The Return of Lotus(A non OOTP Dynasty)

[Griever20]

Ok, the good news is that we, once again, took advantage of mistakes in front of us and managed a good points total. The bad news, we still are not able to get the second car up to speed. Some of this is raw performance, some of this is the fact that Iker's car has way more reliability to turn in to performance... part of this is eight seconds of repair time every GP.

Remember the Alex Barbosa guy? He is filling out nicely... and we will return to the negotiation table with him. It will take weeks and weeks to get him and Jeremy on the same page, and it could be a 2018 season project... but things work too well for Iker, and not good enough for Jeremy.

Development Report:
Brakes -> Engine.

The factory work will evolve around the front wing, and then the new brakes going forward and let us not forget, we are roughly two months away from a factory upgrade, and we really need that. We left a lot of potential performance on the table last season, and that means we basically spent money in the design process that we could not fully exploit due to the factory. Bang for buck.

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 8th
Gearbox: 8th
Brakes: 7th
Front Wing: 4th
Suspension: 7th
Rear Wing: 9th
Overall: 7th

First of all, the front wing factory work payed off... for Iker, we had no time to improve Jeremy's front wing... factory time. The brakes are ready to be deployed into both cars, and we got two very different sets of brakes.

One set, Jenny hit +55% reliability, but no extra performance... so they are only a little step forward for now, and need factory time.

The others 50% reliable, now up to 69%, and have higher floor and ceiling. You will never get completely equal parts with this random component tactic I guess. We will add reliability to the one part and then try to push the performance for both brakes... while we are trying to make progress in the engine department... that will cost us time.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Hyper Tech(9/14 races) $500k upfront, $500k per race
Cortés Tyre Co(8/15) $500k upfront, $400k per race
Jogo Games(3/12) $250k upfront, $400k per race

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Ishikawa Malt Whisky(4/5) $1M upfront, $1.2M bonus pool for 1st
Condor Telecoms(4/8) $1M upfront, $800k bonus pool for 4th or above
Luxina(3/6) $300k upfront, $250k bonus pool for 12th or above

The Track:
The Olympic complex just besides the road, this is a great venue for racing, but is not quite sold out... too much space I guess. With loads of high speed corners and acceleration zones onto straits, this track needs nifty gearboxes, a good rear wing, and a decent engine +- performance in the occasional low speed corner...

What I am trying to say, this one is not quite our track these days. An overcast race is predicted, so we could see a rain shower, but that is pretty much it.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
From high to low. Rafael Rodriguez joined the dodgy neck faction... as he was rocking out to his new studio album that will be released in two weeks. He is expected to struggle with fitness the next two to three Grand Prix.

More front downforce for Steinmann. They continued to refine their new front wing, and that was a splashing success as they are now the kings of the hill in that department. Not that helpful here, but we are going Cape Town soon...

The Kitano-Honda team has reworked the sides of their rear wing, squeezing some additional performance out of the car in high speed corners... and they need that as they still are not performing up to the level Honda expects.

[Griever20]

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

May 27th, 2017

The Russian crowd was very happy to see the WMC circus return to Sochi for the Russian GP, and not only Nikolai Surikov, but all drivers were fairly popular and had to write tons of autographs and were seen in some local TV shows and at some sponsorship events.

Still, the big question in the air was the same as three weeks ago... and Steinmann strike back. Last year, this was another Chapman win, and with his neck problems gone and after some frustrating races, this could be the track.

"We can win everywhere, we just have to execute our plan for the weekend and cut down the stupid mistakes," he said before free practice. That session did not see him lighting the world on fire though. First was Dieter Wexler again with a 1:20.500 in front of the Brits of Margate(1:20.550) and the aformentioned Harry Chapman(1:20.563)... but that is close stuff...

A 1:17.972 was the first marker set in qualifying... by the Rossini driver... and that marker was pretty competitive with room for improvement as Aki Lipponen was pink in sector two... 1:18.195... and then Chapman was pink in sector two... 1:18.173, P2.

And the track was faster in the second attempt. Zoe Sharp, then Rafael Rodriguez were trading pink sectors in their run, but it was Harry Chapman that aced sector three... 1:17.738 for provisional P2, Rodriguez P2.

But Wexler was still out there... and got pink in sector two by .268.... and brought it home, 1:17.697 and pole position for the German, the second pole in a row... as said three weeks ago, the balance of power has changed as Chapman will be the meat in a Rossini sandwich at the start tomorrow.


Team Radio of the Day:
"That is P5... no, P6 for you, good lap." "Good step forward, now build me a new engine guys."
Zoe Sharp, Kitano-Honda after a pretty impressive qualifying lap.

--

This is a clear cut race for us. Get on the hard compound, try to nurse it around for 16-17 laps, and try to make this a 1-stop race. Problem... this could be a hard ask from the tyre, and we may end up going hard – soft – soft... especially with Jeremy.

One thing I want to mention here...
Woodford: +210 performance, -70% reliability
Vidal +570 performance, -190% reliability...

To be fair, he has less performance in his car to start with, and less reliability to strip out...

[Griever20]

Russian GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

May 28th, 2017

Serious buzz around here for the Russian GP. Lotus, despite underperforming, got some additional work done with their sponsors and more importantly, fuel supplier Russian Oil, and hundreds and thousands of Nikolai Surikov fans of all ages came to the track, hoping to cheer on their idol who will start from tenth place today.

