F1RWRS 2017 - DE BOCK WDC JONES WCC -- Vote ROTY NOW!!!

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 11 Dec 2014, 10:51

2018 Engines E-mails sent to all works teams (+ SuperAguri, who will enter as a Works team with Yamaha; Lancia is set to withdraw). Just so you know, each extra Qualifying Point will be RNGed between 5-15 Bhp per point.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 12 Dec 2014, 08:45

Autosport wrote:Yamaha to return. Kamaha named as works team.

Yamaha have announced that for the 2018 season that they will be returning to F1RWRS with a new V12 engine, which has been code names OX12, however no more details are known about the engine. Yamaha have also stated that they have signed a three year deal with Kamaha, who used Yamaha engines back in 2014 and 2015 giving them 9 podiums over the two seasons. Kamaha will have more input into the engine and they are hoping the engine will bring out wins. The engine will also be offered to other teams who wish to buy them and Yamaha hope to make a fast, reliable engine at a reasonable cost.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 12 Dec 2014, 12:17

PRIETO: "Yamaha have wasted valuable time"

Commissioner Daniel Prieto told Autosport that he's "quite happy to have Yamaha back. They'll do things right, for sure" but at the same time Prieto didn't hesitate to hit at Yamaha's recent announcement of his return to F1RWRS; "They've been wasting times. Clearly, the regulations state that it must be a 4.0L V6 engine for 2018, so I don't know what the hell they've been thinking about working on a V12!!!". Rumours say that now Yamaha could have a hard time hitting the paddock at the beggining of the 2018 season if they must start working on a whole new engine.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 13 Dec 2014, 01:31

BREAKING NEWS: MARK DAGNALL OVERTAKES BEN FLEET, AND NOT ONLY ON TRACK

Amanda Waterson for Dailygossip.com

Mark Dagnall has been seen engaged in a conversation in a romantic restaurant in the skirts of Paris with no other than Pippa Mann. Our reporter saw the pair entering a cruiseship restaurant along the river and ended up walking laughing and holding hands right down the Eifel Tower. We have pics that prove the couple is a fact and that Dagnall can not only win in the track but also out of it as he overtakes Ben Fleet in his personal quest to win Mann's heart. More to come at 4PM with an extended report, all the pics and comment.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 13 Dec 2014, 10:12

BREAKING NEWS: MARK DAGNALL OVERTAKES BEN FLEET, AND NOT ONLY ON TRACK

Amanda Waterson for Dailygossip.com

Mark Dagnall has been seen engaged in a conversation in a romantic restaurant in the skirts of Paris with no other than Pippa Mann. Our reporter saw the pair entering a cruiseship restaurant along the river and ended up walking laughing and holding hands right down the Eifel Tower. We have pics that prove the couple is a fact and that Dagnall can not only win in the track but also out of it as he overtakes Ben Fleet in his personal quest to win Mann's heart. More to come at 4PM with an extended report, all the pics and comment.

Douglas Mann wrote:This is absolute bullplop and she knows it. All because my date with Ms Amanda Waterman did not go well in her opinion does not give her liberty to take things out on my sister. She is married and happily so.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 14 Dec 2014, 19:41

@JOURNALGPNews (J.O.U.R.N.A.L) wrote:Mahmud Effendi, Team Mecha: "22 cars in PQ is 55% of the whole entry list & 84% of the whole starting 26. That'll be interesting, but hard."

Time to bring up that PQ issue again

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 14 Dec 2014, 23:02

FMecha wrote:
@JOURNALGPNews (J.O.U.R.N.A.L) wrote:Mahmud Effendi, Team Mecha: "22 cars in PQ is 55% of the whole entry list & 84% of the whole starting 26. That'll be interesting, but hard."

Time to bring up that PQ issue again

Umm no. It's more like 30% (ish) of the starting grid. I count 8 slots up for grabs from the 22 PQ-ing. 8 isn't 84% of 26. :ugeek:

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 15 Dec 2014, 08:32

Yeah, perhaps try to focus on closing the gap to NRE in the PQ cup

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 16 Dec 2014, 17:18

YOUNG DRIVER TEST 2017 -- ITALY -- MONZA

Weather: Dry

QUALIFYING PACE BEST TIMES

1.Terry Hawkin (Jones) -- 1.27.120
2.Akira Yamamura (Aeroracing) -- 1.27.611
3.Salvatore Miccoli (Voeckler) -- 1.27.911
4.Dan Greenlaw (Voeckler) -- 1.28.116
5.Gianluigi Pazzini (MRT) -- 1.28.321
6.Marcel Agyemang-Badu (Aeroracing) -- 1.28.364
7.Jordan Davies (Gauthier) -- 1.28.609
8.Franc Piscine (MRT) -- 1.28.782
9.Yuka Katayama (Sunshine) -- 1.28.810
10.Rick Simpson (Dacia) -- 1.28.816
11.Nick Nurmester (Jones) -- 1.28.892
12.Johannes Rueckert (Sunshine) -- 1.28.937
13.Michael Robertson (Dacia) -- 1.29.105
14.Alessandro Marchesi (Arrowtech) -- 1.29.107
15.Alessandro Lucarelli (PORE) -- 1.29.178
16.Jerry de Boer (Mecha) -- 1.29.239
17.Marko Jantscher (NRE) -- 1.29.273
18.Justin Case (Foxdale) -- 1.29.349
19.Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen (Gauthier) -- 1.29.355
20.Joe Harmsky (Revolution) -- 1.29.427
21.Roger Ibe (Kamaha) -- 1.29.430
22.Carter Simpson (HRT) -- 1.29.597
23.Mineiro (Kamaha) -- 1.29.598
24.Victoria Desai (Fusion) -- 1.29.649
25.Thomas Yorke (NRE) -- 1.29.685
26.Cave Johnson (Autodynamics) -- 1.29.718
27.Sebastian Prost (Autodynamics) -- 1.29.724
28.Quentin Reatherson (Fusion) -- 1.29.763
29.Peter Port (Foxdale) -- 1.29.814
30.Hwok Kwol-Cho (Arrowtech) -- 1.29.849
31.Gary Pacer (PORE) -- 1.29.887
32.Nathanael Cameron (RLR) -- 1.30.053
33.Shane Skeelenberg (RLR) -- 1.30.391
34.Jason Hamilton (Gillet) -- 1.30.349
35.Renato Bulku (HRT) -- 1.30.588
36.Alexandre Dorval (Gillet) -- 1.31.010
37.Jayleen Mori (Revolution) -- 1.31.169
38.Egide Ngendandumwe (Mecha) -- 1.31.410

