The Return of Lotus(A non OOTP Dynasty)

[Griever20]

Belgium GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

August 21st, 2016

And instant classic race. The Ardennen Forest saw a race that went of thrilling to dangerous to absurd in a heartbeat with twists and turns that everyone that watched this race will remember.

Rain Chaos:
The rain was there from the start, so far, so good. The mistake by many teams, drivers and engineers was... to try to bring the car into the dry without stopping for another set of intermediate tyres. Some runners, like Vázquez, stopped heavy rain for medium tyres and got completely out of shape.

Another loser was Harry Chapman as the World Championship leader pitted early in the for the soft compound and lost second place + two more and nearly hit the wall in that scary lap 26.

Tyre Madness:
With the safety car out for two laps, most drivers thought they could somehow bring their tyres home without a pit stop. That nearly resulted in some huge shunts as a total of 8 runners left the track in lap 26, including winner Niilo Saarinen, Ana Oliveira, Harry Chapman, Aki Lipponen and Maria Gonzalez.

That caused race director Charlie Whiting to throw the red flag. "Honestly, I had to protect the teams and drivers from themselves there," he said to his defense. Another lap like this... This track is so fast, imagine a tyre failure with 330 kph on the Kemmel Straight. That could result in a fatal crash."

The Right Call
... was once again made by Lotus Racing in changable conditions. Realizing that the rain would go on for several more laps, they pitted Iker Vidal just before the performance cliff of the intermediate tyre started and got him fresh rubber, and he made a joke out of the other cars.

He jumped from 19 to 11 due to the others pitting for slicks, and then drove away from them far enough to come out in front of them on the slick tyre.

"To be fair, without the safety car summoned by the Holtz crash, we likely finish P11. This way, one place by the crash, one place for passing Gonzalez in the final lap... two great points, it's party time," race engineer Stuart Yarnham happily told BBC.

Bad Day at the Office:
... for Jeremy Woodford and Nina Holtz. "The car just went straight on in Les Combes. Couldn't turn in, couldn't brake early enough. Either I got onto some standing water that I did not spot, or something broke," Woodford said during the race in the Paddock.

Holtz shunt was more spectacular and dangerous, but the came out of the cockpit with only a scare. "I came out of the final corner, and lost focus for a moment, changing a setting on my steering wheel. I got off line, onto some standing water, back end broke out... boom, into the pit wall. Happy that nobody collected me."

Rossini Time:
The two Rossini drivers were the big winners at the sharp end of the grid as Niilo Saarinen got the most out of his intermediate tyre and suddently had a big gap to Harry Chapman.

Dieter Wexler had an unspectacular race but came alive after the safety car, overtaking a number of drivers and capitalazing from Ana Oliveira's tyres falling away for P2.

Could Saarinen have the better car and the support of the engineers, looking back at the... controveral statement by an anonymous engineer, saying that Wexler is a "prat"?

With Ten Races in the Books:
The Rossini's gained some ground in both Championships and with two wins in a row, Niilo Saarinen has shot up to tied third place, only seven points behind Wexler.

Harry Chapman surely had the pace in qualifying and was pretty handy in the race, so no reason for panic in the Steinmann camp, he has more than two race wins of cushion in the standings.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

Points, Points, Points. That was a absolutely cracker of a race. First of all, Jeremy is a bit shaken up and his ego took a hit, but he is all fine, no ill effects or injuries, just the car will take some building up.

Now, to Iker Vidal. We struggled in the early going in the low speed sector three... and struggled like hell. He got overtaken left, right and center and started to get a bit desperate in that position. The rain was out there and stayed for a while and we made the call for fresh inters... because of our high tyre wear... don't believe that was on purpose, we could've lost out big time there.

Instead, the others decided to wear out their inters and pit for slicks... when the rain got harder again, and Iker put the pedal to the metal and passed cars left, right and center. The safety car was a interesting problem as we suddenly had some reasonable fast cars right around us... which is always a chance to **** up.

Due to the safety car, we had a higher engine mode available got Iker to defend P10 and keep touch with P9... and then took P9 on the Bonanza lap 26... as he still had relatively fresh tyres and could push. Without the red flag, we could've gotten even more, but I understand the reasoning... that was rather dangerous.

By the way, we got ourselves $100k from our race sponsor with that result!

Development Report:
The new gearbox should be done and dusted for the US GP in Phoenix, which won't help us much there, but we are slowly getting to a position where we can project survival in the WMC(thank god), so no reason to change our development pattern.

Areas where we need to improve: Suspension and Front Wing. We have collected some experience on suspension building which makes this the likely component for us to focus on next... and then, front wing... and if we got the cash to do so then, next years car.

Our engineers should be able to put the final touches on rear wing, engine and brakes for 2016 this week, so we can focus on the new gearbox next to get it race + weight stripping ready.

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 9th
Gearbox: 7th
Brakes: 7th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 10th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

The new gearbox is indeed ready and it is another big jump up to seventh in the series. We still don't have a clear area of strength like other teams have, but the car is starting to get rock solid, at least Iker's car... one goal for 2017... roughly equal cars for everyone so that Jeremy does not decide to leave because he has a dog of a car... we need his $$$.

The final suspension solution will be finished after the race, and ready for Canada, which is good timing as Vancouver is the right track to have a good one...

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Kashima(11/13 races) $300k per race
Balmina(11/12 races) $4M upfront
Bebelitas(1/8 races) $2.75M upfront

Bebelitas is a Spanish company that is highly invested into hygiene products and wants to get some exposure for their new shaving gel... for $2.75M for eight races, I would print everything on this car...

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Ishikawa Malt Whisky(5/5) $1M upfront. $1.2M bonus pool for 1st
Ambrosia(3/3) $300k upfront, $700k bonus pool for 6th or above
Golden Tiger Bank(1/9) $900k upfront, $200k bonus pool for 13th or above

So, two of the three run out, and Golden Tiger is a lock right now for us to take then to the race... maybe we can get some good upfront payments.

The Track:

The United States GP for the first time will be held in Phoenix Arizona in the Phoenix Motor Speedway. Originally build as an oval track with banking, we will use the infield as well, but don't get fooled, this is a high speed engine track that will benefit those that have good engines, good rear wing solutions, and the suspension to not lose time in the infield.

This is a highly anticipated race for the WMC as it is the first race for Formula One/Formula One's successor in the USA since they left Indianapolis after the 2007 season... and they hope that the US-American fans embrace the new series.

There are some clouds predicted over the racetrack, but no real rain... maybe a little shower?

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
The usually media shy Aki Lipponen of Windsor Racing made the headlines for once as his manager announced that he would design his own clothing line.

