F1RWRS -- 2014 Season

[AndreaModa]

Delighted with the result today, it's our first double points finish of the year and puts us just 4 points behind Gillet now. Having said that Kamaha are slowly closing in on us, and I think if their good form continues it's likely they'll overcome us at some point if we cannot maintain a steady rate of points finishes. Overall though we've both brought our cars home and with a solid qualifying session as well I think it's fair to say we've had one of our best weekends of the year, even though neither myself or Daniel ended up on the podium. I'll be looking to more of these results in the remaining races.

Finally I'd just like to say I'm delighted for Prospec and Jean-Luc Schiller for scoring their first point of the year. I've always admired the team, and it's been such a shame to see them trapped in pre-qualifying, so I sincerely hope this result will spur the team on to better things for the future. The most successful team in F1RWRS history deserves a better break than their currently enduring.

[Stramala]

Scuderia Alitalia create Press Release for no reason

Seeing as Scuderia Alitalia has been uncharacteristicly quiet and not saying everyone is doing everything wrong, is corrupt, is racist, or other similar name-calling, the team has decided to release a press release for no reason other than to make it look like we are actually doing anything.

"The harsh reality is, there are a bunch of people at the factory twiddling their thumbs until 2015 comes around," said COO Andrea Sassetti. "All effort is being put into 2015, which is making this season feel quite boring. Really, we're doing literally nothing in relation to the 2014 car or engine. So we're just sitting at our desks fiddling with stationery until the new season comes round and we can actually do something useful."

"I'm currently listening to The Cure while doing this interview, if that makes this thing at all interesting. Except this is not just like heaven, it's quite dire at the moment. OK, maybe not dire, just frustrating we are always the nearly-men of Pre-Qualifying, always the fourth fastest team in the session so just being knocked out, even though David Koczo is always in the Top 5 times for said session at every race."

As for 'enigmatic' team principal Alasdair Lindsay, not much has been heard from him recently. He was last known to be staying at a hotel in the city of Porto, spending all day in bed munching crisps and watching endless South Park reruns while waiting for a resolution to the ongoing CAS tribunal with the F1RWRS Commission.

[AdrianSutil]

Mitie Aviation halt progress on car

Fresh after announcing the line-up for the F2 squad, Mr.Alexander took time to answer questions about the F1 team. "Firstly, we have not 'given up' as others like Scuderia Alitalia and Shonan have done, we have just stopped development for this year. We have a decent amount of finances available for next year, and the TV revenue and pre-qualifying cup money will boost that even more. The money coming in from David's continued presence within the team has helped massively, so we are confident for next year."
The team must be disappointed with how this year has gone though, only one start for all their hard work. "Yeah, we would like to start more races, but this is a highly competitive series so it was always going to be tough. Acuri Autosport have been the best new team by miles, so well done to them. Shonan, Tropico and Dofasco have struggled whilst Mecha GP have a single start too. So we've done pretty well out of the new boys".
Contracts for next year are starting to take shape, with controversial Kay Lon being the favoured target for Mitie. "We spoke to Kay Lon a little while ago and talks are ongoing, he seems interested in what we have offered, so we should be able to make an announcement soon, which will hopefully be good news! As for the other drivers, we'd like to speak to Ashley Watkinson soon and if any other front-running drivers feel like a fresh challenge, they are more than welcome to pop into our garage at race weekend for a chat, we always have our door open."
two drivers who don't seem to have much of a future at the moment are Matthias Valsattis and Alexey Pchelintsev. But Mr.Alexander remains rather silent on the matter. "Matthias and Alexey are Mitie drivers at the moment. And we have no reason to discuss a contract renewal right now. There's still a handful of races to go and we will have news soon."

[Wizzie]

Davies to MRT in 2015?

As the silly season merry-go-round speeds up, the latest rumour that seems to be popping up is the rumour that Former World Champion Rhys Davies is about to make a move to Melrose Racing Team in 2015. Rumours that the 36 year old was about to make the switch picked up pace over the course of the Italian Grand Prix weekend when he was spotted wearing a MRT cap on several occasions during the weekend although not much can be read into it after MRT boss Daniel Melrose was found in a Holden Racing Team shirt a few weeks ago at the F2RWRS Czech Grand Prix, allegedly after some of his luggage got lost at Prague Airport a few days prior to the event.

