GP3 Career Thread

Posted by Diax F1 
Mr. Lee Wrote:
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> (...)and I was sweating like
> a hamster by the time it finished ;)

Well, I don't think you have to insult Mr. Richard Hammond, do you? ;) ;)


Meanwhile, I arrived in France. I have made a couple of laps around Le Mans circuit...and I'm currently having the worst time :/ I think I'll have to re-adjust my car.



Youre dutch impressed me!

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"If in doubt, Flat out."
Ik leer :)



Nice, where and why are you learning it?

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"If in doubt, Flat out."
I'm learning by myself. I found some grammar site on the Internet as well as some dictionary. MAYBE one day I will leave for the Netherlands. It's nothing certain but, well, who knows? I've got a friend in Heerlen and maybe I'll join him.

Sorry for that off-topic ;)

Do you guys have any decent setup for 24h Le Mans circuit?







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2010 01:56PM by abdelkader.
French Grand Prix - Dijon


Qualifying
As usual the qualifying session was dominated by Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet, and for the third time in succession it was the Brazilian who came out on top. Piquet could have further improved his time but for being held up on his final run by the Alfa of Eddie Cheever, while Derek Warwick and Patrick Tambay ensured Renault sealed the second row. Williams driver Alan Reidy was unhappy with his final placing of ninth after he crashed out with 20 minutes remaining of the session, but he still outqualified teammate Keke Rosberg who was down in tenth.



Race
An action-packed start to the race saw the Lotus pair of Elio de Angelis and Nigel Masell collide at the first corner. Neither was able to continue and the unfortunate Marc Surer damaged his Arrows while trying to negotiate the debris. Prost led from lights to flag although he was put under late pressure from the resurgent Niki Lauda, the Austrian carving his way through the field to come home in second place to secure McLaren’s second 1-2 of the season. Piquet finished a desponant third with the rest of the field well off the pace.





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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 03/11/2010 03:49AM by St.Hubbins.
Round 4: BRDC International Trophy - Silverstone

Qualifying:
Silverstone old-version layout has traditionally been one of my strongest tracks, so I've entered the qualifying with high hopes. Nobody could match the pace of Jacky Ickx and Emerson Fittipaldi though, this time it was the Belgian who snatched pole ahead of the Brazilian. Clay Regazzoni was third and Jean-Pierre Beltoise fourth. My time was just over half a second slower then Ickx's pole (1:03.553), but the next ten cars behind me were covered by mere 0,3 secs. Mario Andretti struggled down in eight with Chris Amon only ninth in the other Ferraris. Henri Pescarolo was slowest of all 3,2 secs. behind Ickx.

Race:
Ickx stormed into the lead with Regazzoni slotting into second and Fittipaldi third. I was able to hold on to fourth place but was busy looking into my mirrors on Hangar Straight as Hulme, Revson and Stewart were slimpstreaming all over the place. I braked very late at Stowe but kept everyone at bay through Abbey and Woodcote. Meanwhile Ickx was leading by over three seconds at the end of the first lap and continued to pull away. Fittipaldi eventually caught Regazzoni and they run in formation while I was dropping back slightly being absorbed by the traffic behind me. Moreover I feared for BRM reliability as Reine Wisell departed the action with engine failure on lap 6 and Peter Gethin was forced to pit with a loose wheel just two laps later.
Then on lap 12 Ickx suddenly slowed at Copse and retired with suspension failure leaving Regazzoni and Fittipaldi to battle for the lead. On lap 21 the Lotus man passed the Ferrari at Stowe and pulled away while just three laps later Regazzoni stopped at Abbey with brake trouble. This vaulted me up to second place (given Ickx's earlier retirement) whereas in the meantime Stewart retired with a water leak which left me to battle the two McLarens.
Further down the field Ronnie Peterson was making the best progress moving up to fifth and dragging teammate Niki Lauda with him. Mario Andretti and Chris Amon continued to struggle failing to outpace Tim Schenken's Surtees and Howden Ganley's BRM. Andretti was finally able to move into sixth place and then on lap 33 he was promoted to fifth when Ronnie Peterson clipped the rear of Carlos Pace's lapped Williams and spun at the exit of Abbey. Chris Amon also spun, at Maggotts and rejoined well down the field only ahead of the two Williamses.
At half-distance there was a scheduled round of pitstops after which I emerged behind Denny Hulme (I pitted two laps later then him but lost out in the shuffle). After the pitstops Peter Revson began dropping back and I was left chasing Hulme for second place. The gap between us was usually around three seconds but I couldn't quite keep his pace through Club and Abbey and was too far behind at Hangar Straight. Traffic also failed to help me this time around and during the last 15 laps I decided to look after my tires and settled for third spot.
Emerson Fittipaldi was leading by a comfortable margin and easily secured his second win of the season. Hulme was second and Beltoise third just over half a minute adrift. Behind me Mario Andretti nearly passed Peter Revson on the very last lap as they caught up to the lapped Howden Ganley but Revson held on by half a second while Ronnie Peterson charged from his earlier mishap and passed Lauda on lap 52 to score the final point. Tim Schenken retired from 8th spot on lap 45 with engine failure so Ganley inherited the place with Chris Amon 9th after a horrible showing in the Ferrari.


