The Return of Lotus(A non OOTP Dynasty)

[Griever20]

Chinese GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

April 24th, 2016

It was surely a race to the flag for Harry Chapman in his Silver Arrow, but after alot of drama for him in the first two races, he managed to fend off Aki Lipponen, winner of Japan, to win the third Grand Prix of 2016 in front of a sold out crowd here in Bejing, China. But, as usual, not without controversy.

The Russian on the Outside:
"I tried to overtake Lipponen and had way more grip, and going down the outside, suddently there is Panther parked there. ****** idiot. Blue flags are there for a reason," Chapman ranted after the race despite winning it.

Of course, the russian driver had a different version in store of the lap 24 incident. "I saw the leaders coming up and decided to let them through by going to the outside that corner, giving both enough space to drive past me through the apex. Where else should I go? Out on the grass or in the gravel? Get real."

Surikov was cleared of all charges by the race stewards.

Rossini Sandwich:
And those stewards had a field day when it came to drive through penalties, and the most bizarre incident happened in the third lap, involving the Rossini of Niilo Saarinen.

"I just braked into the corner, yes, I got a bit deep, and suddently, TWO cars run into my rear end, cutting bits off my rear wing and destroying the diffusor. Seriously?" Saarinen told BBC's reporter Anne Lingerton after the race.

Both Wolfgang Schmidt(VD) and Nikolai Surikov(PAN) were awarded a drive through for causing an avoidable accident and both finished well out of the points, while Saarinen recovered despite the damage and got some World Championship points in sixth.

North in the Wars:
A similar incident happened at the back of the field when Kitano's veteran driver Jenny North ran into the back of the Lotus of Iker Vidal and damaged the rear wing heavily, earning her very own drive through the pit lane.

"Was my bad," she said. "I did not realize that those Lotus are THAT slow... honestly, what are we doing here? Racing, or driving school?" She did not make any friends with that comment in the Lotus garage, that is for sure.

With Three Races in the Books:
Dieter Wexler and the Rossini's lead the World Championship tables by collecting solid point finishes and podiums, with Lipponen three points behind in the Drivers Championship.

Holtz and Chapman in the Steinmann are third and fourth in the standings and the team is just two points behind the italian squad, and looking at the qualifying results and the fact that Chapman was flying today, they surely have the pace to win it.

The Panthers need to get on with it and the biggest disappointment so far are the two Kitano cars, as they are one of two serious GP teams... and Lotus to not have a single World Championship point on the board.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

That was Qatar all over again. Having Vidal in the pits early to repair that front win was not helpful, but in a dry race without any drama, we still have no shot. The fact that most teams had soo much time preparing their cars for this season, getting reliability way up, really hurts us here...

On the strategy side... we may have to look into the hard compound. I hate it, but we do not make enough hay on the softer tyres to make the additional pitstop work. Worth a try next time.

Development Report:

The second, upgraded version Mk 2a gearbox should be available juust in time for the Portugese GP in two weeks time, and we will start putting the best pieces on Iker's car for the dry races. Sorry Jeremy, I know you hate me but... what can I do?

Engine performance is a big issue, and the next project as we put the rear wing project on ice for now. A new engine won't be ready soon, and the performance jump won't be that big, but there are alot of engine heavy tracks on the calendar, so we got to get onto that.

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 10th
Gearbox: 10th
Brakes: 9th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 9th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

The two new gearboxes are on the car and the development of a new engine has started and the engine will be the focus for the next 1 1/2 months... as building engines takes some time right?

We of course lose some raw performance by building reliable parts, but with the small factory, it is nearly impossible to dish out parts with high performance AND get them all reliable for race day. No use to have parts stashed away that would fall apart in the race, losing us more time.

The new facilities are ready on July 27th, between round eight and nine.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Sheikh Airways(4/4 races) $450k upfront, $85k per race
Kashima(4/13 races) $300k per race
Balmina(4/12 races) $4M upfront

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Wan Chai Industries(4/8 races) $750k upfront, $450k bonus pool per race for 9th or above
Northern Harbour(4/6 races) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool per race for 2nd or above
Big Dough(3/4 races) $150k bonus pool per race for 14th or above

No big news here

The Track:

The traditional test track of Formula One and now the WMC, Tondela marks the start of the european season of the Championship, and while it hosts the big, loud cars from May 5th to May 8th, a dry race is expected.

With lots of small chicanes and low speed corners, front downforce and acceleration together with a good engine bring performance here, and all of this means a high tyre wear as the rubber quickly disappears from the canvas in the breaking zones, and lockups may happen.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

Between the races, the GMA council met to decide whether the Singapore GP should get taken off the calendar, but that one was voted off quickly.

Iker Vidal of Lotus made the headlines when he was caught speeding near Madrid and, after getting a lecture, made some selfies with the spanish policeman. Fans and sponsors loved it.

The Scuderia Rossini brought a major update to Tondela, a new gearbox AND a new engine, improving their performance on alot of tracks and many see their engine as the third best on the grid behind the two Mercedes powered top teams.

Van Dort followed suit with a solid new gearbox that gets the maximum out of the Honda engine and that keeps them in the middle of the pack in terms of acceleration.

The cute pink Panther cars brought a new rear wing solution to the track. It is an area where there is little to gain, and their rear downforce numbers continue to be below average, but they passed the Kitano car.