RACE PACE BEST TIMES

1.Terry Hawkin (Jones) -- 1.29.186
2.Dan Greenlaw (Voeckler) -- 1.29.472
3.Salvatore Miccoli (Voeckler) -- 1.30.352
4.Akira Yamamura (Aeroracing) -- 1.30.353
5.Johannes Rueckert (Sunshine) -- 1.30.353
6.Alessandro Marchesi (Arrowtech) -- 1.30.517
7.Roger Ibe (Kamaha) -- 1.30.644
8.Marcel Agyemang-Badu (Aeroracing) -- 1.30.675
9.Nick Nurmester (Jones) -- 1.30.680
10.Gianluigi Pazzini (MRT) -- 1.30.844
11.Cave Johnson (Autodynamics) -- 1.31.085
12.Carter Simpson (HRT) -- 1.31.095
13.Marko Jantscher (NRE) -- 1.31.136
14.Mineiro (Kamaha) -- 1.31.176
15.Yuka Katayama (Sunshine) -- 1.31.302
16.Franc Piscine (MRT) -- 1.31.310
17.Sebastian Prost (Aytodynamics) -- 1.31.437
18.Alexandre Dorval (Gillet) -- 1.31.840
19.Hwok Kwol-Cho (Arrowtech) -- 1.31.882
20.Quentin Reatherson (Fusion) -- 1.31.886
21.Victoria Desai (Fusion) -- 1.31.920
22.Alessandro Lucarelli (PORE) -- 1.31.976
23.Michael Robertson (Dacia) -- 1.32.009
24.Nathanael Cameron (RLR) -- 1.32.095
25.Rick Simpson (Dacia) -- 1.32.181
26.Shane Skeelenberg (RLR) -- 1.32.303
27.Jason Hamilton (Gillet) -- 1.32.383
28.Joe Harmsky (Revolution) -- 1.32.424
29.Jordan Davies (Gauthier) -- 1.32.465
30.Gary Pacer (PORE) -- 1.32.592
31.Justin Case (Foxdale) -- 1.32.673
32.Renato Bulku (HRT) -- 1.32.752
33.Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen (Gauthier) -- 1.32.920
34.Peter Port (Foxdale) -- 1.33.008
35.Jerry de Boer (Mecha) -- 1.33.433
36.Jayleen Mori (Revolution) -- 1.34.009
37.Egide Ngendandumwe (Mecha) -- 1.35.710
38.Thomas Yorke (NRE) -- 1.48.696

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 16 Dec 2014, 18:28

Aww yeah.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 17 Dec 2014, 07:30

AndreaModa, did you receive my email regarding engines??

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 17 Dec 2014, 18:32

Aerond wrote:AndreaModa, did you receive my email regarding engines??

Ah, yes I did. Been meaning to get round to sorting that out, I'll do it tonight!

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 17 Dec 2014, 18:34

Aerond wrote:YOUNG DRIVER TEST 2017 -- ITALY -- MONZA

Weather: Dry

QUALIFYING PACE BEST TIMES

16.Jerry de Boer (Mecha) -- 1.29.239
[...]
38.Egide Ngendandumwe (Mecha) -- 1.31.410

What a gap. :shock:

Aerond wrote:RACE PACE BEST TIMES

35.Jerry de Boer (Mecha) -- 1.33.433
[...]
37.Egide Ngendandumwe (Mecha) -- 1.35.710

Okay, back to regularly scheduled programming of rejectfulness.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 17 Dec 2014, 23:55

FMecha wrote:
Aerond wrote:YOUNG DRIVER TEST 2017 -- ITALY -- MONZA

Weather: Dry

QUALIFYING PACE BEST TIMES

16.Jerry de Boer (Mecha) -- 1.29.239
[...]
38.Egide Ngendandumwe (Mecha) -- 1.31.410

What a gap.

Aerond wrote:RACE PACE BEST TIMES

35.Jerry de Boer (Mecha) -- 1.33.433
[...]
37.Egide Ngendandumwe (Mecha) -- 1.35.710

Okay, back to regularly scheduled programming of rejectfulness.

You put a stooge driver with no experience in 4 wheels in a F1RWRS car... what did you expect?? (well, tbh I think it went too well)

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 18 Dec 2014, 04:31

Hello everyone, I haven't been frequenting the forums recently due to suddenly having a very busy life and my relative apathy towards Formula 1 at the moment. I believe that my F1RWRS spot should be given to a forum member who can devote full time and energy to the project. I've had five awesome, albeit mostly unsuccessful seasons participating in this grand virtual sport we have created, and I think it was a pretty good run. Boxtel Engineering will certainly be closing down at the end of the 2017 season. I'm not sure who's next on the waiting list, but if they want to take over the team and its shitty financial situation now, they can be my guest, but I think it may be much easier to start off anew. I'm also willing to merge the team with another struggling financial entity at the end of the year, provided it is still within the rules. However, it would be nice if Boxtel can finish out its miserable season in pre-qualifying. Thanks to Aerond for all the fine work!

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 19 Dec 2014, 08:00

pi3141 has been appointed to manage Boxtel until the end of the season. He will be offered the chance to keep on with the team or start a team from scratch when the season ends.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 19 Dec 2014, 12:10

Aerond wrote:pi3141 has been appointed to manage Boxtel until the end of the season. He will be offered the chance to keep on with the team or start a team from scratch when the season ends.

