Formula L - Round 2, Italy -Race Pt 2/3 (page 3)

Hi everybody,

When i shared my private championship's (Formula L) fantasy teams for seasons 5 and 6, a few people were curious about it, wanting a mod or to know the standings just for fun. So I decided to share my current season (season 6) with you people, and see if you have fun following the races.

Wiki: Formula L Wiki (WIP)

So let me just introduce the season's rules, before sharing a full season preview.

-There are 11 teams with two pilots each.
-The season will be 10 races long.
-Races will be half-distance (compared to an F1 race) with a mandatory pit stop.
-Grid will be decided through an 18 minutes long qualifying session.

Scoring system works as follows:

1st - 10pts
2nd - 8pts
3rd - 6pts
4th - 5pts
5th - 4pts
6th - 3pts
7th - 2pts
8th - 1pt

Pole - 1pt
Fastest Lap - 1pt

That's it

(Cars are painted on SMD chassis, racetracks are mostly the vanilla ones for now)

EDIT: After a bug which cancelled all of the stuff I had written as I was finishing the preview around midnight, said preview is going to be published next week as I am going away for Valentine's Day. Please refer to my screams of agony for more details.



Edited 17 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2020 06:16PM by Calligaris.

FORMULA L SEASON 6 PREVIEW

Here are all the teams taking part in Season 6, I'll showcase them a few at a time starting from the back of the grid.



Mercedes joined the FL championship in Season 3 after Spyker and Shadow retired from the series. They came with high hopes, being a renowned engine manufacturer and the only "works" team on the grid, signing promising German driver Roland Weiss as one of the leading figures of the team. Yet their first season yielded only 2 points and a last place in the constructors standings. Season 4 went marginally better thanks to Italo-American driver Gabe Robustelli's stellar performances, but the team was still strugling for pace. Another 11th place in the standings last year finally led the German manufacturer to run out of patience with its racing outfit. Roland Weiss and his team have one more season to show some progress or Mercedes is going to pull plug on the whole operation. It's do or die for them this year.

Roland Weiss, the German has driven for Mercedes since his, and the team's, debut. He has as much of a leading role as manager Johannes Hertz. With no offers coming from other outfits, his career is now solidly tied to his team, as Mercedes threatens to pull the plug. This season will be as decisive for him as it will be for the team.

Aodh rafferty, when Scuderia Lusari was forced to leave the grid after the other teams protested it owner (as he also runs the FL championship, people feared a possible conflict of interests), Aodh Rafferty found himself without a drive despite his respectable performances, scoring three podiums in two seasons. Now the Mercedes FL team has signed him, hoping to add some quality to its starting lineup in this make or break season. This might be Aodh's only chance to rejoin the ranks of Formula L.



The Escuderia Real was the other team to join the grid in Season 3 and its progression is always compared to Mercedes', leading to the birth of a small, back-of-the-midfield, rivalry. Real has had a better time in the championship on average, never finishing last in the Constructors Standings and somewhat consistently scoring points. But as last Season was dominated by the "Big Four" teams, the small Spanish outfit found no opportunity to score. They only came second to last in the standings, their worst result ever. Yet Nicolàs Alvarez, their homegrown Spanish driver, showed real progress, dragging his car up the midfield, narrowly missing the top 8 several times. With the addition of Bill Adair (British driver, and last winner of Formula L's predecessor, the GPC) to its lineup in Season 5, the team turns to Season 6 with hope.

Nicolas Alvarez, the young Spanish driver was so outclassed by his more experienced teammate Gabe Robustelli (who then joined Mercedes), in his first Season, that many critics branded him as another backmarker, kept afloat by his nationality, as his team wanted to have a Spanish pilot onboard. Alvarez, though, showed real progress the following seasons, steadily getting faster, and even beating former GPC champion Bill Adair last Season. How much potential does the Spanish have, can he really climb up this sports' echelons ?

Bill Adair, when Formula L entered its first season, Bill Adair was allowed to wear the number 1 on his car, as he was the last champion of FL's ancestor, the GPC. He was considered a favourite for the title, and he was partnered by former GPC runner-up Manuele Piccirillo. As expected their team, Ferguson, absolutely slaughtered the competition, setting many records still unbeaten today. Bill Adair, though, never matched his teammate, didn't win a single race (to his partner's 7), and finished only 5th in the championship on a dominant car. After Ferguson went into a little bit of a crysis in Seasons 2 and 3, he couldn't even finish in the top 10 (while his teammate still achieved podiums and rare victories). He was let go and couldn't find a seat in Season 4. Real gave him a second chance in Season 5, but he was beaten by his teammate. Was his GPC success a fluke, or does he still have some fight left in him ?

