GP3 Career Thread
Posted by Diax F1
This Williams is like glass!
But I hope people read through my season and don't only root for me - would be nice to get people cheering on the AI cars too
That's why I am making more of a story of it rather than just: Race 1 I retired, Race 2 I retired, etc 
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The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. -- F.Scott Fitzgerald
But I hope people read through my season and don't only root for me - would be nice to get people cheering on the AI cars too
That's why I am making more of a story of it rather than just: Race 1 I retired, Race 2 I retired, etc ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. -- F.Scott Fitzgerald
Friday Free Practise
The Formula One circus returned to Europe but it wasn’t a happy homecoming for Elio de Angelis. The Lotus driver might have been untouchable in South Africa but in the first practise session his Lotus team were well off the pace. Nelson Piquet topped the timesheets with Derek Warwick a splendid second. For the first time this season Jo Gartner didn’t bring up the rear, that dubious honour instead going to his Osella partner Piercarlo Ghinzani with a time more than four seconds slower than Piquet.
Comments: Most of this session was designated to finding rear-end grip on high fuel. There is a lot of work to be done if I am to be competitive in the race, although on low fuel the car is great.
Saturday Free Practise
There was little change to the old regime as Nelson Piquet once again lead the way ahead of the improved Renault of Derek Warwick. Both Ligiers suffered suspension failures, however, and Francios Hesnault was lucky not to collect René Arnoux as he careered off the road at Turn 3. Order was restored at the bottom of the timesheets with Jo Gartner back to his usual 22nd place. Alan Reidy’s session was cut short when he binned his Williams just twenty minutes into the afternoon.
Comments:Whoops! Looks like I have taken a backwards step with the setup, and the tyre wear is horrendous around this track. Hard compound is the only option but that will compromise my qualifying.
Qualifying
Nelson Piquet proved that the Brabham handles well and isn’t only about power as he took pole position at Zolder. The Brazilian edged out Alan Reidy in the Williams with Derek Warwick and Alain Prost making up the second row of the grid. Warwick’s teammate Patrick Tambay came out on top in a thrilling three-way fight for sixth, posting the same time as Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari and lapping just 9/1000th of a second fater than Elio de Angelis. It was equally as close at the back of the grid with just 0.003 seconds separating the last three drivers.
Comments:As expected my single-lap pace is good and I could have taken pole but for a mistake on my last run. The race will be a different thing altogether though and I only hope my tyres don’t go off too quickly.
I have realised that the AI cars use up their tyres in the practise sessions which seriously messes up their qualifying runs. For this qualy session I had to roll back to an earlier save point, but from here on I won’t run any practise sessions to avoid this issue in the future. I will develop my own setup only in the qualifying session which will present a further challenge!
Race
1-2 for McLaren as Williams reliability issues continue
Alain Prost lead home a McLaren 1-2 at Zolder but the Woking based team will consider themselves fortunate to take a maximum points haul after Alan Reidy had looked set to claim the first victory of his career only to spin off with ten laps remaining. Reidy got away fastest and opened up a small gap before Nelson Piquet had to pit due to an electrical fault. This left Prost in second place and the Frenchman reeled in the leading Williams before taking over at the front on lap 21. Reidy made an early stop for fresh tyres three laps later, and when Prost pitted at half distance the Williams was once again in the lead. A second stop dropped Reidy back behind Prost but with the aid of fresh rubber he was able to quickly close the 10 second deficit and resume control of the race, but a puncture sent the Williams Honda into a spin and out of the race on lap 61. Prost then had the easy job of cruising to his second victory of the season, teammate Niki Lauda following behind to take second place.
Comments: This Williams is beginning to annoy me now! Ten laps to go and a ten second lead was more than enough but the left front blew half way around the lap and I couldn’t keep control at high speed. I suppose it was partly my fault and at least the lap 44 jinx is over.
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The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. -- F.Scott Fitzgerald
Seeing those two BMW engines in the last two spots of the final standings makes me sad lol
Great reading. Seems like Lady Luck doesn't want you to finish any race.
St.Hubbins Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have realised that the AI cars use up their
> tyres in the practise sessions which seriously
> messes up their qualifying runs. For this qualy
> session I had to roll back to an earlier save
> point, but from here on I won’t run any practise
> sessions to avoid this issue in the future. I will
> develop my own setup only in the qualifying
> session which will present a further challenge!
>
Why don't you just run the practice sessions without saving the game after running them? At least it's what I usually do. I run both practice sessions but I just save my race weekend after qualifying.
Cheers.
lolGreat reading. Seems like Lady Luck doesn't want you to finish any race.
St.Hubbins Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have realised that the AI cars use up their
> tyres in the practise sessions which seriously
> messes up their qualifying runs. For this qualy
> session I had to roll back to an earlier save
> point, but from here on I won’t run any practise
> sessions to avoid this issue in the future. I will
> develop my own setup only in the qualifying
> session which will present a further challenge!
>
Why don't you just run the practice sessions without saving the game after running them? At least it's what I usually do. I run both practice sessions but I just save my race weekend after qualifying.
Cheers.
Qualifying
Nelson Piquet grabbed a dominant pole position after blitzing the opposition at Imola. The Brabham driver was almost four tenths of a second faster than Alain Prost, while Derek Warwick continued his good recent form with a credible third place. But the real story of the hour was the disastrous showing by Ferrari in front of their home fans. René Arnoux was the fastest of the red cars back in ninth and Michele Alboreto, perhaps feeling the pressure of carrying the expectations of a nation, qualified in a season worst twelfth position.
Comments:A difficult session where I was twice held up by Osellas and also managed to throw the car into the barriers at the final chicane. The race will be tough especially as some cars have a 10kph speed advantage, but frankly it would just be nice to go the distance for once.
Race
Piquet benefits as McLaren falters
Nelson Piquet made light work of taking a full nine points from the San Marino Grand Prix as he led from lights to flag and was seldom troubled. It was a superb result for the Brazilian, helped by the fact that Alain Prost crashed out early on. René Arnoux gave the locals something to cheer about by bringing his Ferrari home in second and Partick Tambay held off a spirited charge from Alan Reidy to round out the podium places. The Williams rookie might have grabbed more points but an early puncture set him almost a lap behind after having been running second, albeit well behind the dominant Piquet.
Comments: Finally a finish and a really fun battle back from last on lap 12. My overall pace was good enough for second but in the end I was left hunting down Tambay in the final few laps and ith one extra lap I would have been on the podium. Anyway, onwards and upwards!
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The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. -- F.Scott Fitzgerald
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2010 02:55AM by St.Hubbins.
I was missing a result for my 1993 season. Finaly I completed and has been really a race not for cardiohepatics.
1993 F1 season - Adelaide (Australia)
Qualifying
Intense session with the top drivers focused on catching the front row, very important on this track. Hill shown immediately an interesting pace rebouncing the attacks from Senna and Prost. The two contenders for the title controlled each other lap after lap with a final gap of 1 lonely thousand! Schumacher always worked in the shadow but when it was going to end with the predictable domination by Williams here is his perfect lap to spice the grid some more.