While neither Melrose or Davies were available for comment, F2RWRS championship leader Mitchell Macklin has confirmed reports that he was initially considered for the drive before Melrose considered him too inexperienced for the time being. However, nobody has ruled out the option of Macklin running in the MRT car for the F1RWRS Mediterranean Grand Prix next weekend.

[MinardiFan95]

I've been hearing rumours that I'll be driving for MRT at the next round, but as much as I'd like to have another run in their car, I haven't been contacted by them at all. Don't tell me it was the Generic Times with their usual misinformation again...

[Stramala]

To: Ben Fleet
From: Andrea Sassetti
Subject: Contract Negotiations

Hello Ben,

Now we are approaching the end of the season, I feel this is the correct time to resume our contract negotiations. You may remember the only point we were still debating was the nature of refunding your payments should my team release you. For sake of fairness to the rest of the teams on the grid, I will not accept any offer that will advantage Foxdale alone, however any other compensation route will most likely be agreeable.

You are our first choice driver for next season, but please bear in mind we still wish to hire the best possible driver if you are not available, therefore we hope to conclude our negotiations by the upcoming season finale.

Yours sincerely,
Andrea Sassetti
COO, Scuderia Alitalia S.p.A.

Alitalia eyeing Schiller for Plan B

Rumours are circulating that should Scuderia Alitalia fail to land their publically known number one target Ben Fleet, that Jean-Luc Shiller is next on their shopping list. The Swiss rookie impressed at the last F1RWRS round by scoring Prospec's first point of the season with 6th place. Scuderia Alitalia refused to comment on the rumours directly however, instead stating; "We are currently evaluating our options for next season and negotiating with drivers. The identity of those drivers will remain confidential to protect their privacy."

[dr-baker]

To: Ben Fleet
From: Andrea Sassetti
Subject: Contract Negotiations

Hello Ben,

Now we are approaching the end of the season, I feel this is the correct time to resume our contract negotiations. You may remember the only point we were still debating was the nature of refunding your payments should my team release you. For sake of fairness to the rest of the teams on the grid, I will not accept any offer that will advantage Foxdale alone, however any other compensation route will most likely be agreeable.

You are our first choice driver for next season, but please bear in mind we still wish to hire the best possible driver if you are not available, therefore we hope to conclude our negotiations by the upcoming season finale.

Yours sincerely,
Andrea Sassetti
COO, Scuderia Alitalia S.p.A.

Dear Mr Sassetti,

Nobody else has yet come forward to offer me a drive, and I know that Pippa has another rookie in mind that will get a guest drive before the end of this year (with thoughts of next year). Therefore, I would be happy to sign.

In terms of compensation, I would suggest that 5 credits is paid to each and every team as a one-off payment if my contract is broken, plus an extra 5 credits additional compensation to Foxdale, as they are effectively my management team. Is this an acceptable offer?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet.

[dr-baker]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

Ben Fleet has just been telling me of the contract negotiations between yourselves and him. If the financial compensation package is deemed unacceptable, then I propose an alternative compensation idea that may be of interest. If you were to dismiss Ben Fleet before the end of the season, then I would have to choose his replacement at your team rather than yourself. Either option would be acceptable in this deal.

Yours sincerely,

Pippa Mann - Foxdale Auto Racing Team boss, Ben Fleet's manager.

[Stramala]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

Nobody else has yet come forward to offer me a drive, and I know that Pippa has another rookie in mind that will get a guest drive before the end of this year (with thoughts of next year). Therefore, I would be happy to sign.

In terms of compensation, I would suggest that 5 credits is paid to each and every team as a one-off payment if my contract is broken, plus an extra 5 credits additional compensation to Foxdale, as they are effectively my management team. Is this an acceptable offer?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet.

Dear Mr Sassetti,

Ben Fleet has just been telling me of the contract negotiations between yourselves and him. If the financial compensation package is deemed unacceptable, then I propose an alternative compensation idea that may be of interest. If you were to dismiss Ben Fleet before the end of the season, then I would have to choose his replacement at your team rather than yourself. Either option would be acceptable in this deal.

Yours sincerely,

Pippa Mann - Foxdale Auto Racing Team boss, Ben Fleet's manager.