Lap 1:
The grid is forming up with the two Rossini cars on the clean side of the track, and Chapman on the dirty side. Last bit, via former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, the Rossini team would love to exit the first corner with a 1-2...

Saarinen in P8 and Surikov on the medium compound, Vidal in P12 the first on hard rubber...

All eyes are on the five lights...

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

CHAPMAN WITH A GREAT START, HE ENTERS THE FIRST CORNER SIDE BY SIDE WITH WEXLER BUT IS ON THE OUTSIDE... SIDE BY SIDE TOWARDS THE TWO... AND CHAPMAN IS ON THE INSIDE THERE... IS AHEAD... AND STAYS AHEAD!

But Wexler looks aggressive today and tries a move into turn nine... and into the final corner, but can not make it stick... Nina Holtz the big loser of the start, she loses four places down to ninth.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +0.2 3. Rodrigues +0.7
Vidal P15 +6.3
Woodford P18 +7.1

Lap 2:
Rodrigues brakes hard to avoid a ragged Wexler and misses the apex in seven... and the Finn Aki Lipponen slips through for P3...

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +0.3 3. Lipponen +1.1
Vidal P13 +9.5
Woodford P18 +10.4

Lap 4:
"Locked up into the six... sorry guys," via Iker Vidal. That could hurt their potential 1-stop strategy. Oliveira and Holtz also really hurt their soft tyre there.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +0.5 3. Lipponen +1.4
Vidal P13 +10.8
Woodford P18 +14.6

Lap 5:
Wexler with a great third sector is in the slipstream on the back strait... and It's a clean pass, the Rossini retakes the lead... Chapman goes wide in the final corner... and Lipponen steals another place, horrible lap for the Silver Arrows.

OH AND A CRASH... A LOTUS... it's Woodford... yeah... he missed the braking point in turn 10 and crashed into the barrier...

1. Wexler 2. Lipponen +0.5 3. Chapman +0.7
Vidal P13 +12.4
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 6:
"Sorry guys, I binned it, sorry for everyone." Guess, Woodford is fine...

Meanwhile on the television screen, Chapman easily goes down the inside in the seven and takes back second.

1. Wexler 2. Chapman +1.0 3. Lipponen +2.0
Vidal P13 +13.7
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 7:
1. Wexler 2. Chapman +0.5 3. Lipponen +2.6
Vidal P12 +16.1
Woodford CRASHED
1-stopper won't work.

Lap 8:
And the leaders pit on their worn softs... Wexler and Wexler out clear... WHERE IS Chapman... THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE RIGHT FRONT... HE LOSES SIX SECONDS AT LEAST AND FALLS BACK, OH BOY!

1. Rodrigues 2. Sharp +4.2 3. Surikov +6.6
Vidal P6 +12.9
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 9:
The last soft runners pit and fall a good chunck behind, so the one and 2-stop candidates lead now.

1. Surikov 2. Saarinen +2.7 3. Gonzalez +5.0
Vidal P4 +6.4
Woodford CRASHED
Gonzalez is the first on the soft... only Lundquist(P12) and maybe Schmidt(P11) have the tyre life left to try a 1-stopper.

Lap 10:
1. Surikov 2. Saarinen +2.6 3. Gonzalez +5.5
Vidal P4 +7.1
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 11:
Wexler gets held up a bit in traffic, but should be comfortably in the lead when everybody has pitted.

1. Surikov 2. Saarinen +2.1 3. Gonzalez +5.3
Vidal P4 +6.3
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 12:
1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +2.1 3. Blanc +5.9
Vidal P18 +20.6 PIT
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 13:
1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +2.2 3. Blanc +6.1
Vidal P18 +20.5
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 14:
Chapman made alot of great moves on his way back from that pitstop mistake...

1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +0.5 3. Chapman +7.3
Vidal P15 +20.6
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 15:
Gonzalez holds up the World Championship leader nicely... so Chapman is closing in actually!

1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +0.4 3. Chapman +5.4
Vidal P15 +20.2
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 16:
The Van Dort driver pits, but Chapman once again gained eight tenth of a second...

1. Wexler 2. Chapman +4.2 3. Rodrigues +7.3
Vidal P13 +20.3
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 17:
"His tyres are in a better condition than yours, try to conserve, we can get him in the final stint," via Chapman's team radio.

1. Wexler 2. Chapman +4.0 3. Rodrigues +7.0
Vidal P10 +22.1
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 18:
1. Wexler 2. Chapman +4.1 3. Rodrigues +7.0
Vidal P10 +22.4
Woodford CRASHED
We are on the hard compound and will have to come in for a splash and dash later in the race...

Lap 19:
CHAPMAN HAS TO BLINK FIRST AND PITS... back into ninth, to the hard tyre, he will go towards the end.

1. Wexler 2. Rodrigues +6.5 3. Lipponen +8.2
Vidal P8 +23.4
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 20:
AND THERE IS THE MISTAKE FOR THE ROSSINI DRIVER! Wexler falls way behind Chapman as the left wheelnut did not want to come off!

1. Rodrigues 2. Lipponen +1.9 3. Sharp +4.9
Vidal P7 +17.8
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 21:
Can the top three stay out long enough to pass Chapman or come close enough to him to pass him with softer, fresher tyres?

