Dixon
14. Mauricio Gugelmin
15. Michel Jourdain, Jr.
16. Max Papis
17. Adrian Fernandez
18. Patrick Carpentier
19. Dan Wheldon
20. Alex Zanardi
21. Oriol Servia
22. Sarah Fisher
23. Paul Tracy
24. Shinji Nakano
25. Geoff Boss
26. Nicolas Minassian
27. Luiz Garcia, Jr.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 24 Jun 2015, 11:52

There are some issues with the track, so there will be a little difference in the layout, as I will use the one with the 1982 F1C mod.

The problem is that some cars can't pit and WILL run out of fuel in a full-distance race. I don't know why, as their crew appears and it IS their crew in proper uniforms, but the cars just drive through the pits without stopping. This is not because another car blocking their entry or anything. These stalls are not next to eachother and the cars are not qualified near, nor they are teammates. (Servia and Fittipaldi)
Anyone have an idea why? Or it is just that there are too many cars for the track?

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 15 Jul 2015, 19:26

My plans had a few major changes in the past few weeks, but it is here.

ROUND 2:
When the red lights went out the Brazilians seemed to react amazingly. da Matta and Castroneves both got a neat start, but Fittipaldi made a seriously brave move into turn one and managed to make it stick and took the lead... From P4 that is! A little ways behind Junqueira beat Andretti and Saelens to turn one. At the end of the 1st lap, Gugelmin was scored in the top 10 and Carpentier was just two places behind in 11th.
Fittipaldi started to pull away from the others, because da Matta was not as fast as before and held up the cars behind him.
Soon it became apparent why da Matta was slower, as he pulled into the pits and retired on lap 7 with a gearbox failure.
The only car who seemed to be able to make overtakes was somewhat surprisingly, Gugelmín, who was up to P7 by lap 5.
Standings after lap 10:
1. Fittipaldi
2. Castroneves
3. Junqueira
4. Andretti
5. Saelens

Right in lap 11, the only car on a two stop strategy, Fernandez, stopped from 18th place. Maybe a good idea, given how tight the track is. Also he dodged a bullet and came out in just front of Garcia, 7 seconds behind Minassian, who had an all-right pace, keeping up with the other backmarkers.
Castroneves spun out on lap 13 and I'm still not sure how he could rejoin the race without damage, but he did. With that, Andretti jumped in front of Junqueira and Helio to take second and looked considerably faster than Fittipaldi. Dixon had a bad corner and fell back 3 spots in the tightly contested midfield, while Gugelmin continuing his amazing race, got past another driver on a great run, Saelens.
Top 5 after 20 laps:
1. Fittipaldi
2. Andretti
3. Junqueira
4. Gugelmín
5. Saelens

In the next 30 laps it was relatively calm, Andretti caught Fittipaldi, but couldn't do anything, while the only noteworthy overtake was done by Gugelmin, who was running the race of his life and overtook Junqueira too.
Moreno blew his engine running 12th in lap 28.

Lap 54 saw people dive into the pits and mixed up the order.
Fernandez does take the lead by a good 10 seconds and has to go real fast in order to maintain something for a nice finish.
Fittipaldi's stop was botched and both Andretti and Gugelmin overtook him. Luiz Garcia lost a gearbox and stage left.
Standings after the pit stops cycled through:
1. Fernandez
2. Andretti
3. Gugelmin
4. Fittipaldi
5. Junqueira

Lap 60 brought a dramatic event, Andretti slammed his car into the wall in turn one and retired from what looked like a sure victory, as he was in fact closing on Fernandez, who had to pit again. Junqueira turned the afterburners on and caught up to Gugelmin with ease, after overtaking Fittipaldi.
Tracy also stopped with a suspension failure after tapping the wall. A fitting end to a truly horrible performance, he was 18th.

Closing on the finish, by lap 72, Fernandez had an 11 second lead on P2 and a 25 second lead on P6, which would be the place he could come back after a splash and go. At the moment Gugelmin looked like to be on track to his second CART win and first in 4 years. Out of nowhere Fittipaldi was closing very fast though.

The last 10 laps saw a tumultuous and exciting finale.
First Wheldon was punted off by Jourdain, which was just in front of Gugelmin and enabled de Ferran to fully catch up.
Lap 73 saw Fernandez pit again and he was truly amazing in his in lap and made a perfect pit stop. He exited in P5. Ultimately, his unique strategy got him a 13 place advance
The lead was in the hands of Gugelmin, who was under pressure from Fittipaldi and in lap 80, broke and ran wide, giving his compatriot the lead.
In the end it was Fittipaldi, who took the flag in the streets of California in front of the man of the race, Mauricio Gugelmin. Finishing 3rd was Junqueira, who was solid all race.
Even better, Coyne had a car that finished the race. Nowhere near last place too!