Did you ever hear, dear reader, the tragedy of the Lec Racing team ? Lec was a Formula L team so powerful it once won the Constructors Championship, but throughout the seasons, the team fell backwards through the grid. In Season 4 it had to let go of both its drivers because of financial problems after Season 3 saw them going from champions to 5th in the Constructors Standings. The team managed to somewhat stabilize thanks thanks to Duff Sergeant's performances, but when the British pilot moved to Surtees in Season 5, Lec fell apart. They scored only 5 points, were always off the pace and only 9th in the championship. Duff Sergeant is back with the team now, and Lec must find a way to stop the free fall that is turning them from heroes to zeros.

Duff Sergeant, the ultimate Formula L journeyman, it seems Duff Sergeant is destined to spend his career saving dying teams from extinction. In Season 3 he gained the first ever points for Team Vaillante, as the struggling French team tried (and succeeded) to turn its luck. The following championship he signed a one-year deal with Lec after the team had to let go both its drivers due to financial problems. Despite Lec's woes he managed to drag them to 4th place in the championship with his excellent performances. In Season 5 he joined Team Surtees as they were falling apart following the departure of their talisman driver Ante Roosevelt, managing to keep them ahead of the tightly packed midfield. This year he joins Lec again as they hit their lowest point, can he resurrect another failing outfit ?

Eddie Marley, the British driver had a difficult start to his career, fighting amongst the backmarkers and losing his seat in Season 2 after the Shadow team folded. Lec Racing decided to give him a chance in Season 4, as they scrambled for ressources. Marley managed to score points consistently and make a significant contribution to the teams surprising 4th place in the championship. When Duff Sergeant's contract ended in Season 5 he was put in charge as the team's first driver, but the season ended up being a complete disaster. He couldn't score a single point while the team went through its worst ever championship. Now Duff Sergeant has been brought back to take charge of the team's first seat and some say Eddie Marley has failed his test. Can he prove the critics wrong ?

Great stuff.

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My Grand Prix 4 Files
I'm a total dick. How many people can say that?

Thanks Turbo !



This small Italian team is the second most recent addition to the FL grid, they joined in Season 4 as fellow countrymen Scuderia Italia left the championship in response to worries over the team's owner running Formula L. Their first season yielded not points and a 10th place in the standings, but they were always close to the midfield and first driver Ottaviano Nervi had some good finishes including an 11th and a 12th place. The team, though, performed much better in Season 5 scoring its first points with a double Top 8 finish in the chaotic Belgian Grand Prix. The result just seemed a wet-weather fluke at first, but a stellar drive from their second driver, Margherita Farina, in the Japanese Grand Prix confirmed the team did have good pace, as she outrun all the midfielders and even threatened the front runners. Only time will tell if Cisitialia has the skill and ressources to really race in the midfield.

Ottaviano Nervi, the young Italian made his debut at Cisitalia's first ever race at the start of Season 4. He was the team's homegrown driver and performed well against more experienced former teammate Steve Warson. He certainly has a lot of potential, but will he fulfill it ?

Margherita Farina, the first female driver of this preview, her performance last season, her rookie season, was very impressive. She outmatched her teammate and twice scored points finishing an impressive 13th in the Drivers Standings. In Japan she rocketed through the field on her way to 6th place (in a race with only 4 retirements) crushing the rest of the midfield. Cisitalia expects great things from her in the future.

Team Vaillante started its history as a backmarker, they were so uncompetitive throughout Season 1 they would often find themselves being lapped by the next worst car. The team slowly got closer to the opposition, but it wouldn't score its first points until Season 3, when Duff Sergeant managed three points finishes: two seventh and an eighth place. The car was still extremely unreliable, as the team had a total of 13 DNFs in 10 races, but it was evident they were now on the rise. In Season 4, with Belgian driver Liliane Durand now at the wheel, the frenchmen absolutely exploded. They scored points at all but one round, finished on the podium twice, and Durand finished an excellent 6th in the standings. Vaillante hoped to challenge the big teams in Season 5, completing their progression through the ranks, signing British talent Herman Hawk, instead they went downhill. They achieved only 4 points finishes in the entire season, falling from a tally of 32 to 8 points in the standings. This year the French outfit desperately needs to get back on track and restart its upwards trend.