With all the drama going on at Panther, Nikolai Surikov has become a calming influence... by just putting the focus on racing, coming to work with some renewed passion, moving on from the contract and role dispute. Good for them.

Both Lotus and Rezzato Corsa jumped Thornton in gearbox performance this weekend, via WMCDevelopmentsAnalysis.com.

Both Steinmann and Panther were seen with new suspension parts for the US Grand Prix. According to Pat Symonds, former Technical Director of Renault, Steinmann are the clear favorites for Phoenix with that one.

Rossini's team principal Ruben Agostini would disagree with that as his squad brought a clever new rear wing to the race, and them and Windsor made some big steps forward in that department over the last weeks it seems.

[Griever20]

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

September 10th, 2016

The sun was out here in Phoenix, Arizona, and the crowd was loving it. While there was not quite the same buzz in the air(yet) than there would be for a NASCAR event, the fans surely enjoyed the sound of the V10 and their speed.

"Those are fast cars, got to say that," one fan exclaimed after Saturday practice. "We need an US team, I tell you that much."

This track being one of the shorter ones helped the teams in practice today. "You can get a lot of laps in. Get the corners right you struggle with, get some information about the tyres. It was a good session," Thornton's Samuel Blanc said.

Topping the time sheet for practice was 2x race winner Niilo Saarinen(1:02.668) as the Rossini's sandwiched Harry Chapman(1:02.687), who was just behind Saarinen here, making for an interesting qualifying session.

Chapman crossed the line as the first of the runners and right away smashed the one minute mark on the track, 59.875 and he was the only runner to do so in the first hot lap. Saarinen was in P2 with a gap of half a second...

And that one stood. He was pink in sector one and two, but made a mistake in the final corner, but the closest car to him, earning P2, was his teammate Nina Holtz, .169 behind. Saarinen and Lipponen with an all Finnish second row, then Sharp and Wexler.

Team Radio of the Day:
""Damn, got wide in the final corner... bad lap. " "Still P1 made, still P1, just wait and come home."
Harry Chapman, Steinmann Racing, after making a mistake in his second attempt.

--

We are seriously slow here. Like SERIOUSLY slow. Seems like the whole package is a bit marginal. We did not even outqualify the Kitano cars with their weaker engines.

We will play around with the tyre choices, putting Woodford on the soft compound... does not matter, his car is WAAY to slow anyways.

[Griever20]

US GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

September 11th, 2016

I hope you are all ready over there in Europe on the television screen as we are in for a high speed race here at the Phoenix Motor Speedway. There are some engines ready to be blown and some high speed corners to be conquered, and the two Steinmann cars are in the middle of it... or at the front of it, to be exact.

The high hopes of the Italian Rossini outfit for qualifying success were a fluke, but they had the race pace in Milan and Spa, so there is a chance they can pass the Silver Arrows on track today.

Lap 1:
We are forming up the grid for this 36 lap auditioning to the American crowd and some drivers have been very vocal that they LOVE this high speed track and the banking and all the good stuff. Now, question is... will the two Steinmann get out of the first chicane alive?

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

THE TWO STEINMANN HAVE A GOOD START AND GO INTO THE CHICANE SIDE BY SIDE... AND OLIVEIRA IS THEIR TO MAKE IT A TIGHT ONE... AND SQUEEZES CHAPMAN INTO THIRD, BUT THEN GETS THE INFIELD ALL WRONG AND FALLS BACK!

Wexler up to third, Saarinen missed the chicane and is down to seventh and the Panthers lost out big, P10 and P14.

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +0.9 3. Wexler +1.8
Vidal P16 +6.0
Woodford P19 +7.3

Lap 2:
Saarinen back to P4 with some gutsy overtaking on the banking.

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.0 3. Wexler +2.6
Vidal P16 +12.3
Woodford P17 +12.3

Lap 3:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.4 3. Wexler +2.7
Vidal P16 +17.9
Woodford P20 +19.5

Lap 4:
P1 to P10 sorted by teams... Steinmann, Rossini, Windsor, Van Dort and Panther

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.9 3. Wexler +2.7
Vidal P16 +21.5
Woodford P20 +24.9

Lap 5:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.1 3. Wexler +2.9
Vidal P16 +27.4
Woodford P20 +28.8

Lap 6:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.5 3. Wexler +3.1
Vidal P16 +30.9
Woodford P20 +33.3

Lap 7:
Pit stops for the super soft starter soon?

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.7 3. Wexler +3.5
Vidal P16 +33.2
Woodford P20 +36.5

Lap 8:
And indeed they will... both Steinmann and Saarinen in. Chapman loses out big time as they queue the Silver Arrows... Pit strategy 1.1... There is an angry driver in that car...

1. Wexler 2. Oliveira +3.3 3. Lipponen +7.7
Vidal P17 +36.5
Woodford P20 +36.5

Lap 9:
Oliveira and Schmitt continue on the soft compound, Wexler in... comes out in front of his teammate, but Holtz is the winner as she has a 10 second cusion and free track in P4.

1. Oliveira 2. Schmidt +4.5 3. Blanc +15.4
Vidal P15 +34.2
Woodford P18 +37.6

Lap 10:
1. Oliveira 2. Schmidt +4.6 3. Holtz +15.3
Vidal P12 +32.1
Woodford P20 +65 PIT

Lap 11:
Ana Oliveira could make some big hay by running on softs, coming out it net third or fourth maybe?

1. Oliveira 2. Schmidt +4.7 3. Holtz +13.5
Vidal P12 +34
Woodford P20 +66.3 PIT

Lap 12:
Nope, P5 after the pitstop.

1. Holtz 2. Flores +12.8 3. Wexler +14.3
Vidal P11 +35.8
Woodford P20 1 LAP

Lap 13:
Holtz is flying, but on the supersoft while everyone else is on medium.

1. Holtz 2. Flores +16.3 3. Wexler +16.6
Vidal P10 +29.2
Woodford P20 1 LAP

Lap 14:
1. Holtz 2. Flores +18.7 3. Wexler +19.2
Vidal P12 +33
Woodford P20 1 LAP

Lap 15:
1. Holtz 2. Flores +20.4 3. Wexler +21.2
Vidal P19 +63.4 PIT
Woodford P20 1 LAP

Lap 16:
Oliveira throws a decoy up the inside of Wexler and takes him on the outside, great stuff by the Brazilian driver.

1. Holtz 2. Flores +21.5 3. Oliveira +22.2
Vidal P19 +64.1
Woodford P20 1 LAP

Lap 17:
Holtz pits for fresh supersofts, Flores also in...