To: Ben Fleet, Pippa Mann
From: Andrea Sassetti
Subject: RE: Contract negotiations

Mr Fleet,

We accept your terms vis-a-vis compensation. Just to clarify once again, the deal will last for 12 months, beginning 1 Dec if this is acceptable with your management & DGNgineering if your contract with them extends to after this date. You will have equal status with our other driver David Koczo throughout the season, unless one of you and one of you alone becomes a contender for the F1RWRS Drivers Championship late in the season.

Miss Mann, thank you for your input, but we prefer the freedom awarded to us with Mr Fleet's solution instead. If you would like to oversee the contract being signed and sealed you are welcome to join Mr Fleet at our Parma base. Please select a suitable date for both of you to fly out to Italy, and we will charter a flight from a local airport of your choice courtesy of Alitalia.

While results have been poor this season, this is due to the poor equipment we inherited from Trueba, and for next season we will have a much better package in place. Mr Fleet, you are welcome to tour our factory before putting pen to paper, but we would request Miss Mann avoid the manufacture and design wings of our Headquarters for obvious reasons.

Welcome to Scuderia Alitalia.

Yours sincerely,
Andrea Sassetti
COO, Scuderia Alitalia S.p.A.

[Wizzie]

I've been hearing rumours that I'll be driving for MRT at the next round, but as much as I'd like to have another run in their car, I haven't been contacted by them at all. Don't tell me it was the Generic Times with their usual misinformation again...

I almost get the feeling these "Generic Times" people are predicting almost everything we do. It's almost as if someone's putting the right words into their mouths... Anyways, it is true we are interested in your services mate and we'll send a copy of the contract to you later this afternoon if you so desire. Hell, if you do well enough in Cyprus, I might extend that contract to include the rest of the season because I have simply had it up to here of Spencer throwing away opportunities left, right and center.

[AndreaModa]

Some interesting team statistics following the Italian Grand Prix:

Gillet's two entries at Monza were their 100th and 101st in the series.

It was Acuri's 10th, GRM's 20th, and Kamaha's 65th (currently highest) race start.

Nicolas' pole position for MRT brought them level with DGNgineering for greatest number of pole positions ever, a total of 12. His race win also brought MRT's total number of podiums into double figures, with 10 overall now.

Jones Racing is now just 50 points behind leaders Prospec in the all-time points total. HRT are 80 points behind in third.

For those interested, I keep the teams' stats updated after every race on this page here: http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/List_of_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_Teams

[tristan1117]

Some interesting team statistics following the Italian Grand Prix:

Gillet's two entries at Monza were their 100th and 101st in the series.

It was Acuri's 10th, GRM's 20th, and Kamaha's 65th (currently highest) race start.

Nicolas' pole position for MRT brought them level with DGNgineering for greatest number of pole positions ever, a total of 12. His race win also brought MRT's total number of podiums into double figures, with 10 overall now.

Jones Racing is now just 50 points behind leaders Prospec in the all-time points total. HRT are 80 points behind in third.

For those interested, I keep the teams' stats updated after every race on this page here: http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/List_of_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_Teams

We have to be approaching Foxdale's consecutive double-DNFs record by now.

On the subject of team records, with their double-DNF in Italy, ARC has taken a new record in futility. ARC has not gotten a car to complete %90 distance in ten races, beating the thought-to-be insurmountable record set by Foxdale in 2013 (which was at 9 due to Ben Fleet's NC at the 2013 Dutch GP). ARC is also on course to beat Foxdale's record for least classifications in one season (2) and tie Foxdale's record for most double-DNFs in one season (14). This from a team that was in podium contention last year. Not to mention that ARC has divorced from its parent company, fired a capable driver for no reason, calls itself "American" Racing Conglomerate despite the fact that there is no American involvement (doesn't stop Force India...), lost a bet to Aladsair Lindsay, was involved in an embezzlement case and openly criticized all of its drivers and is basically broke after trying to salvage the season by investing in reliability. If that isn't one of the most rejectful seasons of all time, then I don't know what is.

[Wizzie]

Some interesting team statistics following the Italian Grand Prix:

Gillet's two entries at Monza were their 100th and 101st in the series.

It was Acuri's 10th, GRM's 20th, and Kamaha's 65th (currently highest) race start.