If he's wise, he'll start a new team from scratch

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 20 Dec 2014, 18:39

F1RWRS 2017 -- ROUND 9/16 -- GERMAN GRAND PRIX -- Norisring

Weather:
PRE-Q: Dry
Qualifying: Dry
Race: Dry

PRE-QUALIFYING

1.Danny van Rijkens (Gauthier) -- 43.195
2.Du Lei (Gauthier) -- 43.519 (+0.324)
3.Ben Fleet (Foxdale) -- 43.759 (+0.564)
4.Martin McFry (NRE) -- 43.765 (+0.570)
5.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- 43.806 (+0.611)
6.Douglas Mann (Foxdale) -- 43.920 (+0.725)
7.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- 43.962 (+0.767)
8.Daniel Martins (Sunshine) -- 43.999 (+0.804)
9.Andrej Kremnicky (Revolution) -- 44.009 (+0.814)
10.Alberto Cara (HRT) -- 44.034 (+0.839)
11.Gregor Pascal (Sunshine) -- 44.034 (+0.839)
12.Barii Mori (NRE) -- 44.037 (+0.842)
13.Shane Skeelenberg (RLR) -- 44.089 (+0.894)
14.Daniel Moreno (Gillet) -- 44.160 (+0.965)
15.Miko Fakkinen (Fusion) -- 44.202 (+1.007)
16.Shinobu Katayama (RLR) -- 44.207 (+1.012)
17.Connor O Heagan (Boxtel) -- 44.255 (+1.060)
18.Michael Robertson (HRT) -- 44.332 (+1.137)
19.Marco Bizzarri (Revolution) -- 44.437 (+1.242)
20.Benoit Voeckler (Boxtel) -- 44.535 (+1.340)
21.Geoff Donnelly (Fusion) -- 44.650 (+1.455)
22.Eric Swerts (Gillet) -- 44.687 (+1.492)

** Gauthier and Foxdale will avoid Pre-Qualifying from Round 10

QUALIFYING

1.Danny van Rijkens (Gauthier) -- 43.160
2.Alexey Buyvolov (Aeroracing) -- 43.278 (+0.118)
3.Wouter Lamberigts (Simpson) -- 43.312 (+0.152)
4.Ron Mignolet (Voeckler) -- 43.434 (+0.274)
5.Kay Lon (Aeroracing) -- 43.437 (+0.277)
6.Thomas de Bock (Voeckler) -- 43.515 (+0.355)
7.Mark Dagnall (Jones) -- 43.518 (+0.358)
8.Martin McFry (NRE) -- 43.596 (+0.436)
9.Alessandro Lucarelli (PORE) -- 43.598 (+0.438)
10.Dave Simpson (Simpson) -- 43.606 (+0.446)
11.Douglas Mann (Foxdale) -- 43.681 (+0.521)
12.Diego Alvarez Torrente (Jones) -- 43.719 (+0.559)
13.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- 43.724 (+0.564)
14.Ben Fleet (Foxdale) -- 43.760 (+0.600)
15.David Neuberg (PORE) -- 43.763 (+0.603)
16.Du Lei (Gauthier) -- 43.792 (+0.632)
17.Jean-Luc Schiller (MRT) -- 43.793 (+0.633)
18.Philippe Nicolas (Arrowtech) -- 43.795 (+0.635)
19.Fredo Mestolio (MRT) -- 43.804 (+0.644)
20.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- 43.842 (+0.682)
21.Gregor Pascal (Sunshine) -- 43.847 (+0.687)
22.Jean-Vincent Albertini (Autodynamics) -- 43.926 (+0.766)
23.Daniel Melville (Kamaha) -- 43.958 (+0.798)
24.Nicolas Steele (Autodynamics) -- 43.960 (+0.800)
25.Barii Mori (NRE) -- 44.048 (+0.888)
26.Daniel Martins (Sunshine) -- 44.084 (+0.924)
DNQ.Hansuke Shioya (Arrowtech) -- 44.125 (+0.965)
DNQ.Hagane Shizuka (Kamaha) -- 44.128 (+0.968)

** Kamaha drops to Pre-Qualifying from Round 10

RACE

1.Mark Dagnall (Jones) -- 1h 34m 37.868
2.Alexey Buyvolov (Aeroracing) -- +23.813
3.Philippe Nicolas (Arrowtech) -- +1 Lap
4.Ron Mignolet (Voeckler) -- +1 Lap
5.Jean-Luc Schiller (MRT) -- +1 Lap
6.Jean-Vincent Albertini (Autodynamics) -- +2 Laps
7.David Neuberg (PORE) -- +2 Laps
8.Dave Simpson (Simpson) -- +2 Laps
9.Nicolas Steele (Autodynamics) -- +2 Laps
10.Barii Mori (NRE) -- +3 Laps
DNF.Danny van Rijkens (Gauthier) -- Puncture
DNF.Daniel Melville (Kamaha) -- Loose Wheel
DNF.Gregor Pascal (Sunshine) -- Accident
DNF.Kay Lon (Aeroracing) -- Transmission
DNF.Diego Alvarez Torrente (Jones) -- Accident
DNF.Ben Fleet (Foxdale) -- Accident
DNF.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- Oil Leak
DNF.Wouter Lamberigts (Simpson) -- Accident
DNF.Du Lei (Gauthier) -- Accident
DNF.Thomas de Bock (Voeckler) -- Accident
DNF.Alessandro Lucarelli (PORE) -- Accident
DNF.Douglas Mann (Foxdale) -- Accident
DNF.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- Accident
DNF.Martin McFry (NRE) -- Accident
DNF.Daniel Martins (Sunshine) -- Accident
DNF.Fredo Mestolio (MRT) -- Accident

Fastest Lap: Mark Dagnall (Jones) -- 43.788
DOTR: Philippe Nicolas: Drove masterfully to pick up 2nd Arrowtech podium of the season
ROTR: Diego Alvarez Torrent: Clipped the wall on cold tyres in childish mistake

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Dec 2014, 21:26

I was confident Foxdale would escape Pre-Q first attempt. Just a shame we now won't get Pre-Q credits at the end of the season!

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Dec 2014, 22:19

MRT would like to do a 4 day reliability test at the Nurburgring from the 22nd to 25th of July. Daniel Melrose will be the sole driver for all four days

Post by **Ataxia** » 21 Dec 2014, 11:25

Diego Alvarez Torrente wrote:I apologise to Mr. Jones and the guys...I just pushed too hard to try and fix my race. I'm sorry.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 21 Dec 2014, 11:41

Guillaume Gauthier wrote:I was incredibly impressed with ze pace of Danny today, 'e drove incredibly well to keep us within the points all race until the unfortunate puncture, but still, this 'as proven that ze work our engine partners at PURE-Hart has been very fruitful in making us more serious contenders at the front of the field. I am looking forward now to ze rest of the season to see what results await us.