1. Oliveira 2. Wexler +1.1 3. Saarinen +1.6
Vidal P19 +64.7
Woodford P20 1 LAP

Lap 18:
AND THE SUPERSOFT DO THE TRICK AS SAARINEN GETS SNACKED ON THE START FINISH LINE!

1. Oliveira 2. Wexler +2.3 3. Holtz +3.0
Vidal P18 +42.4
Woodford P20 +55.5

Lap 19:
1. Oliveira 2. Wexler +2.8 3. Holtz +3.0
Vidal P17 +43.8
Woodford P20 +58.6

Lap 20:
And Wexler falls victim to fellow german Nina Holtz, but is this just fireworks or can she make this strategy work? A three stopper?

1. Oliveira 2. Holtz +1.2 3. Wexler +3.6
Vidal P16 +44.3
Woodford P20 +60.5

Lap 21:
And Oliveira gets eaten up, this could work if they get the final pit stop right.

1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +1.3 3. Wexler +3.3
Vidal P15 +43.8
Woodford P19 +61.7

Lap 22:
1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +2.9 3. Wexler +5.8
Vidal P14 +45.6
Woodford P19 +66.1

Lap 23:
1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +3.5 3. Wexler +7.9
Vidal P13 +48.3
Woodford P19 +76.8

Lap 24:
1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +3.5 3. Wexler +8.6
Vidal P13 +48.9
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 25:
1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +4.8 3. Wexler +9.1
Vidal P18 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 26:
Holtz pits and falls back... this will be interesting...

1. Oliveira 2. Wexler +3.8 3. Lipponen +9.0
Vidal P19 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 27:
1. Oliveira 2. Wexler +4.1 3. Sharp +11.9
Vidal P19 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 28:
Wexler in... and out behind Holtz by good margin.

1. Oliveira 2. Schmidt +16.9 3. Holtz +17.9
Vidal P19 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 29:
1. Oliveira 2. Schmidt +16.9 3. Holtz +17.1
Vidal P19 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 30:
Schmidt is in, now only Oliveira has to pit again... and they are fumbling around Schmidt's suspension... oh that could cost them some serious points....

1. Oliveira 2. Holtz +16.1 3. Wexler +27.2
Vidal P19 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 31:
Oliveira exits the pits in P3, solid strategy for her.

1. Holtz 2. Wexler +9.5 3. Oliveira +11.8
Vidal P18 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 32:
1. Holtz 2. Wexler +8.8 3. Oliveira +10.9
Vidal P18 1LAP
Woodford P20 1LAP

Lap 33:
AND OLIVEIRA MAY GET SOME MORE! WEXLER RAN WIDE IN THE INFIELD AND LOSES P2! BIG MISTAKE!

1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +9.7 3. Wexler +9.8
Vidal P18 1LAP
Woodford P20 2LAP

Lap 34:
Holtz is clear for 25 points but the Windsor of Oliveira has a angry Rossini driver with supersoft tyres behind her with two to go...

1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +9.4 3. Wexler +9.9
Vidal P18 1LAP
Woodford P20 2LAP

Lap 35:
1. Holtz 2. Oliveira +8.8 3. Wexler +9.8
Vidal P18 1LAP
Woodford P20 2LAP

Final Lap:
And Oliveira brings home second place thanks to Mercedes power here. Holtz wins it in front of Oliveira, Wexler and Lipponen with Harry Chapman recovering for P6 after a stupid mistake by the Steinmann brain trust.

[Griever20]

US GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

September 11th, 2016

A three stopper did the trick today for Steinmann's Nina Holtz as she drove three stints on the supersoft tyre and used that one for great advantage on the track. "I knew we had the raw speed, and I talked with my race engineer about that and he loved the idea," she said in the press conference. "Worked out."

That it required serious overtaking is another story. One main contender for the win saw his race compromised in the first pit stops right away and he was not happy.

Chapman Furious:
"We are looking like amateurs. Seriously. Without me, this team would not lead the World Championship. Idiots. ******* idiots," Chapman put to protocol after the race. He was seriously angry after his team queued up the cars for the first pit stop... which meant he had to wait numerous seconds for his stop and fell way back in the race.

Steinmann engineers were not really willing to explain this one, saying that they would have to "analyze" what has happened there. Looks like someone dropped the ball on that one.

Wexler Dropped Two Places:
Dieter Wexler looked like the guy to capitalize in the World Championship standings, but he first lost out to Oliveira after a stupid mistake in the infield section of the Speedway, and then got demoted two places back for running an illegal rear wing.

"We brought this one here being sure that it was legal and an upgrade," a design assistant at hand said. "It was an upgrade, but it seems it was 2mm too high and therefore illegal."

That moved Windsor's Aki Lipponen into P3 and on the podium, and also meant big points that widened the gap to Panther for Claire Williams' team. "A nice day at the office," she said.

With Eleven Races in the Books:
This result is more of a psychologic blow to Chapman than one in the standings. His closest rival is now his teammate, and he leads by 65 points and 67 over Wexler.

Truth be told, Steinmann and Chapman can disappear for two races and would still lead both Championships.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

That one was dead after the first stint. Vidal was tucked up behind Siri Lundquist's Vélan for the first AND second stint, lacking engine power and rear downforce to take the car on the banking, and the performance in medium speed corners to take her in the infield.

By the time Vidal had clean air after the second pit stop, he was fighting blue flags as much as the track and could never really get a lap on the tarmac... not much we can do without a better qualifying.

Development Report:
You know the plan. Get the suspension ready for Canada, then ideally get a good front wing for Singapore in the middle of October, and then start building up next years car. The Canadian GP coming up next will treat our car similar to Phoenix, apart from maybe less straights, and the sun should be out for the whole weekend, no rain expected...

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 9th
Gearbox: 7th
Brakes: 7th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 9th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

The new suspension is there, but it is unfortunately not the big jump that the gearbox and the brakes were... but that is how the cookie crumbles if your design process depends on your chief of engineering having a masterstroke, and want a masterstroke every 2 races.

We started our design process towards the front wing and hope that it will be done for Singapore, and that would seal the development of the Lotus Type 201. Yes, we are not out of the woods yet with three World Championship points and having one car that can score points while the other one is a mess of lawn mower parts, but the simple reasoning is:

a.) once the front wing is there, every improvement on the 2016 car will be marginal
b.) We can bring the two cars closer together when it comes to performance.
c.) We can focus on those components, where we can gain the most.

Of course, if Samuel Blanc puts his Thornton on the podium in the final race, we are screwed, but we won't be able to avoid that anyways...

