1997 F1RGP2C Season - Duel in the Desert RACE Up

[Salamander]

Yes, the reliability was terrible. But he failed to do anything much that matched the expectations of everyone, Davies was nowhere near winning 7 more races. He wasn't bad, he was just dissapointing itoo much. And besides I did say the list was a bit biased

Really? (Also I said he could've won 7, not 7 more)

Australia - leading when his car broke down
Argentina - won
San Marino - leading when he went off, but still finished 2nd
Hungary - leading when his car broke down
Belgium - pretty sure he was hauling Spokes in when his car broke down
Italy - leading when his car broke down
Japan - running 3rd when he suffered electrical problems, spun off, and still rallied back to 3rd. Seems like a race winning performance to me.

I'm not 100% sure on Belgium, but even without that, and with the 2nd place in San Marino, plus his other results, would've been enough to overhaul Moreno. McLaren reliability cost James Davies the championship. It's a lot like Alesi's 1995, to be honest...

[Nuppiz]

No voi saatanan saatana!

[WaffleCat]

Erm....did we win?WE DID?!HOLY FLY IN A COWSWATTER!!Get out the Budwisers,we're gonna PARTY!!!!

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I had a reply to that typed out until my internet decided to ragequit.

Yes, you do have a point with some of those races but Moreno also had a fair bit of bad luck at times. I'm fairly sure that if luck was taken out of the equasion all together then Davies would end up third behind Moreno and Douglas. Which is definitely worse than his ego would lead everyone to believe. And his attitude was part of the reason for my decision in the first place (It's also what makes him such a funny character to read but that's beside the point).

Now that I think of it pretty much anyone within the whole team could make a realistic claim for the award

[FMecha]

My ROTY nominations:

3. Arrows' reliability - Cost them too many hopes despite high promises at the beginning. They got beaten by DAMS in the standings, in the end.
2. Gauthier drivers - Let's see... Incompetent backmarkers (Tucker, Meerwick), dangerous mobile chicane (McFry), pure muppet (Anderson), and desperate rookies (anyone else other than those four) makes Gauthier the team with most driver changes in a open-wheel series ever. Good riddance there will be a driver limits next year.
1. John Zimmer - Slipped to 11th in standings despite insisting being a championship challenger this year and high promises at the beginning. Benetton's decline is starting.

[Grovey]

I assume Geoff Grove got the Minardi drive due to beating his teammate

[tristan1117]

Jung Resigns as F1RGP2C President, Hands Control to Padraig O'Connell

In a developing story, Tristan Jung, the president of the F1RGP2C, has resigned after four years in control. In a public address, Jung told reporters that he was resigning in order to resolve any potential rifts in the time-space continuum and so that he could focus on his new job at the MasterCard Lola team in the F1RICS. Jung's handpicked successor, yet to be ratified by the FIA, is ex-driver and race-winner Padraig O'Connell, who drove at Ferrari in 1994 and 1995.

[tristan1117]

Alright, I haven't had the time or patience to write up a 1997 season review yet. That will be coming shortly. In the meantime, I will dish out some awards now.

Driver of the Year: Damon Cannon
Team of the Year: Williams
Most Improved Driver: Pablo da Silva
Biggest Surprise: Tie between Whitechapel's DITD win, Masta Valsattis' win, Clivio Durand's win and DAMS' first podium

Worst Driver of the Year: Robert Anderson
Worst Team of the Year: Arrows
Biggest Disappointment: Jorg Scrattenheim

Code: Select all

1997 Complete Driver Rankings
Driver (# of Places Gained/Lost from 1996)
1. Damon Cannon (+3)
2. Daniel Moreno (+15)
3. Tom Douglas  (+10)
4. Pablo da Silva (+11)
5. Pieter Kickert (+1)
6. Andrew Spokes (-4)
7. Masta Valsattis (+7)
8. Kazuhiko Takagi (+1)
9. James Davies 
10. Niko Nurminen (+8)
11. Rory McAllister (-1)
12. Bernhard Pech 
13. James Allen 
14. Poppy Whitechapel 
15. Leonhard von Gottorp (-12)
16. Ben Fleet (+6)
17. John Zimmer (-9)
18. Miko Fakkinen (+1)
19. Gio van Dycke (-12)
20. Jan van der Maeyede
21. Stephano Baroncelli 
22. Reiko Megumi 
23. Anton Kaliniczenko (-2)
24. Martin McFry (+3)
24. Jorg Scrattenheim (-12)
25. Massimiliano Patrese 
27a. Samael Meerwick 
27b. Lawrence Tucker
NR Clivio Durand 
NR Alejandrina Rodriguez
NR Plinio Vida
NR Tracey Wyndham
NR Johan Gustafsson
NR Yuuri Jougaseki
28. Robert Anderson (-infinity)