Gauthier will do a 3-day reliability test at Paul Ricard from July 18-20. James Davies and Jordan Davies will be the drivers on all 3 days.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 21 Dec 2014, 12:00

We must make good use of the qualifying results. Mecha will do a race pace and reliability test in Sentul on July 21 (race pace) and 22 (reliability). Tojo and Plaza will be on the test.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 22 Dec 2014, 08:35

DGN Management International Norisring press round-up

Mark Dagnall: Yes! This is certainly an unexpected result, but everything worked my way today. I knew we probably didn't have enough top speed to compete with the Aeroracing and the Voeckler cars, but Lon retired early and De Bock got caught at the start. I thought I wouldn't be able to overtake Buyvolov since it took me a good ammount of effort to pass van Rijkens but he made some mistakes while lapping other cars and I guess my experience around traffic paid off, I know it might have been impossible to pass under normal conditions.

Fredo Mestolio: I was hit from behind approaching the first corner and that's all I can say, next thing was cars everywhere. A pity to have missed more points.

Jesus Plaza: That first turn... I believe Douglas Mann clipped my car and that was it. Still, lots of reliability problems with the car. We must work harder if we want to do more than a few laps

Hansuke Shioya: Well, shite

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 22 Dec 2014, 09:04

Voeckler Talent Troupe Press Round-up

Jeremy-Etienne Voeckler
"Today was a little bit bad luck and a little bit our fault. Thomas did what he could in qualifying and made a good start, but he was subtracted from the equation by some idiot with more money than talent. From there we needed the other car to interefere with Buyvolov and Dagnall, but the strategy was poor and Mignolet fell back as a consequence. He needed to be on a two stopper instead of a three. We can't afford another bad weekend for the rest of the season now, from this point on we need to not just score our first win, but start racking them up consistently over the last 7 races. Otherwise we can say goodbye to our WCC and any hopes of Thomas winning the WDC this year."

"Also, I must give my compliments to Alessandro Lucarelli, he did a great job in qualifying for his team, and it was a shame he got taken out of the race in the same accident as Thomas."

Alessandro Lucarelli
"I am gutted for myself and ze team. We did an amazing qualifying, the car felt good, we could 'ave 'ad quite a few points today. But nada, niente. Some idiota from be'ind me rams the car, and so I 'ave no control left and I get speared into De Bock. I am sad for ze both of us, it was a great opportunity for us both wasted by some clown getting too much enthusiasm in the first turn."

Marco Bizzarri
"Bad qualifying today. No comment."

Benoit Voeckler
Would anyone be interested in hiring a driver with LOADSAMONEY? Call 1-555-VOECKLER today!

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 22 Dec 2014, 09:49

Geoff Donnelly wrote:Gee, I think I really need to thank the guys at Fusion for getting me a really good pie today! I think it helped me shave off two or three tenths. Oh, and the car was good too!

Post by **Nuppiz** » 22 Dec 2014, 12:21

Niko Nurminen wrote:Well, it's impossible to get an accurate picture of a driver's true speed on a short track like this, but Mori did a decent job in qualifying the car and bringing it home in a position that helps us a bit in the WCC. Unfortunate for McFry to be caught up in the pileup, but such is racing.

SuperAguri · Post by **SuperAguri** » 22 Dec 2014, 15:31

Barii Mori wrote:Well it was good to get into the NRE, I can definately attack corners quicker as I know the car is going to stick. I am glad I got the car through PQ and qualified the car. However getting caught up in the lap one crash did not help my race. I was surprised the FR management did not red flag the race as the track was littered with bits of car and the fact we had accidents, punctures and loose wheels probably showed that the track was unsafe. I managed to drive a slow race as my car did get damaged during the first lap carsh, I had to pit to fix it and the car was slower and the blue flags meant I couldn't really race on this ultra short track. Still 10th means we overtake Foxdale in the contructors championship.

As for Kamaha, Shizuka complained of an ill handling car which we could not find the problem of, so he unfortunatly DNQed so we apologise for that and Melville had a solid race and would have got some points if the wheel did not get jammed up with a part of a Voeckler. We are going to do some tests soon and hopefully get back up to speed.

Shinobu Katayama wrote:The car was not good and I could not get the best out of it, maybe next race we will do better.

Post by **Ataxia** » 23 Dec 2014, 21:50

So here's the thing, I was supposed to do this before Norisring. I've written it as if Norisring hasn't happened yet, so please take that into account.

F1RWRS Mid-Season Review - Part 2

Gauthier-Pure Hart – 6/10
The Gauthier team’s fortunes are strangely reminiscent of former F1 team Stewart Grand Prix. “What on earth are you on about?” I hear you ask. Well, both teams’ first seasons were underlined by a fluke 2nd place in changeable conditions. The second season has been less giving in terms of points, with Du Lei managing the French team’s only point thus far. Furthermore, both teams have shown sensible management and picked up works engine deals. However, although Stewart’s 1998 was a lean season, Gauthier look to be on for a good second half of 2017 now that the collaboration of PURE and Hart have beavered away on a big improvement on their 2017-spec F1RWRS engine.

Danny van Rijkens – 5/10
The South African ace is a promising driver, there’s no doubt about that. At the moment, the man known as “DVR” has struggled with the 2017 Gauthier package and all of its quirks, especially the inconsistent reliability. The new engine should alleviate that concern as well as the shortfall in race pace, and when that comes it should give van Rijkens the platform to really showcase his talent. He’s done okay considering those things this season, but again, he’s not exactly had the chance to show himself off either.

Du Lei – 5/10
Lei found herself a Gauthier seat after Tomo Kazama had to abruptly leave the team, and despite a brief stint at Plus One whilst Ron Mignolet joined the French team for a couple of races the Chinese driver has performed well. She’s not quite been on van Rijkens’ pace, but the fact that she claimed a point at the madcap Austrian Grand Prix is definitely commendable. Lei deserves more than the tag of “perennial super-sub”, and her performances with Gauthier should at least help her full-time seat aspirations.

RLR-Audi - 5/10
RLR entered F1RWRS with very little pedigree in lower series; a few sporadic outings in small series have been Rob Lomas’ bread and butter, but a tie-up with the Kamaha team (racing with what is effectively the 2016 package) has seen the team not only come to the grid, but pick up a surprise point at the Canadian Grand Prix through Shinobu Katayama. On that basis, we should be awarding them a high score, right? Well, any team that signs former F1RWRS deadwood Dean O’Lauchlan and former IFRC backmarker Adelaide Voeckler for their initial lineup loses some points. Seriously.