[Griever20]

Portugese GP: Free Practice and Qualifying Report
motorsport-live.com

May 7th, 2016

We are in sunny Tondela for a dry weekend here in front of the European crowd... and one of those words is wrong... as free practice kicked off together with a shower of rain that threw a lot of practice schedules out of the window and it took the teams some juggling to get the times in on the tyres they wanted.

"We had little time on the soft compound for qualifying due to the time on the intermediate, but we'll get it to work," Rick De Graaf of Rezzato said after the session. It stayed dry after the first pour down.

Getting in some laps on the soft compound were Harry Chapman(1:23.973) and Zoe Sharp(1:24.167) in the Steinmann and Panther, the kings of the time sheet here.

Qualifying started in the dry, and it was Aki Lipponen once again who set the first benchmark, a 1:21.134, but it was the Steinmann that had the last word in the first go as Chapman put a 1:20.830 on the board, the first in the 20's, Chapman, Lipponen and Holtz with the two Rossini's that came here with a big upgrade, fourth and sixth.

But, Wexler found some pace in the second attempt as he and Sharp were the only runners in the front to gain with the Rossini getting in in P2 and the Panther into P4.

Another pole position for the Steinmann racing team, but World Championship leader Wexler is right besides him with Lipponen P3!

Team Radio of the Day:
"Nailed it, P1. First into the 20's, great job Harry" – "Jeeehaaaaw, catch me now boys!"
Harry Chapman, Steinmann, after the attempt that got him the pole.

--

Juust a little bit off the pace. Wanna bet on us getting lapped again? You won't get good odds I guess, we are way slower than the rest. In practice, we this time focused on the hard tyre despite the turtle pictures in my mind, maybe we can steal a pitstop, going for a 1-stopper if our guys take care of the tyres.

Or we embarass ourselves again...

[Griever20]

Portugese GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

May 8th, 2016

The sun is out here in the south west of Europe for the Portugese GP. Of the top 10, the two Windsor cars and the Van Dort of Gonzalez are on the medium compound, and for some reason, Wolfgang Schmidt starts on a used soft tyre...

Lap 1:
Here are the last runners, lots of hard tyres at the back end of the grid... Chapman and Wexler are waiting... and the red lights are on... one.. two... three... four... five...

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

WEXLER AND CHAPMAN ARE SIDE BY SIDE RIGHT AWAY AND GO WEXLER LEADS INTO THE FIRST CORNER... AND WENT IN TOO DEEP! HE GOT WIDE AND LOST ALOT OF PLACES AND CHAPMAN LEADS IT AGAIN, LIPPONEN AND SHARP LINE ASTERN BEHIND HIM.

And Chapman gets it all wrong in turn eight as Lipponen just drives around him on the outside and streaks WAY clear on the harder tyre! Wexler now fith behind Holtz. But wait, this is not over... Chapman with GREAT TRACTION out of turn 16 and he nips Lipponen on the start-finish line to lead the race after one hell of a lap!

1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +0.2 3. Sharp +0.7
Woodford P16 +11.5
Vidal P17 +12.0

Lap 2:
And Lipponen loses out to Sharp in the first corner of lap two, horrible sequence of events for the finn as Holtz takes him on the long back straight.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +2.6 3. Holtz +3.7
Woodford P19 +20.7
Vidal P20 +21

Lap 3:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +2.9 3. Holtz +4.1
Vidal P19 +27.8
Woodford P20 +28.4

Lap 4:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +2.9 3. Holtz +4.8
Vidal P19 +32
Woodford P20 +32.9

Lap 5:
And Schmidt has to pit for new tyres as his already used super softs are dead. What kind of strategy is this. He ends up P20, five second behind the two Lotus.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +3.4 3. Holtz +5.3
Vidal P18 +36.4
Woodford P19 +37.4

Lap 6:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +3.5 3. Holtz +5.0
Vidal P18 +40.2
Woodford P19 +41.5

Lap 7:
The leaders now should be close to a pit stop...

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +3.5 3. Holtz +5.4
Vidal P18 +42.9
Woodford P19 +45

Lap 8:
Both Steinmann in the pits as Sharp and Wexler try to get another lap out of their soft tyres.

1. Sharp 2. Wexler +3.7 3. Chapman +8.4
Vidal P18 +43.8
Woodford P19 +47.8

Lap 9:
And they both dive into the pits now... Lipponen leads on old medium tyres, Chapman, then Sharp.

1. Lipponen 2. Chapman +3.7 3. Sharp +6.6
Vidal P18 +43.6
Woodford P19 +47.4

Lap 10:
Chapman already all over the gearbox of Lipponen with a pit stop in hand.