Some context here. I only counted drivers who competed in a good amount of races. I made an exception for Meerwick and Tucker. While Moreno gained the most places, that was mainly because I ranked him so lowly last year. Jorg Scrattenheim lost the most places, and I think that is thoroughly deserved.

Code: Select all

1997 Complete Team Rankings
Team (# of Places Gained/Lost from 1996)
1. Williams (NC)
2. Ferrari (+5)
3. Jordan (NC)
4. Sauber (+2)
5. DAMS (+3)
6. Benetton (-4)
7. Ligier (+3)
8. McLaren (-4)
9. Minardi (-4)
10. Lola
11. Volga (NC)
12. Stewart 
13. Gauthier (-1)
14. Arrows (-5)

McLaren loses a bunch of places for their neverending transmission problems. Benetton loses places for their weak first half and for building a mediocre car compared to last year. Ferrari gets places for leaving Douglas in a good position to win, except he couldn't convert on a couple occasions.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I strongly disagree with you rating Strattenheim the worst driver, he was quite comprehensively faster than his teammate pretty much all year. I would give him about 20th. Also, there are several other drivers I think are in the wrong place but the only real bad thing Srattenheim did was make a few mistakes.

No idea what Pech, Van Gottrop or Zimmer are doing that high

[tristan1117]

[quote="eurobrun"]I strongly disagree with you rating Strattenheim the worst driver, he was quite comprehensively faster than his teammate pretty much all year. I would give him about 20th. Also, there are several other drivers I think are in the wrong place but the only real bad thing Srattenheim did was make a few mistakes.

No idea what Pech, Van Gottrop or Zimmer are doing that high

My pseudo-mathematical reasoning for putting Scrattenheim so low:

40% - Actual race performance. Outside of the first six races, he was never in real contention for points. He also had a bunch of accidents in the second half that were buried in the race reports.
35% - Frustration with Arrows.
25% - Disappointment with 1 point over two seasons, and a lack of anything substantial since his fluke win in Japan.

I will admit that he was better than Patrese, Meerwick and Tucker, so he gets bumped up to 24th.

As for Zimmer, he wasn't that terrible. The Benetton let him and Spokesy down on multiple occasions (Zimmer in Japan, for example) and he was about equal with his teammate for half of the season. von Gottorp was not very good, but he stayed in front of everyone else solely due to his point total. And Pech got robbed of good points finishes on a few occasions, plus he picked up a podium.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

What exactly do you mean by frustration with Arrows. And as I said he was easily faster than his teammate.

Now that I think you do have a point with Zimmer but Pech was never anywhere near da Silva (Who has never looked that good before 1997) so that makes me think that part of the Brazillian's success was due to a car that was better than reality

[Salamander]

I think Davies should be a bit higher than 9th, he would've been a title contender but for all the McLaren's reliability problems, but even then he beat McAllister fairly easily. He was definately more impressive than Takagi at the very least, who was never a serious title contender.

Also I'm really surprised that Gauthier is not last in the team's ranking - I don't really see what Arrows did wrong, besides not having somebody like Damon Hill in one of the cars.

[FMecha]

You can blame me for Anderson's antics here, it all caused by my bad acting/RPing

Christophe Vans and Ralf Alden (same guy from LGPS) is open for offers, anyways.

[Salamander]

Gauthier will offer Vans reserve driver status if he cannot find a drive anywhere, with a get-out clause if he is offered a drive mid-season. Same for Alden.

[FMecha]

Gauthier will offer Vans reserve driver status if he cannot find a drive anywhere, with a get-out clause if he is offered a drive mid-season. Same for Alden.