1. Rodrigues 2. Lipponen +1.9 3. Sharp +4.8
Vidal P8 +20.0
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 22:
Lipponen exits on the mediums and 4 secons behind Chapman

1. Rodrigues 2. Sharp +4.4 3. Surikov +14.1
Vidal P6 +19.7
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 23:
1. Rodrigues 2. Sharp +5.6 3. Surikov +13.6
Vidal P7 +21.4
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 24:
And Rodrigues is way back after his stop... the only one that could make this work is Lipponen

1. Sharp 2. Surikov +6.7 3. Chapman +8.2
Vidal P6 +16.5
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 25:
1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +3.1 3. Saarinen +8.1
Vidal P4 +9.0
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 26:
Vidal sweeps past Saarinen for P3

1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +4.3 3. Vidal +10.2
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 27:
And pits.

1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +3.4 3. Wexler +11.8
Vidal P13 +30.9 PIT
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 28:
1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +2.9 3. Wexler +11.9
Vidal P11 +31.5
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 28:
1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +3.8 3. Wexler +11.5
Vidal P11 +31.7
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 29:
1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +5.2 3. Wexler +12.7
Vidal P10 +33.1
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 30:
1. Chapman 2. Lipponen +4.4 3. Wexler +13.6
Vidal P10 +36.4
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 31:
Wexler AND Lipponen pit with two laps to go, fearing that their tyres won't last... that is a podium gone.

1. Chapman 2. Rodrigues +14.2 3. Sharp +15.4
Vidal P9 +32.8
Woodford CRASHED

Lap 32:
"K, mate, Wexler is behind you on fresh soft tyres, try to keep him behind you," via Lotus team radio.

1. Chapman 2. Rodrigues +15.7 3. Sharp +16.5
Vidal P9 +32.5
Woodford CRASHED

Final Lap:
CHAPMAN WINS, and Rodrigues and Sharp round out the podium. Wexler steals P9 from Iker Vidal with a great run into the final corner, but this was just not his day.

But what a great day for Harry Chapman AND for the Kitano team that finally got his first podium!

1. Chapman 2. Rodrigues +15.8 3. Sharp +18.3
Vidal P10 +32.0
Woodford CRASHED

[Griever20]

Russian GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

May 28th, 2017

Two bad pit stops, a lot of action and overtaking, and a deserving winner, the reigning Champion. Exactly what this season needed, a challenger for the Rossini's and Dieter Wexler, and the Steinmann ace Harry Chapman delivered exactly that. 25 crucial points for him, 40 crucial points for the team, and more drama after the race.

The Strange Strategy:
Was shown by the Rossini of Dieter Wexler and cost him World Championship Points. Wexler, who was already fuming about the pit stop mistake, had another reason for his head to match the colour of his overall.

"What a horrible day," he said while waiting for his flight out. "Embarrassing. Some questions need to be answered in the HQ tomorrow." Aki Lipponen, who was hit by the same strategy, was a bit more tightlipped and only said that he was "very sad when he had to pit again."

The Last Lap That Felt So Good:
Had Zoe Sharp. "I did everything I could. Changed brake balance, changed the diff, played around with the front wing flap, and just got the last bit of additional life out of the tyre. Got us a podium. So happy for that, so sorry," said a visibly pumped Sharp after the race.

The Kitano team has already more points than it had last year.

The Only Retirement:
Came when the Lotus of Jeremy Woodford made hard contact with the barrier in turn 10 and broke his front left suspension. "I just took my eyes off the ball for a moment, and when I realized I would not make the corner, tried to stop the car and at least avoid the barrier, but it was already too late. Sorry for the team," he said.

Woodford has yet to score a World Championship point in 21 career races.

After Five Races:
Dieter Wexler's comfortable lead in the Drivers Championship is down to four points, and that is now also the margin between the two teams in the Constructors. In the midfield, Lotus will try and fend off Van Dort and Kitano for fifth place, and if Jeremy Woodford ever starts to drive properly, could make a run at Windsor.

In the relegation zone, the Suiss Vélan Racing team looks to be in a pretty horrible position as they could not collect anything in the chaotic first three races and have to somehow score at least 12 points in order to ensure survival.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

That was pretty much the maximum we could expect on that track, given that it basically evolved around the weaker parts of our car. A ninth place would've been nice, but I won't kill my driver for not holding the World Championship leader that is in a way faster car on fresh rubber behind him...

As for the other car... that was pretty horrible.

Development Report:
We only have 10 days of factory time between Russia and Germany, and we have to repair the pretty damaged second car, so we won't make much progress in those 1 1/2 weeks. The design department will do their best to hash one, hopefully two new engine evolutions out so that we can soon start to build the real monster...

[Griever20]

Lotus Fire Paddock
motorsport-live.com

June 6th, 2016

In a hastly written press release, Lotus Racing has announced that they have replaced Jeremy Woodford's race engineer Mary Paddock with Alex Barbosa, a up-and-coming Portugese that has done fine work with Silva Racing in the ERS.

No reason was given for the change, but insiders say that Dan Martinson "prefers race engineers that can keep the car in one piece." The car of Jeremy Woodford saw a ton of repairs in the first races, some times for over eight seconds in the pit lane and given that Iker Vidal's car has been without fault all season long, someone was to blame, right?

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 8th
Gearbox: 8th
Brakes: 6th
Front Wing: 4th
Suspension: 7th
Rear Wing: 9th
Overall: 7th

Ok, first of all, yes we have decided to fire Mary Paddock. By today, Barbosa is already as good as she is, and is still improving with impressive pace. Of course, it will take us some time and races to get him and Jeremy on the same page, and therefore get the car reliability into the setup, but given that we still need weeks till the new factory is there... this is a project for 2018, but then, we hopefully should be able to run two cars at the same speed.