Jacky Ickx was on pole at Silverstone but retired early in the race.



Championship: 1.Fittipaldi 24, 2.Hulme 19, 3.Andretti 17, 4.Revson 9, 5.Regazzoni 7, 6.Beltoise 6, 7.Stewart 5, 8.Ickx 4, 9.Cevert 4, 10.Amon 3, 11.Peterson 1

Next up:
Spanish Grand Prix @ Jarama.

I don't expect doing well at Jarama, I've always struggled there with huge tyre wear and a 90 lap distance will make this almost a two hour endurance test ;)
@Mr. Lee
It's cool to see you on the podium :) Keep it up.
When it comes to Jarama, I won at that track in 1979. I was really lucky there as I got a water leak right in front of the pit-lane so I could easily pit in, repair the car, get back to the race and claim a victory :) I hope you're gonna win, too...By the way, it has just occured to me that you actually were my TEAMMATE in 1967. I was racing as John Surtees while Beltoise was the 2nd Honda driver :)

Meanwhile, I started the 24h Le Mans race.

These are the rules which I decided to apply:
- there will be 4 races, each of them being 125-lap long
- a car will be classified if it's eligible to enter the final fourth race (it neither crashed out nor retired due to mechanical issue in the previous three races)
- when all 4 races are over, the race times of the classified cars will be summed up. The winner of Le Mans will be the car which covers all 4 races in the shortest time or remains the only running car on the track




The qualifying session was a difficult one as for the most of time I couldn't find the right setup which would make my car competitive. Luckily, some 15 minutes from finish I found a decent car setup which helped me climb to 20th position. It was not a good starting position but I improved my lap time by 8 seconds so I knew that I was gonna be competitive in the race. The qualifying session, as everyone might have expected was won by Peugeots and AUDI's.

The race day showed me howvicious racing sports can be. Some two hours before the start of the race, the circuit was struck by a heavy rainstorm. Even though it stopped some 30 minutes before the start, the track was still soaking wet at 3:00 PM. Luckily, the sun came out and we all knew that it could be only better from now on.
Shortly after the lights went out, both Peugeot cars got involved in a heavy shunt in the first lap and both crashed out of the race. Lap after lap, I kept passing the rivals setting the fastest lap times on still drying tarmac. I was running 3rd having two AUDI cars in front. McNish was the leader while Pirro was second. McNish was pulling away while Pirro was still only 2-3 seconds in front of me. Around lap 25 the track was completely dry and from now on I kept increasing the gap between me and Rollcentre-Judd with Hall onboard. At the same time, Pirro started making flying laps and I couldn't keep his pace. However, at this very point I noticed how much of good luck I was having at that initial part of the race. Soon afterwards, McNish swerved off the track and hit the remains of Bourdais' Peugeot. I was running 2nd some 5 seconds behind Pirro who kept extending the lead. I started feelin safe in 2nd place having Hall 43 seconds behind. Suddenly, I saw a huge ball of smoke coming from Pirro's AUDI. He had to retire from the race and it was when I took the lead in my Binnie-Lola/Zytek. After 30 laps only 12 cars are still fighting for the final victory. SO FAR SO GOOD!!!

<<EDIT>> after 85 laps of Race 1. Actually, nothing changed since the last report. I'm still the race leader and have already had a pit-stop during which I got refuelled so that to finish the race without stopping anymore. I've a 2 lap advantage over the 2nd runner - Tinseau in his Pescarolo-Judd. Meanwhile, a couple of cars retired and now there are only 7 cars remaining in the battle for the Le Mans win.



...to be continued :)







Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2010 11:33PM by abdelkader.
@abdelkader

Thx, I'm gonna try to run Jarama somewhere during the weekend. Two hours of a real struggle ;) btw, out of the 1972 tracks my strongest almost surely will be Mosport. I always do very well there and during some rainy races I managed to lap the field in the past.... Can't wait for another try there ;)
@ Mr. Lee
When it comes to Mosport, I won there in 1967. However, I don't know what it's like in your case, but I had serious problems with tyre wear up there.. You probably have your own strategy but I remember that choosing one-stop strategy was a mistake on my part and I wouldn't like you to copy that mistake from me. If I were to race there again, I'd choose a two-stop strategy.


...Around 10 laps from finish of the 1st race rain once again fell down on the track. At thebeginning the conditions were not particularly bad and I thought that finishing the race will be no more difficult than it was. Unfortunately, the rain starting getting more and more dense and actually, I was thanking God when I had only one lap remaining. If I had some 6-7 laps to finish, I don't think I'd keep the car on the track.
These are the results of Race 1. Now I'm going to simulate Race 2 so that to imitate the driver change and my only task will be watching the progress of Buncombe. I hope he won't waste the advantage.

