The 'F1 Challenge' Championship- 1999 Season

[Jack O Melley]

I'm quite satisfied with today result; I have struggled all Friday in order to find an optimal setup for the circuit, but I met too much electrical problems to test the solutions enough. After all 20th place is not too bad. But we know that the time do not reflects our and car's real potentialities, given that my teammate managed to qualify in a fantastic 10th place, and we will do more and more test so as to improve our lap time.

[dr-baker]

Holy merde!

OY! I understood that!

Sorry. After I left my computer and was driving my car, I suddenly realised that there were young, corruptable Francophones on here. Je suis desole. I am also sorry that my keyboard does not have accented e's.

[tommykl]

Holy merde!

OY! I understood that!

Sorry. After I left my computer and was driving my car, I suddenly realised that there were young, corruptable Francophones on here. Je suis desole. I am also sorry that my keyboard does not have accented e's.

Pas de probleme! I still hear that word around 15 times a day.

By the way, private circumstances mean I also don't have a keyboard with accented e's either.

[Pointrox]

I'm quite satisfied with my result, although being outqualified by my teammate by such a little margin is a real pain in the...
Let's hope for a good result tomorrow.

[Shadaza]

Melbourne, Australia - Qualifying

Code: Select all

1. Douglas Mann  Williams-Renault  1:31.052
2. Darren Older Jnr  Arrows-Yamaha  1:31.356
3. Daniel Melrose  Jordan-Peugeot  1:31.369
4. Thomas De Bock  Sauber-Petronas  1:31.403
5. Tristan Jung  Minardi-Hart  1:31.422
6. Hagane Shizuka  Benetton-Renault  1:31.646
7. Jeroen Krautmeir  Prost-Mugen Honda  1:31.673
8. Damon Cannon  Arrows-Yamaha  1:31.852


A good Result in qualifying for Arrows puts us in good stead for the race. Slightly concerning that the gap ahead is 0.3, as that same 0.3 margin seperates 2-7 with Damon not far off that! It looks close folks.

[tristan1117]

Fifth place in qualifying for a Minardi! I can't wait for karma to set in and for me to crash out in the race.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Way to make Melrose get cocky again, Jeroen...

But it seems the tables have been turned from the first F1RWRS season, right tommy?

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Melbourne, Australia - Race
*Please note that by switching camera views all the time, it's impossible for me to catch all the action, so I may have missed some stuff.

Lap 1/20:
Melrose is quick of the line, and squeezes ahead of Older Jnr, and nearly takes Mann for first. Pippa Mann however, has stalled on the grid, but miraculously, nobody has hit him! Tristan Jung begins holding up a line of three cars; Shizuka's Benetton, Krautmeir's Prost and Cannon's Arrows. Ed Kevin's McLaren soon comes to a halt however, with a burned clutch.

Lap 2/20:
Shizuka tries another move on Jung, but comes too close and slams into the Minardi's rear, taking them both out of the race! Further back, McAllister is making ground, and overtakes Spencer. Further up, Melrose and Older Jnr stay relatively close together, and the gap between the two with Mann is around 2 seconds. No changes in race position, but Krautmeir is catching De Bock, albeit at quite a slow rate.

Lap 3/20:
The gap between Mann and Melrose comes down to 1.6 seconds, with Older Jnr just 0.2 seconds behind Melrose. Krautmeir is closing on De Bock, but Zimmer is doing that to him at a quicker rate (guess). At the back, Roda's engine blows up. The full order is Mann, Melrose, Older Jnr, De Bock, Krautmeir, Zimmer, Cannon, Chapman, Zapatero, Klok, Herrtz, Hughes, McAllister, Spencer, Christopherson, Davies, Koczo.

Lap 4/20:
The skies are getting dark, and the threat of rain looms. No real race events to take note of.

Lap 5/20:
Still not a drop of rain. McAllister makes it past Hughes, but is still some distance away from catching Herrtz. Right at the back, Davies' suspension collapses.

Lap 6/20:
Melrose sets the fastest lap. The gap between Mann and Melrose is now 1.4 seconds. Krautmeir is now less than 0.5 seconds behind De Bock, but Zimmer is already on Krautmeir's tail! No changes in position, and no mechanical failures.

Lap 7/20:
Herrtz is all over Klok! The two teammates are fighting it out here, with McAllister looking for the chance to capitalize. The skies are still dark, but still no water dropping from the sky.

Lap 8/20:
The rain is falling! The first five dive in, leaving Zimmer in the lead, but on dry tyres. On that same lap, Mann and Melrose pass him, and Older Jnr, De Bock and Krautmeir soon do the same.