Anyways, factory work continued on two fronts. First, we got Woodford a Mk II Engine up and running, which means reliable enough for him, and second, we got some more performance out of Iker's brakes... and jumped Vélan in deceleration.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Hyper Tech(10/14 races) $500k upfront, $500k per race
Cortés Tyre Co(9/15) $500k upfront, $400k per race
Jogo Games(4/12) $250k upfront, $400k per race

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Ishikawa Malt Whisky(5/5) $1M upfront, $1.2M bonus pool for 1st
Condor Telecoms(5/8) $1M upfront, $800k bonus pool for 4th or above
Luxina(4/6) $300k upfront, $250k bonus pool for 12th or above

We have steadily earned the $250k by Luxina every race... and that allowed us to pay the roughly $1.5M we had to put on the table for the race engineer swap...

The Track:
The newly named Bayernring near Munich will be once again hosting an interesting Grand Prix. Last season, the track that needs acceleration, good performance in medium speed corners, has a couple of slow hairpins, and loads of corners with big braking areas, was the scene of our first 11th place finish... in the rain.

Speaking of rain, there is a sunny saturday predicted... and some rain for the race.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
After last race, there were some rumors about a illegal suspension flying around the Rossini car of Dieter Wexler... but, via Ruben Agostini: "We passed the scrutineering. End of story..." Via a not to be named rival race engineer, they think that the mounting point was 2mm too high.

Instead, the Scuderia talked up their new gearbox that 'is the best in the business now'. The same thing could be true for the suspension, and experts think that right now, the Rossini-Ferrari is the fastest car on the grid on merit.

Panther got some additional horse power out of their new Mercedes contract and are closing in on the top four in horse power. They jumped Vélan for fifth via the unofficial engine tier list by f1freaks.ca AND added a little new device on their rear win... the teams wants to close the gap top the two big teams...

[Griever20]

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

June 10th, 2017

The home of bratwurst, good beer and Dieter Wexler, Nina Holtz and Wolfgang Schmidt... and the Rossini driver fancies a win here. "We have gotten a ton of upgrades in the last two weeks, and I think we will be faster than the Steinmann here," he said. He already wished for a win here last season, but finished only seventh after starting second here.

Some hard work had to happen down at Lotus as they had to work out procedures with a new race engineer for Jeremy Woodford. "It's about explain him how things work, and tweak some things in the practice program based on his input and the ideas he and Jeremy came up with," Dan Martinson explained.

To make free practice more interesting, the Rossini cars never used the soft tyres and spent the whole session on the hard compound, being fastest of the hard runners, but 1.7 seconds behind Chapman(1:31.387), who led the time sheed in front of Winston Margate(+0.251) and teammate Nina Holtz(+0.408)... setting the stage for qualifying, where the Rossini had to show their true pace.

Harry Chapman started the madness off with a 1.29.199, but Wexler was already underway... -0.080 in sector one... -0.159 in sector two... 1.29.988 P1! And with a quick third sector, Rafael Rodriguez tucked in second place, +0.065 behind Wexler... round one goes to Rossini.

And Wexler would be the first of the front runners to cross the line in the second attemps... fastest first sector... -0.218... topped by Rodrigues!... fastest second sector by Wexler... TOPPED by Rodrigues... POLE FOR THE PORTUGESE! 1.28.431, 0.199 faster than Wexler, and Holtz stole third place... almost half a second behind the two Rossini cars!

Saarinen in the Van Dort snuck into fifth in front of the two Panther Race Team cars and the two Windsor Racing cars.

Team Radio of the Day:
"P5, Niilo, P5" "OK"
Niilo Saarinen, Van Dort Racing after a sensational lap in his car.

--

P10 and P19 is pretty much the qualifying pace we have here...

Now, to the race. It is dry right now, and no immediate rain in the area... and given that we know nothing else... we will assume a dry race for now and start things off on the hard tyre, possibly going for a dry 1-stop race.

[Griever20]

German GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

June 11th, 2017

The Bayernring is ready for the fastest, loudest and most anticipated event of the year here, the German Grand Prix. A year ago, we saw a mad dash into the rain as the race started in the dry, and ended in the wet with Harry Chapman's fourth straight victory.

Now, the Steinmann cars were held to the second row as the prancing horse is reigning supreme and rookie Rafael Rodrigues will start from pole for the first time in his WMC career.

Lap 1:
The top eight are on fresh soft tyres, and Lipponen(P8), Oliveira(P9) and Ribeiro(P11) on worn soft tyres... while the rest will go on the hard tyres.

Rain is in the area, but nobody is really telling us... when or even if.

So, the drivers are lining up on the dry tyre with the two Rossini's at the front... and we are ready to go...

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

RODRIGUES WITH A RATHER SLOW START... AND BLOCKS HOLTZ... WHILE WEXLER SLIPS THROUGH INTO THE LEAD.

Chapman lost out big time, tucked up behind Holtz as he moved to the inside... and is back into ninth after the first two corners! Holtz eventually also got past Rodrigues for second... and Chapman passed Lipponen and Margate in the BMW Arena... this could end in tears for Steinmann.

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +0.6 3. Rodrigues +1.4
Vidal P15 +8.3
Woodford P16 +8.4

Lap 2:
The top three are streaking clear... Chapman with the fastest lap by a fraction, up to fifth.