Liliane Durand, the Belgian seems to run on alternate current. Back in Season 1 she took the whole paddock by surprise, finishing in the top 5 in 5 out of 10 races in a back-of-the-midfield Übermacht team, scoring 25 points to her teammate's 3. She was branded as FL next big star, instead she went through a terrible second year, finishing half the races and scoring only 8 points. In Season 3, while driving for RAM Racing, she got completely outmached by teammate Camilla d'Amore who scored twice as many points. Then Durand stormed through the ranks again with Vaillante in Season 4, rocketing her way to 6th in the standings, scoring 27 points to her teammate's 5. Last year she fell back down, failing to score a single point for the first time in her career. Which is her real potential ?

Herman Hawk, he is one of the very few drivers to win a race in their very first season. In fact, his rookie season (Season 2), driving for Lec Racing, was so successful he finished fourth, behind only the championship contenders, scoring 40 points. Lec's woes the following season saw him drop to 13th place in the championship and then lose his seat. After a sabbatical year he signed a two-years contract with Vaillante, but only managed to get 11th in the standings as the French team had a disappointing season. In Season 6 the British driver hopes they will improve so he can find his way back to success.

Heh, using Crusader Kings 2 avatars for a racing game. :D

Christel VXR driver #6.

Darksoul Wrote:
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> Heh, using Crusader Kings 2 avatars for a racing
> game. :D

Well it's a good portrait maker ^^. I try to avoid excessively wacky looking hairs and beards though.

Ford's "All-American Racing Team" enters its second season spearheaded by their star driver and FL legend Parker Hooper. Their rookie season was the best rookie season ever achieved by any team (except Season 1 of course) as they finished 6th in the constructors standings, beating Escuderia Real's previous record of 8th. The championship ended particularly well as they achieved three consecutive points finishes. They are only the second "works" team to enter Formula L, but it seems they are achieving what Mercedes couldn't before them. This year they aim to consolidate their position on the grid.

Parker Hooper, he was nicknamed "the Hero of Spa" after completing the greatest comeback win ever during the Season 2 Belgian Grand Prix. In changing conditions he went from 18th on the grid to victory in one of the best performances by any pilot in FL ever. That season he almost won the title, missing it by only 4 points as Brazilian Ezequiel Padovano triumphed. He was driving for the Lec Racing team then, and like his ex-teammate Herman Hawk he lost his seat and missed Season 4 because of the British team's financial woes. Ford signed him up for their debut championship last season, hoping he could help establish the all-american outfit within Formula L. He did a great job, single-handedly dragging them to a 6th place in the constructors standings while teammate Drake Fields didn't score any points. This year he aims to bring Ford even higher up the order and even challenge the big teams.

Drake Fields, Drake Fields' first season (Season 1), as he drove for Vaillante, went so badly the FL management considered changing its rules to allow mid-season driver changes. Somehow the young American always managed to find a seat within the series. Most critics agree Ford couldn't afford another costly driver as they invested a lot of money to sign up Parker Hooper. Fields still has a lot to prove in Formula L...

Team Surtees started its life in Formula L (back in Season 1) as one of the "Big Teams" along Ferguson, De Tomaso and Lec. Their lead driver, Ante Roosevelt, finished third in the championship and looked like he had the pace to become runner-up with a little more luck. It quickly became clear, though, that Surtees just couldn't keep up with the leaders. They fell down to 5th place in the constructors standings in Season 2, then 6th place in Season 3 and 7th in Season 4. Ante Roosevelt finally left rejoining his former GPC outfit, Brabham. Duff Sergeant saved them from falling apart as he dragged the team to a 5th place in the championship in Season 4. Now Sergeant has returned to Lec Racing and Team Surtees' ability to halt their decadence will be tested again.

Melvin Victors, the American driver has won himself a reputation for "inconsistent brilliance" when he finished 2nd of 16 finishers in his failing Übermacht-Ford car in the Season 2 Monegasque Grand Prix. He subsequently continued to intermittently show some great pace, yet never consistently scored points. Last Season he couldn't help Lec Racing avoid disaster and decided to abandon ship at the end of the championship as some talk of them folding started to circulate. Surtees picked him to replace Duff Sergeant as the two swapped seats, hoping he could finally gain some consistency and truly achieve the potential he alternatively seems to have. A dangerous, but possibly fruitful bet from the British team.

Murray Bradley, the young, tartan helmeted, Scot is the latest rookie to join the FL grid after Team Surtees decided to let their previous number 2 driver, Laurie Street, go. As always when a new driver appears on the grid, the whole paddock will be very curious as to what this youngster can achieve.