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Kashima(12/13 races) $300k per race
Balmina(12/12 races) $4M upfront
Bebelitas(2/8 races) $2.75M upfront

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Golden Tiger Bank(1/9) $900k upfront, $200k bonus pool for 13th or above
Northern Harbour(1/6) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool for 2nd or above
Vamoose(1/6) $1.5M upfront, $1.2M bonus pool for 3rd or above

So, we are back in business with Northern Harbour and added a Canadian sponsor for yummy breakfast cereals, and both combined for $2.45M for the next six races. That is not that bad.

The Track:

Located just 20 miles away from the outskirts of Vancouver, the Canadian GP on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is one of the classic tracks returning to the race calendar. Well known for the Pits Harpin and for the long back straight after that corner as well as the famous "Wall of Champions".

Lots of medium and high speed corners are linked after each other on this track and with the sun shining, the Canadian fans should get their money's worth.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
Rumor has it that Dieter Wexler was NOT happy about getting illegal parts onto his Rossini car for Phoenix and is losing trust into the team and it's ability to win this year's championship. He is under contract for two more years.

Linking the best engine with the best gearbox. That was the aim for Steinmann Motorsport and according to rumors, they have done so with their new gearbox, AND they put a new set of brakes on top of that. Many say they win the development race with Rossini...

Windsor's development has not stopped aswell as they will bring a new rear wing to Canada, jumping Kitano in rear wing performance.

[Griever20]

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

September 24th, 2016

The Canadian fans loved to see the return of single seater racing to Vancouver and came in masses, cheering on for all teams that were on the grid and hoping for a great race. And a great race it could be as Cortés brought the three softer compounds to Canada, a track with usually high tyre wear.

However, the practice time sheet showed one thing... Harry Chapman was in a fine form and laser focused. He put in a 1:27.453 and fleeced the rest of the field by almost a second, setting the tone earlier. The two Germans Nina Holtz and Dieter Wexler were P2 and P3 with a gap of .001 between them... Chapman driving in another league in this session.

And he was once again the first car to set a time... 1:25.194 said the Brit and the field was baffled. Lipponen... .773 behind, Holtz a full second... Wexler... .587 in P2, Saarinen .616 behind in P3 after the first flying laps. With the morale shattered in the pit lane and one run to go, Chapman looked unbeatable.

And the second place shootout went underway with Wexler improving by a tenth of a second, but he would be the big loser as first his teammate Niilo Saarinen, then Nina Holtz and finally Aki Lipponen went faster and together with Panther Racing's Zoe Sharp, they knocked the German down to P6.

The final result, Chapman, who did not improve his lap, then Lipponen, Holtz and Saarinen.

Team Radio of the Day:
""How, for the second race in a row, can I screw up my second qualifying run? " "Still P1 made, still P1, just wait and come home."
Harry Chapman, Steinmann Racing, after making a mistake in his second attempt... again.

--

For us, same **** as always. We start on the hardest compound and see how it goes. We need Iker to have a monster of a first stint, passing as many cars as he can, to get in a position to get points.

Oh, and by the way, Woodford is driving on his own. He asked if he can drive a race without team orders about strategy and so on. Be my guest mate.

[Griever20]

Canadian GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

September 25th, 2016

It is sunny, it is a great day for racing and it is the Canadian Grand Prix from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Harry Chapman took pole yesterday as casually as only he could do, and he will start from the front row with Aki Lipponen besides him.

Lap 1:

The front runners are all on the ultrasoft compound and looking to work themselves a gap before their first pit stop on this tyre hungry race, so some of the soft tyre drivers could make a jump forward. Chapman in front is ready and so is the rest of the grid...

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

CHAPMAN HAS SCREWED UP THE START AND FALLS A LONG WAY BACK. SAARINEN NAILS IT INTO THE BACK STRAIT AND TAKES THREE MORE POSITIONS AND THE LEAD! WEXLER HAS DISAPPEARED!

Schmidt in the Van Dort with a great start and he takes second place on the SOFT trye. Chapman put the pedal to the metal in the final sector and is up to fourth but Wexler is NINTH!

1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +3.7 3. Lipponen +4.6
Vidal P12 +8.1
Woodford P18 +10.4

Lap 2:
And Lipponen loses out to Chapman breaking into the chicane after the back straight.

1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +5.5 3. Chapman +6.6
Vidal P12 +14
Woodford P16 +17.0

Lap 3:
But Lipponen does NOT give up and nearly had Chapman on the start-finish straight

1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +6.8 3. Chapman +8.5
Vidal P13 +20.7
Woodford P16 +22.0

Lap 4:
And he got him in the hairpin, Lipponen back to P3... it's all going wrong for Chapman again as Saarinen is streaking off in the distance.

1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +7.2 3. Lipponen +8.2
Vidal P13 +23.7
Woodford P18 +27.4

Lap 5:
1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +7.2 3. Lipponen +8.3
Vidal P13 +24.3
Woodford P20 +29.6

Lap 6:
Oh some drama at the back of the field as North in the Kitano drives into the back of Moreno's Thornton... not what either team needs. Drive through penalty for Jenny North.

1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +9.1 3. Lipponen +9.9
Vidal P12 +31.0
Woodford P20 +39.7

Lap 7:
1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +8.4 3. Lipponen +9.4
Vidal P12 +32.1
Woodford P19 +42.2

Lap 8:
Chapman and Gonzalez's first to pit to get rid of the super soft tyre.

1. Saarinen 2. Schmidt +7.2 3. Lipponen +9.1
Vidal P11 +32.1
Woodford P17 +43.5

Lap 9:
And so does Saarinen and Lipponen.

1. Schmidt 2. Oliveira +7.9 3. Surikov +9.9
Vidal P9 +26.4
Woodford P18 +38.6

Lap 10:
Lipponen in the Windsor is the big loser as he exits the pits behind a number of cars on the soft tyre, trying to make a 2-stopper work.

1. Schmidt 2. Oliveira +8.3. Surikov +9.3
Vidal P9 +26.4
Woodford P18 +38.6

Lap 11:
Oliveira comes in, but Wolfgang Schmidt... Saarinen virtually leads the race on the soft compound.

1. Schmidt 2. Surikov +8.7. Saarinen +16.1
Vidal P15 +42.8 PIT
Woodford P18 +38.6

Lap 12:
Schmidt in for new tyres and desperation as his crew stuggles with the left rear...

1. Surikov 2. Saarinen +5.4. Sharp +7.9
Vidal P15 +34.2
Woodford P20 +57.2 PIT

Lap 13:
Sharp made a huge jump by pitting for another set of ultrasoft tyres that still look healthy, she is in P2 and pressing for the lead folks. This ain't over.

