My Grand Prix 2 Championship
Posted by torana_05
Returning back for the second half of the Spanish Grand Prix
As I arrive at the Elf yellow flags are waving, Katayama is off in the grass at Renault as I move up to p14 with a catching Frentzen behind. Lap 34 I make a small error pushing very hard at the exit of turn 7 and spin and regain only losing a couple of seconds but a place to Frentzen who by then was only a couple of seconds behind. A couple of laps later I am in the pits and re-join a lowly p19 and getting lapped by the two Benettons of Schumacher (p1) and Verstappen (p6) After 1 lap behind Verstappen I regain the lap off him as he is going very slow nearly 1.5 seconds a lap slower. Comas also pit on the same lap and a lap latter the other Larrouse of Beretta pits from p16. I am now moving up the order slowly and Barrichello and Hakkinen are in front of me but they are p4 and 5 but I’m am constantly faster than they are a good target to catch to help my progression up the order. Lap 42 I have been lapping nearly 4 seconds a lap faster than Bernard and Katayama they are both slow and I pass Bernard into Repsol and then Katayma into Seat. Frentzen is into the pits elevating me into the unlucky spot of p13 but I have been again constantly faster than the other Ligier of Panis and a 9 sec gap has been closed in a number of laps and at the first corner of lap 48 I take an inside line and pass the Ligier but 2 laps later I am in for my final stop. I return to the track dropping 2 places to p13 22 seconds behind Panis and 14 ahead of Beretta, I think I have picked the gap between the 3 stoppers and 2 stoppers but the 2 stoppers will be lapping slowly as their tyres are now going off. As I pass the start finish line I notice on my gap data that Damon Hill has popped up and is 20sec behind me, I am very surprised to see Damon behind me with 9 laps to go as I am a couple down. I put my head down and chew away at Panis’ gap and by L59 Panis has to fold to the pressure and I dive down into La Caxia to get into P12. I am catching Frentzen at a good rate but at 20 sec in front I will not have enough time to catch him. By the end of the race the gap to him is down to 15 sec and Panis is over 12 behind. All in all a great recovery race in my mind. A few mistakes probably cost me a decent top 10 finish namely the front wing on L1 and the spin that cost me 10 seconds a couple of laps later. The mistakes other than the first lap crash were obviously down to over-driving the car to make up for the lack of lap time pace. But at the end of the race I am surprised as I have set 8th fastest time but a massive 3.6 seconds slower than Schumacher fastest. But that is not bad considering Damon Hill who had seconds fastest is a whopping 1.48 off Schumacher. Clearly the Schumacher-Benetton combination was far superior on the day with only second place getter David Coulthard on the same lap albeit 53 seconds behind him. A look on the Drivers Championship I am currently 6th 2 points behind Barrichello and amazingly 3 points ahead of the sole Ferrari of Jean Alesi.
Zanardi has expressed his opinions of the crash to the media and is not happy. “I was lapping quite a bit slower than Barnes on my strategy and minding my own race and then he just brakes too late and squeezes me onto the gravel because of that I lose my front wing. I am not happy with the move I think he just should have waited till a safer place and made a better pass”
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As I arrive at the Elf yellow flags are waving, Katayama is off in the grass at Renault as I move up to p14 with a catching Frentzen behind. Lap 34 I make a small error pushing very hard at the exit of turn 7 and spin and regain only losing a couple of seconds but a place to Frentzen who by then was only a couple of seconds behind. A couple of laps later I am in the pits and re-join a lowly p19 and getting lapped by the two Benettons of Schumacher (p1) and Verstappen (p6) After 1 lap behind Verstappen I regain the lap off him as he is going very slow nearly 1.5 seconds a lap slower. Comas also pit on the same lap and a lap latter the other Larrouse of Beretta pits from p16. I am now moving up the order slowly and Barrichello and Hakkinen are in front of me but they are p4 and 5 but I’m am constantly faster than they are a good target to catch to help my progression up the order. Lap 42 I have been lapping nearly 4 seconds a lap faster than Bernard and Katayama they are both slow and I pass Bernard into Repsol and then Katayma into