1. Lipponen 2. Chapman +0.7 3. Sharp +10.5
Vidal P16 +40.9
Woodford P18 +42.6

Lap 11:
1. Lipponen 2. Chapman +0.9 3. Sharp +8.4
Vidal P15 +43
Woodford P20 +61.8

Lap 12:
And there comes Lipponen for service. He will fall back into P5.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.4 3. Holtz +13.2
Vidal P19 +61.4
Woodford P20 +63.9

Lap 13:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.5 3. Holtz +13.3
Vidal P19 +63.4
Woodford P20 +66.1

Lap 14:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.2 3. Holtz +13.2
Vidal P19 +66.7
Woodford P20 +69.8

Lap 15:
Ohh Gonzalez got it all wrong in the final chicane and has smashed her Van Dort into the wall. She looks ok, but is out of the race.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.5 3. Holtz +13.0
Vidal P18 +70.4
Woodford P19 +73.7

Lap 16:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.3 3. Holtz +12.8
Vidal P17 +73.3
Woodford P18 +76.4

Lap 17:
We are closing in on the next round of pit stops as Chapman's tyres are starting to blister.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.6 3. Holtz +12.9
Vidal P17 +75.6
Woodford P18 +77.5

Lap 18:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +5.2 3. Holtz +11.5
Vidal P17 +77.4
Woodford P18 +77.4

Lap 19:
The Steinmann loses time, but goes around for another lap...

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +4.1 3. Holtz +11.0
Vidal P17 +79.1
Woodford P18 +80.5

Lap 20:
And finally comes in for a pair of fresh boots and Holtz comes in as well with a technical problem... ohh bad luck, she was in for a podium and will spent some extra time in the pits for repairs.

1. Sharp 2. Wexler +7.9 3. Lipponen +8.5
Vidal P17 +78.7
Woodford P18 +82.1

Lap 21:
Wexler in, Sharp stays our for another lap on those old tyres... wow.

1. Sharp 2. Lipponen +8.9 3. Chapman +9.2
Vidal P15 +75.3
Woodford P17 +78.9

Lap 22:
And in she comes... and Chapman takes the lead by breezing past Lipponen on the start-finish line again. It is his race to lose.

1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +0.1 3. Sharp +1.9
Vidal P15 +76.1
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 23:
Lipponen falling back fast with a pit stop still to go for him, maybe Holtz will make the podium after all.

1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +5.7 3. Sharp +9.6
Vidal P18 1 LAP
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 24:
And there he comes, with eight laps to go, it looks like a double podium for Steinmann.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +9.4 3. Holtz +12.4
Vidal P18 1 LAP
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 25:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +9.1 3. Holtz +12.8
Vidal P18 1 LAP
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 26:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8 3. Holtz +12.5
Vidal P18 1 LAP
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 27:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8 3. Holtz +11.9
Vidal P18 1 LAP
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 28:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8 7. Holtz +11.9
Vidal P17 1 LAP
Woodford P19 1 LAP

Lap 29:
Uhh Ana Oliveira's Windsor kissed the barrier's in the penultimate corner and destroyed the suspension and the car. Her race is over.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +9 Holtz +12.5
Vidal P16 1 LAP
Woodford P18 1 LAP

Lap 30:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8.8 Holtz +13
Vidal P16 1 LAP
Woodford P18 1 LAP

Lap 31:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.7 Holtz +13.5
Vidal P16 1 LAP
Woodford P18 1 LAP

Final Lap:
No more drama here, Chapman takes the second one in a row in a strong showing by the Silver Arrows, the Rossini failed to make any impression on the field. See you next race!

[Griever20]

Portugese GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

May 8th, 2016

The first driver to win two GP'S in a row is Harry Chapman as the Steinmann cars finally manage to bring their pace to the sunday sessions and put a stamp on the Portugese GP.

Disappointed Rossini's:
"We thought we could match those guys, but in the end, we fell further and further behind in the race setup. Have to find out what went wrong there," Dieter Wexler conceded after the race. He started second, but only finished fifth.

Of course, missing the first corner in the first lap did not exactly helped his cause, but he did not comment on that.

Overtaking Magic
Overtaking a car that uses the same engine once on the start-finish strait is a great feeling. Doing it twice in one GP is better. "We have to find out what went wrong here. If it was the last corner, or raw power. That should not happen," Claire Williams of Windsor told BBC. Lipponen was passed twice by Chapman there.

Costly Mistakes:
Williams bigger concern was the health of Ana Oliveira after she crashed into a wall with the back of her car and made a rather spectacular journey out of the race. "I'm fine," Oliveira said. "My ego took a little hit though, that was a rookie mistake, got a bit wide, back started to slide, I reacted too late. Sucks."

Maria Gonzalez already had neck problems coming into the GP, however, according to her, that was not the problem when she smashed her Van Dort into the pit wall. "The steering did not react like it used to. Think something broke. But I'm not hurt. Just sad. Could've gotten some points."

With Four Races in the Books:
Kitano finally got on the board with two points by Mr. Vázquez for ninth place. "We needed that one," team principal Bruno Martial said after the race.

On the sharp end of the standings, Chapman took the lead with 25 points for his second straight win with Wexler dropping to second and Lipponen to third. The Steinmann team of course has now taken a big lead with a double podium, and the Rossini have to reconsider their options...

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

Post-Race Analysis: Portugal(4/16)

That one was not that bad. We came through without repairing any parts, had resonable pace(*cough *) and we held at least one Kitano-Honda in Jenny North behind us after 32 laps.

The bad news: The other Kitano scored two points, so they are out of reach for now. Riding the hard tyre worked... but not as planned as we had to pit twice... those Cortés guys that produce the tyres are lying ********. 14-16 laps my ***. But, that gave us steady pace... something to think about.