24H Le Mans , Race 1/4

Pos Driver Time/Speed

1st C. Buncombe/Kosewski 4h 36m 31.835s
Binnie Motor-Lola-Zytek

2nd M. Werner -2 Laps
Audi Sport-Audi

3rd Tinseau/Primat/Treluyer -2 Laps
Pescarolo-Judd

4th Lammers/Bleekemolen -3 Laps
Racing NL-Judd

5th Binnie/Timpany -5 Laps
Binnie Motor-Lola-Zytek

6th Barazi/Vergers/Ojjea -8 Laps
Barazi-Zytek


7th Campbell-Walter/Ortiz Didn't Finish
Creation-Judd

8th B. Berridge Didn't Finish
Chamberlain-AER

9th Short/Barbosa Didn't Finish
Rollcentre-Judd

10th Moseley/Greaves Didn't Finish
Bruichladdic-AER

11th S. Hall Didn't Finish
Rollcentre-Judd

12th Fernandez/Kerr/Kurosawa Didn't Finish
Barazi-Zytek

13th Biela/Pirro Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

14th Kirstensen/Dindo/McNish Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

15th D. Hart Didn't Finish
Racing NL-Judd

16th R. Liddell Didn't Finish
Bruichladdic-AER

17th Collard/Boullion/Dumas Didn't Finish
Pescarolo-Judd

18th Owen/Evans Didn't Finish
Chamberlain-AER

19th S. Nakano Didn't Finish
Creation-Judd

20th Bourdais/Sarrazin/Lamy Didn't Finish
Peugeot-HDi

21st Gene/Minassian/Villeneu Didn't Finish
Peugeot-HDi

22nd Rockenfell/Luhr/Premat Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi







Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2010 01:46PM by abdelkader.
Great and interesting approach on the 24h race. Good luck!

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"If in doubt, Flat out."
This is the situation after the second race. Unfortunately, GP3 doesn't show absolute race times and I had to work the standings out by means of counting how many laps particular cars gained or lost. I'm currently one of the four still running cars. As I was unable to figure out the exact times, I'm ax aequo with an AUDI and a Pescarolo-Judd. The other Binnie car driven by Timpany crashed out of the race and our car is the only one which represents Binnie now.

24H Le Mans , Race 2/4

Pos Driver Time/Speed

1st C. Buncombe/Kosewski
Binnie Motor-Lola-Zytek

= M. Werner
Audi Sport-Audi

= Tinseau/Primat/Treluyer
Pescarolo-Judd

4th Lammers/Bleekemolen -2 Laps
Racing NL-Judd


5th Binnie/Timpany Didn't Finish
Binnie Motor-Lola-Zytek

6th Barazi/Vergers/Ojjea Didn't Finish
Barazi-Zytek

7th Campbell-Walter/Ortiz Didn't Finish
Creation-Judd

8th B. Berridge Didn't Finish
Chamberlain-AER

9th Short/Barbosa Didn't Finish
Rollcentre-Judd

10th Moseley/Greaves Didn't Finish
Bruichladdic-AER

11th S. Hall Didn't Finish
Rollcentre-Judd

12th Fernandez/Kerr/Kurosawa Didn't Finish
Barazi-Zytek

13th Biela/Pirro Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

14th Kirstensen/Dindo/McNish Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

15th D. Hart Didn't Finish
Racing NL-Judd

16th R. Liddell Didn't Finish
Bruichladdic-AER

17th Collard/Boullion/Dumas Didn't Finish
Pescarolo-Judd

18th Owen/Evans Didn't Finish
Chamberlain-AER

19th S. Nakano Didn't Finish
Creation-Judd

20th Bourdais/Sarrazin/Lamy Didn't Finish
Peugeot-HDi

21st Gene/Minassian/Villeneu Didn't Finish
Peugeot-HDi

22nd Rockenfell/Luhr/Premat Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi







Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2010 02:50PM by abdelkader.
I decided to simulate the third race in order to be onboard in the final race so that to avoid the situation in which I would be in the same lap as another driver, without any knowledge on what my advantage or gap is. In race 3, Werner was constantly making a huge margin. Buncombe was going in third position but was losing it to Werner. First to retire was Treluyer in his Pescarolo. Somewhere in the middle of the race I was happy to see that Werner, the race leader also had major problems and crashed out. The only cars on the field were Racing for Holland driven by Lammers who made up for Bleekemoelens underperformance in race 2, while the other car was Binnie-Lola/Zytek driven by my teammate. Lammers was already in the same lap as Buncombe but it was still uncertain who the winner would be. Unfortunately, Buncombe got a puncture some 20 laps from finish.


In this case, Lammers and Bleekemoelen driving for Racing for Holland team remained THE ONLY car on the track and they became the winners of 2007 24H Le Mans race. As a result there is no point in organizing the final fourth race. It was a great Le Mans weekend for me and my team - I really couldn't expect to win the race after the terrible qualifying session. Race 1 was amazing but I knew that the outcome of ours race laid in the hands of Buncombe who didn't perform as the team expected.
All in all, I feel terribly disappointed that the car which was supposed to be one of the most reliable ones disappointed us in the most important moment. Had we been classified, we would've been, at worst, in 2nd position.