RAM Racing was once a backmarker like Team Vaillante, battling for the last positions a few laps down on the leaders, but they too slowly managed to improve over the years. As the two teams climbed up the order a small rivalry started to build up between them, the two fastest growing outfits on the grid. In Season 4 the battle between them reached its peak as they both stepped up their game and overtook the midfield. RAM finally beat Vaillante to 5th place in the constructors standings by just 4 points, but Vaillante's Liliane Durand finished ahead of both RAM drivers in the drivers championship. It is one of the most famous team battles to take place in Formula L. Last Season though, while their rivals crumbled, the British team went even further, finally challenging the "Big Teams" and fighting for third place in the Championship with Brabham all the way to the end. Can RAM really establish itself as the fourth "Top Team" ?

Camilla D'Amore, the Italian started her career with De Tomaso back in Season 1 and stayed with the Italo-Argentinian outfit for two consecutive championships, winning one race for the team, before she had to make room for future FL champion Didier Paget. The RAM Racing team immediately picked her up, the team's manager, Talia Mayes, made driver scouting one of her strengths, and D'Amore did not disappoint her. She scored 18 points in her first season with them (Season 3), the highest point tally by any RAM driver ever (until then), and scored double her teammate Liliane Durand's points. The following year, though, rookie driver Fan Kuang did the same to her as she struggled to her lowest finish ever in the drivers standings, 10th place. Last Season she bounced back again, had her best ever championship, and finished 6th in standings, two spots ahead of Kuang. This year the battle between the two of them is set to continue as they struggle for RAM Racing's first driver spot.

Fan Kuang, he is the first Chinese driver on the grid, and after only two seasons, he already gained a reputation as one of the best drivers around. He beat Camilla d'Amore by a significant margin in Season 4 and put a lot of pressure on the series' big names. Even his slightly less successful second season was still impressive , narrowly missing what would have been his first (and so far only) win during the Italian Grand Prix. This young driver clearly is potential championship winner material, but can he fulfill hi potential ?

Brabham has gained a reputation for building great-handling cars with underpowered engines. They also always relied almost solely on their star driver Ezequiel Padovano to get results, signing a long list of disappointing number 2 drivers, who never achieved any satisfying results. Now though Geoff Brabham, who is taking over the team’s leadership from his father, has vowed to change that. Last season Belgian driver Ante Roosevelt joined the team from Surtees, performing well and even beating Padovano in the final standings. This season Brabham signed a deal with German engine supplier BMW hoping to finally solve their power issues. If they succeed they could become a terrifying opponent to contend with.

Ezequiel Padovano, the Brazilian is considered by many the most talented driver on the grid, dragging and underpowered Brabham team to two consecutive Drivers Titles (but no constructors one) in Seasons 2 and 3. Last season, though, he finally seemed to run out of patience with his team after going through his worst championship ever, plagued by reliability issues, driving a car incapable of competing with Ferguson and De Tomaso. He only renewed his contract for a single season now, with a clear message: “build me a car on par with our rivals, or see me walk out of here”

Ante Roosevelt, after dragging a decaying Surtees team to podiums a race victories for four consecutive seasons, the Belgian driver finally had enough, wishing to joined a team capable of challenging the big names. He signed a two years contract with Brabham last season (Season 5) and immediately performed well. Scoring good points with incredible consistency (despite his teammate’s reliability issues) and regularly challenging for vitories, poles and podiums. He even beat Ezequiel Padovano in the final standings. With the new BMW engines he hopes to finally have a shot at the title after so many frustrating years.

The Italo-Argentinian De Tomaso team holds the record for most points scored over all 5 seasons of Formula L. Never far from the top spots, this outfit can never be ruled out for the championship, and they are hungry for victory after Ferguson interrupted their run of consecutive constructors titles last season. They will need to bridge the rather large gap that separated them from Ferguson last year though, if they want any hope of challenging their British rivals.

Sandro Calligaris, aged 37 the Italian is the oldest driver on the grid, yet last season he proved he still had some fight left in him. He was the only pilot who managed to split the Fergusons and remain within striking distance of Manuele Piccirillo during the entire season, entering the last race with and 8 points deficit. It was his best season ever (regarding his final points tally) and his consistency was unrivaled, hardly ever missing out on a podium finish. Yet he didn’t win a single race and on his pace rarely compared to Piccirillo’s. Despite his good performances few see him as a real title contender.

Didier Paget, the young frenchman set the championship ablaze in his very first season (Season 3), putting eventual champion Ezequiel Padovano under great pressure and finishing runner-up in the drivers standings. It seemed the sport had just found its future superstar and Paget delivered immediately, winning the championship for De Tomaso on his second attempt. Yet inconsistency remained his greatest weakness as he almost blew his enormous lead in the drivers standing in the very last races after a series of retirements. Last Season things got worst as he never fought with the championship leaders and got smashed by his teammate. The young frenchman has got some work to do if he wants to achieve victory once more.