Seat. Frentzen is into the pits elevating me into the unlucky spot of p13 but I have been again constantly faster than the other Ligier of Panis and a 9 sec gap has been closed in a number of laps and at the first corner of lap 48 I take an inside line and pass the Ligier but 2 laps later I am in for my final stop. I return to the track dropping 2 places to p13 22 seconds behind Panis and 14 ahead of Beretta, I think I have picked the gap between the 3 stoppers and 2 stoppers but the 2 stoppers will be lapping slowly as their tyres are now going off. As I pass the start finish line I notice on my gap data that Damon Hill has popped up and is 20sec behind me, I am very surprised to see Damon behind me with 9 laps to go as I am a couple down. I put my head down and chew away at Panis’ gap and by L59 Panis has to fold to the pressure and I dive down into La Caxia to get into P12. I am catching Frentzen at a good rate but at 20 sec in front I will not have enough time to catch him. By the end of the race the gap to him is down to 15 sec and Panis is over 12 behind. All in all a great recovery race in my mind. A few mistakes probably cost me a decent top 10 finish namely the front wing on L1 and the spin that cost me 10 seconds a couple of laps later. The mistakes other than the first lap crash were obviously down to over-driving the car to make up for the lack of lap time pace. But at the end of the race I am surprised as I have set 8th fastest time but a massive 3.6 seconds slower than Schumacher fastest. But that is not bad considering Damon Hill who had seconds fastest is a whopping 1.48 off Schumacher. Clearly the Schumacher-Benetton combination was far superior on the day with only second place getter David Coulthard on the same lap albeit 53 seconds behind him. A look on the Drivers Championship I am currently 6th 2 points behind Barrichello and amazingly 3 points ahead of the sole Ferrari of Jean Alesi.
Zanardi has expressed his opinions of the crash to the media and is not happy. “I was lapping quite a bit slower than Barnes on my strategy and minding my own race and then he just brakes too late and squeezes me onto the gravel because of that I lose my front wing. I am not happy with the move I think he just should have waited till a safer place and made a better pass”
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Breaking News:
Pacific Grand Prix have signed current driver Rick Barnes for the Canadian Grand Prix that is coming up in the near future, but only on a race to race basis. Other teams have also been interested in the young Australian after a carrer best 3rd position in the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this year. Barnes has been on the pace compared to his team mate Betrand Gachot as Gachot has failed to qualify for all 5 races this season but Barnes says that the car is "Really bad over one lap, but race pace especially on short strategies is really good". Barnes will be looking to improve on last weeks perfermance that seen him finish outside the top 10 in 12th and curently lies 6th in the Drivers Championship.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2012 10:22PM by torana_05.
Pacific Grand Prix have signed current driver Rick Barnes for the Canadian Grand Prix that is coming up in the near future, but only on a race to race basis. Other teams have also been interested in the young Australian after a carrer best 3rd position in the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this year. Barnes has been on the pace compared to his team mate Betrand Gachot as Gachot has failed to qualify for all 5 races this season but Barnes says that the car is "Really bad over one lap, but race pace especially on short strategies is really good". Barnes will be looking to improve on last weeks perfermance that seen him finish outside the top 10 in 12th and curently lies 6th in the Drivers Championship.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2012 10:22PM by torana_05.
Canadian Grand Prix
Pre-Weekend Chat:
After a reasonable recovery after some first lap damage to finish p12 in Barcelona I am looking forward to bouncing back in Canada. The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is one of my favourites on the calendar. After signing for just another race for the Pacific Grand Prix team I am confident that a reasonable result is possible as the car and team are familiar and reliability is a strong point. I am a bit disappointed that the contract is a longer one but as long as I am in Formula 1 it doesn’t matter.