24H Le Mans , Race 3/4

Pos Driver Time/Speed

1st Lammers/Bleekemolen
Racing NL-Judd


2nd C. Buncombe/Kosewski Didn't Finish
Binnie Motor-Lola-Zytek

3rd M. Werner Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

4th Tinseau/Primat/Treluyer Didn't Finish
Pescarolo-Judd

5th Binnie/Timpany Didn't Finish
Binnie Motor-Lola-Zytek

6th Barazi/Vergers/Ojjea Didn't Finish
Barazi-Zytek

7th Campbell-Walter/Ortiz Didn't Finish
Creation-Judd

8th B. Berridge Didn't Finish
Chamberlain-AER

9th Short/Barbosa Didn't Finish
Rollcentre-Judd

10th Moseley/Greaves Didn't Finish
Bruichladdic-AER

11th S. Hall Didn't Finish
Rollcentre-Judd

12th Fernandez/Kerr/Kurosawa Didn't Finish
Barazi-Zytek

13th Biela/Pirro Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

14th Kirstensen/Dindo/McNish Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi

15th D. Hart Didn't Finish
Racing NL-Judd

16th R. Liddell Didn't Finish
Bruichladdic-AER

17th Collard/Boullion/Dumas Didn't Finish
Pescarolo-Judd

18th Owen/Evans Didn't Finish
Chamberlain-AER

19th S. Nakano Didn't Finish
Creation-Judd

20th Bourdais/Sarrazin/Lamy Didn't Finish
Peugeot-HDi

21st Gene/Minassian/Villeneu Didn't Finish
Peugeot-HDi

22nd Rockenfell/Luhr/Premat Didn't Finish
Audi Sport-Audi




Well. It's high time I got myself a plane ticket to the USA, to fight for IRL title :)







Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2010 10:29AM by abdelkader.
@ abdelkader

Well, I actually don't have any problems with tyre wear at Mosport, that's probably why I'm always doing well there. Apart from Moss hairpin there are no heavy braking points and lots of smooth & fast corners instead. Yeah, I use a one stop strategy at Mosport too, but I will do two stops at Jarama though... Mosport in many ways is similar to Zandvoort (the old version without the chicanes), but sadly it wasn't on the 1972 schedule. Another unknown will be Nivelles, I've only done some hotlapping there few years ago and that was on a totally different HP settings. From what I recall it's also a fast & gliding track, so I might pull an upset there, but I can't be sure...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2010 03:02PM by Mr. Lee.
I think I raced at Nivelles some time ago but it wasn't a championship event. I really don't remember what the track was like...which means it shouldn't be bad because I remember only extremely difficult tracks as well as those at which I managed to win.

O.K., let's back to IRL

Round 8 - Fontana Superspeedway

As Iowa Speedway wasn't prepared to host an IRL race, the league authorities decided to move the race to Fontana Superspeedway. I got liking to the track since I made my first lap over there. I outperformed everyone in the qualifying session. The only who were close to me were P.J. Chesson and both Panther Racing drivers - Matsuura and Meira who came 3rd and 4th.
The race itself was rather boring until the planned pit-stops. When I was entering the pit I had a huge fight with A.J. Foyt who must have forgotten about savoir vivre on the track. He got served well as he retired shortly afterwards. In the middle of the race, I was lucky as hell to avoid a head-on collision with Marty Roth. He had some problems entering the pits and when I emerged from the final left hander before the start/finish line I saw Roth lurking ACROSS the track next to the pit entrance I didn't even have time to deccelerate. What I did was a frantic move of the wheel to the right...it was just inches away. Now I knew that nothing would deprive me of another victory. Chesson was in 2nd while Matsuura and Meira were in 3rd and 4th, just like in the qualifyings. 13 laps from finish I saw Matsuura slowing down with a fireball coming out of his engine. A while later Meira made an ultimate attempt to pass Chesson and he succeded, I could observe it in the mirrors and I saw that Chesson wasn't an easy guy to pass. After this attack by Meira, he lost a bit of traction and had serious problems staying on the track. Had I been behind them, I wouldn't have had a chance to avoid crashing into him this time.
Unfortunately, Andretti Green didn't earn many points as Andretti and Patrick both retired. Luckily, Franchitti was 10th so it's another 20 points in the bag.

The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Meira, 3rd - Chesson







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2010 03:51PM by abdelkader.
Bahrain GP is over so I can post my Jarama review ;)

Round 5: Spanish Grand Prix - Jarama

Qual:
Unexpectedly it was raining at the start of the session but forecast predicted track drying out in the last 20 minutes. Jean-Pierre Beltoise sat out the first forty minutes then as all other cars struggled in the rainy conditions. However when it stopped raining the track was still wet and with 5 mins to go I went out on the track only to discover all the A1 cars managed to sneak one run on the dry line and I ended up 2.086 secs. off pole position time which was set by Mario Andretti. That left me 12th on the grid only two places behind championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi who seemed to struggle with the twisty Jarama circuit just like teammate Dave Walker who ended up 21st only ahead of Henri Pescarolo's Williams. Niki Lauda could only manage 19th after threatening points scoring result at Silverstone while Carlos Pace was a season-high 18th. Behind polesitter Andretti, Ickx, Peterson, Hulme, Revson and Amon completed the first three rows.