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +0.6 3. Rodrigues +1.5
Vidal P15 +14.1
Woodford P19 +16.1

Lap 3:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +0.9 3. Rodrigues +1.5
Vidal P14 +17.1
Woodford P19 +21.7

Lap 4:
"We expect it to stay dry for at least five more laps," via Windsor.

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +1.2 3. Rodrigues +1.7
Vidal P16 +21.2
Woodford P19 +24.2

Lap 5:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +1.0 3. Rodrigues +1.9
Vidal P16 +23.9
Woodford P19 +27.0

Lap 6:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +2.0 3. Rodrigues +2.8
Vidal P16 +27.6
Woodford P19 +30.1

Lap 7:
Pit stops will be crucial on the front end of the grid...

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +2.7 3. Rodrigues +3.4
Vidal P15 +29.9
Woodford P18 +33.6
Vidal lost out on the start and is behind five potential 1-stoppers...

Lap 8:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +4.7 3. Rodrigues +5.2
Vidal P12 +31.7
Woodford P16 +37.5
He used loads of excess fuel to push past Sharp...

Lap 9:
Chapman pits early ontp the medium tyre... and will have to fight his way through some 1-stoppers to make this work...

And there is the big move in the Rindt chicane! Rodrigues goes on the outside in the first one... and sold it as a fake and goes past the inside in the second park and into P2!

1. Wexler 2. Rodrigues +6.5 3. Holtz +6.6
Vidal P11 +33.9
Woodford P16 +40.1

Lap 10:
Wexler and Holtz pit... repairs on Wexler's rear wing... BUT HE STAYS AHEAD!

1. Rodrigues 2. Surikov +4.1 3. Margate +10.7
Vidal P10 +27.8
Woodford P15 +35.7

Lap 11:
Rodrigues in... and he is behind both Wexler and Holtz

1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +0.3 3. Holtz +3.5
Vidal P9 +11.2
Woodford P15 +16.8
And Vidal ruined his tyres trying to pass Schmidt... 1-stopper dead. Points... dead.

Lap 12:
Woodford AND Oliveira collide... that rear wing is gone... Woodford has to pit... and Vidal ruined his tyres trying to slow down in sector three... horrible race for Lotus so far.

1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +0.3 3. Holtz +1.4
Woodford P17 +20.9
Vidal P20 +37.1 PIT

Lap 13:
Quite a procession behind leader Gonzalez as Wexler struggles to get past and lost every advantage over the rest... but Rodrigues cashed in as he snuck a move in in the Mercedes Corner to get P3 from Holtz...

1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +0.4 3. Rodrigues +1.5
Woodford P17 +23.2
Vidal P20 +37.3

Lap 14:
1. Gonzalez 2. Wexler +0.8 3. Rodrigues +0.9
Vidal P18 +37.0
Woodford P20 +50.9 PIT

Lap 15:
Wexler FINALLY did it on the back straight and is already pulling away.

1. Wexler 2. Gonzalez +1.8 3. Rodrigues +2.2
Vidal P18 +35.3
Woodford P20 +51.3

Lap 16:
Lovely move by Holtz into the first corner... outbraking Rodrigues to sneak down the inside... just to lose that place with a wonky move in turn 13.

1. Wexler 2. Gonzalez +3.5 3. Rodrigues +4.6
Vidal P18 +34.6
Woodford P20 +52.9

Lap 17:
Gonzalez tyres are going away... and she held up Rodrigues so that HOLTZ TOOK BOTH ON THE BACK STRAIT... before Rodrigues went past in the hairpin... those two are having quite a battle...

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +6.1 3. Rodrigues +7.5
Vidal P16 +34.4
Woodford P19 +53.9

Lap 18:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +6.5 3. Rodrigues +7.8
Vidal P13 +35.9
Woodford P18 +56.0

Lap 19:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +6.5 3. Rodrigues +7.3
Vidal P10 +37.4
Woodford P18 +57.3

Lap 20:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +6.7 3. Rodrigues +7.6
Vidal P9 +37.5
Woodford P16 +58.5
We have to pit again...

Lap 21:
"We expect light rain soon," via the Panther team radio.

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +6.9 3. Rodrigues +7.4
Vidal P8 +37.5
Woodford P15 +59.2

Lap 22:
Holtz and Rodrigues continue their personal battle and Rodrigues wins it for now... and it starts to rain...

1. Wexler 2. Rodrigues +8.0 3. Holtz +9.2
Vidal P8 +37.6
Woodford P15 +60.4

Lap 23:
BOTH LOTUS PIT FOR INTERS!

1. Wexler 2. Rodrigues +8.5 3. Holtz +9.6
Vidal P16 +65.6 PIT
Woodford P20 +89.8 PIT

Lap 24:
And so do Wexler and Holtz!

1. Rodrigues 2. Margate +7.7 3. Wexler +16.5
Vidal P13 +67.1
Woodford P20 +90.6

Lap 25:
1. Wexler 2. Margate +2.6 3. Holtz +5.5
Vidal P12 +41.9
Woodford P18 +75.9

Lap 26:
Wexler and Holtz definitly got it right!