Friday Practice:
Friday practice is very eventful as the track is very dirty and I managed quite a few fast spins and offs but luckily no damage was done. The chicane that makes up turn 3 and 4 were proving to be quite difficult as a couple of centimetres offline would make me clip either the first or second curb or spin. Also the final chicane was another tough area as the same effect was going on, but also the tail would try and break loose through the entry of the last corner and swing round and either a collision with the outside wall (Wall of Champions) or just a spin. I opted for a low down force setup to optimise my lack of engine power down the straight but with a fairly high front wing angle to get some front end grip in the corners. After the first practice the car was running really good and was confident but the tires were really fast for the first 3 laps and then a drop off of half a second after that. I was hoping of doing a 2 stopper but maybe another faithful 3 stopper was the way to go.
Friday Qualifying:
The track had gripped up quite allot between the morning and afternoon sessions making it a lot faster. I wait just over 20 minutes before I start my first run. My first flier is spoilt by a rear slide onto the curb at the final chicane loosing valuable seconds before the lap but still good enough for p14. The next lap is a good one a 1.24.0, p9, but a number of faster drivers are doing out laps or have yet to post a time. By the time I head out again some 10 minutes later I have dropped to p13 0.006 behind Panis in p12 and 0.3 ahead of Morbidelli in the Footwork. Both fast laps are spoiled by bad final chicane exits and so with 5 minutes to go I set out again for my last runs. Both laps are about 0.3-0.5 off my best and my final lap is wrecked after I lose the rear heading out of Pont de la Concorde (Turn 7 and 8) and loose a rear wheel and ending my session in the wall.
Saturday Qualifying:
After no practice in the morning I save a pair of tyres as only 3 sets of qualifying tyres are given for practice and qualifying and 4 sets of race tyres for Sunday. I think a 3 stopper is the as new tyres are a real advantage at the start of a run. With half the session gone I head out and on my lout lap I damage a wing and return to the pits for a new wing and head back out. Therefore I only do one hot lap but it is a fast one a 1.23.79 which is good for p6. With just over 5 to go I head out again but unable to better my lap but between the two runs I have dropped to p11. By the end of both sessions I am still p11 0.96 of Verstappens’ Benetton whose best time was set in yesterday’s session.
Pre-Race Warm-up:
Only a system check was run in on the race morning as saving tyres was a priority but the track seemed good and with dry weather predicted a god race was predicted. I was very confident of starting p11 and a point’s finish is surely on the cards.
Race:
As the lights turned green I had a perfect start jumping up to p7 by the first corner behind the Jordan of Barrichello and in front of Hakkinens’ McLaren Peugeot. Heading towards Turn 7 I make a move on Barrichello and move into p6. I realise then that my first sector is real good but as we head down the back straight Barrichello can easily get a tow but can’t get around as there is only one line through the kinks on the back straight. A slow exit out of the final chicane is made he is attacking into the first corner but I still manage to hold him off. The last sector is really bad for me as I am really slow off the final chicane but lighting round the first sector. Lap 4 and we are still battling hard and after my customary slow exit from the chicane he gets a good look up the inside and passes me but I stick round the outside setting me up for the inside of Turn 2, therefore keeping him at bay, just. Lap 7 Barrichello does the same move and this time actually passes me but I stay close through sector 1 and I get a good run into the chicane of Turns 9 and 10 and pass him on the entry of Turn 9, but drift wide on the exit of 10 letting him pass down at the hairpin again but this time I cannot capitalise and loose the position. On L16 Barrichello 3.5 seconds in front makes a move into T9 and makes it stick, so hopefully by staying close I can nail Alesi as well. 2 Laps later Barrichello is into the pits, both Minardis have been in also as well as Morbidelli, so maybe a 3 stopper is popular but it has been a trend to stop early and have a long middle stint and only do a 2 stopper this year as well so who knows. Berger is in a lap later from P4 and by L21 I am in for my first stop; Katayama who is behind me follows me in as well. As I exit I fall into a huge gap with no traffic behind Barrichello. Lap 23 Barrichello makes a move on Brundle at the final chicane making Brundle slow on the exit and sets me up for a beautiful outside move on him at the complex on the start of the following lap. The new sets of boots