Race:
Weather was much better during race day with no chances of rain. Andretti briefly lead through Turn 1 (Nuvolari) but was ousted by teammate Ickx in Turn Two (Fangio). Behind them both McLarens passed Peterson while I made a flier and vaulted to sixth squeezing out Clay Regazzoni and Chris Amon in the proccess.
Unexpectedly race turned into a chaotic Formula 3 alike event as leader Ickx made a rare error on lap two in Fangio and spun off dropping to last place before rejoining. Peter Gethin went off there on lap two but then on lap five Howden Ganley crashed at Le Mans left-hander causing real havoc. Emerson Fittipaldi tried to manouvre his way pass the stricken BRM only to collide with Carlos Reutemann which resulted in both cars limping back to the pits with broken front wings. I was happy to sit in sixth until Clay Regazzoni punted me off from behind at the Farina hairpin on lap 8. I slid into the wall at low speed and bent my front wing so I limped back into the pits for a new one and dropped to 17th as a result. There was more drama coming up as leader Andretti run wide at Fangio on lap 16 and dropped to 12th while on the very next lap I tried to pass Carlos Pace at Portago corner but the Williams driver obviously didn't see me and shut the door. Another collision and another bent front wing (same for Pace) so after my second pit service I emerged in 18th only ahead of Pace, Fittipaldi and Reutemann (the latter two lost even more time in their involvement in Howden Ganley's crash and were already two laps down behind leader Hulme).
So after 18 laps I found myself 18th one lap off the pace and left hoping for a string of retirements in order to improve my position. I reeled in a 20 secs. gap to Pescarolo and passed him on lap 36 while in the meantime Reine Wisell retired and Francois Cevert crashed at Nuvolari. This meant I was running 15th at half-distance.
Back up front Hulme and Revson were making a mockery of the competition running 20 secs. ahead of Peterson with Jackie Stewart fourth but behind them Mario Andretti was charging up the field and moved into third place on lap 56 after passing a number of cars. Clay Regazzoni pitted with a loose wheel on lap 31 and dropped to 8th but was also posting some fast times in the middle stages of the race.
I ganined two more places after Dave Walker and Peter Gethin retired and I closed the gap to Graham Hill from 50 secs. to only 21 in the second half of the race but then just two laps before the finish my engine let go on the main straight and despite my best efforts to limp back to the pits it eventually quit at Bugatti corner. I had no choice but to pull off the track and as Denny Hulme crossed the finish line the BRM was still smoking merrily. So after this late drama I dropped from 13th to a classified 16th instead.
Among the leaders, Denny Hulme led a McLaren 1-2 ahead of Peter Revson and moved into the championship lead with Mario Andretti third but a late throttle problem send him into the pits on lap 79 and saw his finish only five seconds ahead of Ronnie Peterson. Jackie Stewart could have been on the podium but spun at the final corner on lap 64 and settled for fifth only a couple of seconds behind the Swede. Clay Regazzoni scored the final point after passing several cars in the second half of the race. Emerson Fittipaldi never recovered from his early collision and finished 13th.

Overall a race full of drama for me, two forced pit stops and an engine failure on the penultimate lap, Jarama jinx hasn't gone away it seems ;)


Ronnie Peterson (March) finished 4th at Jarama



Championship: 1.Hulme 28, 2.Fittipaldi 24, 3.Andretti 21, 4.Revson 15, 5.Regazzoni 8, 6.Stewart 7, 7.Beltoise 6, 8.Ickx 4, 9.Peterson 4, 10.Cevert 4, 11.Amon 3

Next up:
Monaco Grand Prix @ Monte Carlo

I'll try to recreate the original weather from 1972, so 100% chance of rain during both qual & race ;) I don't think I'll match Beltoise's original victory though...
Mr. Lee Wrote:
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> (...) but then just two laps before the
> finish my engine let go on the main straight and
> despite my best efforts to limp back to the pits
> it eventually quit at Bugatti corner.

My God :D, as I said, the same happened to me at the very same venue. Luckily, I managed to get through this back then

They say: 'Nothing happens twice' - yeah, sure :P




Round 9 - Talladega Superspeedway, AL

This is another race which was moved to another venue. Richmond Intl Raceway was unprepared and the race was to take place at Talladega Speedway.
I felt extremely comfortable on the track and set the fastest time in the qualifying session. For the second time in a row, Matsuura and Meira were right behind me. The race, at the beginning, looked as if it was gonna be another hands-down victory. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case this time. Somewhere in lap 35, I was lapping Sharp but he made a sudden move towards my car. As a result, my front left wheel got into contact with his rear right. I was sent into the air and when I fell down, the suspension was a bunch of broken carbon fibre and metal. The race was over for me. After that, the racing fans could observe a bone-crunching battle between Matsuura and Meira making a civil war in their team. Finally, Meira passed the Japanese and took the lead which he kept until the flag. The race was rather a calm one as the only who retired were Sarah Fisher whose engine blew up in lap 47 and me, after the collision with Scott Sharp.