1. Saarinen 2. Sharp +1.6 Holtz +3.5
Vidal P15 +34
Woodford P20 +58.2

Lap 14:
1. Saarinen 2. Sharp +1.9 Holtz +4.1
Vidal P14 +31
Woodford P20 +54.6

Lap 15:
1. Saarinen 2. Sharp +1.0 Holtz +3.7
Vidal P11 +31.6
Woodford P20 +59.2

Lap 16:
Sharp is closing in, but both her and Saarinen's tyres are fairly worn.

Vidal in the Lotus is flying in the midfield, matching the leader's pace last lap.

1. Saarinen 2. Sharp +0.6 Holtz +2.9
Vidal P11 +31.6
Woodford P20 +60.8

Lap 17:
The leader stay out for another lap. This will be decided by pit stop speed and trye choice for the final stint.

1. Saarinen 2. Sharp +0.6 Holtz +2.9
Vidal P11 +31.6
Woodford P20 +61.6

Lap 18:
And another lap, they want to finish on the soft tyre it seems.

1. Saarinen 2. Sharp +1.2 Holtz +1.7
Vidal P11 +30.3
Woodford P20 +63.5

Lap 19:
Sharp pits, Chapman pits.Wolfgang Schmidt in the Van Dort can win this race if he can nurse the softs for nine more laps...

1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +2.5 Schmidt +7.3
Vidal P16 +47.6 PIT
Woodford P20 +65.1

Lap 20:
1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +1.4 Schmidt +6.0
Vidal P15 +48-4
Woodford P19 +67.2

Lap 21:
Saarinen and Holtz pits and the Rossini pit crew have problem... a type was missing? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

1. Schmidt 2. Oliveira +0.8 Surikov +3.8
Vidal P16 +51
Woodford P19 +67.2

Lap 22:
Schmidt and Surikov CAN finish the race on their soft tyres, Holtz 11.4 behind on supersoft...

1. Schmidt 2. Oliveira +0.9 Surikov +4.1
Vidal P16 +44.4
Woodford P19 +80.5 PIT

Lap 23:
1. Schmidt 2. Surikov +2.9 Holtz +7.9
Vidal P16 +44.3
Woodford P19 +80.3

Lap 24:
1. Schmidt 2. Surikov +3.0 Holtz +5.9
Vidal P14 +44.2
Woodford P19 +80.6

Lap 25:
Holtz is closing in and Chapman is 2.2 behind her... that could become some kind of finish here... four to go.

1. Schmidt 2. Surikov +2.1 Holtz +4.5
Vidal P14 +44.7
Woodford P19 +81.0

Lap 26:
1. Schmidt 2. Surikov +1.2 Holtz +2.4
Vidal P13 +46.2
Woodford P19 +83.4

Lap 27:
1. Schmidt 2. Surikov +0.7 Holtz +1.8
Vidal P14 +48
Woodford P19 +84.4

Lap 28:
AND HERE IS THE FIRST MOVE AS SURIKOV TAKES THE LEAD IN THE VIRAGE SENNA! HOLTZ AND CHAPMAN EAT SCHMIDT ON THE PIT STRAIT AND CHAPMAN TAKES HIS TEAMMATE ASWELL!

1. Surikov 2. Chapman +0.7 Holtz +0.9
Vidal P14 +47.4
Woodford P19 +85.4

Final Lap:
AND SURIKOV BRINGS IT HOME, DEFENDING THE LEAD LIKE A LION AGAINST HARRY CHAPMAN. Holtz missed the braking point into the chicane and let Schmidt through who salvaged P3.

1. Surikov 2. Chapman +0.6 Schmidt +2.6
Vidal P14 +47.5
Woodford P19 +88.8

[Griever20]

Canadian GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

September 25th, 2016

The second win of the season for Nikolai Surikov who was one of four runners who made a one-stop race work, and he and Wolfgang Schmidt capitalized big time on that.

"I knew I had to give it all when I saw the two Silver Arrows coming up in the mirror. I just threw it of the inside of Wolfgang and hoped he would give up the place... and I was able to get in front of him and let him fight with the Steinmann', Surikov said about the final two laps.

Rossini's Failing:
"I just had no power," Dieter Wexler said in the team radio. The reason for that was that he messed up the clutch settings for the start during the formation lap, via his race engineer. That one cost him a ton of places, time ,and let him finish 11th and out of the points.

Niilo Saarinen on the other hand had to watch some pure gold by his pit crew. He came for his final pitstop, his guys took four wheels off... and only three back initially as one was missing. "Amateur mistake," said BBC's Martin Brundle on the telecast.

They would've had problems winning the race anyways as they only had fresh softs available while the Steinmann cars went on supersoft.

The Scrutineering Saga Continues:
As Zoe Sharp went from sixth to eighth due to an illegal front wing, and Rick De Graaf went back SIX places for having an extra fuel tank hidden in the sidepod of his car. Some things never change.

With Twelve Races in the Books:
It is hopeless fight for Nina Holtz and the rest. Harry Chapman will win it and the same for the Constructors. The Panthers edged closer to third place there, and no movement on the back. Thornton on its way down...

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

Well, to sum things up. We had a good strategy, and executed it quite well. Two stopper, great first stint that saw Vidal overtake a number of runners, drive a quick and efficient second stint on the supersoft compound, and did OK in the third stint on the soft.

Problem in this race, a 1-stopper, as done by Schmidt and Surikov on top of the food chain, and Vázquez and Flores further down, was more efficient, and the top 10 runners all finished without too much drama. We could not run a 1-stopper with our chassis and our drivers, the tyres would literally explode on us.

Not much we could do here, and we did not lose anything to Thornton behind or Vélan in front.

And, P13 landed us $100k of sponsorship money by the Golden Tiger Bank!

Development Report:
We will meet for a development meeting regarding the Lotus Type 202 in a couple of days, and I will give you an exact rundown in the next Pre-Race update. But so much, we are planning with a maximum 4-5 new parts (depending on and that's it.

[Griever20]

Confidental Analysis: Race Engineer
October 11th, 2016
From: michelle.watkins@lr.gma
To: dan.martinson@lr.gma

Hey boss,

here is the shortlist of race engineers you wanted. It definitely is a short list, if you allow me the pun. I kept things under a lid and did the research on my one so that nobody can find out about that.

To refresh you memories, you wanted me to look out for race engineers that are WMC qualified or close to qualified with potential that, similar to Stuart Yarnham, are able to nurse the car home if needed.