are working well and I catch Barrichello on L25 and make a move into T9. A mistake on L26 nearly end up in the wall on the exit of the final chicane but I hold onto it without losing to much time but a fair wake-up call. Verstappen is my next victim on L29 at the same corner I got Barrichello, Berger now 7.3 ahead. L32 heading out of the hairpin I get confirmation of Alesi who is making a planned pit stop and drops behind me with Berger only 4.8 in front. P5 runner the second Jordan of Irvine is the pits on L35 for his 1 stop and Hakkinen a lap latter from p4. By L38 I am all over the Ferrari and make a move into the hairpin but it is short-lived as I head in the very same lap and re-join 10th. Irivne is passed into the entry of T9 on the out lap to move me up to p9. Katayama who is p8 is in for his final (second) stop on L47. Hakkinen who is P7 is running real slow and battling with Comas who has fresh rubber but P20 is looking for room at every opportunity, loosing time for both cars. Hakkinen is lapping a 1.28 while I am lapping nearly 2 seconds faster a 1.26.3. Berger is in again and I will easily pass the Ferrari and gain another position. Barrichello has done a monster middle stint and pits on L51 from p5. Starting L53 a slow Sauber of De Cesaris is in front of Hakkinen. Hakkinen tries a move on the Sauber exiting T8 but is hampered and I make a run on both and slip by by the entry on T9 moving me up to P5. Lap 56 of 69 I make my final stop a late one, hopping to have a short stint on brand new tyres to boost me up the order. L60 I pass a slow Katayama whose Goodyear’s are very second hand. Up Ahead the two Jordan’s of Irvine and Barrichello are battling fiercely with the latter on fresher rubber trying to pass the Ulsterman for P7 and 8. With only a handful of laps reaming Barrichello is 3 seconds in front and tries a move into the last chicane but doesn’t work, edging me closer to the battle. The following lap Barrichello makes another move up into T9 and makes it stick but now I am right with them and Irvine is in front of me. I know I can’t spend much time behind Irvine as Barrichello will be able to pull out a gap on his team mate quite quickly and make it harder for me to catch him. The hairpin is the chosen place to get Irvine and I move into P8, but lap traffic is coming up so hopefully I can use it to my advantage. The following lap I use the hairpin to good use and get past Barrichello. Hakkinen is next but 18 seconds up the road but I have to keep an eye on my mirrors as Barrichello gets a good tow down the back straight and I know he is trying to set me up again either into the final chicane or the first corner again. I manage to hold him off for the chicane but my slow exit doesn’t help. I move to the right to block him so he move to the left but a re-joining Berretta pops out of the pit exit and I almost collect him and the back breaks away massively resulting in a huge slide and a wheel on the grass but somehow the car stays in the right direction and stay in front, but somehow Beretta stays in front of us both and is quite unaware of the crash he almost caused. A reply shows Barrichello lifts off which enables me to stay in front while Beretta keeps going. While we are avoiding Beretta Irvine has closed in and re-passes Barrichello into T9 creating a gap between me and the two Jordan’s and as long as Barrichello is behind Irvine I am confident of keeping both behind me. But a small mistake at the hairpin allows Irvine to get into the slipstream of me heading down the long back straight but can’t make a move into the final chicane as I block him and I block him on the exit as well, which makes him lift and breathing space is there again. I get past Beretta into T9 with two to go, with Irvine not in my mirrors any more. Last lap is upon me as I am a lap down L68 will be my last and I almost through it away in the final chicane but I keep it in a straight line and cross the line p7, with Barrichello 2.0 seconds behind.
Post-Race Thoughts:
I thought I would have had a better result after such a promising qualifying but with only 3 cars retiring from the race and none of them front runners a points finish was going to be hard. A plus was that I set 4th fastest time of the race a 1.24.3 0.7 off Schumacher in3rd and just over a full second off Coulthard who was putting in quite a few fast laps towards the end on new tyres. The last couple of laps were quite hectic but some bad driving was shown by Beretta as he almost took 2 top 10 runners out. Both Barnes and Barrichello are quite angry with Beretta’s driving but Beretta has been quoted of “Not seeing anyone in his mirrors when he exited, the pit exit is quite blind and it feeds you out into the path of other drivers. I’m sorry but I didn’t see you guys and luckily for me both of you keep going”. After the Canadian Grand Prix I still lay 6th in the Drivers’ Championship and 6th as well for the Constructors.