Shinobu Katayama – 8/10
Katayama’s been toiling away with the Revolution team for the last few seasons, having made some questionable career choices. She saw RLR as perhaps her last chance, and has wrung every little drop of performance out of it, despite the chassis’ age. She was within touching distance of a podium at Brands Hatch before her car died (and nearly took out Mark Dagnall in the process) and managed that points breakthrough at Canada. In more predictable conditions, she’s not been able to get anything out of RLR’s geriatric machinery, but that’s not exactly her fault.

Shane Skeelenberg – 4/10
A relative unknown to most within F1RWRS, but Skeelenberg’s been competing outside of his native South Africa for a couple of years now in Japan with some small success. The jury’s still out on whether he’s F1RWRS material, but he certainly hasn’t been catastrophically bad.

Adelaide Voeckler – 2/10
Benoit’s sister Adelaide was a surprise addition to the 2017 grid, and was driven entirely by the Voeckler family’s big amount of wealth. She’s certainly not been awful, but showed she was out of her depth on multiple occasions. She beat Benoit a few times though.

Foxdale-Pure Hart – 3/10
Foxdale are currently in something of a decline. The team have been quick on Saturdays, thanks to the Pure-Hart engines being imperious in qualifying trim. However, come Sunday they’ve either finished in the middle of nowhere or retired; reliability has been a real issue for the team in the last couple of years. Since losing the Renault deal at the end of 2015, the team haven’t come close to their old form, and they’re not exactly showing any signs of climbing back. They’ll have to hope that their engines are better next season, especially since they’ve got another year to run on the Pure-Hart deal.

Pippa Mann – 4/10
Tabloid-fodder Pippa has hung up her race helmet for the pit wall, and with Foxdale’s fortunes there’s not much else she can do. She hasn’t been very impressive this season at all; she hasn’t looked as motivated as she did a few years ago at Aeroracing, and it seems scrabbling around near the back isn’t for her. Pippa’s drafted in her brother Douglas to take her place in the driver’s seat as she looks for a fix to Foxdale’s issues.

Ben Fleet – 2/10
Last season, Fleet often drew attention to himself by qualifying well up the grid. The Brit managed a few points along the way, which was certainly a decent return considering the qualifying-focused Foxdale was no race car. This season has seen Fleet take a bit of a backwards step as he’s really struggled to find any pace so far. In fact, in the three races Fleet has finished this season he’s been last on the road (barring one late retirement from van Rijkens at Adelaide). Yet, due to his ties with team boss Pippa (something about a wedding, I don’t recall being invited) he’s got infinite job security. Ho-hum.

Nurminen-Holden – 6/10
Rob Lomas Racing have a point, whilst Nurminen GP don’t. Why are we giving them a higher rank than RLR? It’s simple; Nurminen have continued their showings in lower series by creating a slick, functional team. The team have qualified for races more often than not, and although reliability has been a sticking factor the car (especially in the hands of McFry) has looked good for top ten finishes. The team have perhaps been holding back as they learn the ropes, but there’s potential in the Finnish-German team.

Martin McFry – 6/10
McFry was brought into Nurminen to lead the team, bring experience and help them out of pre-qualifying. This is a job he’s done admirably, and the Northern Irishman has even managed a few good finishes for the team. In qualifying, McFry’s been impressive as usual; the Belfastian loves to show off his latent one-lap pace and the Nurminen car has been very receptive in allowing him to push to the limit. Race pace continues to be a letdown, but he’s certainly put in the effort on Sundays to try and keep positions.

Gregor Pascal – 3/10
One isn’t quite sure what Pascal is doing. There have been far worse drivers than the Swiss in F1RWRS, and his speed in junior categories had been quietly snowballing with experience. However, it seems he’s been overwhelmed by the challenge of top-level racing; Pascal’s not matched McFry at any point and the more scientifically-minded journalists have flogged the “Pascal under pressure” headline to death. Pascal will be seeing out his 2017 at Sunshine, as the Japanese team have decided to allow journeyman Barii Mori to join Nurminen for the second half of the season. Probably for the best.

Gillet – 1/10
A few seasons ago, Gillet were one of the top teams, bringing a distinctly Belgian taste to the front of the grid with their seemly ever-present line-up of Thomas de Bock and Aurelien Moll. The team slipped back a little last season, finding points harder to come by, but all was not lost. Now it is. The team have dropped into pre-qualifying with no sign of coming out of it, they’ve lost De Bock to Voeckler and Gillet have been forced to take a non-Belgian driver for the first time ever as Daniel Moreno came out of retirement to take the seat vacated by De Bock and subsequently Mignolet. The focus is on 2018 now, because trying to wring anything out of this year would be much like Gillet’s current form; pointless.

Eric Swerts – 1/10
Swerts looked good in F3RWRS. He was quick, he was up there every weekend and he benefitted immensely from Sammy Jones’ tutoring. This is form that he’s failed to show in the past two years; Swerts was traded for Diego Alvarez Torrente at Plus One in F2RWRS last season after poor form, and he’s continued that for Gillet this season. Picked up for his money, Swerts displaced Aurelien Moll and has done nothing to suggest he’s even in the same league as his predecessor. Granted, Moll’s season last year was poor, but he struggled a lot with retirements and problems. Swerts hasn’t had that to deal with, since being seconds off the pace in pre-qualifying is a sure-fire way to preserve parts.

Daniel Moreno – 3/10
You have to wonder what Moreno’s doing back in F1RWRS. He had a ride ready in the Le Mans Cup, and could be paying into his pension fund by doing some races in sportscars, where the pressure is significantly reduced. However, the former Aeroracing driver has decided to help out Gillet and become their first non-Belgian race driver; the word “race” is a little optimistic at the present. He’s beaten Swerts, as expected...but I think that’s Moreno’s limit.

Fusion-Great Wall – 3/10
Fusion’s opening gambit was to pour all of their money into designing a highly-experimental chassis and take on a supply of the former Prospec engines; Great Wall had taken on the designs and were pretty much giving them away in cereal packets. With two pay-drivers too, it was clear Fusion were going to spend the first year developing their infrastructure and chassis ready for the future. So, what can we talk about, since Fusion have intentionally elected not to chase results? They’ve done okay considering; the team have stayed in pre-qualifying, with an unexpected escape in Bathurst where Miko Fakkinen managed to finish 12th.