Lap 9/20:
The cars which haven't pit, pit. Krautmeir takes the inside line on the front straight, and passes De Bock for fourth. It's now Mann from Melrose, Older Jnr, Krautmeir, De Bock and Chapman, who has gained time during the pitstops.

Lap 10/20:
Zapatero's suspension collapses, and the full order is; Mann, Melrose, Older Jnr, Krautmeir, De Bock, Chapman, Zimmer, Klok, McAllister, Hughes, Spencer, Christopherson, Koczo.

Lap 11/20:
Krautmeir is closing on Older Jnr, with a 7 second gap to cover. Zimmer, meanwhile, is rapidly catching Chapman.

Lap 13/20:
Older Jnr clips the wall! He loses his rear wing and spins. Krautmeir takes third with no contest, and the race is over for Older Jnr in the Arrows. Zimmer still tails Chapman, but can't seem to find a way past.

Lap 14/20:
Zimmer takes the outside line on the front straight, and squeezes past Chapman in fashion.

Lap 15-20/20
No changes in anything, and everyone manages to keep on the road. Mann takes victory for Williams, ahead of Melrose's Jordan and Krautmeir's Prost.

RACE FINISHERS

Code: Select all

1. Douglas Mann  Williams-Renault
2. Daniel Melrose  Jordan-Peugeot  +3.452
3. Jeroen Krautmeir  Prost-Mugen Honda  +12.935
4. Thomas de Bock  Sauber-Petronas  +24.532
5. John Zimmer  Sauber-Petronas  +42.919
6. James Chapman  Benetton-Renault  +1.02.641
7. Phoenix McAllister  McLaren-Mercedes  +1 LAP
8. Emil Klok  Tyrrell-Ford  +1 LAP
9. Warren Hughes  Stewart-Ford  +1 LAP
10. Nathanael Spencer  Minardi-Hart  +1 LAP
11. Jack Christopherson  Jordan-Peugeot  +1 LAP
12. David Koczo  Stewart-Ford  +1 LAP

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Code: Select all

1. Douglas Mann- 10
2. Daniel Melrose- 6
3. Jeroen Krautmeir- 4
4. Thomas de Bock- 3
5. John Zimmer- 2
6. James Chapman- 1

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Code: Select all

1. Williams-Renault= 10
2. Jordan-Peugeot= 6
3. Sauber-Petronas= 5
4. Prost-Mugen Honda= 4
5. Benetton-Renault= 1

I don't think I should continue with the race reports, because I'm pretty certain I mixed up a few events and missed out quite a few events...

[Wizzie]

Pippa Mann however, has stalled on the grid, but miraculously, nobody has hit him!

Do I need to point out Pippa is Douglas' sister?

And to think we almost cured Pho-english...

[tristan1117]

Fifth place in qualifying for a Minardi! I can't wait for karma to set in and for me to crash out in the race.

Well, that didn't take long at all. 2 laps in and its all over.

[the Masked Lapwing]

I don't think I should continue with the race reports, because I'm pretty certain I mixed up a few events and missed out quite a few events...

But it keeps it interesting! As long as you catch most passes, and stay on top of crashes/mechanical issues, you should be fine.

[East Londoner]

Well, after such a promising qualifying, that was a disaster of a race for the Arrows team. I have no idea what went wrong for me, and poor Darren, he could have taken 3rd, had his wing held out. There is always next race, I suppose, where things should be better. They must be better, surely...

[Shizuka]

Fifth place in qualifying for a Minardi! I can't wait for karma to set in and for me to crash out in the race.

Well, that didn't take long at all. 2 laps in and its all over.

Apologies for the accident, this was totally my fault
And congratulations to my teammate scoring points!

[dr-baker]

Woo hoo! Oh yeah... To think that Williams were having to choose between me and Jacques Villeneuve! I bet that, even with such a brilliant car, he would have messed up and force the car to spill oil everywhere or something... But I didn't and I want to thank Williams for giving me the chance and to the Australian marshalls for moving my SISTER's Lola off the grid so quickly, thereby preventing a safety car.

Yeah, congratulations to my brother on his debut victory. But don't forget what happened to Giancarlo Baghetti after winning his debut race, Dougie! He never won again.

And about my stall. That I can live with. It's something that the team and I can work on to stop it happening again. But to then be referred to as a male! Doesn't the commentator remember checking out my airbags last night? He seemed to be taking a fair bit of notice then... "To make sure they comply with regulations..."

[James1978]

Wooooo, a point!!