Two candidates:

Alex Barbosa(3.25/4.5*), Portugal, 36-years of age

The 36-year old started his career in the GP3 as simple engineer in 2002, but soon was lured to China to work on the fledgling China F1 team that never materialized. He worked for some smaller teams in Asia until 2015, when Silva Racing secured his services for the inaugural ERS season.

He learned his craft, nursing the car, in Asia while working for smaller teams, and with him working for the fifth place team in the ERS, we have a good shot of signing him.

However, on the pure race engineer skills, he right now would be a step back from the guy we are looking to replace, BUT he is improving his skills with a vast rate of knots as he has improved by two points in every skill over the last six months...So he could be one of the top engineers in 2-3 years on a team friendly contract if we sign him.

Emerson Hystand(4/5*), Sweden, 27-years of age

He would be able to slot in without any doubt and has a higher ceiling than both our current race engineer and Barbosa. Hystand learned his craft while working with rally star Michael Ekström and is already one of the top 10 race engineers in the sport. Unfortunately, that also means he may just be no option at all.

Hystand is working for Van Dort Racing and with Maria Gonzalez these days, and while a call does not cost us money, don't expect him to be willing to leave the fifth best team in the WMC for the ninth best team in the Constructors Championship. He is also alot more pricey.

Another thing:

As for your reasoning for this potential move, I talked this over with Jenny, in theory, and she agreed with you. Whatever we do, the Type 202 won't be as reliable as the Type 201 was as we had alot of time to work on that car, and the same for the chassis we stole from Chariot Motor Racing.

She calculated that with our current factory, we are talking about 30 work days to get the cars to the same reliability level we started at this season, and that Iker Vidal could have a significant advantage by having Stuart as his race engineer then, and now because we are able to do the weight stripping thing.

Given the fact how Woodford's car looks like, and how long it will take for the two to learn from each other, I would propose we make the swap as early as possible.

Best Wishes
Michelle Watkins
PA/Scouting Director Lotus Racing

Note by team principal:
We won't fire Mary Paddock, Woodford's race engineer, on the spot. We will keep an eye on Barbosa, but in order to give him a chance, we will do something new in the next GP. Weight stripping Woodford's car would mean repairs in the race... but Mary HAS been pretty good when it comes to do quick fixes on the car... We will try that. I already have the reputation of being an disloyal bastard so...

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 9th
Gearbox: 7th
Brakes: 7th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 9th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

Yes, we have a new front wing, but the front and rear wing are the areas where we are ways behind the competition. It is an upgrade, but there is lots of work to be done here.

Now, developing the Type 202. Here is a little overview of what we will start the 2017 season with:

Engine:
1x modified 2016 Mk 5 Whitehouse Special(currently Vidal's car)
1x 2017 Mk1 (in development)

Gearbox:
1x modified 2016 Mk 5 Whitehouse Special(currently Vidal's car)
1x modified 2016 Mk 2 (currently Woodford's car)

Brakes:
1x modified 2016 Mk 5 Whitehouse Special(currently Vidal's car)
1x modified 2016 Mk 2 (currently Woodford's car)

Front Wing:
2x 2017 Mk1
Those are already finished as the design went quick and successful as they are already better than our existing front wing... and highly illegal under the 2016 rules. However, they had a lot of untapped potential, and we will have to spent the next six weeks in the factory to unlock that one. With this being one of our weakest parts, we will do just that.

Suspension:
1x modified 2016 Mk 5 Whitehouse Special(currently Vidal's car)
1x 2017 Mk1 (to be build after the engine)

Rear Wing:
1x modified 2016 Mk 5 Whitehouse Special(currently Vidal's car)
1x 2017 Mk1 (to be build after the suspension)

We will leave brakes and gearbox as it is... because there is not a lot of additional potential in them and we can save THAT money for once.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Kashima(13/13 races) $300k per race
Bebelitas(3/8 races) $2.75M upfront
Hyper Tech(1/14 races) $500k upfront, $500k per race

Hyper Tech is a Russian high tech entertainment technology company trying to push into the European market, and they offered us a big deal worth alot of $$$. That one is worth $7.5M into next season, and $500k per race is better than the Bebelitas deal, and that one was pretty good.

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Golden Tiger Bank(2/7) $900k upfront, $200k bonus pool for 13th or above
Northern Harbour(2/6) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool for 2nd or above
Vamoose(2/6) $1.5M upfront, $1.2M bonus pool for 3rd or above

The Track:

The next race... the Singapore GP. It almost was the first and last one as the GMA for some reason wanted to vote it out of the calendar, but team principals and fans stopped that initiative right away. A street track that requires a good gearbox, good brakes and a good front wing, it should be not that bad for our car.

It will be cloudy all weekend long, and there could be some light rain in the air for qualifying... and as we know, forecasts are not precise. This could be another chance for us, and we should grab it.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

Trying to survive, the Thornton car made a step forward, bringing a new front wing AND gearbox to Singapore, two crucial parts there. They need to score at least three points to have a fighting chance in the Championship.

Kitano-Honda brought a new brake solution from their home base in Japan to Singapore. "This should put us top 3 in decceleration," via technical director Sarah Kane.

"The new rear wing will help us in the final two races," Windsor team principal Claire Williams said about the newest part on her cars. They jumped Kitano in rear downforce.

[Griever20]

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

October 15th, 2016

A highly anticipated race, the street circuit in the heart of Singapore hosts the 13th round of the 2016 WMC Championship and there are teams and drivers desperately looking for results. "We need to score, and we need to score big," Thornton boss Jan Strootman said before free practice.

Also feeling a sense of urgency are the Rossini drivers, hoping to somehow keep Chapman from another autopilot victory and Steinmann and Harry Chapman from being able to clinch the both Word Championships in Australia.

And yet, the two Silver Arrows reigned supreme in free practice with Chapman posting a 1:20.309, .340 in front of Holtz(1:20:640) and more than half a second faster than Niilo Saarinen in the Rossini as first non-Steinmann car.

Qualifying started off with a small shower, and the clever drivers stayed in the pits, kept their powder and car dry, and drove out when it started to dry... or at least, did not go out on the intermediate tyre... like Harry Chapman who posted a 1:17.894 on the supersoft for a first benchmark.

All of that left most runners with one try in the dry to get their qualifying right. And right, they did get it. As ever, Chapman failed to improve on the rubbered in track, and the rest capitalized. Sharp and Wexler just finished behind Chapman within .050, but two drivers ruined that Chapman pole.

Aki Lipponen showed that the Windsor was not dead and wants a good position in the Constructors with a 1:17.544 and Nina Holtz passed his teammate with a 1:17.823.

So, Lipponen, Holtz in the front row, Chapman and Sharp second row, tomorrow, stay tuned.