Development Report:

The new gearbox held, and the next evolution of engine is coming up soon. Not a big jump as reliability is still key for us, but the second evolution should have some serious speed in it's pockets... for a lawn mower. However, the second one won't be ready before Munich on June 9th, so don't expect a miracle.

Speaking of Munich... 19% chance of rain.

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 10th
Gearbox: 10th
Brakes: 9th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 10th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

The Mk 2 BWM-Lotus engine is fitted to the car of Mr. Vidal and ready to rumble. We won't make a big jump before the next or the third iteration of the engine, but this one is working and gives a small boost on the track. Can't wait till the new factory.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Brutus Tyres(1/6 races) $500k upfront, $100k per race
Kashima(5/13 races) $300k per race
Balmina(5/12 races) $4M upfront

Well, guess it is quite obvious what they do... produce tyres. Funny enough... not for the WMC... whoopsie.

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Wan Chai Industries(5/8 races) $750k upfront, $450k bonus pool per race for 9th or above
Northern Harbour(5/6 races) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool per race for 2nd or above
Big Dough(4/4 races) $150k bonus pool per race for 14th or above

The Track:

The Russian GP in Sochi and around the old olympic center. Lots of high speed corners, an area where we are incredibly bad, lots of traction and acceleration needed, something we are not completely bad, and some straits to work with... maybe we can make some progress with the new engine.

And the sun will be shining... damn.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

The german Silver Arrows strike back as Steinmann build a new gearbox themselves, pushing them back past Rossini.

Vélan brought a new suspension solution to Russia, answering Lotus' progress.

Panther, Kitano and Windsor all brought new rear wings to Russia.

[TheMaus2]

I'm not mad, but this should probably be moved to dynasty reports

[Griever20]

Originally Posted by TheMaus2

I'm not mad, but this should probably be moved to dynasty reports

I'll leave that to the higher authorities

[Griever20]

And, given the fact that I made two to three big mistakes already, this dynasty could end earlier than anticipated anyways...

[rudel.dietrich]

I am enjoying this. I love Motorsport Manager.
That being said, this would get more views if it was in Off Topic

[Griever20]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

I am enjoying this. I love Motorsport Manager.
That being said, this would get more views if it was in Off Topic

Apart from OOTP, Motorsport Manager was the first PC game I pre-ordered for years, and I was not disappointed.

One thing that I really enjoy about this write-up is that I actually take notice of what is happening around me in the series. When I play this game solo, I usually just look at what happens with my cars...

Thanks for following along!

[Griever20]

Russian GP: Free Practice and Qualifying Report
motorsport-live.com

May 28th, 2016

The sun was out for free practice and it was 21°C at the start with the usual setup, race and qualifying trim, and tyre shenanigans going on. Some went out early on the soft tyre and set a showboat lap, but there was a lot of work done on hard compounds.

It was the Rossini of Wexler that looked strong with a 1:20.825, with a .275 gap to Nina Holtz while Chapman was .762 behind... on the hard compound... he was in fir a pole position for sure.

And the weather threw a loop to the teams. A big rain shower came down and only three drivers, Chapman, Lipponen and Vidal, got a dry lap in and led the standings after the first half with Chapman posting a 1:19.211.

The track dried out but there was plenty chances to get things wrong... but it became clear that Chapman's lap in the low 19's was a good benchmark. Ana Oliveira came close to touching him with a 1:19:465... but Chapman fired right back with a blindingly quick lap, 1:18.437 with a fastest second and third sector... but the Rossini were still out there.

Saarinen aced the first sector, but was slow in two and three... provisional P2, while Lipponen had a solid lap for provisional P3... before Dieter Wexler put his Rossini on P2 with a .082 gap to Chapman... the red cars are edging closer.

Chapman, Wexler, Lipponen and Sharp the first two rows, and those are the heroes.

The losers? Wolfgang Schmidt(VD), Samuel Blanc(TH) and Siri Lundquist(VEL), who went out with inters for their second try and are P18-20 behind the Lotus.

Team Radio of the Day:
"That would be P3 if it continues to rain." – "I'm not going to fall for that again..."
Iker Vidal, Lotus, after acing his first attempt with the soft tyre in wet conditions for provisional P3.

--

We will try the same thing we did last race. Put on the hard compound we worked with in practice, and run a steady race, looking if someone is coming towards us or if we can do something with another rain shower if there is one.

Somehow, the gap to the cars in front does not get smaller...

[Griever20]

Russian GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

May 29th, 2016

It is 22°C and cloudy for the fifth round of the World Motorsport Championship and the president of the Russian Federation is in attendance for the race. Lipponen once again starts on the hard tyre, so do Gonzalez and De Graaf in the top ten.

Lap 1:
The last cars that got it wrong in qualifying line up at the back and lots of hard tyres there once again. Chapman and Wexler are waiting like they did last week... can the Rossini driver get the first corner right this time?

The red lights are on... one.. two... three... four... five...

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

A SOLID START BY ALL OF THEM BUT LIPPONEN GETS SQUEEZED IN TURN ONE AND LOSES OUT TO SHARP... AND THE PANTHER GOES PAST EVERYBODY AND IN THE LEAD.