Sorry. Ferrari already signed me as their test driver.

Not with you, I want to deal with another team instead.

Might try to convince Klon to have a test-driver deal...

[Salamander]

Not with you, I want to deal with another team instead.

Very well, see if I ever throw you a bone again! Mark my words; you won't get far with that attitude!

Might try to convince Klon to have a test-driver deal...

Weren't you trying to get Megumi as a test driver at Jordan before though?

[FMecha]

Not with you, I want to deal with another team instead.

Very well, see if I ever throw you a bone again! Mark my words; you won't get far with that attitude!

Don't turn me into an egomaniac. I don't want to be associated with egomaniacs. The motorsport fandom knows your attitude .

OOC: BCS, it is what I mean, yes.

[DemocalypseNow]

Not with you, I want to deal with another team instead.

Very well, see if I ever throw you a bone again! Mark my words; you won't get far with that attitude!

Don't turn me into an egomaniac. I don't want to be associated with egomaniacs. The motorsport fandom knows your attitude .

OOC: BCS, it is what I mean, yes.

Frederic-Maxime Voeckler supports any name change of Gauthier that drops the Tyrrell moniker. HOWZAT FOR TEAM LOYALTY??

[Salamander]

Not with you, I want to deal with another team instead.

Very well, see if I ever throw you a bone again! Mark my words; you won't get far with that attitude!

Don't turn me into an egomaniac. I don't want to be associated with egomaniacs. The motorsport fandom knows your attitude .

Mon dieu. You sound like Anderson. Forget I ever spoke to you.

Frederic-Maxime Voeckler supports any name change of Gauthier that drops the Tyrrell moniker. HOWZAT FOR TEAM LOYALTY??

Thank you Frederic. If you can actually help make zat happen, then, let us say I'll owe you one.

[FMecha]

Not with you, I want to deal with another team instead.

Very well, see if I ever throw you a bone again! Mark my words; you won't get far with that attitude!

Don't turn me into an egomaniac. I don't want to be associated with egomaniacs. The motorsport fandom knows your attitude .

Mon dieu. You sound like Anderson. Forget I ever spoke to you.

Just leave me alone now. You are trolling me. Maybe I shall look for, ehem, Sauber or Arrows...

Frederic-Maxime Voeckler supports any name change of Gauthier that drops the Tyrrell moniker. HOWZAT FOR TEAM LOYALTY??

Thank you Frederic. If you can actually help make zat happen, then, let us say I'll owe you one.

Ken Tyrrell is reportedly trying to sue Gauthier over name rights issues.

[Salamander]

Ken Tyrrell is reportedly trying to sue Gauthier over name rights issues.

Like hell he is. I bought ze 'ole team from him. Nowhere did he say I had to keep calling it Tyrrell. It's only because Monsieur Asshat Stefano decided for no reason zat it should stay Tyrrell.

[FMecha]

Hmm, must be a miscommunication on that (sale of Tyrrell). Anyway:

Gauthier! The rules, if I recall, prohibits any change to constructor names after testing session are started. And shut it up Gauthier, or I will say the damned phrase: WE ARE BIGGER THAN YOU AND THE ENTIRE SPORT!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Rumors, meanwhile, sprung out of Japan and Italy suggesting a future IBR-Dome partership in F1RGP2C.

[tristan1117]

For my first ruling as F1RGP2C president, I am officially authorizing the removal of "Tyrrell" from the Gauthier team name. While Mr. Stefano's citation of the rules does apply for 1997, it longer applies for 1998 as the entry list has been officially reset and testing has not begun. Mr. Gauthier is allowed to change his team's name to whatever he wants now, as Mr. Ken Tyrrell did not clarify the issue during the sale of the team.

And besides FMecha, why would Ferrari care about defending Ken Tyrrell or the name of a random backmarker team with a bunch of pay drivers?

[Salamander]

Gauthier! The rules, if I recall, prohibits any change to constructor names after testing session are started. And shut it up Gauthier, or I will say the damned phrase: WE ARE BIGGER THAN YOU AND THE ENTIRE SPORT!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Mon dieu you are an asshat. I am not surprised your team threw away ze championship last year; how have you not noticed zat ze testing has not started yet!? Why do you even care what I call my team? I had no dealings with you and yet for no reason you decide to block the name change, and try to do it again this year!