[Nuppiz]

I see that there's still one seat available at Ferrari. Put Nick Nurmester there, please?

[tommykl]

But it seems the tables have been turned from the first F1RWRS season, right tommy?

You bet they have!

[Phoenix]

I don't know what could've happened in qualifying, but the car was a mess. It was solved in the race, though, but I'll talk with the engineers to avoid those occurences in the future.

[QuickYoda41]

For a new team we had a good race; we managed to finish with both cars under difficult circumstances. And I'm sure we'll have better results.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Qualifying

Code: Select all

1. Miguel Zapatero  Ferrari  1:16.691
2. Darren Older Jnr  Arrows-Yamaha  1:16.771
3. Jeroen Krautmeir  Prost-Mugen  1:16.803
4. David Koczo  Stewart-Ford  1:16.885
5. Douglas Mann  Williams-Renault  1:16.936
6. Hagane Shizuka  Benetton-Renault  1:17.175
7. Phoenix McAllister  McLaren-Mercedes  1:17.184
8. James Chapman  Benetton-Renault  1:17.333
9. Mitch Herrtz  Tyrrell-Ford  1:17.426
10. Nick Nurmester  Ferrari  1:17.428
11. James Davies  Prost-Mugen  1:17.469
12. Nathanael Spencer  Minardi-Hart  1:17.622
13. Ed Kevin  McLaren-Mercedes  1:17.888
14. John Zimmer  Sauber-Petronas  1:18.107
15. Thomas de Bock  Sauber-Petronas  1:18.126
16. Warren Hughes  Stewart-Ford  1:18.200
17. Pippa Mann  Lola-Ford  1:18.301
18. Jack Christopherson  Jordan-Peugeot  1:18.375
19. Daniel Melrose  Jordan-Peugeot  1:18.549
20. Damon Cannon  Arrows-Yamaha  1:18.754
21. Giovanni Roda  Lola-Ford  1:19.007
22. Tristan Jung  Minardi-Hart  1:19.116
23. Emil Klok  Tyrrell-Ford  1:19.203

The management of F1CC would like to apologize for mistaking the gender of Pippa Mann. We accept the fact that we are to blame, and we apologize for any 'inconvenience' caused.

[East Londoner]

Dreadful. Absolutly dreadful performance from my car today. Bloody Yamaha piece of rubbish. And yet Darren has put the exact same car into 2nd. How can that be? In for a tough race tomorrow if I want points.

[Nuppiz]

An average qualifying for me, if I wouldn't have had that slide at Juncao, I might have been near where my team mate is now.

[dr-baker]

The management of F1CC would like to apologize for mistaking the gender of Pippa Mann. We accept the fact that we are to blame, and we apologize for any 'inconvenience' caused.

I accept the humble apology of the management of F1CC and am glad that they do not wish to capitalise on the success of women in their championship for their own marketing success.

However, I am sad that I couldn't equal my qualifying performance from Melbourne. Let's hope I can make it a bit further this time...

[FullMetalJack]

18th on the grid twice in a row. Not good, at least Jordan are 2nd in the Constructors Championship.

[Shizuka]

Sixth position is a good opportunity for points tomorrow...
...if I don't run into somebody

[Ferrim]

"Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!", said Miguel Zapatero after scoring his first pole position of the year. "The other day we didn't had neither the speed nor the reliability. Today we have proven to have the first, and I hope tomorrow we'll show to have the second as well!"

[Jack O Melley]

I am not much satisfied with the 21st place in the grid, especially because we are dealing with lots, too much problems with the engine, electonics and car's handling and the car doesn't want to go faster. By the way, I hope in finishing the race in a respectable place tomorrow, or in finishing the race at least .

[AndreaModa]

Eee by gum! I was running champion in t'first 'arf of t'race but somehow t'bloody commentators forget about me other 'arf of t'race! I'm still waiting to find out what 'appened, and qualifying for Brazil's been done! Not gonna compain 'bout that though! Shame for ar Emil though but top ten is grand!

[Shadaza]

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Qualifying

Code: Select all

1. Miguel Zapatero  Ferrari  1:16.691
2. Darren Older Jnr  Arrows-Yamaha  1:16.771
3. Jeroen Krautmeir  Prost-Mugen  1:16.803
4. David Koczo  Stewart-Ford  1:16.885
5. Douglas Mann  Williams-Renault  1:16.936
6. Hagane Shizuka  Benetton-Renault  1:17.175
7. Phoenix McAllister  McLaren-Mercedes  1:17.184
8. James Chapman  Benetton-Renault  1:17.333

20. Damon Cannon  Arrows-Yamaha  1:18.754


The perfect tonic for almost doing well is to almost get pole...again. Hopefully I can hold it together for the race. Hopefully Damon can recover from qualy after clearly being held up by traffic

[QuickYoda41]

I hope the game doesn't contain the Interlagos-jinx for Rubens's car, it'd be great to convert this great grid position into points.