A Thornton got wide in the back, and De Graaf lost out big time at the start, down in P19. They are fighting like lions up there in the top five and Nina Holtz pips two drivers in the final corner and is in P3 after one lap, and Oliveira followed suit!

1. Sharp 2. Chapman +1.4 3. Holtz +1.9
Woodford P14 +8.1
Vidal P18 9.9

Lap 2:
The order is settling down with Wexler P4, Oliveira P5, then Saarinen and Lipponen

1. Sharp 2. Chapman +1.2 3. Holtz +2.2
Woodford P16 +14.2
Vidal P19 15.6

Lap 3:
1. Sharp 2. Chapman +1.5 3. Holtz +2.2
Woodford P16 +18.4
Vidal P20 21

Lap 4:
Loads of lock ups at the back of the field... that'll give some vibrations and problems for the pit strategy.

1. Sharp 2. Chapman +3.0 3. Holtz +3.2
Woodford P16 +22.4
Vidal P20 26.1

Lap 5:
Wexler jumps Holtz on the back straight, much better traction here...

1. Sharp 2. Chapman +2.8 3. Wexler +3.4
Woodford P16 +26.2
Vidal P20 29.6

Lap 6:
1. Sharp 2. Chapman +1.9 3. Wexler +2.9
Woodford P18 +32.1
Vidal P20 33.4

Lap 7:
1. Sharp 2. Chapman +0.9 3. Wexler +2.1
Woodford P19 +37.5
Vidal P20 38.1

Lap 8:
The soft runners come into the pits, Chapman, Wexler, Holtz all in.

1. Sharp 2. Oliveira +6.1 3. Saarinen +9.6
Vidal P18 +40.5
Woodford P20 +42.3

Lap 9:
Sharp dives in and Oliveira and Lipponen take the lead... and Chapman gets in front of Sharp in the pits... undercut guys.

1. Oliveira 2. Lipponen +2 3. Chapman +11
Vidal P19 +44.1
Woodford P20 +45.7

Lap 10:
Oliveira in now, can Lipponen strech out his lead and gain some ground in the stops?

1. Lipponen 2. Chapman +7.1 3. Sharp +12.2
Vidal P19 +37.9
Woodford P20 +40.1

Lap 11:
The answer is... not on Chapman, who bites 1.2 out of his lead.

1. Lipponen 2. Chapman +5.9 3. Sharp +12.3
Vidal P17 +39.5
Woodford P18 +41.5

Lap 11:
And he comes in and will lose alot of ground.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.2 3. Wexler +10.3
Vidal P16 +34.9
Woodford P20 +64

Lap 12:
Wexler is the only frontrunner on the hard compound right now... and has the second Steinmann all over his gearbox.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.9 3. Wexler +12.1
Vidal P19 +59.6
Woodford P20 +62.2

Lap 13:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.1 3. Wexler +12.3
Vidal P19 +61.6
Woodford P20 +63.5

Lap 14:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.2 3. Wexler +12.6
Vidal P19 +62.2
Woodford P20 +65

Lap 15:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.6 3. Wexler +12.6
Vidal P19 +65.7
Woodford P20 +68.4

Lap 16:
Chapman is streaking away slowly but has to pit earlier than the rest...quiet race. Wexler holds third place and may be in a good position to jump the Panther.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.6 3. Wexler +12.8
Vidal P19 +69.1
Woodford P20 +71.8

Lap 17:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.4 3. Wexler +13.4
Vidal P19 +72.3
Woodford P20 +75.3

Lap 18:
Chapman's tyres are starting to wear according to a team radio. He needs at least two more laps to finish cleanly on a hard compound with only one stop.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.1 3. Wexler +13.1
Vidal P19 +74.9
Woodford P20 +78

Lap 19:
And he stays ouit despite losing 1.5 seconds to Sharpon that lap.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +4.6 3. Wexler +12.2
Vidal P19 +76.7
Woodford P20 +80.3

Lap 20:
And he calls for new tyres at the end of lap 20... Sharp takes the lead, Wexler P2, Holtz comes in again, synchonized pit stops for Steinmann.

1. Sharp 2. Wexler +8.1 3. Lipponen +12.0
Vidal P19 +78.2
Woodford P20 +82.1

Lap 21:
Harry Chapman out on the medium tyre... if that holds up?

1. Sharp 2. Wexler +8.1 3. Lipponen +10.1
Vidal P19 +75.5
Woodford P20 +79.5

Lap 22:
And Sharp pits, let's see if the Panther pit crew can work some magic? She is P5 after the stop and Chapman is 7.4 up the road... we are in for three straight for the British superstar it seems.

1. Wexler 2. Lipponen +2.3 3. Chapman +3.1
Vidal P18 +77.3
Woodford P20 +81

Lap 23:
1. Wexler 2. Lipponen +2.6 3. Chapman +3.0
Vidal P18 +71.2
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 24:
The tyres of the two frontrunners look awful and Lipponen reacts!