Miko Fakkinen – 5/10
Fakkinen has been doing a good job to help Fusion build up their operations. As mentioned, he orchestrated a good escape from pre-qualifying at Mount Panorama and managed to bring the car home for some valuable data; not bad, considering the car is about 30 BHP down on the rest of the field. He might need to step it up to help the team in the pre-qualifying cup, but Fakkinen’s shown he can fight when it counts. He’d be an able driver for any midfield team next season; the Finn is often overlooked and presents a far better option than the likes of Swerts, Pascal and the like.

Geoff Donnelly – 2/10
Donnelly is multiple pounds overweight, scoffs sausage rolls moments before driving out of the garage and has been slow all year. Yet, he’s a cult hero. “The Pieman” hadn’t been doing much driving since his old Formula 1 days, but Fusion saw the potential marketing value of Donnelly to the public everyman and with support from the Greggs bakery chain the Brit has brought valuable funds to the team. With support like that, you can almost forget his rather slow outings in pre-qualifying.

Revolution-Renault – 4/10
It’s more evolution than revolution for, er, Revolution, but the team have been quietly getting into the odd race as their new rookie partnership slowly builds confidence. Their chassis is a great deal better than last year’s effort, and although it’s helped them out in qualifying trim they still need more of a push to get out of the Friday pre-qualifying lottery. The team need to be less afraid to pump money into developments, just as long as they can keep getting Bizzarri into races.

Marco Bizzarri – 5/10
Bizzarri didn’t exactly come into F1RWRS with the most amazing credentials, but the Italian’s been doing a very solid job indeed; “The Biz” was much quicker out of the blocks than his team-mate. Although Kremnicky is starting to find time, Bizzarri got the early results; a couple of good finishes (albeit a few laps down) has helped Revolution climb above the likes of Mecha and Sunshine. He just needs to kick on and match Kremnicky, who’s arguably got the upper hand at this stage.

Andrej Kremnicky – 5/10
Kremnicky came to Revolution with a reputation to build; although the Slovakian was blessed with latent pace, he has spent as much time in the wall during his stay in junior categories as he has on the podium. After a disappointing 2016 where he was expected to challenge for the F2RWRS title he was written off as damaged goods, but Revolution took a gamble and signed him up. After a slow start where he was being largely beaten by Bizzarri, Kremnicky has begun to adapt to life in the top tier and is showing flashes of the driver he could be.

Mecha-Pure Hart - 4/10
The Indonesian team have begun to trickle into races, but with the older-spec Pure Harts they’ve yet to finish a race. The engineers have learned how to get more from the engine, and are slowly beefing up the chassis in order to make sure they’re getting out of pre-qualifying regularly. As is the case with the other Pure-Hart teams, race pace leaves much to be desired, but that’s currently irrelevant with the level of DNFs the team is managing.

Jesus Plaza – 6/10
Plaza is a very much known quantity, which after the past few seasons is exactly what Mecha need. The Mexican knows his way around F1RWRS and has been a calming influence on the usually feisty Mecha team ownership; Plaza is quietly getting on with the job of getting the team out of pre-qualifying. There’s not much more that can be said; he’s doing a sterling job with the machinery he has, and arguably ArrowTech picked up the wrong driver from Gauthier last season.

Hiroto Tojo – 3/10
For all of his misgivings, Tojo hasn’t actually been that bad. Admittedly, he’s held Plaza back a few times, but the Japanese driver has managed to improve from his last season with Dofasco where Alexey Buyvolov broke him to the point of leaving the team. Tojo is starting to make the grade in qualifying; although it might be something to do with the qualifying pace of the car, it’s good to see him actually improve a little. He’s still way off the pace, but he’s getting better.

Sunshine-Daihatsu – 2/10
The most optimistically-named team has had to endure clouds for the last few years since their move to Daihatsu power. It’s perhaps no surprise that Sunshine have been battling with pre-qualifying; although they’d be a perfect home to develop some young talent the team decided to persevere with Daniel Martins, who has struggled for pace and motivation of late; with Barii Mori alongside, many had forecast an anonymous season for Sunshine. Things will be harder with Gregor Pascal swapping seats with Mori.

Daniel Martins – 3/10
Martins was going to be given a lower score, but then we remembered his good showing in Austria. However, that was very much a rarity; the Portuguese driver has been relatively steady this season and hasn’t looked like he has the desire to hurl his Sunshine out of pre-qualifying. In fact, Mori’s been beating Martins more often than not, and without the Japanese driver Martins is really going to have to step up to the plate to help Sunshine.

Barii Mori – 5/10
The Japanese journeyman has driven for a number of teams, and Sunshine served to only be a temporary home for Mori. He’s been beating Martins, which is a decent enough definition of his pace advantage. In fact, there have been a couple of occasions where Mori has found a top-end time in pre-qualifying only for Martins to under-deliver on his hot lap and leave Sunshine having to pack up early. Mori’s off to help NRE get out of the reaches of PQ for good, where he probably stands a better chance of doing so.

Boxtel-Ford – 1/10
Boxtel only survived after a new directive to cut engine costs was released, allowing them to keep on the grid. They couldn’t afford to build a new car, and so they’ve only tacked on a few 2017-spec upgrades in order to keep going. However, as this season has been near-catastrophic, why are the team bothering? They can’t get anything out of the Ford engine, they’ve got the worst driver line-up of the lot and their chassis is so outdated that Bruce Forsyth probably remembers it from his youth. That one point I've given them is because - to paraphrase Eddie Vedder somewhat - yeaah-eahh-eaah they're still alive. Ahem.

Benoit Voeckler – 1/10
When people say the words “pay driver”, one immediately thinks of Benoit Voeckler. His career trajectory has been so fast because of the sheer amount of money he brings. However, his money hasn’t helped Boxtel at all; they’ve used it to pay the bills rather than update their chassis. He’s been slower than O’Heagan all year. He’s slow. The reason he doesn’t get 0/10 is because he’s not been overwhelmingly terrible. He’s just been a bit rubbish.