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +6.5 3. Rodrigues +16.3
Vidal P11 +41.6
Woodford P18 +65.0

Lap 27:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +7.1 3. Rodrigues +16.4
Vidal P9 +45.3
Woodford P17 +68.8

Lap 28:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +7.4 3. Rodrigues +14.7
Vidal P8 +46.1
Woodford P17 +71.3

Lap 29:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +7.6 3. Rodrigues +16.1
Vidal P8 +46.7
Woodford P16 +73.5

Lap 30:
"Saarinen is 5.5 seconds behind you, so just bring the car home," to Vidal. He got the intermediate timing bang on right.

1. Wexler 2. Holtz +7.9 3. Rodrigues +15.8
Vidal P8 +48.4
Woodford P15 +79.0

Lap 31:
1. Wexler 2. Holtz +8.0 3. Rodrigues +15.8
Vidal P8 +48.4
Woodford P14 +80.2

Final Lap:
AND IT IS OVER! Dieter Wexler finally sees the chequered flag and gets the win he has been waiting for and the crowd, under umbrellas and in rain coats, celebrated this one big time. Wexler in front of Nina Holtz, two Germans on the podium for the German GP.

Rodrigues third, Chapman fourth, and solid eighth place finish for the Lotus of Iker Vidal.

[Griever20]

German GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

June 11th, 2017

Rumors about the Rossini being now the car to beat... seem true. The flashing red cars were top three almost all the time, and they brought home a double podium... and a win for Dieter Wexler in his home country.

"I wanted this, and I know that the fans love it. I raced karts 20 kilometers south of here on a small track, and raced lesser touringcar series and single seaters on this track. A dream come true."

Nina Holtz was not quite as happy. "We need to find pace," she said. "Yes, I finished second, but that could've been easily third or worse. Would love to win here some day..."

A Horrible Start...
To his race had Harry Chapman. The Steinmann pilot fell back from fourth to ninth in a heartbeat. "I had a decent start, but then had to lift to not hit Nina in front of me. Lifting right after the start never does you any good so..." He ended up fourth with some stunning laps, and he looked like the faster Steinmann to be honest.

1-Stop Nightmare:
A number of runners tried a 1-stop strategy, andall of them failed one way or another, except Iker Vidal, who once again found some luck in changable conditions.

"I had a horrible start and fell way back down in the food chain, and then ruined my tyres by locking up behind Sharpie and Wolfgang and had to pit. We went for a quick middle stint in clean air on the soft... and managed to just extend that one to pit for inters," he said.

Others, like Zoe Sharp and Maria Gonzalez, flat our refused to change to intermediate tyres and ended up falling way back as they expected the rain to stop very soon

Lost Opportunity...
For Jeremy Woodford has he technically was driving a sensible race... until Ana Oliveira ran into his back and broke his rear wing. "Don't know what she was doing," he said. "Guess she got on fresh tyres and she underestimated the low temperature out of the blankets..."

Oliveira finished tenth despite a front wing repair and of course a drive through penalty, while Woodford finished only fourteenth.

After Six Races:
The prancing horse has struck back and Dieter Wexler is back to a 17 point advantage in the WDC. Probably the bigger news for the team is that Rafael Rodrigues continued to score and show similar pace to Wexler, giving Rossini now a six point lead in the Constructors.

The Silver Arrows need to react, and so does Van Dort Racing as the gap to Lotus for fifth in the Constructors is now up to 19 points.

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

That one started off pretty bad, and ended up as a decent finish... because of the rain. Iker was up to tenth at one point the first lap, and then, the usual thing happened. Vidal lost a number of places and was in the middle of the queue of the hard runners, and when trying to get forward, we burned a good bit of fuel and Vidal eventually locked up twice to ruin his tyres.

We knew that he would have to pit, and since he would come back out pretty far behind, we gave him the soft tyre to gain some ground(he actually set some pink sectors in that time), but he ended up getting struck in the queue again. Then, the rain came... and without knowing if it would stay till the end... we just changed on the inters to be on the right tyre.

And it worked.

As for Jeremy, his race was looking pretty bad after Oliveira ruined his rear wing, and he had to run around for a whole lap before being able to pit. He got in for a second stint on the hard, and that gave us the leeway to also change to the intermediate tyre... and that washed him into a decent finish... but we had to do some repairs on his car.

Development Report:
We should be able to start production and design on the first of two 2017 main engines. Don't expect them to be ready for the next race in South Africa. That gives us factory time for the new brakes and I'm very thrilled to find out how high we can push them. If that is ever done, we can think about some more reliability for Jeremy's car... one more month till the new factory is there...

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 8th
Gearbox: 8th
Brakes: 6th
Front Wing: 4th
Suspension: 7th
Rear Wing: 9th
Overall: 7th

So, as expected, the new engine is not ready for South Africa, but the first one should be ready for our home Grand Prix in Guildford, which means it will be build and we should get the reliability work done to put it on Iker's car.

The better news, our factory work on Iker's brakes has continued and while we have not (yet?) jumped Windsor Racing in that department, we officially have above average brakes for what it's worth... could be worth alot in Cape Town.

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Hyper Tech(11/14 races) $500k upfront, $500k per race
Cortés Tyre Co(10/15) $500k upfront, $400k per race
Jogo Games(5/12) $250k upfront, $400k per race

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Condor Telecoms(6/8) $1M upfront, $800k bonus pool for 4th or above
Luxina(5/6) $300k upfront, $250k bonus pool for 12th or above
Northern Harbour(1/6) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool for 2nd or above

We are back working with Northern Harbour, and that is mostly because all offers were for 2nd or above, and theirs was the one with the biggest upfront payment relative to the number of races. $1.25M still helps us out massively.