Nicolas' pole position for MRT brought them level with DGNgineering for greatest number of pole positions ever, a total of 12. His race win also brought MRT's total number of podiums into double figures, with 10 overall now.

Jones Racing is now just 50 points behind leaders Prospec in the all-time points total. HRT are 80 points behind in third.

For those interested, I keep the teams' stats updated after every race on this page here: http://f1alternate.wikkii.com/wiki/List_of_Formula_1_Rejects_World_Race_Series_Teams

And if you include MRT's previous guise at JLD, it'll be arguably the most successful team ever.

[AndreaModa]

Interestingly enough Wizzie, you're right to some degree. Just done a bit of maths, so here are the combined JLD/MRT stats:

Race starts: 64 (2nd overall behind Kamaha's 65)
No. of drivers: 7 (2nd behind GRM's 8)
No. of entries: 128 (=1st with Prospec)
No. of wins: 12 (1st)
Total points: 260 (2nd behind Prospec's 289)
No. of pole positions: 14 (1st)
No. of fastest laps: 12 (1st)
No. of podiums: 19 (2nd behind Prospec's 20)
No constructors or drivers titles however.

So it is definitely up there, but as we regard JLD and MRT as two separate teams, it's effectively killed off any chance MRT had of getting close to the front of some categories, especially starts, entries and points. Should have kept the team as JLD Wizzie!

[dr-baker]

To: Ben Fleet, Pippa Mann
From: Andrea Sassetti
Subject: RE: Contract negotiations

Mr Fleet,

We accept your terms vis-a-vis compensation. Just to clarify once again, the deal will last for 12 months, beginning 1 Dec if this is acceptable with your management & DGNgineering if your contract with them extends to after this date. You will have equal status with our other driver David Koczo throughout the season, unless one of you and one of you alone becomes a contender for the F1RWRS Drivers Championship late in the season.

Miss Mann, thank you for your input, but we prefer the freedom awarded to us with Mr Fleet's solution instead. If you would like to oversee the contract being signed and sealed you are welcome to join Mr Fleet at our Parma base. Please select a suitable date for both of you to fly out to Italy, and we will charter a flight from a local airport of your choice courtesy of Alitalia.

While results have been poor this season, this is due to the poor equipment we inherited from Trueba, and for next season we will have a much better package in place. Mr Fleet, you are welcome to tour our factory before putting pen to paper, but we would request Miss Mann avoid the manufacture and design wings of our Headquarters for obvious reasons.

Welcome to Scuderia Alitalia.

Yours sincerely,
Andrea Sassetti
COO, Scuderia Alitalia S.p.A.

Dear Mr Sassetti,

You've got yourself a deal! Shall we come and visit to sign the contract immediately following the next race? Pippa shall be in attendance, and Douglas has asked if he could tag along too. Apparently it is to keep Pippa company while you and I look around the manufacture and design wings of your HQ.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet

[Stramala]

Dear Mr Sassetti,

You've got yourself a deal! Shall we come and visit to sign the contract immediately following the next race? Pippa shall be in attendance, and Douglas has asked if he could tag along too. Apparently it is to keep Pippa company while you and I look around the manufacture and design wings of your HQ.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Ben Fleet

Dear Mr Fleet,

No problem, all three of you can join our private Alitalia charter direct to Parma after the Akrotiri Bay race. Don't worry about the language barrier by the way, Scuderia Alitalia is a multi-national team with influences from all over Europe, UK included. I'm not sure how well you know David Koczo, but he will be your team-mate next year and is also returning to Parma with us before going home to Budapest, so perhaps you two can get to know each other and build up a dialogue ahead of next season.

Yours sincerely,
Andrea Sassetti
COO, Scuderia Alitalia S.p.A.

RWRS charity football match proposed by Lindsay

Scuderia Alitalia team boss and Parma F.C. shareholder Alasdair Lindsay has proposed a new annual charity football match, featuring a special XI of past and present Parma F.C. players facing off against a team made up of Reject World Race Series drivers.

"I feel this is a great way for the sport to give something back to society, and at the same time giving us the opportunity to point and laugh at how horrendous some of the drivers are at other sports. It's a win-win," said Lindsay. "In all seriousness, every player will be able to choose their own cause, and a certain % of the money raised will go to their nominated charity."