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Pre-Weekend Chat:
After a reasonable recovery after some first lap damage to finish p12 in Barcelona I am looking forward to bouncing back in Canada. The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is one of my favourites on the calendar. After signing for just another race for the Pacific Grand Prix team I am confident that a reasonable result is possible as the car and team are familiar and reliability is a strong point. I am a bit disappointed that the contract is a longer one but as long as I am in Formula 1 it doesn’t matter.
Friday Practice:
Friday practice is very eventful as the track is very dirty and I managed quite a few fast spins and offs but luckily no damage was done. The chicane that makes up turn 3 and 4 were proving to be quite difficult as a couple of centimetres offline would make me clip either the first or second curb or spin. Also the final chicane was another tough area as the same effect was going on, but also the tail would try and break loose through the entry of the last corner and swing round and either a collision with the outside wall (Wall of Champions) or just a spin. I opted for a low down force setup to optimise my lack of engine power down the straight but with a fairly high front wing angle to get some front end grip in the corners. After the first practice the car was running really good and was confident but the tires were really fast for the first 3 laps and then a drop off of half a second after that. I was hoping of doing a 2 stopper but maybe another faithful 3 stopper was the way to go.
Friday Qualifying:
The track had gripped up quite allot between the morning and afternoon sessions making it a lot faster. I wait just over 20 minutes before I start my first run. My first flier is spoilt by a rear slide onto the curb at the final chicane loosing valuable seconds before the lap but still good enough for p14. The next lap is a good one a 1.24.0, p9, but a number of faster drivers are doing out laps or have yet to post a time. By the time I head out again some 10 minutes later I have dropped to p13 0.006 behind Panis in p12 and 0.3 ahead of Morbidelli in the Footwork. Both fast laps are spoiled by bad final chicane exits and so with 5 minutes to go I set out again for my last runs. Both laps are about 0.3-0.5 off my best and my final lap is wrecked after I lose the rear heading out of Pont de la Concorde (Turn 7 and 8) and loose a rear wheel and ending my session in the wall.
Saturday Qualifying:
After no practice in the morning I save a pair of tyres as only 3 sets of qualifying tyres are given for practice and qualifying and 4 sets of race tyres for Sunday. I think a 3 stopper is the as new tyres are a real advantage at the start of a run. With half the session gone I head out and on my lout lap I damage a wing and return to the pits for a new wing and head back out. Therefore I only do one hot lap but it is a fast one a 1.23.79 which is good for p6. With just over 5 to go I head out again but unable to better my lap but between the two runs I have dropped to p11. By the end of both sessions I am still p11 0.96 of Verstappens’ Benetton whose best time was set in yesterday’s session.
Pre-Race Warm-up:
Only a system check was run in on the race morning as saving tyres was a priority but the track seemed good and with dry weather predicted a god race was predicted. I was very confident of starting p11 and a point’s finish is surely on the cards.