1. Wexler 2. Chapman +2.0 3. Sharp +8.9
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 25:
Wexler comes in but lost way too much time on the old, hard tyres, falls behind Holtz, now will the old medium tyres survive till the end, or can Wexler win some places on track with his soft tyres? He is P4 for now.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +6.2 3. Holtz +17.2
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 26:
The Rossini is now 0.9 seconds behind P3... but the other two are long ways away with seven laps to go.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.9 3. Holtz +17.1
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 27:
AND HE GOES DOWN THE OUTSIDE IN THE 90G! GREAT MOVE! And sets the fastest lap, 1:22.233. Sharp 1:23.135, Chapman 1:23.275. Wexler needs to get even faster if he wants more than P3.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.4 3. Wexler +17.0
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 28:
Uhh, he lost alot of time when lapping Vidal, clumsy there by both of them. That will be discussed after the race.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.5 3. Wexler +17.0
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 29:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8.9 3. Wexler +17.1
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 30:
Wexler's only hope is that the tyres go away with three to go.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8.1 3. Wexler +15
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 31:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +8.8 3. Wexler +14.7
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Lap 32:
Not going to happen.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +7.3 3. Wexler +14.9
Vidal P19 1 LAP
Woodford P20 +1LAP

Final Lap:
Chapman makes it THREE IN A ROW on the last bit of rubber, but he did it. Sharp is on the podium again, and Wexler's mad dash falls short for P3. Lipponen takes Holtz with a dangerous move into the long ballet corner and is P4. Not a great race for the German.

[Griever20]

Russian GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

May 29th, 2016

Harry Chapman has made it three in a row, but that became an afterthought after the race as the other Steinmann car dominated the news ticker.

Holtz Gets 2 Place Penalty:
The new gearbox, used on the Silver Arrow of Nina Holtz was deemed illegal. A small device was found that worked like a semi-automatic function that could be switched on from the pit lane. The gearbox was confiscated and Holtz lost two invaluable places.

What about the Race Winner?
According to GMA scrutineering, there is no such device on Chapman's car, but the other teams are skeptical. Rossini boss Ruben Agostini pointed fingers and wanted another round of scrutineering, but the GMA deemed the leading Steinmann legal and let them go.

"A scandal. I want every inch of this damn car scanned and tested to make sure they don't **** with us," Agostini said.

Blue Flag Penalties?
Rossini star Dieter Wexler was furious after Iker Vidal cost him "at least a second." "If he can not get out of the way in time, he should retire. Look at the data, I was pink(fastest) in the first two sectors and lost everything when he blocked me in the chicane," Wexler literally screamed at the poor german TV interviewer.

Vidal and the Lotus team boss Dan Martinson were not available for comment.

With Five Races in the Books:
Steinmann is dominating. End of story. They have the fastest car, and have been able to run a number of perfect races for Chapman who now leads by 12 points.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

Are we lying to ourselves? I keep on getting reports about how we add crucial performance and get close to the other cars, but the results on track are still horrible and it seems like we are falling behind, not getting ahead. Granted, this was a rather boring race but... I'm starting to doubt that we can do this, but don't tell the team. They are working like crazy to make this happen.

Maybe the factory can save us. Or the engine. Or the rain. I don't know.

Development Report:
We will get the new engine to put into reliability work later tomorrow, May 30th, and then we have 8.5 days to build something that helps us for the German GP... rain is in the forecast. We finished 15th and 17th in Japan, 15 seconds in the race off a World Championship Point. We need to get closer.

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 10th
Gearbox: 10th
Brakes: 10th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 10th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

We got the new engine on Vidal's car and we did something very risky. We build a throw-away engine on which Jenny wanted to try something out... and so that we can get hopefully a BIG jump after the German GP. And we went for it. She talked about a great 'legendary component'. If this does not work, we have thrown away a ton of development time, and we will have to work hard to make that engine reliable.

It is a gamble, but we have to take it. Stay tuned.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Brutus Tyres(2/6 races) $500k upfront, $100k per race
Kashima(6/13 races) $300k per race
Balmina(6/12 races) $4M upfront

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Wan Chai Industries(6/8 races) $750k upfront, $450k bonus pool per race for 9th or above
Northern Harbour(6/6 races) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool per race for 2nd or above
Gustavo Cruises(1/4) $800k upfront, $400k bonus pool per race for 10th or above

They are offering cruises in Caribbean and the Mediterranean and want to advertise with us. Great idea. They payed $800k upfront. That is why we choose them. For 4 races.

The Track:

The German GP traditionally will be driven near Munich, southern Germany and is a twisty track with lots of braking, lots of acceleration, and lots of medium speed corners, three ares where we at least have marginally improved since the start of the season.

There is rain in the forecast and we need it badly. Strategy wise, we will try to drive most of the practice session on the medium tyre. And we have great idea to get the maximum performance out of Vidal's car...

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

Lotus driver Jeremy Woodford was seen at a "how to talk to the media" workshop and it seems to have payed off. He was absolutely charming at a sponsorship event with Northern Harbour.

New brakes for Rezzato Corsa. The Italian team got new brakes that pushes their performance past Lotus again.

Panther brought a brand new and shiny suspension solution to Germany, just in time.

[Griever20]

German GP: Free Practice and Qualifying Report
motorsport-live.com

June 11th, 2016

A little forest just 15 miles from the outskirts of Munich is, for two decades now, the home of the German Grand Prix, and there is one guy in this whole paddock that REALLY wants to win this one. "My home Grand Prix, I want it to be MY Grand Prix," Dieter Wexler said emphatically before the race.