1 Hill 1.13.389
2 Schumacher +0.343
3 Prost +0.500
4 Senna +501
5 Hakkinen +0.585
6 Letho +1.175
7 Alesi +1.424
11 Berger +2.097
Race
Curtains fall on the 1993 season under an heavy rain to make things more exciting for the fans. Not for Prost which starts knowing he must recover that point from Senna in standings to grab the title (Senna 81, Prost 80).
Lights turned off and Hill moved faster from his grid slot. Schumacher has been not as much quick and got to obstacle Senna behind him while Prost aproached and attacked Hill at the first chicane which didn't made much to oppose it. As expected Hill let him pass in a sort of arranged team order. The french had now the track clean in front while Senna remained stuck in 4th position. But the brazilian was really intentioned to don't let Prost fly away and at the hairpin after the long backstraight attacked at the limit of the rules Schumacher and Hill which were meantime controlling each other. Lap 1 closed with Prost leading on Senna launched in a desperate chasing. Chasing that went on for the next 25 laps with a maximum of 1 second to separate the two and several attacks from the brazilian always nullified by the leader.
Prost pitted at lap 27 but at the exit had to lap Herbert. This little time loss has been vital for Senna which pitted 1 lap later and allowed to keep the lead after a side by side fight on the pitlane exit. But the new leading lasted few laps as Prost has put more aggressivity in his attacks. Here restarted the chasing with Prost locking the door every time at every attack tried by Senna.
At lap 54 hapened the incredible. The two leaders encountered the two Footwork involved in a patethic internal fight. Warwick dind't even noticed Prost coming faster in his shoulders and tried a manouvre on his teammate. As result Prost had to brake hard being passed by Senna which now kept the lead with more commitment. Second duty of pitstops few laps later and Senna raised to 5 seconds his lead on Prost. Senna was seriously launched for the title when at lap 63 Aguri Suzuki in his Footwork came out the pits and flied into the chicane touching Senna which meantime was passing. A lite contact but enough to make the brazilian slide on the wet tarmac and spin off on the gravel. Luckily he got to restart but both Prost and Hill already passed and took too much advantage. Immediate black flag to Suzuki and race over for him.
Rain slowly stopped but nothing else happened in the remaining laps and Prost finally celebrated the title put in trouble in the latest races with Hill to complete the team parade.
The battle for the title totally obscured the others with Schumacher and Hakkinen trying just to finish the race in one piece while Alesi left the track after only 5 laps. Terrible season for him and his troubling car.
1 Prost 81 laps
2 Hill +12.264
3 Senna +28.684
4 Schumacher +44.803
5 Hakkinen +47.178
6 Berger +1 lap
Alesi out lap 5 Tansmission
Final standings and team comparison at the end of the season.
the only good news is Alesi and Ferrari incredibly not being humilated by the final awards
-------------------------------
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2010 02:54AM by R_Scandura.
1993 F1 season - Adelaide (Australia)
Qualifying
Intense session with the top drivers focused on catching the front row, very important on this track. Hill shown immediately an interesting pace rebouncing the attacks from Senna and Prost. The two contenders for the title controlled each other lap after lap with a final gap of 1 lonely thousand! Schumacher always worked in the shadow but when it was going to end with the predictable domination by Williams here is his perfect lap to spice the grid some more.
1 Hill 1.13.389
2 Schumacher +0.343
3 Prost +0.500
4 Senna +501
5 Hakkinen +0.585
6 Letho +1.175
7 Alesi +1.424
11 Berger +2.097
Race
Curtains fall on the 1993 season under an heavy rain to make things more exciting for the fans. Not for Prost which starts knowing he must recover that point from Senna in standings to grab the title (Senna 81, Prost 80).
Lights turned off and Hill moved faster from his grid slot. Schumacher has been not as much quick and got to obstacle Senna behind him while Prost aproached and attacked Hill at the first chicane which didn't made much to oppose it. As expected Hill let him pass in a sort of arranged team order. The french had now the track clean in front while Senna remained stuck in 4th position. But the brazilian was really intentioned to don't let Prost fly away and at the hairpin after the long backstraight attacked at the limit of the rules Schumacher and Hill which were meantime controlling each other. Lap 1 closed with Prost leading on Senna launched in a desperate chasing. Chasing that went on for the next 25 laps with a maximum of 1 second to separate the two and several attacks from the brazilian always nullified by the leader.
Prost pitted at lap 27 but at the exit had to lap Herbert. This little time loss has been vital for Senna which pitted 1 lap later and allowed to keep the lead after a side by side fight on the pitlane exit. But the new leading lasted few laps as Prost has put more aggressivity in his attacks. Here restarted the chasing with Prost locking the door every time at every attack tried by Senna.
At lap 54 hapened the incredible. The two leaders encountered the two Footwork involved in a patethic internal fight. Warwick dind't even noticed Prost coming faster in his shoulders and tried a manouvre on his teammate. As result Prost had to brake hard being passed by Senna which now kept the lead with more commitment. Second duty of pitstops few laps later and Senna raised to 5 seconds his lead on Prost. Senna was seriously launched for the title when at lap 63 Aguri Suzuki in his Footwork came out the pits and flied into the chicane touching Senna which meantime was passing. A lite contact but enough to make the brazilian slide on the wet tarmac and spin off on the gravel. Luckily he got to restart but both Prost and Hill already passed and took too much advantage. Immediate black flag to Suzuki and race over for him.
Rain slowly stopped but nothing else happened in the remaining laps and Prost finally celebrated the title put in trouble in the latest races with Hill to complete the team parade.
The battle for the title totally obscured the others with Schumacher and Hakkinen trying just to finish the race in one piece while Alesi left the track after only 5 laps. Terrible season for him and his troubling car.
1 Prost 81 laps
2 Hill +12.264
3 Senna +28.684
4 Schumacher +44.803
5 Hakkinen +47.178
6 Berger +1 lap
Alesi out lap 5 Tansmission
Final standings and team comparison at the end of the season.
the only good news is Alesi and Ferrari incredibly not being humilated by the final awards
-------------------------------
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2010 02:54AM by R_Scandura.
See you again. IRL 2007 season is resumed...