The winner - Meira 2nd - Matsuura, 3rd - Rice




Round 10 - Watkins Glen, NY

It seems that bad luck is still with me :/ . The qualifying session took place in heavy rain. I put on monsoons but it didn't help much in car handling. I skipped the session hoping to attack from the last position. The qualifiers were won by Scheckter in front of Franchitti and Dixon. The race day was a sunny day with no chance of rain. I quickly passed a few rivals and got into 16th position. Then I entered a fast right hander in a very awkward way which resulted in hitting the kerb in improper way and losing traction. I swerved off and hit the wall. It is second consecutive race which I didn't finish. 8 drivers failed to finish the race but they were rather those starting from lower positions. The top 10 remained actually unchanged. Scheckter dropped to 5th while Franchitti took the lead and didn't let anyone to take it from him. I'm getting concerned with the performance of Meira who came 2nd. I keep losing points while he keeps finishing on podium on regular basis. I have to do something about it.

The winner - Franchitti, 2nd - Meira, 3rd - Castroneves



Round 11 - Atlanta Motor Speedway, GA

I was afraid of this track as the curves are not smooth here and one needs to be very careful not to crashe out. Luckily this time I was quick and careful enough to get the fastest lap time in the qualifying session. 2nd position for Sarah Fisher while 3rd for Buddy Rice alongside with Danica Patrick. Fromthe very start I was the fastest on the track. AS the race progressed my advantage was rising while there was nothing going on behind me - absolutely no passin, just as if everyone was satisfied with their position. The only pass was made by Patrick who passed Fisher and Rice and took 2nd position which made two Andretti Green cars running on the top. I pitted in the middle of the race and left the pits right behind Fisher and Patrick. I soon passed them as both girls went to the pits. Meanwhile, Fisher got passed by Rice and this is how the race ended. Marco Andretti must have signed some contract obliging him to finish 10th , as he did once again this season. All in all, me and Danica are on the podium and the things can't be better now for us. It was a great weekend for Andretti Green :) I hope to keep the tempo in the following races.

The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Patrick, 3rd - Rice


Round 12 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, OH

I felt great anxiety as Mid-Ohio is one of non-oval tracks in the season's schedule. I entered the qualifying session with a doze of uncertainty as I actually forgot how to drive on non-oval tracks. Luckily, this fear disappeared after a few laps in the practice session. I entered the qualifying session with hope of finishing high on the grid. I thought I was quicker but it turned out that I nailed 16th best time. The pole position went to Hornish Jr. in front of Franchitti and Castroneves. The race start itself was an unexpectedly good one for me as I soon managed to climb up to 4th position in lap 3. However, this is the point at which my problems started. I couldn't keep the pace of Wheldon who was running in 3rd position. He kept pulling away and, instead of thinking of passing him, I had to concentrate on not letting the others pass me as Patrick and Matsuura, who dropped a few positions at the start, were charging from behind. Meanwhile, a lot of drivers crashed out of the race including Hornish Jr., Chesson, Fisher and Carpenter. I saw that Danica was faster than me so I gave her way to pass me. She did it but went a little bit wide so I could regain my position but then Matsuura decided to attack from behind. I made a quick move to the left but it was when I was hit by Danica who lost her patience and wanted to grab my position. As a result of the contact with my car, she spun off and had to retire. Meanwhile I got passed by a couple of drivers and when I thought I had settled in 6th position, I lost traction on one of the turns and got into one of the gravel traps and the race was over for me.

The winner - Castroneves, 2nd - Wheldon, 3rd - Franchitti


Round 13 - Michigan International Speedway, MI

I was quite happy to get back to ovals. Once again I proved to be the most consistent driver on such tracks as I won the pole position, leaving behind such guys as Andretti, Meira and Dixon. The initial laps were calm - I kept pulling away and had no problem with the right groove. After some 10 laps I was about to lap Al Unser Jr. who was entering the pits. I hit him which sent me into the air. I thought that my race was over but when I landed I noticed that my car is not even scratched and I continued the race with skyrocketing adrenaline. That'sit when it comes to interesting facts from the race. The race results were a complete flip over of the qualifyings results. Castroneves who started from 16th finished 2nd while Buddy Rice, who completed the podium, started from 19th. Amazing race! :)

This way Castroneves advanced to 2nd position in general standings and is now 115 points short of me. There are only 4 races to participate in and I'm really looking forward to bringing it home :)

The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Castroneves, 3rd - Rice


Round 14 - Las Vegas Speedway, NV

Of course, I set the fastest lap time at the circuit and I knew that if nothing wrong would happen, I would surely be the winner of the race. 2nd place in the qualy for Unser Jr whiel 3rd for Franchitti. The race itself was extremely boring. I kept extending the lead while the rest of the grid came peacefully to the finish of the race without any mechanical issues, crashes or passing attempts. the only, worth noting, event was the performance of Scott Sharp who finished third despite starting from 13th. Andretti completed the podium in 2nd as Franchitti finished 7th and lost the battle for podium.