Race:
As the lights turned green I had a perfect start jumping up to p7 by the first corner behind the Jordan of Barrichello and in front of Hakkinens’ McLaren Peugeot. Heading towards Turn 7 I make a move on Barrichello and move into p6. I realise then that my first sector is real good but as we head down the back straight Barrichello can easily get a tow but can’t get around as there is only one line through the kinks on the back straight. A slow exit out of the final chicane is made he is attacking into the first corner but I still manage to hold him off. The last sector is really bad for me as I am really slow off the final chicane but lighting round the first sector. Lap 4 and we are still battling hard and after my customary slow exit from the chicane he gets a good look up the inside and passes me but I stick round the outside setting me up for the inside of Turn 2, therefore keeping him at bay, just. Lap 7 Barrichello does the same move and this time actually passes me but I stay close through sector 1 and I get a good run into the chicane of Turns 9 and 10 and pass him on the entry of Turn 9, but drift wide on the exit of 10 letting him pass down at the hairpin again but this time I cannot capitalise and loose the position. On L16 Barrichello 3.5 seconds in front makes a move into T9 and makes it stick, so hopefully by staying close I can nail Alesi as well. 2 Laps later Barrichello is into the pits, both Minardis have been in also as well as Morbidelli, so maybe a 3 stopper is popular but it has been a trend to stop early and have a long middle stint and only do a 2 stopper this year as well so who knows. Berger is in a lap later from P4 and by L21 I am in for my first stop; Katayama who is behind me follows me in as well. As I exit I fall into a huge gap with no traffic behind Barrichello. Lap 23 Barrichello makes a move on Brundle at the final chicane making Brundle slow on the exit and sets me up for a beautiful outside move on him at the complex on the start of the following lap. The new sets of boots are working well and I catch Barrichello on L25 and make a move into T9. A mistake on L26 nearly end up in the wall on the exit of the final chicane but I hold onto it without losing to much time but a fair wake-up call. Verstappen is my next victim on L29 at the same corner I got Barrichello, Berger now 7.3 ahead. L32 heading out of the hairpin I get confirmation of Alesi who is making a planned pit stop and drops behind me with Berger only 4.8 in front. P5 runner the second Jordan of Irvine is the pits on L35 for his 1 stop and Hakkinen a lap latter from p4. By L38 I am all over the Ferrari and make a move into the hairpin but it is short-lived as I head in the very same lap and re-join 10th. Irivne is passed into the entry of T9 on the out lap to move me up to p9. Katayama who is p8 is in for his final (second) stop on L47. Hakkinen who is P7 is running real slow and battling with Comas who has fresh rubber but P20 is looking for room at every opportunity, loosing time for both cars. Hakkinen is lapping a 1.28 while I am lapping nearly 2 seconds faster a 1.26.3. Berger is in again and I will easily pass the Ferrari and gain another position. Barrichello has done a monster middle stint and pits on L51 from p5. Starting L53 a slow Sauber of De Cesaris is in front of Hakkinen. Hakkinen tries a move on the Sauber exiting T8 but is hampered and I make a run on both and slip by by the entry on T9 moving me up to P5. Lap 56 of 69 I make my final stop a late one, hopping to have a short stint on brand new tyres to boost me up the order. L60 I pass a slow Katayama whose Goodyear’s are very second hand. Up Ahead the two Jordan’s of Irvine and Barrichello are battling fiercely with the latter on fresher rubber trying to pass the Ulsterman for P7 and 8. With only a handful of laps reaming Barrichello is 3 seconds in front and tries a move into the last chicane but doesn’t work, edging me closer to the battle. The following lap Barrichello makes another move up into T9 and makes it stick but now I am right with them and Irvine is in front of me. I know I can’t spend much time behind Irvine as Barrichello will be able to pull out a gap on his team mate quite quickly and make it harder for me to catch him. The hairpin is the chosen place to get Irvine and I move into P8, but lap traffic is coming up so hopefully I can use it to my advantage. The following lap I use the hairpin to good use and get past Barrichello. Hakkinen is next but 18 seconds up the road but I have to keep an eye on my mirrors as Barrichello gets a good tow down the back straight and I know he is trying to set me up again either into the final chicane or the first corner again. I manage to hold him off for the chicane but my slow exit doesn’t help. I move to the right to block him so he move to the left but a re-joining Berretta pops out of the pit exit and I almost collect him and the back breaks away massively resulting in a huge slide and a wheel on the grass but somehow the car stays in the right direction and stay in front, but somehow Beretta stays in front of us both and is quite unaware of the crash he almost caused. A reply shows Barrichello lifts off which enables me to stay in front while Beretta keeps going. While we are avoiding Beretta Irvine has closed in and re-passes Barrichello into T9 creating a gap between me and the two Jordan’s and as long as Barrichello is behind Irvine I am confident of keeping both behind me. But a small mistake at the hairpin allows Irvine to get into the slipstream of me heading down the long back straight but can’t make a move into the final chicane as I block him and I block him on the exit as well, which makes him lift and breathing space is there again. I get past Beretta into T9 with two to go, with Irvine not in my mirrors any more. Last lap is upon me as I am a lap down L68 will be my last and I almost through it away in the final chicane but I keep it in a straight line and cross the line p7, with Barrichello 2.0 seconds behind.