Round 3 - Twin Ring Motegi, Japan
The qualifiers were quite easy to me and I won it hands down, in front of Carpenter and Sharp. At the start of the race Sharp dropped down to fifth and got passed by Hunter-Reay. Chesson who started from 4th crashed into the wall in lap 5 and the race was finished for him. From now on I kept extending the lead up until the halfway of the race. It was when my advantage stopped rising and remained at the constant level of 2 laps in front of Hunter-Reay. Somewhere at the end of the race Carpenter made use of Hunter-Reay's inonsistency and passed him. This however must have been a 'wake up call' for the latter as he tried to regain the viceleadership, but he failed as Carpenter was faster by 0,5 sec. Meanwhile, Scheckter and Hamilton got involved in an epic crash right in front of me. I was really lucky that I didn't get hit with the debris from their cars. I find it more and more hard to race on ovals. It's just the beginning and I already want to take up some road track series next season :P.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Carpenter, 3rd - Hunter-Reay
Round 3 - Twin Ring Motegi, Japan
The qualifiers were quite easy to me and I won it hands down, in front of Carpenter and Sharp. At the start of the race Sharp dropped down to fifth and got passed by Hunter-Reay. Chesson who started from 4th crashed into the wall in lap 5 and the race was finished for him. From now on I kept extending the lead up until the halfway of the race. It was when my advantage stopped rising and remained at the constant level of 2 laps in front of Hunter-Reay. Somewhere at the end of the race Carpenter made use of Hunter-Reay's inonsistency and passed him. This however must have been a 'wake up call' for the latter as he tried to regain the viceleadership, but he failed as Carpenter was faster by 0,5 sec. Meanwhile, Scheckter and Hamilton got involved in an epic crash right in front of me. I was really lucky that I didn't get hit with the debris from their cars. I find it more and more hard to race on ovals. It's just the beginning and I already want to take up some road track series next season :P.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Carpenter, 3rd - Hunter-Reay
Stop the press. BRM targets 1972 F1 World Championship with experienced Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise heading a four car line-up for the team managed by Louis Stanley. Lotus and Ferrari remain the other title contenders with the Italian squad the second outfit to enter four cars including one for Chris Amon who left Matra after their unexpected filling for bankruptcy. Arturo Merzario was relegated into a testing driver position while the similar fate befell Jackie Oliver in the BRM team and his place was taken by ex-Lotus man Reine Wisell.
1972 F1 Season Entry List: (carskins provided by Julio Artucio aka zerkalo )
John Player Special Team Lotus: # 1 Emerson Fittipaldi - #23 Dave Walker
Scuderia Ferrari: # 4 Clay Regazzoni - # 6 Jacky Ickx - #13 Chris Amon - #21 Mario Andretti
Marlboro BRM: #11 Jean-Pierre Beltoise - #12 Peter Gethin - #20 Reine Wisell - #25 Howden Ganley
Elf Team Tyrrell: # 2 Francois Cevert - # 7 Jackie Stewart
Yardley Team McLaren: # 3 Peter Revson - # 5 Denny Hulme
Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees: # 8 Andrea de Adamich - #17 Tim Schenken
STP March Racing Team: # 9 Ronnie Peterson - #22 Niki Lauda
Motor Racing Developments Brabham: #14 Graham Hill - #16 Carlos Reutemann
Team Williams Motul: #18 Henri Pescarolo - #24 Carlos Pace
1972 F1 Season Calendar:
Round 1: Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Round 2: South Africa (Kyalami)
Round 3: Brazil (Interlagos)
Round 4: BRDC International Trophy (Silverstone)
Round 5: Spain (Jarama)
Round 6: Monaco (Monte Carlo)
Round 7: Belgium (Nivelles)
Round 8: France (Rouen-les-Essarts)
Round 9: Great Britain (Brands Hatch)
Round 10: Germany (Hockenheim)
Round 11: Austria (Osterreichring)
Round 12: Italy (Monza)
Round 13: Canada (Mosport)
Round 14: United States (Watkins Glen)
Round 1: Argentine Grand Prix - Buenos Aires
Qualifying:
Weather was hot and sunny for the opening practice session of the season and Jean-Pierre Beltoise confirmed BRM's high expectations by taking pole position with a time of 1:46.391 Min. around the 5.968 km long Oscar Galvez circuit on the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires. Ferrari armada followed with Jacky Ickx lining up on the front row with a time of 1:46.507 Min. while Mario Andretti and Chris Amon shared row two. Among the other favourites, Emerson Fittipaldi was fifth, Jackie Stewart seventh and Clay Regazzoni unable to match his teammates' pace only ninth in the remaining Ferrari. BRM's second best driver Peter Gethin was 12th.
Race:
Weather conditions changed dramatically overnight and the start of the race wintessed heavy rainfalls with the forecast predicting a dry period after 20 mins of racing before rain returning for the final phase of the 53 lap event. Jean-Pierre Beltoise took little gamble by starting on hard wet tires and maintained the lead with Andretti settling into second place through first corner. Denny Hulme made the most ground on the opening lap leaping up from eight on the grid to third. On the second lap wet conditions finally took their toll as Clay Regazzoni and Andrea de Adamich went off simultanously in Turn One but managed to rejoin without any damage. On the next lap race leader Beltoise slid wide at Viborita and Andretti duly sneaked ahead as the Frenchman shut the door on the upcoming Hulme. This had costed the 1967 world champion momentum and he was passed by both Ickx and Fittipaldi on Confiteria Straight few moments later. Action followed on lap five as Fittipaldi passed Ickx in Turn One only to lose the place back two laps later. This battle enabled Andretti and Beltoise to pull away up front but behind them Hulme was losing even more ground as the race progressed. Elsewhere Jackie Stewart finally moved into contention by passing Peter Revson for sixth on lap 10 while Chris Amon lost several places on the opening lap and dropped from fourth on the grid to 10th.
After eight laps the rain stopped and within the next five laps a dry line appeared which prompted everyone to come for new tires. Jean-Pierre Beltoise stayed out for a couple of laps longer then Andretti but his gamble failed to pay off as he rejoined down in fourth behind Andretti, Fittipaldi and Ickx. However outside the racing line there was still a damp patch which caught out Andretti in the penultimate Horovilla corner on lap 16 and allowed Fittipaldi to take the lead. Ickx was running in close attention as the leading trio pulled a ten second gap over Beltoise who had his mirrors full of Stewart, Hulme and Revson instead.
This battle eventually went in favour of Stewart who passed Beltoise into Ascari chicane on lap 19 and began to pull away. In the meantime Tim Schenken crashed out at Viborita on lap 17 and BRMs of Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin retired with mechanical problems shortly afterwards. Clay Regazzoni worked his way up to 13th place after his earlier spin off but outbraked himself in Senna S and crashed into the barriers on lap 28. More attrition followed as the mid-part of the race was plagued with retirements. Andrea de Adamich suffered a gearbox failure while in the most dramatic event Denny Hulme's left front tyre exploded on the main straight and forced the sixth placed McLaren out of the race on lap 31. This left Jean-Pierre Beltoise is safe fifth with Peter Revson and Francois Cevert now battling for the final point.
Weather vastly improved during the middle stages of the race but with 20 laps remaining it started to rain again as predicted. Leader Fittipaldi opened a seven secs. lead over Andretti with Ickx further five behind at this stage but all drivers were forced to pit for wet tires again. Fittipaldi maintained his lead but Andretti stayed out a lap longer before his service and was able to close within two secs. of the Brazilian. In the wet conditions the American was quicker and harrassed the Lotus man right until lap 50 when he passed him on Recta do Lago straight. This seemed to be a race deciding moment but on the very next lap Andretti was held up by the lapped car of Carlos Reutemann which allowed Fittipaldi to regain the lead in exactly the same spot. Andretti tried to mount another challenge but run over the kerb at Ascari losing momentum and conceding the victory to the Brazilian. The gap at the finish was just over a second though.
Behind the two leaders Jacky Ickx completed the podium with Jackie Stewart fourth. Jean-Pierre Beltoise closed within two seconds of the Tyrrell man in the wet conditions but was then held up by Graham Hill and lost seven seconds to Stewart in the proccess which settled their placings. Francois Cevert rounded out the top half-dozen after a quicker pitstop enabled him to break clear from Peter Revson.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM) opens the season with 5th place, denied a shot at 4th thanks to lapped traffic.