"As for players, I've already got in contact with some people. Gigi Buffon, Alessandro Nesta and Pippo Inzaghi all sound keen to represent the Parma side, and we'll throw a small selection of non-Parma players into the Rejects XI to give them half a chance! And perhaps a driver or two could end up in the Parma XI as well, it would be interesting to see both Lucarellis [Napoli striker Cristiano and Parma Corse driver Alessandro] partnering one another up front!"

"Right now, nothing is for certain. I'm going to start contacting the drivers, seeing how many of them are interested in participating. Offers are open to F1RWRS, F2RWRS and F3RWRS drivers past and present. I think we need to persuade Daggers to play up-front for the Rejects XI, it would be strange not to see him there."

A date is yet to be announced for the possible fixture, however instead of Parma's home ground Stadio Ennio Tardini, the match is expected to be hosted in Genoa's Stadio Luigi Ferraris or Florence's Stadio Artemio Franchi.

[Warren Hughes]

RWRS charity football match proposed by Lindsay

Scuderia Alitalia team boss and Parma F.C. shareholder Alasdair Lindsay has proposed a new annual charity football match, featuring a special XI of past and present Parma F.C. players facing off against a team made up of Reject World Race Series drivers.

"I feel this is a great way for the sport to give something back to society, and at the same time giving us the opportunity to point and laugh at how horrendous some of the drivers are at other sports. It's a win-win," said Lindsay. "In all seriousness, every player will be able to choose their own cause, and a certain % of the money raised will go to their nominated charity."

"As for players, I've already got in contact with some people. Gigi Buffon, Alessandro Nesta and Pippo Inzaghi all sound keen to represent the Parma side, and we'll throw a small selection of non-Parma players into the Rejects XI to give them half a chance! And perhaps a driver or two could end up in the Parma XI as well, it would be interesting to see both Lucarellis [Napoli striker Cristiano and Parma Corse driver Alessandro] partnering one another up front!"

"Right now, nothing is for certain. I'm going to start contacting the drivers, seeing how many of them are interested in participating. Offers are open to F1RWRS, F2RWRS and F3RWRS drivers past and present. I think we need to persuade Daggers to play up-front for the Rejects XI, it would be strange not to see him there."

A date is yet to be announced for the possible fixture, however instead of Parma's home ground Stadio Ennio Tardini, the match is expected to be hosted in Genoa's Stadio Luigi Ferraris or Florence's Stadio Artemio Franchi.

This is a great idea! I would be interested in playing, but I am tragically hopeless with a ball at my feet. My brother's a lot better than me at football, he'll be well up for it.

[tommykl]

Sure, I'd be up for a good game. I used to be quite good as a lad...

Well, I don't see why not...OK, put me up for it!

[JeremyMcClean]

ARROWTECH INTERESTED IN SIGNING MITCHELL MACKLIN
According to the local resources, ArrowTech is apparently interested in signing F2RWRS Star Mitchell Macklin. The rumours of a driver replacing Daniel Martins came about after he announced that he was stepping down from his position at the end of the season. The Fox was not available to comment, apparently busy on helping to design the 2015 car. In other news, there is reports that The Fox's brother, whose name is unknown, might come on the design team.

[Wizzie]

Macklin signed a deal with Simpson Motorsport a few months ago my friend. However, there's the equally talented Alberto Cara still on the market if you feel like negotiating with Mr Lon.

[JeremyMcClean]

Macklin signed a deal with Simpson Motorsport a few months ago my friend. However, there's the equally talented Alberto Cara still on the market if you feel like negotiating with Mr Lon.

Jeez, I keep missing these details... there should be a name for this...

Before I go on to anything else, who owns Rosco Vantini?

[Wizzie]

Macklin signed a deal with Simpson Motorsport a few months ago my friend. However, there's the equally talented Alberto Cara still on the market if you feel like negotiating with Mr Lon.

Jeez, I keep missing these details... there should be a name for this...

Before I go on to anything else, who owns Rosco Vantini?

SuperAguri but he looks like he might just be snared by Prospec. Still, it's worth a shot trying to outbid them for his services.

[JeremyMcClean]

Macklin signed a deal with Simpson Motorsport a few months ago my friend. However, there's the equally talented Alberto Cara still on the market if you feel like negotiating with Mr Lon.