The Rossini driver definitly was highly motivated in free practice and put in the fastest lap, a 1:32.078 with Sharp in the Panther second by .021 with the two Steinmann line astern behind her.

Rain was in the forecast for qualifying and it DID rain, but nobody got caught out by that, unfortunately for the smaller teams. "Of course, you hope you can gain some TV time by stealing a good grid slot because of the rain," Dan Martinson of Lotus told BBC's Ned Gravitz during the rain shower.

The first exclamation point of qualifying came by Harry Chapman who put in a 1:29:552 early, putting in the banker lap due to some dark clouds hovering over. Getting out early could've costed him as Zoe Sharp got provisional pole with a 1:29.541, juust a fraction faster.

Wexler and Holtz struggled in traffic and found themselves fighting over the same piece of tarmac while trying a flying lap... and well behind the two Windsors. Then came the rain, and some drivers started to sweat... but it was dry close to the end of the session, and that set the stage for the second go.

Wexler found clear track in front of him with 1:30 to go... and put a 1:29.391 on the board, P1. Sharp got wide in the Mercedes Benz corner and could not improve, and Saarinen in the second Rossini made no impression... P4.

But Chapman broke the heart of the Wexler fans and got the Steinmann-Mercedes fans to cheer with pole position late, 1:29:306.

Surprise appearance in the top 10: Jenny North in the Kitano in ninth, outqualifying her teammate by six places and six tenth of a second.

Team Radio of the Day:
"Sorry mate, P2. Chapman found the roadrunner rocket mode." – "Whoaaa... well, great job anyways, we can get him tomorrow."
Dieter Wexler, Scuderia Rossini at the end of qualifying.

--

Now comes the real deal. It is going to start in the dry, and it will rain after 6-10 laps according to the shaman we found under the bridge in Munich, aka we can not afford a portable weather station. We will start on the medium tyre as planned and should be able to get the maximum performance out of the rubber before switching to inters or heavy wets.

Now, here comes the magic, and it is the second gamble in a week after the engine thingy... we will strip Vidal's car of any additional weight we can find to boost performance and screw the reliability. Madness? Hear me out. Yarnham, his race engineer, is a master in nursing the car home. It will cost us some performance on the medium tyre compared to Woodford, but if we can bring the car home, we add a good chunck of speed to Iker's car.

Roll the dice!

[Griever20]

German GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

June 12th, 2016

It is cloudy, but the fans would not care if it starts to rain. Rossini flags, Wexler flags, some old Ferrari flags and a whole stand full of Mercedes employees supporting the Silver Arrows of Steinmann, great atmosphere here in Germany.

Uhh, to the racing, most frontrunners start on the soft compound of tyre... brave as that one could be very worn if the rain predictions are true. But those teams are the best in the world, they should know what they are doing right?

Lap 1:
Here come the cars, a big cheer for Wexler and the Steinmann, and the Lotus line up at the back

The red lights are on... one.. two... three... four... five...

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

CHAPMAN GETS AWAY CLEAN BUT WEXLER HAS A SLOW START... AND SAARINEN AND SHARP GOT IT ALL RIGHT AND DIVE PAST TWO. SHARP LEADS, SAARINEN THIRD. WEXLER GOT IT ALL WRONG AND IS FOURTH.

Sharp won't survive this for long. Chapman is pushing her hard... AND INTO A MISTAKE INTO THE RINDT CHICANE! Harry Chapman is back in the lead and Saarinen slips through for second place! Chapman IS RUNNING AWAY IN FRONT!

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +1.4 3. Sharp +2.6
Vidal P15 +9.7
Woodford P20 +11.3

Lap 2:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +2.9 3. Sharp +4.5
Vidal P15 +17
Woodford P19 +19.3

Lap 3:
Ohh that is not what Vélan racing wanted, Ribeiro runs into the side of Vázquez' Kitano in turn 8. No overtaking spot by a mile, and both cars are damaged. Drive through penalty for the Brazilian.

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +2.5 3. Sharp +4.5
Vidal P15 +20.9
Woodford P20 +23.9

Lap 4:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +2.5 3. Sharp +4.4
Vidal P16 +26.9
Woodford P27 +27.6

Lap 5:
Wexler is all over Sharp... and HANGS HER OUT TO DRY IN THE MERCEDES BENZ CORNER, WHAT A MOVE. Sharp complains on the team radio but that was a fair move in my book!

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +2.8 3. Wexler +4.8
Vidal P16 +30.4
Woodford P17 +31.2

Lap 6:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +2.7 3. Wexler +4.6
Vidal P15 +33.9
Woodford P16 +34.6

Lap 7:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +3.2 3. Wexler +4.3
Vidal P15 +37
Woodford P16 +38.1

Lap 8:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +4.2 3. Wexler +5
Vidal P15 +39.6
Woodford P17 +42.6

Lap 9:
RAIN IN THE NORTHEAST, but does it come early enough for the cars on the soft compound? The leaders are slowing down compared to the cars on the harder tyres... AND North and Lipponen dive in the pits for inters without a single drop on the track... that is brave...

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +3.9 3. Wexler +4.5
Vidal P14 +40.6
Woodford P17 +45.9

Lap 10:
AND THE TOP THREE INTO THE PITS FOR INTERS! It Is starting to get wet out there and they need to pit anyways... Sharp stays out on very worn tyres and takes the provisional lead... but is that going to hurt her?