The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Andretti, 3rd - Sharp


Round 15 - Infineon Raceway, CA

I was happy to get back to non-oval tracks once more. I wasn't particularly successful at Mi-Ohio and now I wanted to avenge my fail at that track. I easily found the right racing groove on the track and set the fastest time in the qualifying session. However, I was only by 0.278 sec faster than Scott Dixon and by 0.374 than Dario Franchitti.
Luckily, the race day was as sunny as the qualifying day and I knew I wouldn't have problems on the track. The race start was a decisive one. When the lights went green I had problems pulling away and this was used by Dixon who made a good start to find himself next to me. I managed to close the door in front of the turn 1 but Dixon didn't deccelerate in time and hit me from the back. For a few factions of a second my both right tyres where in the air. However, I managed to keep the leadership and only now did I start pulling away from the rivals. There was one moment at which Dixon set the fastest lap and I was concerned that he might start decreasing the gap. Luckily it wasn't the case as my 14 sec advantage started growing from the very next lap. Dixon and Franchitti were still behind me. In lap 22 Danica Patrick, who started from 4th managed to climb up to 3rd position, however she lost it to Franchitti during the round of pitstops. In lap 66 Carpenter had serious problems as he swerved off on one of the corners. The yellow flags where still in the air while it took the organizers three laps to remove Carpenter's car from the track. Later on, Dixon lost his pace and dropped to 8th place as well as Danica who came 7th.
Anyway, I brought it all home making the final lap the fastest in the race and I won third consecutive race. There are two races to go and I've already clinched the IRL championship. That's an amazing feeling. It's cool to win in America. :)

The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Franchitti, 3rd - Wheldon


Round 16 - Belle Isle, MI

I thought I was going to perform better at this trak but I kept losing traction and I felt there was a lot of problems awaiting me in the race. In the formation lap I hit the barriers and lost the left front wheel. Then I set the time which was by 6 seconds slower than the laps of others. Therefore, I decided to set the car up more offensively even at the cost of safety. However, I decided not to push too hard in the qualifyings. Pole position for Franchitti, 2nd for Hornish Jr. and 3rd for Andretti. The start of the race was extremely hectic but I managed to pass a lot of rivals and in the middle of the lap 1 I was 5th. However, when I was pushing even more hard, I once more lost traction and lost the left wheel. It was at the same corner as in the qualifyings. I went to the pits and it turned out that also Franchitti, Sharp and Andretti needed assistance in the pitlane. I got back to the race in 19th position and hoped to climb into the first ten. However, two laps later I crashed one more time. It's the third time I lost the front left wheel but this time I also lost the nosecone. That was the last straw. I retired from the race.

The winner - Rice, 2nd - Hornish Jr., 3rd - Carpenter







Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2010 06:18PM by abdelkader.
I realized I scored seven points so far, not six as stated in my previous race review. There goes my maths ;) Anyway after a week off it's back to bussiness in Monaco...

Round 6: Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo

Qual:
I've set the probability of rain at 75% for both qual & race and sure enough it was raining at the start of qualifying. I managed to sneak into third place just 0.196 behind Andretti and was happy to sit out rest of the session but it eventually stopped raining and with ten minutes remaining the times began tumbling down and I found myself dead last, so I had to take another chance. This time I ended up 5th with 0.936 gap to eventual polesitter Fittipaldi. Ickx and Stewart shared row two with Peterson alongside me on row three. Denny Hulme was down in 12th with Peter Revson 14th, both McLarens surprisingly way off the pace.