The Track:
The sun will be shining on this special race in Cape Town. The successor of Monaco in many ways, the street circuit is one of the tracks where you need to get everything right and have the guts to run as close to the walls as you can... walls, that are never far away.

Brakes, front wing and gearbox are crucial here... 2/3 when it comes to development progress... so a decent finish would be possible here.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
Trying to fire back, the Steinmann development office significantly upgraded their gearbox to match and eventually overtake Panther and Rossini for the South African GP, and made some small, but productive changes on the suspension. "We can definitly win there," via Nina Holtz prior to the race weekend on Twitter.

But, the Scuderia did not sleep and trumped everyone with a new braking system and a new front wing that they think are the best components on the grid right now... and that is of course perfect for the race in Cape Town. Furthermore, they made some tweaks on the rear wing, adding an additional flap... the development war between the two top teams is absolutely fascinating.

Another new gearbox was brought to the race track by Espirit GP, continuing the development of the 2017 despite being pretty save for the year thanks to some great drives by Rick De Graaf. "Works for us, we need the performance in 2018 anyways," said team principal Patricia Rosner. Many experts think that weight stripping is a big key to their performance in the first part of the season.

[Griever20]

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

July 1st, 2017

Cape Town, where the barriers are never far away and the stars and starlets are there... and the prime minister of South Africa is expected to give out the winners trophy tomorrow... the question is... Rossini or Steinmann driver, or a surprise victor?

The two top teams were spying at each other like it is 1940 as the Silver Arrows wanted a piece of the Scuderia's new front wing, and prancing horse was still trying to get a glimpse at the Steinmann-Mercedes engine... leading to some hilarious tries to enter the opposing garage...

And this time, nearly all top drivers set a lap on the ultra soft in free practice, giving us a glimpse at the pecking order. And it was close. Dieter Wexler led the parade with a 1:09.912 with Nina Holtz second by just +0.069. Wexler went out late in the session to set that time... and was slow in the third sector because of traffic.

Surikov was a surprise third, then Chapman and Rodrigues.

And then in qualifying, the dance began... Wexler first to start his flying lap... good first sector... Margate fast in sector one! -0.176 faster than Wexler... but loses out later in the lap. Wexler 1:07.787, Margate 1:08.003. Rodrigues... P2... 1:07.970... Wexler put in a monster third sector...

Can the Steinmann answer that... Chapman -0.082 faster in sector two... P1! 1:07.676 but the Windsor of Aki Lipponen is also on rails... -0.287 faster at the second intermediate... provisional pole for the Finn! 1:07.495! Lipponen, Chapman, Wexler, then the second Windsor of Ana Oliveira!

Can that Windsor surprise pole hold up? Lots of white sectors... and the only change... Holtz went up to P4.

The second career pole for Aki Lipponen after Singapore in 2016, roughly three tenths of a second faster than last years pole lap by Harry Chapman. Surprise #2 of the session... Iker Vidal in seventh in the Lotus.

Team Radio of the Day:
"P1 right now, amazing lap mate, amazing lap" "OK"
Aki Lipponen, Windsor Racing after his pole lap.

--

That was a sexy attempt by Iker. P7, which also means we will go with the flow on the tyre choice and start the race on the ultra soft, no reason to give up places we gained in qualifying. What tyre we go on after that... we will see, may be the soft for a longer run, that will highly depend on how the first stint goes.

As for Jeremy... good qualifying for his standards and his car. He will get some soft boots on his car to run two long stints on them, and ideally a ultra soft run at the end.

Normally, you would expect at least one, maybe two safety cars here, but last year, not a single driver crashed... so we plan for a incident free race.

[Griever20]

South African GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

July 2nd, 2017

Fans, team principals and writers still are trying to find out where the pace of the pole setter comes from, but it is as it is, Aki Lipponen is on pole position in front of Chapman, Wexler and Holtz.

It was a bit of a strange qualifying as only a few runners improved in their second attempt, including Iker Vidal, who showed good pace and was only half a second slower than the pole man.

Lap 1:
The blankets are off... and up to P10, all drivers are on the ultra soft with only Niilo Saarinen starting on the red striped soft tyre. Looking at the track, turn one should be flat out with no problem, but the chicane after that will be the point where all will be kicking off after the start, keep an eye on that folks...

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

LIPPONEN AND MOST FRONT RUNNERS CLEAR AWAY FROM THE START AND THROUGH TURN ONE... into turn two... NINA HOLTZ AND IKER VIDAL GO THROUGH THE INSIDE OF THE CHICANE AND GAIN MASSIVE PLACES... and are up into second and third!

Both pass Lipponen in the roundabout traffic, Holtz leads the race in front of Vidal at the second intermediate! But Vidal gets it wrong in turn 14... and Chapman and Lipponen slip through...

AND THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER GOES WIDE... AND FALLS WAY BACK... P17 FOR WEXLER! THE TWO SILVER ARROWS LEAD THE RACE AND THE ROSSINI ARE P8 AND P17!

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.5 3. Lipponen +3.3
Vidal P4 +4.2
Woodford P12 +8.0

Lap 2:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.1 3. Lipponen +4.4
Vidal P4 +6.6
Woodford P14 +15.9

Lap 3:
Rodrigues(P5) and Wexler(P10) fight back...

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +2.3 3. Lipponen +4.1
Vidal P4 +7.8
Woodford P14 +20.9

Lap 4:
Vidal with a personal best, 1:14.922, but still four tenth of a second slower than Lipponen.