[Wizzie]

Can we put Chris Dagnall in the other Williams and make him 500 times better than everyone else?

[tristan1117]

Well, obviously my performance today was disappointing. I just couldn't get the car into a rhythm. Of course, its quite disheartening when you drop from 5th to 22nd in two rounds, however, I must congratulate my teammate Nathaniel Spencer for qualifying 12th!

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Race

Lap 1/20:
The lights go out, and Zapatero and Older Jnr get away in first and second. However, there is mayhem behind them, as Hagane Shizuka attempts an over-ambitious move on Douglas Mann, taking both out. McAllister and Chapman are also caught out, and there is now a pile of expensive racing cars near the Senna S. Everyone else makes it through, though at a slow pace. Up ahead, it's Zapatero from Older Jnr, Krautmeir, Koczo, Herrtz and Nurmester.

Lap 2/20:
Older Jnr is hanging on to Zapatero, but Krautmeir has fallen behind a bit, and now faces the claws of Koczo in the Stewart.

Lap 3/20:
Older Jnr attempts a move at the Senna S, but fails to pass. He tries again at the next corner, but Zapatero holds firm. At the back, Daniel Melrose nearly takes out his teammate, Jack Christopherson in a move similar to Shizuka's, but the two Jordan's survive, and continue the race. Damon Cannon's suspension collapses. The full order is Zapatero, Older Jnr, Krautmeir, Koczo, Herrtz, Nurmester, Davies, de Bock, Kevin, Spencer, Zimmer, Mann, Hughes, Christopherson, Melrose, Roda, Jung and Klok.

Lap 4/20:
Pippa Mann gets past John Zimmer, and proceeds to attack Spencer, who is right in front of her.

Lap 5/20:
Koczo finally passes Krautmeir, while up ahead, Older Jnr attempts another move on Zapatero, but fails again.

Lap 6/20:
Krautmeir's engine blows up, promoting Herrtz to fourth, Nurmester to fifth, and Davies to sixth.

Lap 7/20:
Older Jnr sets the fastest lap. Other than that, no action.

Lap 8/20:
Mann overtakes Spencer for ninth. Melrose tries to pass his teammate again, and ends up losing his front wing, necessitating a pit stop. Roda and Jung pass him on the same lap.

Lap 9/20:
Older Jnr goes for it at the Senna S, but is forced off the racing line by Zapatero. The Arrows driver doesn't lose much time, however, and continues in hot pursuit. He gets extremely close at Laranja, but decides against a move. Then, on the approach to Juncao, he takes the outside line, and swerves right into Zapatero's racing line, forcing the Ferrari to brake desperately, and lose the lead.

Lap 10/20:
The full order is Older Jnr, Zapatero, Koczo, Herrtz, Nurmester, Davies, de Bock, Mann, Kevin, Spencer, Zimmer, Hughes, Christopherson, Roda, Jung, Klok and Melrose, who has been lapped. Older Jnr sets a new fastest lap.

Lap 11/20:
Pippa Mann's brakes fail! Her Lola goes flying into the barriers, rendering her hard work of getting all the way up to 8th from 17th on the grid, redundant. Nurmester sets the fastest lap, and begins to close in on Herrtz.

Lap 12/20:
Klok gets lapped by the leaders. Nurmester is edging closer and closer to Herrtz, while behind these two, John Zimmer passes Spencer in the Minardi for ninth.

Lap 13/20:
Older Jnr has built a small gap between himself and Zapatero. Koczo is maintaining his third place, while behind him Nurmester is now less than a second behind Herrtz. At the back, Melrose's engine fails, ending a dismal weekend for the Jordan driver.

Lap 14/20:
Thomas de Bock's gearbox fails, promoting Kevin to seventh and Zimmer to eighth. Nurmester is 0.6 seconds behind Herrtz now.

Lap 15/20:
Full order; Older Jnr, Zapatero, Koczo, Herrtz, Nurmester, Davies, Kevin, Zimmer, Hughes, Christopherson, Roda, Jung and Klok. Nurmester now 0.4 seconds behind Herrtz.