I recorded the third fastest lap of the race (1:50.227 on lap 33 the last one before the rain returned with Fittipaldi and Andretti the only ones into 49s). For comparision, Carlos Pace's fastest lap - slowest of all - was 1:54.8 Min.
Next up: South African Grand Prix @ Kyalami...
1972 F1 Season Entry List: (carskins provided by Julio Artucio aka zerkalo
)John Player Special Team Lotus: # 1 Emerson Fittipaldi - #23 Dave Walker
Scuderia Ferrari: # 4 Clay Regazzoni - # 6 Jacky Ickx - #13 Chris Amon - #21 Mario Andretti
Marlboro BRM: #11 Jean-Pierre Beltoise - #12 Peter Gethin - #20 Reine Wisell - #25 Howden Ganley
Elf Team Tyrrell: # 2 Francois Cevert - # 7 Jackie Stewart
Yardley Team McLaren: # 3 Peter Revson - # 5 Denny Hulme
Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees: # 8 Andrea de Adamich - #17 Tim Schenken
STP March Racing Team: # 9 Ronnie Peterson - #22 Niki Lauda
Motor Racing Developments Brabham: #14 Graham Hill - #16 Carlos Reutemann
Team Williams Motul: #18 Henri Pescarolo - #24 Carlos Pace
1972 F1 Season Calendar:
Round 1: Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Round 2: South Africa (Kyalami)
Round 3: Brazil (Interlagos)
Round 4: BRDC International Trophy (Silverstone)
Round 5: Spain (Jarama)
Round 6: Monaco (Monte Carlo)
Round 7: Belgium (Nivelles)
Round 8: France (Rouen-les-Essarts)
Round 9: Great Britain (Brands Hatch)
Round 10: Germany (Hockenheim)
Round 11: Austria (Osterreichring)
Round 12: Italy (Monza)
Round 13: Canada (Mosport)
Round 14: United States (Watkins Glen)
Round 1: Argentine Grand Prix - Buenos Aires
Qualifying:
Weather was hot and sunny for the opening practice session of the season and Jean-Pierre Beltoise confirmed BRM's high expectations by taking pole position with a time of 1:46.391 Min. around the 5.968 km long Oscar Galvez circuit on the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires. Ferrari armada followed with Jacky Ickx lining up on the front row with a time of 1:46.507 Min. while Mario Andretti and Chris Amon shared row two. Among the other favourites, Emerson Fittipaldi was fifth, Jackie Stewart seventh and Clay Regazzoni unable to match his teammates' pace only ninth in the remaining Ferrari. BRM's second best driver Peter Gethin was 12th.
Race:
Weather conditions changed dramatically overnight and the start of the race wintessed heavy rainfalls with the forecast predicting a dry period after 20 mins of racing before rain returning for the final phase of the 53 lap event. Jean-Pierre Beltoise took little gamble by starting on hard wet tires and maintained the lead with Andretti settling into second place through first corner. Denny Hulme made the most ground on the opening lap leaping up from eight on the grid to third. On the second lap wet conditions finally took their toll as Clay Regazzoni and Andrea de Adamich went off simultanously in Turn One but managed to rejoin without any damage. On the next lap race leader Beltoise slid wide at Viborita and Andretti duly sneaked ahead as the Frenchman shut the door on the upcoming Hulme. This had costed the 1967 world champion momentum and he was passed by both Ickx and Fittipaldi on Confiteria Straight few moments later. Action followed on lap five as Fittipaldi passed Ickx in Turn One only to lose the place back two laps later. This battle enabled Andretti and Beltoise to pull away up front but behind them Hulme was losing even more ground as the race progressed. Elsewhere Jackie Stewart finally moved into contention by passing Peter Revson for sixth on lap 10 while Chris Amon lost several places on the opening lap and dropped from fourth on the grid to 10th.
After eight laps the rain stopped and within the next five laps a dry line appeared which prompted everyone to come for new tires. Jean-Pierre Beltoise stayed out for a couple of laps longer then Andretti but his gamble failed to pay off as he rejoined down in fourth behind Andretti, Fittipaldi and Ickx. However outside the racing line there was still a damp patch which caught out Andretti in the penultimate Horovilla corner on lap 16 and allowed Fittipaldi to take the lead. Ickx was running in close attention as the leading trio pulled a ten second gap over Beltoise who had his mirrors full of Stewart, Hulme and Revson instead.
This battle eventually went in favour of Stewart who passed Beltoise into Ascari chicane on lap 19 and began to pull away. In the meantime Tim Schenken crashed out at Viborita on lap 17 and BRMs of Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin retired with mechanical problems shortly afterwards. Clay Regazzoni worked his way up to 13th place after his earlier spin off but outbraked himself in Senna S and crashed into the barriers on lap 28. More attrition followed as the mid-part of the race was plagued with retirements. Andrea de Adamich suffered a gearbox failure while in the most dramatic event Denny Hulme's left front tyre exploded on the main straight and forced the sixth placed McLaren out of the race on lap 31. This left Jean-Pierre Beltoise is safe fifth with Peter Revson and Francois Cevert now battling for the final point.
Weather vastly improved during the middle stages of the race but with 20 laps remaining it started to rain again as predicted. Leader Fittipaldi opened a seven secs. lead over Andretti with Ickx further five behind at this stage but all drivers were forced to pit for wet tires again. Fittipaldi maintained his lead but Andretti stayed out a lap longer before his service and was able to close within two secs. of the Brazilian. In the wet conditions the American was quicker and harrassed the Lotus man right until lap 50 when he passed him on Recta do Lago straight. This seemed to be a race deciding moment but on the very next lap Andretti was held up by the lapped car of Carlos Reutemann which allowed Fittipaldi to regain the lead in exactly the same spot. Andretti tried to mount another challenge but run over the kerb at Ascari losing momentum and conceding the victory to the Brazilian. The gap at the finish was just over a second though.
Behind the two leaders Jacky Ickx completed the podium with Jackie Stewart fourth. Jean-Pierre Beltoise closed within two seconds of the Tyrrell man in the wet conditions but was then held up by Graham Hill and lost seven seconds to Stewart in the proccess which settled their placings. Francois Cevert rounded out the top half-dozen after a quicker pitstop enabled him to break clear from Peter Revson.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise (BRM) opens the season with 5th place, denied a shot at 4th thanks to lapped traffic.
I recorded the third fastest lap of the race (1:50.227 on lap 33 the last one before the rain returned with Fittipaldi and Andretti the only ones into 49s). For comparision, Carlos Pace's fastest lap - slowest of all - was 1:54.8 Min.
Next up: South African Grand Prix @ Kyalami...
Round 2: South African Grand Prix - Kyalami
Qualifying:
Weather once again came into play during Grand Prix weekend, this time affecting Kyalami practice. Only the first five minutes were held in dry conditions and it rained ever since then, so all the times were set on the first run out of the pits. I came 8th after being blocked by de Adamich on my quicker lap with Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx scoring the fastest laps only 0.02 secs. apart from each other. Denny Hulme was third on the grid ahead of Chris Amon and Emerson Fittipaldi.