Ferguson Research and Manuele Piccirillo were the very first team and pilot to win the FL constructors and drivers titles back in Season 1. A Season they utterly dominated as the Italian driver won 7 out of 10 races. Last season (Season 5) they both finally achieved a second victory, smashing the oppositions once more and scoring a record breaking 126 points in a single ten-race season. This year they are going to challenge yet another record by trying to win back-to-back championships, something only De Tomaso achieved by winning the Constructors Title in Seasons 3 and 4.

Manuele Piccirillo, the Italian driver is still the most successful pilot in Formula L, holding the record for greatest amount of points scored, wins and pole positions achieved. As previously stated only one team managed to win back-to-back championships, and only one driver managed to win back-to-back drivers titles, Brazilian Ezequiel Padovano in Seasons 2 and 3. So while Ferguson chases a record, Piccirillo will chase another one of his own.

Arata Maki, he is the only Asian driver to win a Formula L Grand Prix (5 of them actually), he is one of the best qualifiers on the grid and twice fought for the title, coming short of it both times, finishing 3rd in the standings. He was briefly absent from Formula L after his previous team, Scuderia Lusari, left the grid following protests by the other participants (as the team owner also managed the league). He joined Ferguson last year and fought toe-to-toe with his teammate throughout the first rounds, but he couldn’t match the Italian’s consistency and ended up losing 2nd place to Sandro Calligaris. Can he finally triumph this time ?

The team preview is done. The first race will be held in Silverstone soon, hoped you enjoyed this introduction.

(Still working on the graphics)

Since someone asked I'll publish the wad and performance files after the British GP, I'll get into more details about them when I do so.

Hey man this looks interesting looking forward to seeing more

SEASON 6 ROUND - BRITISH GP - QUALI RESULTS

No highlights for the qualis, I'll just share the starting grid and a few comments. There will be race highlights though.



22 - A.Rafferty, Not a great start for the Irishman, last on the grid on his Formula L return race.
21 - M.Bradley, Having both a works and an engine customer car on the last row is not a good sign for Mercedes.



20 - R.Weiss, The remaining Mercedes of Roland Weiss isn't fairing much better in 20th place.
19 - M.Farina, She certainly would have hoped to fight with the midfield, a lot of work to do in the race.



18 - M.Victors, A disappointing start for the once mighty Surtees team, 18th and 21st on the grid...
17 - B.Adair, Not the best of starts of the former GPC champion, still being outqualified by his teammate.



16 - E.Marley, Looks like Lec's still in trouble as Marley qualifies 16th, he seems clear of the backmarkers at least...
15 - D.Fields, Still well behind his teammate, Fields needs to do better.



14 - O.Nervi, Decent qualifying session for him, looks like he's got the pace to fight the midfield.
13 - N.Alvarez, We have lost count of how many times Alvarez qualified 13th last year, looks like the trend will continue this season.



12 - L.Durand, The Belgian probably hoped for a top 8 qualification today, she'll have to fight her way up tomorrow.
11 - P.Hooper, Same goes for Hooper, Ford wants to consistently score points this year.



10 - D.Paget, A very disappointing session for the Season 4 FL Champion, will he have another slow start to the season like last time ?
9 - D.Sergeant, Looks like "The Sarge" might be about to pull yet another rabbit out of his hat, a 9th place in the struggling Lec... not bad...



8 - S.Calligaris, A disappointing session for De Tomaso, 8th and 10th, they look nowhere near the leaders' pace.
7 - H.Hawk, A rather encouraging session for Hawk, on the contrary, looks like he and his Vaillante have good pace here in britain.



6 - A.Maki, A third row isn't a bad result, but 1.3 seconds slower than the leader is not what Maki wanted to be.
5 - F.Kuang, Looks like RAM is aiming high this season, good Top 5 qualification for the Chinese.



4 - A.Roosevelt, A good second row for Roosevelt, he did get beaten by his teammate though...
3 - C.D'Amore, RAM really looks quick this season, could we see them achieve their first ever victory ?



2 - M.Piccirillo, The reigning champion lines up on the front row, ready to pick up where he left off.
1 - E.Padovano, Four tenth quicker then everybody else on the very first session of the championship... Padovano looks scary this season...



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2020 08:42PM by Calligaris.

Wow, you clearly are putting a lot of time and effort into all this! Good stuff....

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GPGSL Team Owner Debut - Melbourne, Season 8 - present
GPGSL Test Debut - Hungary, Season 4. GPGSL Race Debut - Adelaide, Season 5.

interested to see more of this, grid cars are great too.