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Grow up and stop whining Stefano. And if you really think you and Ferrari are so important go ahead and set up a breakaway league, nobody will miss you. And take that delusional Megumi with you as she isn't going to be getting employed by Jordan anytime soon

[TomWazzleshaw]

Ah, thank HWNSNBM that I got that multi-year deal with Ferrari, complete with iron-clad status, under the old management which means I can say whatever the bathplug I want with no repercussions whatsoever. Steph baby, nobody gives a rat's arse what you think about the whole Gauthier deal. I mean, it's not as if it's gonna affect us in any way, except when we inevitably lap them on any given weekend.

[FMecha]

Yes Douglas, you are still number one at Ferrari. Better I take some silence until the testing starts.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

As If there wasn't any more reason why Scrattenheim doesn't deserve a spot on the ROTY podium I just checked that he had a 14-nil win in the qualifying battle against Baroncelli, making it the third year he has comprehensively been faster than his teammate

So please don't put him on that list

[tristan1117]

As If there wasn't any more reason why Scrattenheim doesn't deserve a spot on the ROTY podium I just checked that he had a 14-nil win in the qualifying battle against Baroncelli, making it the third year he has comprehensively been faster than his teammate

So please don't put him on that list

Scrattenheim will probably not make the cut, thanks to a host of other terrible drivers and teams, but the Arrows team will certainly make an apperance.

[Salamander]

As If there wasn't any more reason why Scrattenheim doesn't deserve a spot on the ROTY podium I just checked that he had a 14-nil win in the qualifying battle against Baroncelli, making it the third year he has comprehensively been faster than his teammate

So please don't put him on that list

Scrattenheim will probably not make the cut, thanks to a host of other terrible drivers and teams, but the Arrows team will certainly make an apperance.

You can thank me for that, eurobrun.

[FMecha]

In an another controversy [metagaming] caused by a (deliberately) bad RP [/metagaming], Anderson and Rollock have admitted they have falsified drug test documents in a reverse way - to make it appear Anderson failed the test, when in reality, it is not.

Ralf Alden will try to sign to one of the following teams in order of preference: Stewart, Arrows, DAMS.

[Salamander]

In an another controversy [metagaming] caused by a (deliberately) bad RP [/metagaming], Anderson and Rollock have admitted they have falsified drug test documents in a reverse way - to make it appear Anderson failed the test, when in reality, it is not.

One question: WHY!? Why would anyone do that!? Hell, why are you doing this? You admit that the whole Anderson thing was awful, but you keep bringing it up! And now it was deliberately bad? What are you even trying to do!?

Also why do you have that Anderson "quote" (because I'm pretty sure he never said 'vato muppet') in your signature?

[pasta_maldonado]

In an another controversy [metagaming] caused by a (deliberately) bad RP [/metagaming], Anderson and Rollock have admitted they have falsified drug test documents in a reverse way - to make it appear Anderson failed the test, when in reality, it is not.

One question: WHY!? Why would anyone do that!? Hell, why are you doing this? You admit that the whole Anderson thing was awful, but you keep bringing it up! And now it was deliberately bad? What are you even trying to do!?

Also why do you have that Anderson "quote" (because I'm pretty sure he never said 'vato muppet') in your signature?

Sounds like all Robert and Rollock need to take is a couple of "Shut the hell up" pills...

Due to Herrmann Mann's imprisonment in 1998 for the RTCC, is it alright if I replace him later in the season with Jose Braggia?

[DemocalypseNow]

In an another controversy [metagaming] caused by a (deliberately) bad RP [/metagaming], Anderson and Rollock have admitted they have falsified drug test documents in a reverse way - to make it appear Anderson failed the test, when in reality, it is not.

Ralf Alden will try to sign to one of the following teams in order of preference: Stewart, Arrows, DAMS.

So first I read that FMecha's doing another controversy in F1RGP2C and I'm thinking


But then I noticed he admitted he messed up his Anderson RP and I'm like


But then I keep reading on after that admission and I'm sitting there doing...