Race:
The race was held in warm but not particulary sunny conditions and Ferrari soon locked the sharp end of the field with Andretti, Regazzoni and Ickx squeezing Hulme out on the opening lap. Chris Amon made amends for his horrible Buenos Aires start and passed Hulme on the second lap with Beltoise up to fifth place. However the 1967 world champion soon found his rhythm and passed Beltoise (15), Ickx (23), Regazzoni (28) to catch the tail of Chris Amon who got ahead of Ickx and Regazzoni earlier and run in second place. Mario Andretti was in class of his own though and built a ten secs. lead by lap 30.
Elsewhere BRM endured a horrible afternoon with three of their four cars out before half-distance. Howden Ganley, Peter Gethin and Jean-Pierre Beltoise all retired within four laps which was particulary sad for me as I've managed to hold on to sixth spot fending off the charges of Fittipaldi, Cevert and Stewart. I was 40 secs. behind Andretti at the time of my transmission failure with Ickx about 20 secs. ahead of me in fifth.
At half-distance Andretti continued to lead but Hulme passed Amon for second and was closing on the American. Behind Amon, Regazzoni and Ickx remained in formation for fourth spot with Fittipaldi sixth further ten secs. adrift. Jackie Stewart failed to make any impression by this stage battling with Revson and Cevert for seventh.
When everyone expected Hulme to catch Andretti and produce a thrilling battle for victory, suddenly the American slowed down on lap 47 and pulled off course with a mechanical issue leaving the door open for the McLaren driver to claim Kyalami success. Chris Amon continued his impressive run in second but Ferrari experienced more trouble when Jacky Ickx stopped in Leeukop with smoke pouring from the back of his 312B. This left Clay Regazzoni alone to fend off a charge from Emerson Fittipaldi who picked up his pace in the second half of the race and was now threatening podium positions.
Hulme seemed to control the proceedings but Amon hasn't given up on his victory chances and closed within five secs. of the fellow New Zealander until a spin in The Esses on lap 63 costed him 15 secs. and dropped to fourth. Battle for third became thus one for second and Fittipaldi was faster then Regazzoni in the twisty part of the track and eventually overcame the speed advantage of the Ferrari by passing the Swissman on lap 70. There were no more late dramas so Denny Hulme won the South African Grand Prix by just over 15 secs. from championship leader Fittipaldi. Clay Regazzoni salvaged third for Maranello squad with Chris Amon fourth. Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert rounded out points scoring positions for Tyrrell as Peter Revson finished 7th for the second consecutive race.
Denny Hulme won at Kyalami after dominant leader Mario Andretti retired
Championship standings: 1.Fittipaldi 15, 2.Hulme 9, 3.Andretti 6, 4.Stewart 5, 5.Ickx, Regazzoni 4, 7.Amon 3, 8.Beltoise 2, 9.Cevert 2
Next: Brazilian Grand Prix @ Interlagos
Qualifying:
Weather once again came into play during Grand Prix weekend, this time affecting Kyalami practice. Only the first five minutes were held in dry conditions and it rained ever since then, so all the times were set on the first run out of the pits. I came 8th after being blocked by de Adamich on my quicker lap with Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx scoring the fastest laps only 0.02 secs. apart from each other. Denny Hulme was third on the grid ahead of Chris Amon and Emerson Fittipaldi.
Race:
The race was held in warm but not particulary sunny conditions and Ferrari soon locked the sharp end of the field with Andretti, Regazzoni and Ickx squeezing Hulme out on the opening lap. Chris Amon made amends for his horrible Buenos Aires start and passed Hulme on the second lap with Beltoise up to fifth place. However the 1967 world champion soon found his rhythm and passed Beltoise (15), Ickx (23), Regazzoni (28) to catch the tail of Chris Amon who got ahead of Ickx and Regazzoni earlier and run in second place. Mario Andretti was in class of his own though and built a ten secs. lead by lap 30.
Elsewhere BRM endured a horrible afternoon with three of their four cars out before half-distance. Howden Ganley, Peter Gethin and Jean-Pierre Beltoise all retired within four laps which was particulary sad for me as I've managed to hold on to sixth spot fending off the charges of Fittipaldi, Cevert and Stewart. I was 40 secs. behind Andretti at the time of my transmission failure with Ickx about 20 secs. ahead of me in fifth.
At half-distance Andretti continued to lead but Hulme passed Amon for second and was closing on the American. Behind Amon, Regazzoni and Ickx remained in formation for fourth spot with Fittipaldi sixth further ten secs. adrift. Jackie Stewart failed to make any impression by this stage battling with Revson and Cevert for seventh.
When everyone expected Hulme to catch Andretti and produce a thrilling battle for victory, suddenly the American slowed down on lap 47 and pulled off course with a mechanical issue leaving the door open for the McLaren driver to claim Kyalami success. Chris Amon continued his impressive run in second but Ferrari experienced more trouble when Jacky Ickx stopped in Leeukop with smoke pouring from the back of his 312B. This left Clay Regazzoni alone to fend off a charge from Emerson Fittipaldi who picked up his pace in the second half of the race and was now threatening podium positions.
Hulme seemed to control the proceedings but Amon hasn't given up on his victory chances and closed within five secs. of the fellow New Zealander until a spin in The Esses on lap 63 costed him 15 secs. and dropped to fourth. Battle for third became thus one for second and Fittipaldi was faster then Regazzoni in the twisty part of the track and eventually overcame the speed advantage of the Ferrari by passing the Swissman on lap 70. There were no more late dramas so Denny Hulme won the South African Grand Prix by just over 15 secs. from championship leader Fittipaldi. Clay Regazzoni salvaged third for Maranello squad with Chris Amon fourth. Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert rounded out points scoring positions for Tyrrell as Peter Revson finished 7th for the second consecutive race.
Denny Hulme won at Kyalami after dominant leader Mario Andretti retired
Championship standings: 1.Fittipaldi 15, 2.Hulme 9, 3.Andretti 6, 4.Stewart 5, 5.Ickx, Regazzoni 4, 7.Amon 3, 8.Beltoise 2, 9.Cevert 2
Next: Brazilian Grand Prix @ Interlagos
It's good you're another guy who took up vintage stuff Cool reading.
Round 4 - Kansas Speedway, KS
That was another easy race. I was far more competitive than the rest of the drivers. Another pole position and great expectations towards the race. 2nd position, a light-year behind, Castroneves while Hornish Jr. came third.
Obviously, I didn't have to mind the rivals as I outperformed them at the very beginning. I kept extending the lead having no problems setting lap records one by one. The situation on the grid remained stable as Castroneves and Hornish Jr. kept their starting positions from start to finish. Carpenter who underperformed heavily during the weekend finished 20th which was unexpected after his good performance in the previous round. Chesson once again turned out to be the least lucky guy as he retired as the first one. Some ten laps from finish I had a minor accident. Namely, I was about to lap a couple of drivers when I saw that Matsuura lost control and hit Rice who in turn found himself on my way. It was too late to deccelerate and I rammed into him losing the front wing. Luckily, having a 4 lap advantage allowed me to go peacefully to the pits, replace the wing and get back to the race with grace.