Connor O’Heagan – 3/10
O’Heagan signed for Boxtel’s LMP2 effort, but a few weeks later the Irishman found himself in an F1RWRS seat. I bet he regrets it. He can’t do anything but beat Voeckler, and he’s done that. The car’s capable of nothing else though, so it’s pretty hard to discuss what he could be doing. The most surprising thing is that he hasn’t walked out yet, so good on him for going down with the ship.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 23 Dec 2014, 23:00

Ataxia wrote:So here's the thing, I was supposed to do this before Norisring. I've written it as if Norisring hasn't happened yet, so please take that into account.

F1RWRS Mid-Season Review - Part 2

That is awesome. Superb job!!

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 25 Dec 2014, 18:59

Logistics meant I couldn't get home today at the expected time so I've moved race to tomorrow noon. I will run all tests before the race.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 26 Dec 2014, 11:20

F1RWRS -- Private Test -- 18th - 20th July -- Paul Ricard

Weather: Dry

BEST QUALIFYING PACE TIMES

1.Jordan Davies (Gauthier) -- 1.09.668
2.James Davies (Gauthier) -- 1.09.713

BEST RACE PACE TIMES

1.James Davies (Gauthier) -- 1.14.026
2.Jordan Davies (Gauthier) -- 1.14.712

Test report: Both drivers got to finish all their race simulations in all three Davies, except for a puncture for Jordan Davies on Day 1. The team didn't find any mechanical faults in the car.

PRIVATE TEST -- 22nd-25th July -- Nurburgring

Weather: Dry

BEST QUALIFYING PACE TIMES

1.Daniel Melrose (MRT) -- 1.41.338

BEST RACE PACE TIMES

1.Daniel Melrose (MRT) -- 1.44.055

Test Report: Daniel Melrose was able to complete 3 out of 8 race simulations. One of the simulations was stopped by a puncture on Day 3, while in all the others he had to abort due to Transmission problems. The team found important faults in the Transmission design and has corrected them, with a gain of 585 reliability points.

PRIVATE TEST -- 21st-22nd July -- Sentul

Weather: Dry

BEST QUALIFYING PACE TIMES

1.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- 1.12.216
2.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- 1.12.454

BEST RACE PACE TIMES

1.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- 1.16.065
2.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- 1.16.648

Test Report: First day focusing on downforce the test went wrong as both drivers retired with Engine Problems. On second day Hiroto Tojo was able to finish his race simulation, while Plaza aborted his simulation with a Water Leak. The team has fixed it and earnt 145 reliability points.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 26 Dec 2014, 11:52

Autosport wrote:Last minute lineup change for Boxtel

Boxtel Engineering are going into their home grand prix with a completely changed lineup. Pay drivers Benoit Voeckler and Connor O'Heagan have left the team and are replaced with the very experienced Daniel Melrose and Nathanael Spencer...

You have viewed over 15 free stories this month.

Aerond · Post by **Aerond** » 26 Dec 2014, 12:12

F1RWRS 2017 -- Round 10/16 -- NORTH SEA GP -- Zandvoort

Weather: Dry all Weekend

PRE-QUALIFYING

1.Alberto Cara (HRT) -- 1.21.162
2.Barii Mori (NRE) -- 1.21.725 (+0.563)
3.Martin McFry (NRE) -- 1.21.772 (+0.610)
4.Marco Bizzarri (Revolution) -- 1.21.882 (+0.720)
5.Michael Robertson (HRT) -- 1.22.608 (+1.446)
6.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- 1.22.729 (+1.567)
7.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- 1.22.804 (+1.642)
8.Daniel Martins (Sunshine) -- 1.23.052 (+1.890)
9.Daniel Melrose (Boxtel) -- 1.23.053 (+1.891)
10.Miko Fakkinen (Fusion) -- 1.23.054 (+1.892)
11.Hagane Shizuka (Kamaha) -- 1.23.093 (+1.931)
12.Nathanael Spencer (Boxtel) -- 1.23.133 (+1.971)
13.Andrej Kremnicky (Revolution) -- 1.23.169 (+2.007)
14.Shinobu Katayama (RLR) -- 1.23.212 (+2.050)
15.Daniel Moreno (Gillet) -- 1.23.216 (+2.054)
16.Daniel Melville (Kamaha) -- 1.23.248 (+2.086)
17.Gregor Pascal (Sunshine) -- 1.23.525 (+2.363)
18.Geoff Donnelly (Fusion) -- 1.24.263 (+3.101)
19.Eric Swerts (Gillet) -- 1.24.625 (+3.463)
20.Shane Skeelenberg (RLR) -- 1.24.661 (+3.499)

** NRE will avoid Pre-Qualifying from Round 11

QUALIFYING

1.Martin McFry (NRE) -- 1.20.877
2.Fredo Mestolio (MRT) -- 1.20.954 (+0.077)
3.Ron Mignolet (Voeckler) -- 1.20.990 (+0.113)
4.Wouter Lamberigts (Simpson) -- 1.21.032 (+0.155)
5.Alexey Buyvolov (Aeroracing) -- 1.21.246 (+0.241)
6.Danny van Rijkens (Gauthier) -- 1.21.246 (+0.369)
7.Dave Simpson (Simpson) -- 1.21.316 (+0.439)
8.Thomas de Bock (Voeckler) -- 1.21.326 (+0.449)
9.Jean-Luc Schiller (MRT) -- 1.21.396 (+0.519)
10.Kay Lon (Aeroracing) -- 1.21.474 (+0.597)
11.Ben Fleet (Foxdale) -- 1.21.479 (+0.602)
12.Mark Dagnall (Jones) -- 1.21.768 (+0.891)
13.Diego Alvarez Torrente (Jones) -- 1.21.883 (+1.006)
14.Andrej Kremnicky (Revolution) -- 1.21.884 (+1.007)
15.Philippe Nicolas (Arrowtech) -- 1.21.965 (+1.088)
16.Alberto Cara (HRT) -- 1.22.287 (+1.410)
17.Barii Mori (NRE) -- 1.22.364 (+1.487)
18.Hansuke Shioya (Arrowtech) -- 1.22.520 (+1.643)
19.Alessandro Lucarelli (PORE) -- 1.22.575 (+1.698)
20.Nicolas Steele (Autodynamics) -- 1.22.609 (+1.732)
21.Douglas Mann (Foxdale) -- 1.22.649 (+1.772)
22.Du Lei (Gauthier) -- 1.22.651 (+1.774)
23.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- 1.22.724 (+1.847)
24.David Neuberg (PORE) -- 1.22.738 (+1.861)
25.Jean-Vincent Albertini (Autodynamics) -- 1.22.971 (+2.094)
26.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- 1.23.168 (+2.291)
DNQ.Marco Bizzarri (Revolution) -- 1.23.168 (+2.291)
DNQ.Michael Robertson (HRT) -- 1.23.538 (+2.661)