Team Radio of the Day:
""How, for the third race in a row, can I screw up my second qualifying run? " "And there are some fast cars on track mate..."
Harry Chapman, Steinmann Racing, after making a mistake in his second attempt... again.

--

A kingdom for a real good rain shower or a faster car. We will run the usual strategy on both cars, start on the medium tyre and go from there. Both cars got weight stripped this time with Woodford's car focus partially being on making the car repairs easily. Mary Paddock does not know it, but this is for her job next season.

[Griever20]

Singapore GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

October 16th, 2016

Welcome to the live race ticker for the Singapore GP. It is the first pole position for Windsor ace Aki Lipponen but he will feel the hot breath of two fast Steinmann cars into the first corner. This street circuit, almost voted off for next season, will set the stage for another exciting race.

Lap 1:
And with a very curious decision, Aki Lipponen will start on the soft tyre with the next cars behind him being on the supersoft, so his lead could erode quickly, very quickly. The cars are coming around for the formation lap... and the grid is ready... It is a short rundown to the first corner, a left-hander...

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

AND HOLTZ LEADS THE RACE OUT OF THE FIRST CORNER WITH A GREAT GETAWAY! SHARP AND CHAPMAN ARE FIGHTING FOR P3... AND THE STEINMANN PASSED HER BACK AGAIN ON THE BRIDGE!

And Chapman takes no prisoners and goes past Lipponen for P2 while Holtz puts the pedal to the metal to lead after the first of 37 laps.

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.8 3. Sharp +4.2
Vidal P15 +11.2
Woodford P19+12.7

Lap 2:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.4 3. Sharp +5.6
Vidal P17 +20.1
Woodford P20 +21.3

Lap 3:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.2 3. Sharp +5.6
Vidal P17 +24.1
Woodford P20 +28.1

Lap 4:
Not alot of action right now, however Chapman is looking to get past his teammate as it seems....

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.3 3. Sharp +5.0
Vidal P17 +27.4
Woodford P20 +31.6

Lap 5:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.3 3. Sharp +6.4
Vidal P17 +32.7
Woodford P20 +37.0

Lap 6:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.1 3. Sharp +5.7
Vidal P17 +37.0
Woodford P20 +40.4

Lap 7:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.2 3. Sharp +5.1
Vidal P16 +40.4
Woodford P19 +43.2

Lap 8:
The supersoft is going away... pit stops soon...

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +0.6 3. Sharp +4.8
Vidal P16 +42.4
Woodford P19 +45.9

Lap 9:
AND THEY DO IT AGAIN! Chapman has to queue behind Holtz AND THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AT THE PITSTOP! WHAT A STUPID WAY TO DO PIT STOPS!

1. Sharp 2. Lipponen +4.3 3. Schmidt +11.0
Vidal P16 +42.1
Woodford P19 +46.5

Lap 10:
Sharp in at the end of the lap. Chapman has lost 16 seconds towards Holtz...

1. Lipponen 2. Schmidt +6.8 3. Saarinen +7.6
Vidal P15 +39.8
Woodford P19 +45.9

Lap 11:
AND SHARP COMES OUT IN FRONT OF BOTH STEINMANN! Bad pit stops could cost them the race here...

1. Lipponen 2. Schmidt +7.5 3. Saarinen +8.5
Vidal P15 +37.2
Woodford P19 +43.4

Lap 12:
The Panther of Zoe Sharp is already all over the back of third place who is on worn soft tyres and she has a 5.3 second lead over Holtz.

1. Lipponen 2. Schmidt +8.1 3. Saarinen +8.6
Vidal P13 +39.4
Woodford P19 +46.6

Lap 13:
And the three front runners on the old tyres pit.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +4.8 3. Wexler +6.3
Vidal P13 +40.8
Woodford P19 +48.9

Lap 14:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +2.7 3. Wexler +5.7
Vidal P12 +31.9
Woodford P18 +41.7

Lap 15:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +2.7 3. Wexler +4.6
Vidal P12 +32.5
Woodford P20 +59.9 PIT

Lap 16:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +2.2 3. Wexler +3.9
Vidal P12 +33.0
Woodford P20 +63.1

Lap 17:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +2.1 3. Wexler +3.8
Vidal P18 +48.7 PIT
Woodford P20 +63.0

Lap 18:
It has been a long time coming, Holtz all over the Panther's gearbox, gone are the 5.3 seconds of cushion.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +0.9 3. Wexler +3.3
Vidal P16 +49.8
Woodford P20 +63.0

Lap 19:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +0.6 3. Wexler +4.2
Vidal P15 +50.1
Woodford P20 +67.2

Lap 20:
Coming close is one thing, overtaking another.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +0.6 3. Wexler +4.5
Vidal P15 +50.6
Woodford P20 +69.0

Lap 21:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +1.1 3. Wexler +5.1
Vidal P15 +51.5
Woodford P20 +71.9

Lap 22:
Oh no, Nikolai Surikov has smashed his Panther into the wall before the second bridge over the harbour... he is out of the race and can enjoy watching it now... yellow in sector 2.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +1.1 3. Wexler +5.1
Vidal P14 +53.0
Woodford P19 +75.1

Lap 23:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +0.5 3. Wexler +6.4
Vidal P16 +69.0
Woodford P19 +78.9

Lap 24:
The second round of pit stops close for the front runners...

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +1.6 3. Wexler +6.3
Vidal P16 +69.4
Woodford P19 +80.6

Lap 25:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +1.9 3. Wexler +5.8
Vidal P16 +70.3
Woodford P19 +1 LAP PIT

Lap 26:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +2.8 3. Wexler +5.9
Vidal P16 +71.5
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 27:
Holtz and Wexler in... AND LIPPONEN SLIPS THROUGH! HE PITTED EARLIER AND WAS FAST ON THE SOFT TYRE!

1. Sharp 2. Schmidt +16.9 3. Lipponen +20.1
Vidal P16 +74
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 28:
Sharp's and Schmidt's tyres are worn but they want to change to supersoft...

1. Sharp 2. Schmidt +17.5 3. Lipponen +19.4
Vidal P15 +75.9
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 29:
Sharp does so and exits... IN FRONT OF EVERYONE IN THIS SHORT PIT LANE! Nifty pit work by Panther!

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +1.1 3. Schmidt +1.2
Vidal P14 +77.5
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 30:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +3.8 3. Schmidt +5.7
Vidal P14 +62.4
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 31:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +7.4 3. Lipponen +10.0
Vidal P14 +69
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 32:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +7.1 3. Lipponen +11.6
Vidal P13 +74.0
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 33:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +5.9 3. Lipponen +12.7
Vidal P13 +75.7
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 34:
This one looks done and dusted.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +8 3. Lipponen +15.3
Vidal P13 +77.0
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 35:
1. Sharp 2. Holtz +8.0 3. Lipponen +15.3
Vidal P13 +79.1
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Lap 36:
And a frustrated Harry Chapman is limping home in P5...