Danica improved a bit throughout the race as she finished 9th starting from 13th. Apart from me, the best performance of an Andretti-Green team was made by Marco Andretti who finished 5th. Undoubtedly, impressive job was done by both Penske drivers who completed the podium.
I claimed another win and got a firm leader of the season standings...Now I'm going to Indianapolis Motor Speedway - the venue at which I MUST win.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Castroneves, 3rd - Hornish Jr.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2010 11:33AM by abdelkader.
Cool reading.Round 4 - Kansas Speedway, KS
That was another easy race. I was far more competitive than the rest of the drivers. Another pole position and great expectations towards the race. 2nd position, a light-year behind, Castroneves while Hornish Jr. came third.
Obviously, I didn't have to mind the rivals as I outperformed them at the very beginning. I kept extending the lead having no problems setting lap records one by one. The situation on the grid remained stable as Castroneves and Hornish Jr. kept their starting positions from start to finish. Carpenter who underperformed heavily during the weekend finished 20th which was unexpected after his good performance in the previous round. Chesson once again turned out to be the least lucky guy as he retired as the first one. Some ten laps from finish I had a minor accident. Namely, I was about to lap a couple of drivers when I saw that Matsuura lost control and hit Rice who in turn found himself on my way. It was too late to deccelerate and I rammed into him losing the front wing. Luckily, having a 4 lap advantage allowed me to go peacefully to the pits, replace the wing and get back to the race with grace.
Danica improved a bit throughout the race as she finished 9th starting from 13th. Apart from me, the best performance of an Andretti-Green team was made by Marco Andretti who finished 5th. Undoubtedly, impressive job was done by both Penske drivers who completed the podium.
I claimed another win and got a firm leader of the season standings...Now I'm going to Indianapolis Motor Speedway - the venue at which I MUST win.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Castroneves, 3rd - Hornish Jr.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2010 11:33AM by abdelkader.
Great reading GUYS ! and indeed, goo luck on Indy! If you win this one you should also try to win Le Mans or an Le Mans series. So you can be the first winner of all since Graham Hill. hmm.. or was it Phil Hill? :P
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"If in doubt, Flat out."
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"If in doubt, Flat out."
You know what? After completing the race at Kansas Speedway I thought that it'd be cool to participate in "24h of Le Mans race". I'll think about it seriously
The only problem is that GP3 allows to make races as long as 125 lap ones. I think that in order to make it a real endurance race, I'll in fact carry out four 125-lap races (something like ski jumping 4-Hills Tournament) and then I'll simply sum up the race times of respective teams. If some team retires in 1st, 2nd or 3rd race, I'll let it participate in the following race but in the final, after all four rounds, standings I'll give it a 'DNF' label. I already decided to take a seat of Binnie Motorsports team as it is an American team while I'm currently in the IRL series. Let's make this season as Yankee as possible :P
If you have any better ideas concerning the Le Mans racing formula, go ahead and share it with me.
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 03:07PM by abdelkader.
The only problem is that GP3 allows to make races as long as 125 lap ones. I think that in order to make it a real endurance race, I'll in fact carry out four 125-lap races (something like ski jumping 4-Hills Tournament) and then I'll simply sum up the race times of respective teams. If some team retires in 1st, 2nd or 3rd race, I'll let it participate in the following race but in the final, after all four rounds, standings I'll give it a 'DNF' label. I already decided to take a seat of Binnie Motorsports team as it is an American team while I'm currently in the IRL series. Let's make this season as Yankee as possible :P
If you have any better ideas concerning the Le Mans racing formula, go ahead and share it with me.
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 03:07PM by abdelkader.
Round 5 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IN
The qualifying round was a difficult one for me at the beginning. While making a formation lap I swerved off and kissed the barriers ripping my front right wheel off. I had to get tothe pits but luckily my car got repaired and I managed to rejoin the fight. When I was approaching the finish line I noticed Carpenter in front. I clinched my teeth and put the pedal to the metal as I didn't want to waste this so-far-clean lap. Unfortunately I must have been left unnoticed in his mirror as he made it closer to the barriers, right when I was about to pass him on the right hand side. He lost his rear right while I lost the front left. This way, I lost two wheels within one session. Anyway, I claimed anothe rpole position this season having Carpenter in 2nd and, unexpectedly, Sarah Fisher in third position. The start of the race was extremely hectic. Of course, I pulled away and only thanks to this I didn't participate in the (c)armageddon which took place behind me. Carpenter lost control and rammed Fisher. The drivers who were behind had no error margin and hit both forementioned drivers ruining the race for each other. Fisher, Carpenter, Unser Jr,Hunter-Reay and Hamilton - DNF.
From this point I had Meira and Scheckter right behind me. Luckily, as usually this season, they were unable to keep my pace and were fighting for 2nd position. In the halfway of the race I was 2 laps ahead of Scheckter who finally overcame Meira. Later on, Matsuura got his second life and passed both Manning and Meira. Such order remained unchanged until the end of the race.In the paddock, after the podium ceremony, I had a serious talk with Marco Andretti as he twice almost crashed me out of the race while getting lapped. I hope his on-track behaviour will change in the next round. Anyway, I won the most desired race and now I can peacefully prepare for Milwaukee Mile.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Scheckter, 3rd- Matsuura
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 06:10PM by abdelkader.
The qualifying round was a difficult one for me at the beginning. While making a formation lap I swerved off and kissed the barriers ripping my front right wheel off. I had to get tothe pits but luckily my car got repaired and I managed to rejoin the fight. When I was approaching the finish line I noticed Carpenter in front. I clinched my teeth and put the pedal to the metal as I didn't want to waste this so-far-clean lap. Unfortunately I must have been left unnoticed in his mirror as he made it closer to the barriers, right when I was about to pass him on the right hand side. He lost his rear right while I lost the front left. This way, I lost two wheels within one session. Anyway, I claimed anothe rpole position this season having Carpenter in 2nd and, unexpectedly, Sarah Fisher in third position. The start of the race was extremely hectic. Of course, I pulled away and only thanks to this I didn't participate in the (c)armageddon which took place behind me. Carpenter lost control and rammed Fisher. The drivers who were behind had no error margin and hit both forementioned drivers ruining the race for each other. Fisher, Carpenter, Unser Jr,Hunter-Reay and Hamilton - DNF.
From this point I had Meira and Scheckter right behind me. Luckily, as usually this season, they were unable to keep my pace and were fighting for 2nd position. In the halfway of the race I was 2 laps ahead of Scheckter who finally overcame Meira. Later on, Matsuura got his second life and passed both Manning and Meira. Such order remained unchanged until the end of the race.In the paddock, after the podium ceremony, I had a serious talk with Marco Andretti as he twice almost crashed me out of the race while getting lapped. I hope his on-track behaviour will change in the next round. Anyway, I won the most desired race and now I can peacefully prepare for Milwaukee Mile
.The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Scheckter, 3rd- Matsuura
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 06:10PM by abdelkader.