Lap 16/20:
Koczo sets the fastest lap, but is nowhere near Zapatero in front of him, and will probably end third, should he avoid any unfortunate events. Nurmester is now all over Herrtz, and attempts moves at Ferradura and Juncao.

Lap 17/20:
Nurmester runs out fuel! His effort has just gone down the toilet. Still, the rookie has shown that he has talent, and he could be a possible title challenger.

Lap 18/20:
With the elimination of Nurmester, the top 6 are Older Jnr, Zapatero, Koczo, Herrtz, Davies and Kevin. Zimmer, however, might just spoil it for the McLaren team, as he is not too far behind Kevin.

Lap 19/20:
There are no changers in the order, and it looks like Zimmer has ruled out a charge against Kevin.

Lap 20-Finish/20:
Last lap, and Older Jnr is around 4 seconds ahead of Zapatero. As the Arrows driver approaches the finish line, his engine blows up! He manages to keep the car going, however, and finishes first. A great result for him, and the Arrows team!

RACE FINISHERS

Code: Select all

1. Darren Older Jnr  Arrows-Yamaha
2. Miguel Zapatero  Ferrari  +2.351
3. David Koczo  Stewart-Ford  +18.205
4. Mitch Herrtz  Tyrrell-Ford  +23.000
5. James Davies  Prost-Mugen  +31.623
6. Ed Kevin  McLaren-Mercedes  +46.245
7. John Zimmer  Sauber-Petronas  +47.014
8. Jack Christopherson  Jordan-Peugeot  +1:01.429
9. Giovanni Roda  Lola-Ford  +1:04.622
10. Tristan Jung  Minardi-Hart  +1:10.857
11. Emil Klok  Tyrrell-Ford  +1 LAP

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Code: Select all

1. Douglas Mann- 10 (Ahead thanks to pole position in Australia)
2. Darren Older Jnr- 10
3. Miguel Zapatero- 6 (Ahead thanks to pole position in Brazil)
4. Daniel Melrose- 6
5. David Koczo- 4 (Ahead thanks to 12th in Australia)
6. Jeroen Krautmeir- 4
7. Thomas de Bock- 3 (Ahead thanks to 4th place in Australia quali)
8. Mitch Herrtz- 3
9. John Zimmer- 2 (Ahead thanks to 7th in Brazil)
10. James Davies- 2
11. James Chapman- 1 (Ahead thanks to 8th in Brazil quali)
12. Ed Kevin- 1

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Code: Select all

1. Williams-Renault= 10 (Ahead thanks to Mann's pole position in Australia)
2. Arrows-Yamaha= 10
3. Ferrari= 6 (Ahead thanks to Zapatero's pole)
4. Jordan-Peugeot= 6 (Ahead thanks to Melrose's 2nd in Australia)
5. Prost-Mugen Honda= 6
6. Sauber-Petronas= 5
7. Stewart-Ford= 4
8. Benetton-Renault= 1
9. McLaren-Mercedes= 1

[Shizuka]

Hagane Shizuka of F1CC = Katayama of F1.
Sorry Doug

[Wizzie]

Obviously I'm extremally happy with the result at Australia but here at Brazil the balance of the car disappeared completely as the wretched thing was oversteering all over the place. I'ld also like to take this oppertunity to apoligise to my teammate Jack for nearly taking him out twice in one race.

[dr-baker]

Hagane Shizuka of F1CC = Katayama of F1.
Sorry Doug

One day in the future, in about 13 years, all will be forgiven and I will form a team for you called Manx-Anglo-Nippon Racing and we shall compete in a series called F1RWRS!

[East Londoner]

What a wretched weekend that was for me. If only I hadn't taken a knock from someone in the first corner, I might well have made the points, considering the attrition. A BIG well done to my teamate for bringing Arrows its first win in nearly 20 years of competing in F1.

[Ferrim]

This is what Miguel Zapatero had to say:

"First of all I wanna thank the whole team for giving me this fantastic car today; they've done a great job. However, I'm very angry with Older. He was continously overdriving, and we nearly crashed once. But he just kept driving as if I wasn't there, until he finally drove into my car! I was very lucky to avoid being hit. I guess the guy was playing Destruction Derby the other night! I am very dissapointed that the stewards have declined to act against him: this shouldn't have been tolerated."

[Nuppiz]

What on earth was me team thinkin'? Can't they even fuel up my car properly? I was doing a full charge and got no warnings of low fuel from them. Yeah, you heard it correctly, I'm putting all the blame from this on me team.

[FullMetalJack]

Can we put Chris Dagnall in the Lola and make him 500 times better than everyone else?

Fixed