Post-Race Thoughts:
I thought I would have had a better result after such a promising qualifying but with only 3 cars retiring from the race and none of them front runners a points finish was going to be hard. A plus was that I set 4th fastest time of the race a 1.24.3 0.7 off Schumacher in3rd and just over a full second off Coulthard who was putting in quite a few fast laps towards the end on new tyres. The last couple of laps were quite hectic but some bad driving was shown by Beretta as he almost took 2 top 10 runners out. Both Barnes and Barrichello are quite angry with Beretta’s driving but Beretta has been quoted of “Not seeing anyone in his mirrors when he exited, the pit exit is quite blind and it feeds you out into the path of other drivers. I’m sorry but I didn’t see you guys and luckily for me both of you keep going”. After the Canadian Grand Prix I still lay 6th in the Drivers’ Championship and 6th as well for the Constructors.
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So close to the points there, nice race. From your pre-race events it seemed like you were bound to throw away a good result by spinning off or something, but you held well! A move to Simtek, Footwork, or even Sauber may be a possibility now 
.
.Breaking News:
Rick Barnes Tests for Sauber
Without a drive for the next Grand Prix Australian Formula 1 hopeful Rick Barnes ran on the First Day of the First Mid Season Test at Italy’s Imola circuit with Sauber Mercedes. The links with the Mercedes and Illmor branding of his most current drive, Pacific Garnd Prix was the link allowing for the test. Barnes was allowed out for a couple of runs throughout the day and set some reasonable times. After stepping out of the cockpit, the Australian was clearly thrilled with his ride in the Sauber Mercedes C13
Q: Rick, how was the test for you? Driving the Sauber how was it different from the Pacific Grand Prix Car you usually drive?
Rick Barnes: The Sauber was very comparable with the Pacific but obviously the Sauber was different as the team has chosen a different route with aero and other things that make it different to drive. But yes it was fun.
Q: You completed 75 laps and you didn’t seem to have any problems, so are you satisfied with your performance?
RB: Yes, overall I am happy. When I started, I focused on understanding quickly how the car works, and over the course of the day, I tried to improve and work simultaneously on the settings. In the morning, it didn’t work so well but towards the end of the afternoon session, the times were going down - and I had the impression that I can do even better.
Q: At tests it is always difficult to judge the times of other drivers, as you never know what fuel load or set-ups the others are running. But the fact that you have been two seconds quicker than Mika Hakkinen, someone highly rated in Formula One circles, must leave you with a pretty good feeling…
RB: Yes, indeed. When I started this morning I didn’t know where I would be in the end. We had low fuel and new tyres but when you use new tyres it is the first lap that is best, but I always need to get in the rhythm again. So I probably lost my opportunity to do better. But I am satisfied that I consistently improved over the course of the day.
Q: Was the C13 easier or more difficult than you expected?
RB: That is difficult to say. I am happy because at the end of the afternoon session I was really feeling comfortable in the car. I made a few mistakes and but luckily no big moments, I just tried to improve without taking big risks. And in the end, the time was not so bad - and I know now that I can go faster.
Q: How are you feeling? You managed to go faster than some of the other drivers that are currently in-front of you in the Championship
RB: I am Confident that I did a good job and as you said other drivers are on different programs and it is hard to gauge on how fast everyone is
Q: Will you test for Sauber again in the near future?
RB: That’s a good question. I would like to, but that depends on my time and if I get a drive for the next Grand Prix. At the moment I am just focused on getting a drive in the a Grand Prix, but yes it would be nice.
Q: What is your current contract with Pacific Grand Prix, Will you be racing in France?
RB: My current contract ran out at last times Canadian Grand Prix where I finished strongly. I am only on a race by race contract but hopefully I pleased the team and it was enough to get another drive in France. But I am certainly open to other vacancies to other teams at the moment.
Some Pictures of Rick Barnes in the Sauber Meceds C13 at Imola
Testing Continues tomorrow from Imola
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 01:51PM by torana_05.