Round 6 - The Milwaukee Mile, WI
This time the role I played in the previous races changed by 180 degrees. I was underperforming in the qualifying session and had it hard not to slide off onto the barriers. I tried different setups but I was more than two seconds slower than the winner - Andretti in front of Sharp and Roth. It needs mentioning that the times were really close to each other. Andretti was only 0.393 faster than 21st Matsuura.
At the race start I managed to overtake 4 or 5 drivers but they fought back in the folowing three laps. I was hoping to keep 21st position as Hunter-Reay was behind me for ten initial laps. Unfortunately, he passed me, too. I decided to retire from the race as there was no way I could improve my performance.
The winner - Sharp, 2nd - Franchitti, 3rd - Hornish Jr.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 07:05PM by abdelkader.
This time the role I played in the previous races changed by 180 degrees. I was underperforming in the qualifying session and had it hard not to slide off onto the barriers. I tried different setups but I was more than two seconds slower than the winner - Andretti in front of Sharp and Roth. It needs mentioning that the times were really close to each other. Andretti was only 0.393 faster than 21st Matsuura.
At the race start I managed to overtake 4 or 5 drivers but they fought back in the folowing three laps. I was hoping to keep 21st position as Hunter-Reay was behind me for ten initial laps. Unfortunately, he passed me, too. I decided to retire from the race as there was no way I could improve my performance.
The winner - Sharp, 2nd - Franchitti, 3rd - Hornish Jr.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 07:05PM by abdelkader.
Round 7 - Texas Motor Speedway, TX
This weekend was the return to the good old shape. I dominated the qualifying session. The thing which made this session even better is that Danica Patrick came second in front of Manning. I started off leaving the rest behind. Danica kept fighting Manning who dropped down after a few laps getting passed by Hornish Jr. While I was extending the lead, Danica kept swapping positions with Hornish Jr. The latter was driving in 2nd position for the major part of the race. Luckily for Danica and Andretti-Green, she passed him thanks to the pitstop strategy. That was actually all, as it comes to the major facts which took place during the race. As the track is rather a driver friendly, there were not any racing accidents which resulted only in one retirement of Scott Dixon. I won another race this season. Now I've packed up my things and I'm off to France, to take part in 24h of Le Mans race Wish me good luck in my virgin endurance race.
The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Patrick, 3rd - Hornish Jr.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 09:33PM by abdelkader.
This weekend was the return to the good old shape. I dominated the qualifying session. The thing which made this session even better is that Danica Patrick came second in front of Manning. I started off leaving the rest behind. Danica kept fighting Manning who dropped down after a few laps getting passed by Hornish Jr. While I was extending the lead, Danica kept swapping positions with Hornish Jr. The latter was driving in 2nd position for the major part of the race. Luckily for Danica and Andretti-Green, she passed him thanks to the pitstop strategy. That was actually all, as it comes to the major facts which took place during the race. As the track is rather a driver friendly, there were not any racing accidents which resulted only in one retirement of Scott Dixon. I won another race this season. Now I've packed up my things and I'm off to France, to take part in 24h of Le Mans race
Wish me good luck in my virgin endurance race.The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Patrick, 3rd - Hornish Jr.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 09:33PM by abdelkader.
Up to Le Mans mate congratz on youre indy win.
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"If in doubt, Flat out."
congratz on youre indy win.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If in doubt, Flat out."
Thanks Firstly, I was considering joining Racing for Holland team but my final decision is to race for Binnie. As I said, I want to keep things American this season.
Ik wil Le Mans winnen maar Ik men dat het is heel zwar
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 09:35PM by abdelkader.
Firstly, I was considering joining Racing for Holland team but my final decision is to race for Binnie. As I said, I want to keep things American this season. Ik wil Le Mans winnen maar Ik men dat het is heel zwar
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 09:35PM by abdelkader.
Round 3: Brazilian Grand Prix - Interlagos
Qualifying:
I've never raced on the old layout so I was actually puzzled in terms of the setup. First part of the circuit was pretty much flat out with the twisty section later around the lap so I've decided to go with low downforce setup. It proved to be not the best decision though and despite the fact Emerson Fittipaldi smacked everyone in practice (Jacky Ickx was the only one within a second of the Brazilian) I was almost three secs. off the pace and had to settle for 11th on the grid even behind Reutemann's Brabham. Fittipaldi and Ickx shared the front row with Revson and Andretti on row two and Kyalami winner Hulme only ninth. Last on the grid was Carlos Pace over 7 secs. behind Fittipaldi's pole time of 2:18.781.
Race:
Weather was picture perfect on race day and I managed to jump from 11th to eight on the opening lap with some wicked slipstreaming down Recta do Lago straight. Peter Revson briefly moved into the lead but was quickly passed by Fittipaldi who began to pull away easily. Mario Andretti then passed Revson on lap two and settled into second place but was lapping over half a second slower then Fittipaldi. Indeed Revson was also untroubled in third as all the action happened behind them. Ickx, Stewart, Regazzoni and Amon were all involved in a might battle for fourth place allthough Amon dropped out early with a water leak on lap 5. Two laps later Denny Hulme passed me at Juncao and set out after the above mentioned pack and on lap 11 he caught them and launched an attack on Ickx at Juncao. Ickx run wide and slid into the barriers but Hulme continued on his way.
Thanks to Ickx's crash I moved up to seventh spot but after ten laps I began struggling with tyre wear and was sliding all over the place in the twisty section full of first and second gear corners which I personally hate. As a result Francois Cevert passed me on lap 13 and I dropped to 8th with Reutemann, Peterson and Lauda all over me like a cheap suit.
But then lots of retirements occured, first Peterson stopped with an electrical failure and soon afterwars Reutemann pulled off in Turn One with suspension failure, so Lauda was the only one left in my mirrors. Stewart also dropped out with brakes trouble leaving Regazzoni and Hulme to battle for third among themselves. Back up front Fittipaldi pulled a seven secs. lead over Andretti but on lap 15 his gearbox failed in Turn One so Andretti inherited the lead and looked set to avenge his Kyalami drama. All those DNFs put me in 6th place on lap 20.
Nothing changed in the first two positions as Andretti and Revson remained in formation until the finish allthough the gap between them stretched to over 25 secs. There was a big battle for third but Regazzoni eventually lost the podium to Hulme on lap 32 and wasn't able to regain it despite running on the McLaren's tail right towards the flag. Francois Cevert enjoyed a lonely afternoon in fifth whereas I was fending off Lauda for the best part of the last 25 laps for sixth. I was able to pull away in the first two turns and Recta do Lago straight while he was closing in the Ferradura and Cotovelo Esses. Behind us Tim Schenken and Andrea de Adamich were closing in the two Surtees' as they seemed to cope better with tyre wear but eventually they run out of time to catch us.
Four laps before the finish I was lapped by Andretti but Lauda was much more generous in letting the leader through so I was able to pull away a deciding gap over him. At the finish I beat the March hopeful by 5 seconds with Schenken further three behind and de Adamich only ten seconds behind me. One thing for certain, the full lenght Interlagos was much tougher experience then the modern version, the track was 7.295 kms long and I felt tired like driving around Jarama or Shanghai, two of the circuits I always struggle on...