Jeez, I keep missing these details... there should be a name for this...

Before I go on to anything else, who owns Rosco Vantini?

SuperAguri but he looks like he might just be snared by Prospec. Still, it's worth a shot trying to outbid them for his services.

Sounds good.

ARROWTECH INTERESTED IN SIGNING ROSCO VANTINI
And blah blah blah

[Stramala]

ARROWTECH INTERESTED IN SIGNING ROSCO VANTINI
And blah blah blah

By the way, you control both Acuri Autosport and ArrowTech right? Has everyone forgotten the 2015 rule changes? One team per series per owner. That means you have to either merge Acuri and ArrowTech or shut one down. So you have four drivers at the moment that will need to be condensed into two anyway! And actually, Ron Mignolet/Mirko Bosevic sounds like quite a decent lineup to me

[the Masked Lapwing]

ARROWTECH INTERESTED IN SIGNING ROSCO VANTINI
And blah blah blah

By the way, you control both Acuri Autosport and ArrowTech right? Has everyone forgotten the 2015 rule changes? One team per series per owner. That means you have to either merge Acuri and ArrowTech or shut one down. So you have four drivers at the moment that will need to be condensed into two anyway! And actually, Ron Mignolet/Mirko Bosevic sounds like quite a decent lineup to me

Aerond said that if they were unrelated, as in the case of ArrowTech and Acuri, it was fine.

[Stramala]

By the way, you control both Acuri Autosport and ArrowTech right? Has everyone forgotten the 2015 rule changes? One team per series per owner. That means you have to either merge Acuri and ArrowTech or shut one down. So you have four drivers at the moment that will need to be condensed into two anyway! And actually, Ron Mignolet/Mirko Bosevic sounds like quite a decent lineup to me

Aerond said that if they were unrelated, as in the case of ArrowTech and Acuri, it was fine.

The change was approved by the F1RTA. One team per user per series, regardless of whether they are "related" or not, and 5 drivers in the F1RWRS heirarchy.

I guess this means this will be a watershed moment for the F1RTA. Will its rules be enforcable? If people start ignoring the one team rule, why should I obey the five driver rule? If people don't follow the new for 2015 rules and cut back team numbers, prepare for a flood of Scuderia Alitalia Giovanle Squadra drivers entering the RWRS heirarchy (as if there wasn't already lots of them anyway).

[AndreaModa]

As far as I'm concerned, it's one team per member per series, and 5 drivers over the whole RWRS.

SuperAguri is relinquishing control of Sunshine because of this rule. I don't see how hard it is for anyone else to do a similar thing. I'm not accusing anyone of foul play, I just want to see as many people as possible given the chance to enter a team and stand a chance of being competitive. If we take either HRT or GRM and either ArrowTech or Acuri out of the field, how many times would Mitie, Mecha and Dofasco have raced? Hell even Shonan might have made qualifying a few times.

Unless someone can come up with a very good excuse for allowing members to run two teams in a single series, I'm afraid my position is final. This also includes Aerond, because I really think it's quite unfair that regularly contributing members are continually shafted at the back of the grid because slots further up are filled with members' second teams.

Remember, it's only a game, and if it's not fun for people then why are they taking part? I've already seen enough evidence this year of members with teams towards the back not really enjoying things, and that's not fair. We either have the same rules for everyone, or it goes out of the window. I appreciate that I've granted Kostas22 an exception to the 5 driver limit for the 2015 season, but the circumstances were exceptional, and I've since given a warning that I won't accept any further such incidents, and that includes multiple teams.

Now, any further discussion on this matter can be taken over to the F1RTA thread please, so we don't clutter this one up. Thanks.

[Wizzie]

On a technicality, Mr McClean doesn't own ArrowTech

EDIT: And besides, Aerond's already given the green light of a HRT/GRM merger at the end of the year.

[Stramala]

On a technicality, Mr McClean doesn't own ArrowTech

And what technicality is that? Who does own ArrowTech then?

[Wizzie]

On a technicality, Mr McClean doesn't own ArrowTech

And what technicality is that? Who does own ArrowTech then?

It's a 50/50 split between Jeremy McClean and SuperAguri. Which is exactly why Melrose left the team in the first place

[eurobrun]

I think TMLW said that he would shut down GRM next year.