** Autodynamics drops to Pre-Q for Round 11

RACE

1.Jean-Luc Schiller (MRT) -- 1h 47m 50.462
2.Thomas de Bock (Voeckler) -- +16.771
3.Philippe Nicolas (Arrowtech) -- +1 Lap
4.Diego Alvarez Torrente (Jones) -- +1 Lap
5.Andrej Kremnicky (Revolution) -- +1 Lap
6.Hansuke Shioya (Arrowtech) -- +2 Laps
7.Nicolas Steele (Autodynamics) -- +2 Laps
8.Alberto Cara (HRT) -- +2 Laps
DNF.Dave Simpson (Simpson) -- Transmission
DNF.Barii Mori (NRE) -- Transmission
DNF.Jesus Plaza (Mecha) -- Suspension
DNF.Douglas Mann (HRT) -- Engine
DNF.Jean-Vincent Albertini (Autodynamics) -- Transmission
DNF.Danny van Rijkens (Gauthier) -- Engine
DNF.Du Lei (Gauthier) -- Engine
DNF.Alessandro Lucarelli (PORE) -- Transmission
DNF.Wouter Lamberigts (Simpson) -- Engine
DNF.Ron Mignolet (Voeckler) -- Transmission
DNF.David Neuberg (PORE) -- Transmission
DNF.Alexey Buyvolov (Aeroracing) -- Engine
DNF.Hiroto Tojo (Mecha) -- Transmission
DNF.Martin McFry (NRE) -- Transmission
DNF.Kay Lon (Aeroracing) -- Loose Wheel
DNF.Mark Dagnall (Jones) -- Transmission
DNF.Fredo Mestolio (MRT) -- Transmission
DNF.Ben Fleet (Foxdale) -- Suspension

Fastest Lap: Thomas de Bock (Voeckler) -- 1.22.559
DOTR: Andrej Kremnicky -- Took a dog of a car into the points!
ROTR: Diego Alvarez Torrente -- Wasted a great chance of jumping back into title race with slow driving and a silly mistake.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 26 Dec 2014, 15:07

L'Equipe wrote:Voeckler laments Dutch GP mistakes

Despite picking up 7 points for Thomas De Bock's second place finish at Zandvoort, team-principal Jeremy-Etienne Voeckler lamented mistakes made by both team and driver at the Dutch race, saying it cost them valuable points in both championships.

"Today was akin to missing an open goal in football," said Voeckler. "All our biggest rivals had kindly removed themselves from the equation, and we failed to follow up on the opportunity that had been handed to us on a plate."

"Thomas was only two corners from taking the race lead on the undercut before he stuck it in the wall. We won't reprimand him for it, he's experienced enough to understand the three points he lost today could have a profound effect on his title ambitions by the end of the year."

However, Voeckler also shouldered the blame on his own team, saying the car wasn't quite up to scratch, evidenced by Ron Mignolet's retirement from second place early in the proceedings.

"We need to do better as a team if we want more titles," he said. "We let down Ron today, he was running a great race and looked in a great position to fight for the win, but the car let him down today. In a sense, it also let down Thomas, because it was clearly second best to the MRT in terms of pace today. Mestolio had packed his bags and flown away up the road, I imagine he'd have taken an easy win if his car hadn't broken down on him. They had the car advantage today, and Schiller capitalised on that."

Despite ongoing rumours that the Voeckler outfit are suffering from financial issues, the team principal insisted they still had enough finance to compete at the front, and remained bullish about his teams championship going into the final six races of the year.

"If you look at the points table, we're still close to Jones and Dagnall in both title races. There's still plenty of races left to make a difference. We have our last upgrade of the season coming up at Spa-Francorchamps, and hopefully this helps us set us apart from the other frontrunners, and gives both Thomas and Ron a platform on which to finally start racking up race wins."

"We hit a purple patch at the back end of last eason, and we're hoping for a repeat of that again this year. We need it to happen to ensure we can have a chance of taking both titles."

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 26 Dec 2014, 15:30

Douglas Mann had another engine failure? :roll:

And good to see Martin McFry go all the way from Pre-Q to pole!

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 26 Dec 2014, 19:49

dr-baker wrote:Douglas Mann had another engine failure?

Admit it: it's a running gag with him. :lol:

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 26 Dec 2014, 20:44

Shizuka wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Douglas Mann had another engine failure?

Admit it: it's a running gag with him.

What in the hell has he done in his previous life for all that bad karma?

Post by **tommykl** » 26 Dec 2014, 21:47

This wrote:
Shizuka wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Douglas Mann had another engine failure?

Admit it: it's a running gag with him.

What in the hell has he done in his previous life for all that bad karma?

Driven in NASCAR?

Post by **Ataxia** » 26 Dec 2014, 21:57

ESPN wrote:Torrente "must learn limits" - Couteau

Diego Alvarez Torrente's manager and Fusion principal Jacques Couteau has offered words of advice to his young charge, encouraging him to be more clinical on-track.

Torrente was in with a chance of collecting his third race win of the season, but wasted his chance to close up the gap to team-mate Mark Dagnall and finished a distant 4th place; this performance earned him a second "Reject of the Race" award in a row.

"Diego forgets this is his first season in F1RWRS, and sometimes just pushes way too hard." said Couteau. "We are working with him to ensure that he knows what to do to deliver. Sometimes he's too docile and doesn't go for the big results, but as well he sometimes pushes too hard when he doesn't need to.

"He's a fantastic driver, he just needs to know when to push and when he is, he needs to learn where his limits are. I know that Sammy's patient with young drivers, but he's not going to be happy if results are being thrown away".

The next grand prix is at legendary Belgian circuit Spa-Francorchamps, where Torrente finished 3rd in last year's F2RWRS race having taken pole.