Race:
There was a slight rain at the start but I gambled on dry tires as the main downpour was predicted only after 30 mins of racing. Fittipaldi maintained the lead through St. Devote with Andretti behind while Stewart jumped Ickx to move into third. I remained 5th with Regazzoni, Peterson and Amon behind. Fittipaldi managed to built a 4 secs. lead over Andretti in the early stages but the rain was about to get worse. Then on lap 11 drama struck my BRM as it developed a brake issue and forced me into the pits. I stayed on dry tires but dropped to 18th and last place (Pescarolo, Wisell and Schenken retired already and Hill followed them soon after my pitstop).
On lap 25 I set the fatest lap of the race having in the meantime passed Carlos Pace for 17th but few laps later the heavens opened up for good sending everyone into the pits on lap 27-28 for wet tires. There was a major drama for Chris Amon who pitted on lap 27 and developed a brake failure on the very next one so had to come in but thanks to his first stop he was running just ahead of leader Fittipaldi and the Brazilian smacked the slow moving Ferrari at Poitiers destroying his front wing. As a result his pitstop lasted over 20 secs. and dropped him to 9th once everyone cycled around. Jacky Ickx pitted one lap earlier then Andretti and was right on his tail until lap 42 when he passed him at St. Devote. Stewart was third ahead of Regazzoni. I pitted on lap 28 and fuelled right until the finish, which ultimately only Ickx, Amon and Regazzoni also chose to do. Everyone else was carrying fuel until about lap 60 so they had to stop again.
Rain was falling really hard in middle stages of the race and showed no signs of letting go. Just after half-distance Carlos Reutemann crashed hard exiting the tunnel ripping both front wheel of his Brabham. Moments later Peter Revson got evidently fed up with his position and punted Andrea de Adamich into the barriers at Poitiers. By this stage I worked myself up to 9th place just behind Cevert and Fittipaldi. Ickx continued to lead with Andretti second and Stewart third. Regazzoni, Peterson and Hulme completed the top half-dozen with Cevert, Fittipaldi and Beltoise behind.
On lap 56 Niki Lauda crashed at Tabac but the drama wasn't quite over as everyone except for me, Regazzoni and Ickx started making their second pitstops. As a result I moved up to third place only behind the two Ferraris as Andretti emerged from the pits just behind me. On lap 62 this became a battle for second spot as 10 secs. ahead of me on the road, Clay Regazzoni collided with the lapped Carlos Pace and smacked the barriers at Massenet while on the very next lap Jackie Stewart crashed at Tabac leaving our battle for second with a 30 secs. advantage over a four car scrap for fourth. On lap 68 Andretti eventually sneaked under me just before the final hairpin and began chasing Ickx whose lead was over 11 secs. at this stage. The American was lapping nearly 1,5 secs. quicker then anyone else on the circuit and on the very last lap he caught the Belgian and passed him at Tabac with a brave sliding move. Action all the way to the finish or perhaps GP3 version of Ferrari team orders ;)
I settled for third place, could have been in contention for victory but for that early brake issue which left me battling in midfield for majority of the race. At the end Andretti was lapping like a man possessed whereas my tires were over 50 laps old and I couldn't really do much in the Tabac/Swimming Pool section where I was literally avoiding the barriers on a couple of occassions by the narrowest of margins. The rain continued to fall right until the chequered flag and there were only nine runners at the end.
Denny Hulme finished 4th coming on top of a four car battle, Cevert was fifth, Fittipaldi sixth and Peterson missed out on points in seventh. Revson and Pace were the only other runners as Chris Amon crashed out at Tabac seven laps before the finish and was classified in 10th.


Niki Lauda (STP March Racing Team) during a brief dry period during Saturday practice. Francois Cevert's Tyrrell in the background.



Championship: 1.Andretti 26, 2.Fittipaldi 25, 3.Hulme 22, 4.Beltoise 11, 5.Ickx 10, 6.Revson 9, 7.Regazzoni 7, 8.Cevert 6, 9.Stewart 5, 10.Amon 3, 11.Peterson 1

Next up: Belgian Grand Prix & Nivelles.
That's good you got the podium at last. You're lucky though, because you managed to get to the pits with a damaged car and you got back to the race. Congratulations, good work :)



Round 17 - Chicagoland Speedway, IL

The final round of IRL 2007 season. Of coruse, I dominated the qualifying session and ouperformed everyone out there on the track. 2nd place for Wheldon, 3rd for Dixon.
This race was just like many others this season. I dominated it fromstart to finish while there were no important incidents throughout the race at all, apart from dan Wheldon who crashed out early in the race. Anyway, the season is over and here are the stats...I would have uploaded the pics but photobucket doesn't allow me to upload anything and keeps referring to some network error. Don't know why.

The winner - Kosewski, 2nd - Manning, 3rd - Dixon




IRL 2007
1. Kosewski 629
2. Rice 439
3. Castroneves 432
4. Franchitti 431
5. Sharp 429
6. Meira 423
7. Hornish Jr. 398
8. Andretti 379
9. Patrick 374
10. Hunter-Reay 373
= Matsuura 373
12. Manning 355
13. Scheckter 346
14. Roth 343
15. Carpenter 338
16. Wheldon 330
17. Foyt IV 322
18. Dixon 304
19. Chesson 291
20. Fisher 286
21. Unser Jr. 277
22. Hamilton 271



The awards:

The best driver award: Przemek Kosewski, 629 points
The winningest driver award: Przemek Kosewski, 11 victories
The best qualifier award: Przemek Kosewski, 11 pole positions
The Constancy Award: Vitor Meira, 17 points-scoring races
The Bad Luck Award: Sarah Fisher, 2 mechanical failures
The Public Menace Award: Davey Hamilton, 9 retirements after accidents
The Most Unreliable Driver Award: Sarah Fisher, 10 retirements during the season


Now I'll probably take one of modern F1 seasons...or F2 2009 :P







Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2010 07:26PM by abdelkader.
abdelkader wrote:
"That's good you got the podium at last. You're lucky though, because you managed to get to the pits with a damaged car and you got back to the race. Congratulations, good work"

Yeah, I was lucky enough it was only the brakes. AI cars also manage to get back to the pits sometimes, allthough in Monaco Hill failed to do so whereas Amon did. Together with electrics it's probably the best failure you can have, because chances of getting back to pits are the biggest.

btw, congrats on your IRL title. That looked pretty dominant out there. If you want to post pics I recommend using imageshack, it works fine for me... ;)
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