Then I start trying to figure out the point of what he just wrote...


But then of course it doesn't make any sense, and I'm just doing this for the next 10 minutes...

[FMecha]

In an another controversy [metagaming] caused by a (deliberately) bad RP [/metagaming], Anderson and Rollock have admitted they have falsified drug test documents in a reverse way - to make it appear Anderson failed the test, when in reality, it is not.

One question: WHY!? Why would anyone do that!? Hell, why are you doing this? You admit that the whole Anderson thing was awful, but you keep bringing it up! And now it was deliberately bad? What are you even trying to do!?

Also why do you have that Anderson "quote" (because I'm pretty sure he never said 'vato muppet') in your signature?

They say both Anderson and Rollock was "puppeted" by a match fixing organization. And the quote is nothing but a passphrasing of this quote in GTA San Andreas:

You snitch piece of s**t! You vato a*****e! YOU (Jimmy Hernandez) SOLD US (C.R.A.S.H.) OUT!!

---

Sounds like all Robert and Rollock need to take is a couple of "Shut the hell up" pills...

If anything, it should be Walik that take that pill.

[Salamander]

In an another controversy [metagaming] caused by a (deliberately) bad RP [/metagaming], Anderson and Rollock have admitted they have falsified drug test documents in a reverse way - to make it appear Anderson failed the test, when in reality, it is not.

One question: WHY!? Why would anyone do that!? Hell, why are you doing this? You admit that the whole Anderson thing was awful, but you keep bringing it up! And now it was deliberately bad? What are you even trying to do!?

Also why do you have that Anderson "quote" (because I'm pretty sure he never said 'vato muppet') in your signature?

They say both Anderson and Rollock was "puppeted" by a match fixing organization.

What? Why would any match fixing organization care about a no-talent hack like Anderson, who's driving one of the most hopeless cars on the grid? That makes no sense. Please explain clearly what the point of this is, because at the moment all you're doing is dragging the most cringe-worthy RP in PMMF history back into the spotlight, for seemingly no reason. Are you trying to get Anderson back on the grid? Because even if he was allowed back in, I don't see any team being desperate enough to hire him, considering he consistently failed to qualify a car which everyone else who drove it got on to the grid with ease.

And the quote is nothing but a passphrasing of this quote in GTA San Andreas:

You snitch piece of s**t! You vato a*****e! YOU (Jimmy Hernandez) SOLD US (C.R.A.S.H.) OUT!!

There's one problem with that. Neither Gauthier nor Anderson are Mexican. So using a Mexican slang word makes absolutely no sense in this context.


Also, Stramala, that is pretty much exactly my reaction to this whole thing.

[FMecha]

1. I was not trying to bring Anderson back on the grid, I was trying to develop (really bad) storylines for him. Unfortunately, since it was bad on purpose, it failed.
2. Sorry - I did not know the word "vato" was Mexican in origin. Another DNDTR for me. I will remove that "quote" promptly.

[Salamander]

1. I was not trying to bring Anderson back on the grid, I was trying to develop (really bad) storylines for him. Unfortunately, since it was bad on purpose, it failed.

I still don't understand fully the point in that. Especially why you say it was 'bad on purpose'. Why are you making intentionally bad storylines? It'll only lead to more things like the whole 'magic' debacle in the WEC.

2. Sorry - I did not know the word "vato" was Mexican in origin. Another DNDTR for me. I will remove that "quote" promptly.

That's okay, just make sure that you actually know what words mean before you use them.

[FMecha]

1. I was not trying to bring Anderson back on the grid, I was trying to develop (really bad) storylines for him. Unfortunately, since it was bad on purpose, it failed.

I still don't understand fully the point in that. Especially why you say it was 'bad on purpose'. Why are you making intentionally bad storylines? It'll only lead to more things like the whole 'magic' debacle in the WEC.

These bad ideas, unfortunately, sprung out of my minds, so it is actually more of a between bad ideas and deliberate bad RP (the thing I said earlier was intentionally bad) Stuff it for now, to passphrase Kimi Raikkonen, just leave Robert and Crash alone, they know what they are doing.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Bathplug off Anderson, you are not welcome here