Rick Barnes Tests for Sauber
Without a drive for the next Grand Prix Australian Formula 1 hopeful Rick Barnes ran on the First Day of the First Mid Season Test at Italy’s Imola circuit with Sauber Mercedes. The links with the Mercedes and Illmor branding of his most current drive, Pacific Garnd Prix was the link allowing for the test. Barnes was allowed out for a couple of runs throughout the day and set some reasonable times. After stepping out of the cockpit, the Australian was clearly thrilled with his ride in the Sauber Mercedes C13
Q: Rick, how was the test for you? Driving the Sauber how was it different from the Pacific Grand Prix Car you usually drive?
Rick Barnes: The Sauber was very comparable with the Pacific but obviously the Sauber was different as the team has chosen a different route with aero and other things that make it different to drive. But yes it was fun.
Q: You completed 75 laps and you didn’t seem to have any problems, so are you satisfied with your performance?
RB: Yes, overall I am happy. When I started, I focused on understanding quickly how the car works, and over the course of the day, I tried to improve and work simultaneously on the settings. In the morning, it didn’t work so well but towards the end of the afternoon session, the times were going down - and I had the impression that I can do even better.
Q: At tests it is always difficult to judge the times of other drivers, as you never know what fuel load or set-ups the others are running. But the fact that you have been two seconds quicker than Mika Hakkinen, someone highly rated in Formula One circles, must leave you with a pretty good feeling…
RB: Yes, indeed. When I started this morning I didn’t know where I would be in the end. We had low fuel and new tyres but when you use new tyres it is the first lap that is best, but I always need to get in the rhythm again. So I probably lost my opportunity to do better. But I am satisfied that I consistently improved over the course of the day.
Q: Was the C13 easier or more difficult than you expected?
RB: That is difficult to say. I am happy because at the end of the afternoon session I was really feeling comfortable in the car. I made a few mistakes and but luckily no big moments, I just tried to improve without taking big risks. And in the end, the time was not so bad - and I know now that I can go faster.
Q: How are you feeling? You managed to go faster than some of the other drivers that are currently in-front of you in the Championship
RB: I am Confident that I did a good job and as you said other drivers are on different programs and it is hard to gauge on how fast everyone is
Q: Will you test for Sauber again in the near future?
RB: That’s a good question. I would like to, but that depends on my time and if I get a drive for the next Grand Prix. At the moment I am just focused on getting a drive in the a Grand Prix, but yes it would be nice.
Q: What is your current contract with Pacific Grand Prix, Will you be racing in France?
RB: My current contract ran out at last times Canadian Grand Prix where I finished strongly. I am only on a race by race contract but hopefully I pleased the team and it was enough to get another drive in France. But I am certainly open to other vacancies to other teams at the moment.
Some Pictures of Rick Barnes in the Sauber Meceds C13 at Imola
Testing Continues tomorrow from Imola
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 01:51PM by torana_05.
Barnes to race for Pacific at French Grand Prix
Rick Barnes will race for Pacific Grand Prix at the next 3 rounds of the Championship after Pacific renewed his contract on Thursday.
“We've chosen Barnes because we can expect him to make a valuable contribution in this part of the season,” said Pacific Grand Prix team principal Keith Wiggins. “Barnes has shown throughout this year that he's fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run him in the next three rounds.”
Barnes hopes to be looking for more points finishes in the coming races and to add to his total of 9 points in both the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors Championship. Practice begins tonight
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Rick Barnes will race for Pacific Grand Prix at the next 3 rounds of the Championship after Pacific renewed his contract on Thursday.
“We've chosen Barnes because we can expect him to make a valuable contribution in this part of the season,” said Pacific Grand Prix team principal Keith Wiggins. “Barnes has shown throughout this year that he's fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run him in the next three rounds.”
Barnes hopes to be looking for more points finishes in the coming races and to add to his total of 9 points in both the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors Championship. Practice begins tonight
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GP2 championship, nce.
This reminds me that I should play it again these days, just my retro brain can't live without it.
The old classics will be always better than the newest games.
This reminds me that I should play it again these days, just my retro brain can't live without it.The old classics will be always better than the newest games.
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