[the Masked Lapwing]

HRT and GRM to merge into one
Garry Rogers Motorsport announced today that they would be winding up operations at the end of the year. Several teams have complained that they are acting as a b-team for the Holden Racing Team, and to avoid any controversy, they have decided to merge into one. They will still be known as HRT next year, but is understood that GRM's major sponsor Valvoline will now act as title sponsors for HRT.
On the driver front, it is believed that Frank Zimmer will make a return to his old team, although who the second driver will be is unknown. HRT will in theory go for an experienced driver, and Daniel Melrose and Nathanael Spencer are rumoured to be at the top of the list. However, this means that Rhys Davies will most likely leave the team, and the future of Poppy Whitechapel is also yet to be decided.
Meanwhile, Garry Rogers will now take over the running of HRT's F2RWRS team, who will be known as the GRM Holden Young Lions.

Might as well make it official

[AdrianSutil]

Just a thought, if there's one or two teams dropping out next year, will new teams enter? Or do we leave the field a little smaller? I'm only saying as those in pre-qualifying might have a better chance of making the grid on a regular basis (as pointed out on the previous page), if there's less teams to compete for the 26 spots.

I won't be too impressed if two new teams come in, and straightaway make competitive times keeping me out of qualifying again

[Wizzie]

Just a thought, if there's one or two teams dropping out next year, will new teams enter? Or do we leave the field a little smaller? I'm only saying as those in pre-qualifying might have a better chance of making the grid on a regular basis (as pointed out on the previous page), if there's less teams to compete for the 26 spots.

I won't be too impressed if two new teams come in, and straightaway make competitive times keeping me out of qualifying again

But, at the same times, we have to include new teams so more members can be involved.*

*Plus, the Concordski agreement which I made up 5 seconds ago and will be signed by F1RTA president Sammy Jones requires 20 teams as part of the deal

[eurobrun]

I think I would be next in line if another entry drops out.(could somebody please check that) So I would be really annoyed if I had to miss out on an entry because of reducing the number of cars.

[Wizzie]

I think I would be next in line if another entry drops out.(could somebody please check that) So I would be really annoyed if I had to miss out on an entry because of reducing the number of cars.

Actually, I think it's Simpson Motorsport first and then your team but I'm not 100% sure on that

[MinardiFan95]

Simpson Motorsports announces official F1RWRS entry

The worst kept secret of the season is finally out, Simpson Motorsports now has an official F1RWRS entry spot after the merger between HRT and GRM was finally announced last night. Dave Simpson was quick to announce his team's official entry into the top tier of RWRS competition, after running in the current F2RWRS season. The team also announced their major sponsor for next season, Gulf, who will now also have the Simpson F2RWRS cars branded in their livery as well as the signing of future star Mitchell Macklin, who is currently dominating in F2RWRS.

[eurobrun]

I think I would be next in line if another entry drops out.(could somebody please check that) So I would be really annoyed if I had to miss out on an entry because of reducing the number of cars.

Actually, I think it's Simpson Motorsport first and then your team but I'm not 100% sure on that

Either way I will probably get an entry next year

[Wizzie]

Simpson Motorsports announces official F1RWRS entry

The worst kept secret of the season is finally out, Simpson Motorsports now has an official F1RWRS entry spot after the merger between HRT and GRM was finally announced last night. Dave Simpson was quick to announce his team's official entry into the top tier of RWRS competition, after running in the current F2RWRS season. The team also announced their major sponsor for next season, Gulf, who will now also have the Simpson F2RWRS cars branded in their livery as well as the signing of future star Mitchell Macklin, who is currently dominating in F2RWRS.

Err... about that. Many weeks in the future, Mr Macklin got himself a race ban from the FedEx 100 for being a muppet and that carries over to next year's Tasman Grand Prix.

[MinardiFan95]

Err... about that. Many weeks in the future, Mr Macklin got himself a race ban from the FedEx 100 for being a muppet and that carries over to next year's Tasman Grand Prix.

...of course, that's in the future, so we'll not mention that until it actually happens in F1RWRS-land... (speaking of which, if the first round of the F2RWRS doesn't clash with it, then I've already got my second driver for that round chosen)