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +7.1 3. Lipponen +16.3
Vidal P13 +79.8
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

Final Lap:
And that is it! Zoe Sharp wins the race with good speed and better pitwork, Nina Holtz second, then Aki Lipponnen who delivered a good undercut to get past Wexler in fourth.

1. Sharp 2. Holtz +7.9 3. Lipponen +18.9
Vidal P13 +83.0
Woodford P19 +1 LAP

[Griever20]

Singapore GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

October 16th, 2016

"Race pace, pit work, consistency," that is how Ruben Agostini, team principal of Rossini, summed up the race for the rival Panther team. "They had all of that, we did not. It is a low downforce track, better times ahead," he said.

"My first win, yeehaaaw," Sharp said on the team radio... between giggles and screams after she crossed the chequered flag. The fact that she drunk champagne out of her own race shoe on the podium... ignore that.

Steinmann Does it Again:
"And that is why I won't drive here next season," a angry Harry Chapman said after the race before leaving for the airport. Running in first and second, the German outfit called in both cars... and queued the World Championship leader behind Nina Holtz.

The fact that the right rear did not come off properly, and that they had to bring in the tyres for Chapman, cost him a ton of time. "Subtracting 16 seconds off his time, he would've been second in front of Holtz," a rival engineer told the BBC.

Vélan Adds Two More:
"A great drive, two points, and some more safety for the team, exactly what we needed today," said Vélan driver Esteban Ribeiro after finishing ninth, netting himself two World Championship Points. They should be safe now.

With Thirteen Races in the Books:
Chapman leads the Drivers Championship by 63 points and the only person to be able to steal that one would be Nina Holtz... if she wins every race and Chapman only scores 11 points. Unlikely.

With a maximum of 43 points for first and second, Steinmann needs 19 more points to clinch the Constructors... expect both Championships to be done and dusted next race in Australia.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

Same **** as last race. We drove a sensible strategy, we put it on the tarmac quite nicely, we wasted a little bit of time in the middle stint when Iker, using the supersoft tyre, had to overtake two drivers before having clean road ahead of him and making up time, but in the end, we were 10 seconds behind P10. In Canada, it was 7.5 seconds, but overall, that is our race pace without drama in front of us.

Easy to complain now about P13, we were no where near to that at the start of the season in the dry... hold your horses.

As for the race engineer thingy, we tried stuff... and we misused stuff. We repaired Woodford's car in the first pit stop... but not all parts and had to repair 3x. I messed that up and we will try again. He still lacked pace, but that is more car driven than driver... the jury is on the case, we have three races to try stuff out.

Development Report:
Not much to report. The engineers are working on the new front wings we build for 2017, Mary Paddock is working on Woodford's car and is trying to add some reliability we then can strap out of it again for performance, and Vidal's car is more or less a finished product.

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 9th
Gearbox: 7th
Brakes: 7th
Front Wing: 10th
Suspension: 9th
Rear Wing: 10th
Overall: 10th

A little walk through, the new front wing we are developing for 2017 would jump us up to 9th already, and we have roughly another month of performance development to go. The 2017 engine is ready, and already better than the 2016 version and the suspension is in production. More small steps, but they will really kick in in 2017.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Bebelitas(4/8 races) $2.75M upfront
Hyper Tech(2/14 races) $500k upfront, $500k per race
Cortés Tyre Co(1/15) $500k upfront, $400k per race

This time, it is actually the company building our tyres... and they made a good offer.

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Golden Tiger Bank(3/7) $900k upfront, $200k bonus pool for 13th or above
Northern Harbour(3/6) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool for 2nd or above
Vamoose(3/6) $1.5M upfront, $1.2M bonus pool for 3rd or above

The Track:

Three races to go, and another track where rain could have played a role off the table. Yet, racing will be done on this non-permanent racetrack on the south of Sydney, located near a small river and usually home for an interesting race. Lots of slow speed corners do not really suit our car, but acceleration does, and the engine is... good enough.

Maybe we get some lucky rain in in the race... a little shower... c'mon weather gods.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
Both Panther and Rezzato Corsa brought a new gearbox to the race. Fascinating that they are still developing for this years car.

Speaking of development, Thornton is determined to not go down without a fight and brought a new front wing and a new suspension to down under. Can they put the heat on Lotus who have stopped car development two weeks ago?

[Griever20]

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

October 29th, 2016

The Australian fans would love to see a repeat from last race, a Zoe Sharp win in front of her home crowd, and given that Panther brought some upgrades, there is a chance for that. Also picking up the pace is Thornton Motorsport, and they are reported to have added some serious speed to their car.

"Why should we be nervous, we have three points, they have none, and it is a long way to three points in three races in this series," Lotus boss Dan Martinson said before the qualifying. Asked about the recent reliability problems with Jeremy Woodford's car, he said: "We were trying a new setup of some parts, don't worry about it."

Free practice went down on this cold day, and Zoe Sharp gave the home fans something to cheer right away with a 1:32.621 to put herselves on top of the time sheets... until the other drivers came around and smashed that time, leading off with the every fast Harry Chapman... 1:31.780.

Chapman delivered a Chapman lap at the start of the qualifying, 1:29.629 and the hunt for him was on... Nina Holtz, who loudly said before the race that she never wants to be in the same team as Chapman... 1:29.677, close, but P2... Sharp... 1:29.942... not even close.

Niilo Saarinen in the Rossini, one of the cars that has not seen an upgrade in a while, snuck in for P3 with a 1.29.685, just .008 behind Holtz and Chapman pretty much knew he had to bring the second attempt this time.

"I knew I had to nail it," he said after qualifying. But did he?

He did, 1:29.191, dominating the opposition by half a second. Happy holidays, this Championship is as good as done and dusted.

Team Radio of the Day:
""Tell Wexler and Rossini they have mirrors and team radio for a reason."
Iker Vidal, Lotus Racing, after getting blocked by Wexler on his final attempt...

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We are closer to them than we were in the last races. Seriously, I don't know why, maybe it is the engine, maybe it is the cold weather, maybe it is the water besides the racetrack. But there is something in the air here, and maybe we can grab us some points.

Woodford, who is still not accepting any team orders and wants to go racing on his own, will start on the medium compound and we will repair EVERYTHING on his car in his first pit stop and see how it goes from there. Vidal on the soft one to make up some ground.