Finishing order:
1. Christian Fittipaldi Patrick 1:51:57
2. Mauricio Gugelmín Mo Nunn +1.047
3. Bruno Junqueira Newman-Haas +2.924
4. Gil de Ferran Green +3.118 (Fastest lap)
5. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez +9.973
6. David Saelens PacWest +13.645
7. Kenny Bräck Rahal +13.891
8. Helio Castroneves Penske +14.209
9. Dario Franchitti Penske +15.069
10. Max Papis Ganassi +18.183
11. Tony Kanaan Newman-Haas +22.198
12. Patrick Carpentier PacWest +23.799
13. Buddy Lazier Forsythe +24.723
14. Alex Zanardi Sigma +37.436
15. Oriol Servia Fernandez +44.688
16. Dan Wheldon Green +1 Lap/Suspension
17. Michel Jourdain, Jr. Bettenhausen +1 Lap
18. Nicolas Minassian Coyne +2 Laps
19. Sarah Fisher Ganassi +2 laps
20. Geoff Boss Walker +3 Laps
Retired
21. Scott Dixon Mo Nunn DNF
22. Paul Tracy Forsythe Suspension
23. Michael Andretti Andretti Crash
24. Luiz Garcia, Jr. Coyne Gearbox
25. Roberto Moreno Patrick Engine
26. Cristiano da Matta Rahal Gearbox
27. Shinji Nakano Arciero Gearbox

Best performer: This one must go to Gugelmin. He started midpack and worked his way up to P1, almost getting a victory.
Honorable mentions to Saelens and Fernandez
ROTR: Paul Tracy - Qualified near the back, could not get through Servia and didn't finish.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 18 Jul 2015, 01:11

Round 2 is up, next is a testing session. More info will come.

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 18 Jul 2015, 04:42

Awesome Dá-Lhe Christian!

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 18 Jul 2015, 07:39

*Angrily shakes fist at Jourdain*

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 19 Jul 2015, 23:02

My my, Michael, I know it is Andretti Racing, but still we don't like it when you bin surefire victories in here... :roll:

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 20 Jul 2015, 19:33

Not a bad race.

Post by **Miguel98** » 21 Jul 2015, 12:17

Shinji, your supposed to keep the car in check.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 22 Jul 2015, 18:34

So... Upgrades!
There are five fields. Top Speed, Cornering, Acceleration, Reliability as usual and Consistency.
The consistency field does not better your car at all, but your driver will be less likely to crash and more likely to translate a good qualifying into a good race. This upgrade can be advised to teams employing hard, aggressive drivers.
Doubt anyone needs it, but here are the others.
Top speed - Well... It upgrades the top speed of the car. [Engine related modification] Best for ovals.
Acceleration - Better acceleration (much info, such useful, wow) [drivetrain related mod] Best for street courses.
Cornering - Makes your driver take corners better and faster. Most useful for road courses.
Reliability - Makes general parts failures less likely.

Drivers can be instructed to take risks or not. You can be creative with your wording if you want to.

The test should focus on one of the five upgrades.

The test will take place on the Charlotte 1.5 mile oval track and teams with split schedule will bring their oval drivers.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 22 Jul 2015, 18:51

EDIT: WHOOPS! Wrong series. Let's try that again.

Team Green will opt to go with testing for Top Speed. Gil de Ferran, with his experience, will be trusted with most of the development work. Meanwhile, we want Dan Wheldon to try and work on his speed, get plenty of race and quali simulations in, generally get more accustomed to the car and improve his pace.

V8fan12 · Post by **V8fan12** » 22 Jul 2015, 20:59

Newman-Haas will go for Consistency and we will also tell Tony Kanaan to push harder and try and place in the top 10. It would be great if he would be running as well as Junquiera.

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 22 Jul 2015, 21:17

Well Patrick wants Consistence to be tested right now and advices Moreno to try hardest to get closer to the pack (mostly match Fittipaldi's rhyhtm)

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 22 Jul 2015, 21:21

Penske would like to work on Consistency . Our instructions to Helio would be to keep his composure try to make less mistakes in the race while to Dario would be to try and close the gap to the front of the pack.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 22 Jul 2015, 22:04

Coyne will attempt a Top Speed upgrade out of the Ilmor lump. Our instructions to Nicolas Minassion is to continue being a hero, and for Mears/Garcia to start being heroes

FortiFord · Post by **FortiFord** » 22 Jul 2015, 23:56

Mo Nunn will go for Top Speed. We'll tell both drivers to push harder as their results have been a little disappointing except for Gugelmin's 2nd place.

Post by **Miguel98** » 23 Jul 2015, 06:57

Arciero will go for Reliability test, while we instruct Shinji Nakano to keep it off the wall, and gather as much data as possible.

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 23 Jul 2015, 07:58

Andretti Racing will go for a Consistency upgrade.

Dom_Wings · Post by **Dom_Wings** » 23 Jul 2015, 08:08

Rahal will go for the Reliability upgrade.

P.S. Kenny, don't be lazy and push harder!!!

SeedStriker · Post by **SeedStriker** » 23 Jul 2015, 15:20

Sigma will go for Top Speed upgrade. The instructions for Alex Zanardi are to take things cool, find your own pace within the car and enjoy the racing.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 23 Jul 2015, 17:04

Forsythe will focus on consistency. God knows we're going to need it with Paul Tr--- oh hey Paul, I didn't see you there! Say, could you do me a favour and just make sure you get a decent lap in in qualifying next time before you go for pole? That'd be great.

I'd also like it if Buddy Lazier could start pushing a little harder in the races.

Rabbi Gordon · Post by **Rabbi Gordon** » 23 Jul 2015, 19:31

Miguel98 wrote:Arciero will go for Reliability test, while we instruct Shinji Nakano to keep it off the wall, and gather as much data as possible.

Shinji is confused, because Alex Barron will drive the car during the test.
Although Nakano agrees that he has to give a better performance and promises to do so in his home track.