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +0.4 3. Oliveira +9.6
Woodford P16 +41.9
Vidal P18 +56.7 BOX

Lap 11:
Sharp pits and returns in fourth, Saarinen had to repair some damage on the suspension and falls back to ninth and into the traffic.

1. Oliveira 2. Chapman +5.9 3. Wexler +12.7
Vidal P17 +51.9
Woodford P20 +60.3 BOX

Lap 12:
Lots of midfield runner still on the slicks... losing massive time to the guys on inters.... team radio: "Heavy rain expected in 2 laps..." Some drivers are going to lose everything here...

1. Oliveira 2. Chapman +3.2 3. Wexler +10.7
Vidal P16 +54.5
Woodford P19 +65.0

Lap 13:
Oliveira finally pits... bad call to stay on the slicks for so long in the rain.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.2 3. Sharp +10.2
Vidal P12 +54.3
Woodford P18 +65.6

Lap 14:
Look at that Lotus in P11! They got it all right it seems and could be in for a great finish.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.5 3. Sharp +11.3
Vidal P11 +58.2
Woodford P17 +69.7

Lap 15:
1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.7 3. Sharp +12.2
Vidal P11 +60.9
Woodford P17 +71.8

Lap 16:
1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.9 3. Sharp +12.6
Vidal P11 61.8
Woodford P17 +73.1

Lap 17:
Wexler makes no impression on Chapman who seems to just control the pace and save his fuel.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.6 3. Sharp +12.9
Vidal P11 +63.7
Woodford P17 +75.7

Lap 18:
Intermediate conditions out there, not heavy rain, but slicks are the wrong tyre to be had.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.6 3. Sharp +13.2
Vidal P11 +67.0
Woodford P17 +78.9

Lap 19:
1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.4 3. Sharp +12.8
Vidal P11 +70.9
Woodford P17 +81.8

Lap 20:
Vidal comes into the pits from P11... A bit early, will his tyres last? If he pushes, he can get track position. He comes out just behind the Kitano of Jenny North who fell a long way back from P9 on the grid.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.9 3. Sharp +12.3
Woodford P16 +84.8
Vidal P19 +91.1 BOX

Lap 21:
1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.5 3. Sharp +11.7
Vidal P19 +95.7
Woodford P20 +117.0 BOX

Lap 22:
"We expect the race to finish in the wet with intermediates," Windsor's press officer tells BBC. It certainly looks like that.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.5 3. Sharp +10.3
Vidal P18 +95.6
Woodford P20 +121.1

Lap 23:
Sharp found some speed as her tyres are a lap younger. Pit stops expected soon, who will blink first?

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +6.0 3. Sharp +9.9
Vidal P18 +95.2
Woodford P20 +121.5

Lap 24:
Both Chapman and Wexler come in this lap. The rubber of Wexler was too old and the gap too big to try something with the strategy.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +5.0 3. Chapman +15.2
Vidal P18 +86.6
Woodford P20 +112.8

Lap 25:
Sharp tries another lap, but the gap to Holtz is closing as the German is flying towards her...

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +2.3 3. Chapman +14.2
Vidal P15 +86.1
Woodford P20 +115

Lap 26:
"Puncture, puncture!" via the Rossini team radio! It all goes wrong for Dieter Wexler who has to slowly crawl towards the pits for new tyres as he has a front left puncture on two lap old tyres. The Cortés boss will have to listen to some complaints after the race, I can tell you that.

Sharp and Holtz pit and the Steinmann crew made a mistake! The wheelnut did not want to move! Holtz loses invaluable time.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +11.8 3. Oliveira +19.4
Vidal P14 +75.5
Woodford P20 +105.0

Lap 27:
And it got even worse for Nina Holtz as Niilo Saarinen in the Rossini takes here for a ride in front of the BMW Arena, nailing her on the inside and almost pushing here onto the wet grass. Brilliant overtake, but a bit too close for comfort for the Silver Arrow.

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +15.9 3. Oliveira +22.4
Vidal P12 +80.3
Woodford P20 +109.5

Lap 28:
Oliveira is out of sync and will have to pit again before the end.

And the Lotus of spaniard Iker Vidal is back into eleventh, one more for a World Championship point!

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +14.8 3. Oliveira +24.6
Vidal P11 +83.2
Woodford P20 +114.3

Lap 29:
Sharp: 1:38.037, Chapman: 1:39.388 but the gap seems to be too big to overcome...

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +13.4 3. Oliveira +26
Vidal P11 +84
Woodford P20 +1 LAP

Lap 30:
Oliveira releases Saarinen who is in for the podium his teammate lost due to the puncture...

1. Chapman 2. Sharp +13.9 3. Saarinen +29
Vidal P11 +86.1
Woodford P20 +1 LAP

Lap 31:
1. Chapman 2. Sharp +12.7 3. Saarinen +27.9
Vidal P11 +88.1
Woodford P20 +1 LAP

Final Lap:
And the dominance is real! Harry Chapman races to victory in Germany, Zoe Sharp in second and keeps the streak of second place finishes going, and the Rossini of Saarinen rounds out the podium in front of Holtz and Lipponen. Vidal P11 with a gutsy drive for Lotus Racing!