One point sees Jean-Pierre Beltoise in tenth place in the overall standings as my teammates continue to struggle for a finish. Peter Gethin and Howden Ganley retired for the third time in three races with mechanical trouble while Reine Wisell finally reached the flag but was a distant 10th.
Mario Andretti (Ferrari) won the inaugural Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos
Championship: 1.Fittipaldi, Andretti 15, 3.Hulme 13, 4.Regazzoni 7, 5.Revson 6, 6.Stewart 5, 7.Ickx 4, 8.Cevert 4, 9.Amon 3, 10.Beltoise 3
Next up: BRDC International Trophy @ Silverstone.
The old Silverstone layout traditionally produces a plethora of engine failures, once I run a race there with 13 engine DNFs, hope the BRM V12 will hold on...
Qualifying:
I've never raced on the old layout so I was actually puzzled in terms of the setup. First part of the circuit was pretty much flat out with the twisty section later around the lap so I've decided to go with low downforce setup. It proved to be not the best decision though and despite the fact Emerson Fittipaldi smacked everyone in practice (Jacky Ickx was the only one within a second of the Brazilian) I was almost three secs. off the pace and had to settle for 11th on the grid even behind Reutemann's Brabham. Fittipaldi and Ickx shared the front row with Revson and Andretti on row two and Kyalami winner Hulme only ninth. Last on the grid was Carlos Pace over 7 secs. behind Fittipaldi's pole time of 2:18.781.
Race:
Weather was picture perfect on race day and I managed to jump from 11th to eight on the opening lap with some wicked slipstreaming down Recta do Lago straight. Peter Revson briefly moved into the lead but was quickly passed by Fittipaldi who began to pull away easily. Mario Andretti then passed Revson on lap two and settled into second place but was lapping over half a second slower then Fittipaldi. Indeed Revson was also untroubled in third as all the action happened behind them. Ickx, Stewart, Regazzoni and Amon were all involved in a might battle for fourth place allthough Amon dropped out early with a water leak on lap 5. Two laps later Denny Hulme passed me at Juncao and set out after the above mentioned pack and on lap 11 he caught them and launched an attack on Ickx at Juncao. Ickx run wide and slid into the barriers but Hulme continued on his way.
Thanks to Ickx's crash I moved up to seventh spot but after ten laps I began struggling with tyre wear and was sliding all over the place in the twisty section full of first and second gear corners which I personally hate. As a result Francois Cevert passed me on lap 13 and I dropped to 8th with Reutemann, Peterson and Lauda all over me like a cheap suit.
But then lots of retirements occured, first Peterson stopped with an electrical failure and soon afterwars Reutemann pulled off in Turn One with suspension failure, so Lauda was the only one left in my mirrors. Stewart also dropped out with brakes trouble leaving Regazzoni and Hulme to battle for third among themselves. Back up front Fittipaldi pulled a seven secs. lead over Andretti but on lap 15 his gearbox failed in Turn One so Andretti inherited the lead and looked set to avenge his Kyalami drama. All those DNFs put me in 6th place on lap 20.
Nothing changed in the first two positions as Andretti and Revson remained in formation until the finish allthough the gap between them stretched to over 25 secs. There was a big battle for third but Regazzoni eventually lost the podium to Hulme on lap 32 and wasn't able to regain it despite running on the McLaren's tail right towards the flag. Francois Cevert enjoyed a lonely afternoon in fifth whereas I was fending off Lauda for the best part of the last 25 laps for sixth. I was able to pull away in the first two turns and Recta do Lago straight while he was closing in the Ferradura and Cotovelo Esses. Behind us Tim Schenken and Andrea de Adamich were closing in the two Surtees' as they seemed to cope better with tyre wear but eventually they run out of time to catch us.
Four laps before the finish I was lapped by Andretti but Lauda was much more generous in letting the leader through so I was able to pull away a deciding gap over him. At the finish I beat the March hopeful by 5 seconds with Schenken further three behind and de Adamich only ten seconds behind me. One thing for certain, the full lenght Interlagos was much tougher experience then the modern version, the track was 7.295 kms long and I felt tired like driving around Jarama or Shanghai, two of the circuits I always struggle on...
One point sees Jean-Pierre Beltoise in tenth place in the overall standings as my teammates continue to struggle for a finish. Peter Gethin and Howden Ganley retired for the third time in three races with mechanical trouble while Reine Wisell finally reached the flag but was a distant 10th.
Mario Andretti (Ferrari) won the inaugural Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos
Championship: 1.Fittipaldi, Andretti 15, 3.Hulme 13, 4.Regazzoni 7, 5.Revson 6, 6.Stewart 5, 7.Ickx 4, 8.Cevert 4, 9.Amon 3, 10.Beltoise 3
Next up: BRDC International Trophy @ Silverstone.
The old Silverstone layout traditionally produces a plethora of engine failures, once I run a race there with 13 engine DNFs, hope the BRM V12 will hold on...
I also find the old Interlagos a pretty demanding track. I really hated the final left hander before finish. With the old physics file I would suffer a lot from lack of grip at that section of the track...By the way, it's rather ironic that Carlos Pace was the last in the qualifying session, at the track which was named after him.
Yeah, Williams are dead last on 1972 performance level with Graham Hill just above them. Actually Pace was having a decent scrap for the last spot with teammate Pescarolo but then retired After Silverstone comes Jarama, my nemesis among the vintage GP3 tracks. I've run the full 90 lap distance a few times before, once I crashed out only eight laps before the finish when my tires were shot dead Maybe I'll break down early this time, but it's Silverstone first. During one of my previous seasons, 1967 it was I believe Chris Amon suffered a stuck throttle and speared off just before the pits and crashed into the inside barrier before bouncing onto the track again. I had to check the replays to see what had happened cause when I arrived I saw him sitting there in the middle of the track minus two wheels. That was one of the strangest things I've ever witnessed in GP3 but then again throttle failures usually result in crashes only on the high-speed tracks like Monza and Hockenheim (at least from my experience).
I had one of my most entertaining races at Silverstone during 1968 season (as Denny Hulme) when I won and next three cars behind me were only two secs. adrift (Gurney, Oliver and Stewart). That was during the full distance as well, race lasted over 1h and 30 mins and I was sweating like a hamster by the time it finished
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 11:07PM by Mr. Lee.
After Silverstone comes Jarama, my nemesis among the vintage GP3 tracks. I've run the full 90 lap distance a few times before, once I crashed out only eight laps before the finish when my tires were shot dead Maybe I'll break down early this time, but it's Silverstone first. During one of my previous seasons, 1967 it was I believe Chris Amon suffered a stuck throttle and speared off just before the pits and crashed into the inside barrier before bouncing onto the track again. I had to check the replays to see what had happened cause when I arrived I saw him sitting there in the middle of the track minus two wheels. That was one of the strangest things I've ever witnessed in GP3 but then again throttle failures usually result in crashes only on the high-speed tracks like Monza and Hockenheim (at least from my experience).I had one of my most entertaining races at Silverstone during 1968 season (as Denny Hulme) when I won and next three cars behind me were only two secs. adrift (Gurney, Oliver and Stewart). That was during the full distance as well, race lasted over 1h and 30 mins and I was sweating like a hamster by the time it finished
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2010 11:07PM by Mr. Lee.
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