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.6 3. Lipponen +3.4
Vidal P4 +7.3
Woodford P14 +23.7

Lap 5:
"OK, Harry, Vidal is holding up the pack, get the other car and pass her, and then you can streak away easily," via Chapman's team radio.

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +0.8 3. Lipponen +3.5
Vidal P4 +7.7
Woodford P14 +26.5

Lap 6:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.0 3. Lipponen +3.3
Vidal P4 +8.3
Woodford P14 +30.2

Lap 7:
1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.6 3. Lipponen +3.2
Vidal P4 +8.8
Woodford P14 +32.4

Lap 8:
Oh, Vidal's tyres have gone away spectaculary and he falls way back in to P11... and pits... that will cost them a potential podium.

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +1.3 3. Lipponen +3.2
Vidal P11 +23.3
Woodford P14 +33.1

Lap 9:
The leaders pit... and they queue Holtz and Chapman... unbelievable.

1. Rodrigues 2. Gonzalez +1.3 3. Saarinen +2.2
Woodford P12 +32.0
Vidal P20 +43.5 PIT

Lap 10:
And they still will be 1-2 when Saarinen pits...

1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +2.2 3. Chapman +7.7
Woodford P9 +16.3
Vidal P17 +27.0

Lap 11:
1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +0.4 3. Chapman +4.1
Woodford P5 +17.5
Vidal P13 +27.4

Lap 12:
1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +0.7 3. Chapman +1.2
Woodford P8 +24.8
Vidal P13 +28.3

Lap 13:
Chapman is on the ultrasoft... alternative strategy?

1. Holtz 2. Chapman +0.8 3. De Graaf +15.1
Vidal P11 +30.5
Woodford P20 +40.7

Lap 14:
Chapman takes Holtz easily on the back strait... traction with the ultra soft...

And that is the race for Aki Lipponen as he missed the braking point in the first chicane and broke his suspension on the barriers... Yellow in sector one...

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +0.4 3. De Graaf +16.5
Vidal P12 +32.7
Woodford P19 +41.0

Lap 15:
1. Chapman 2. Holtz +2.4 3. De Graaf +18.9
Vidal P10 +35.7
Woodford P18 +42.4

Lap 16:
1. Chapman 2. Holtz +3.2 3. Saarinen +21.2
Vidal P8 +37.9
Woodford P17 +44.6

Lap 17:
Dominating performance by the two Steinmann cars...

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +2.8 3. Saarinen +20.5
Vidal P8 +39.4
Woodford P17 +45.6

Lap 18:
Chapman pits... and they have to repair his front wing... and his suspension... he will fall back... that was a 39.74 second pitstop including pitlane time...

1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +17.6 3. Margate +32.7
Vidal P6 +38.2
Woodford P12 +48.1

Lap 19:
1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +17.1 3. Margate +31.7
Vidal P5 +39.8
Woodford P12 +47.3

Lap 20:
1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +16.9 3. Margate +30.7
Vidal P5 +38.9
Woodford P11 +47.9

Lap 21:
1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +16.8 3. Margate +29.9
Vidal P5 +38.4
Woodford P11 +48.8

Lap 22:
1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +16.1 3. Margate +31.1
Woodford P10 +50.4
Vidal P14 +59.1 PIT

Lap 23:
1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +14.4 3. Margate +30.8
Woodford P10 +51.4
Vidal P14 +59.6

Lap 24:
Pretty boring race right now...

1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +12.9 3. Chapman +30.5
Woodford P10 +51.9
Vidal P14 +58.8

Lap 25:
1. Holtz 2. Saarinen +11.5 3. Chapman +27.8
Woodford P9 +52.2
Vidal P14 +58.6

Lap 26:
And then it kicks off! Holtz has to stay in the pits for a while with a suspension repair! Saarinen is past her by a mile!

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +3.6 3. Gonzalez +11.0
Vidal P12 +31.9
Woodford P19 +80.8

Lap 27:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +2.7 3. Wexler +12.2
Vidal P10 +32.1
Woodford P19 +53.1

Lap 28:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +1.9 3. Holtz +12.5
Vidal P8 +35.0
Woodford P19 +53.9

Lap 29:
"Chapman has to pit soon, if you can put in some hot laps, we can win this race," via Van Dort.. they fancy Saarinen for a win here!

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +0.8 3. Holtz +11.4
Vidal P10 +39.7
Woodford P18 +54.5

Lap 30:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +0.5 3. Holtz +9.3
Vidal P11 +44.1
Woodford P17 +56.7

Lap 31:
1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +0.7 3. Holtz +8.4
Vidal P10 +44.9
Woodford P17 +58.0

Lap 32:
Chapman's tyres look second hand for two laps now, but he stays out and loses time to P3 and the rest...

1. Chapman 2. Saarinen +1.5 3. Holtz +8.0
Vidal P10 +44.4
Woodford P16 +59.7

Lap 33:
And there he pits... and exits third on the ultra soft tyre... if that works, he can win it...

1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +3.4 3. Chapman +18.1
Vidal P10 +40.8
Woodford P16 +61.1

Lap 34:
That is 2.4 seconds faster tha the leader last lap...

1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +3.4 3. Chapman +15.7
Vidal P10 +41.3
Woodford P14 +58.2

Lap 35:
1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +3.0 3. Chapman +11.6
Vidal P13 +63.2 PIT
Woodford P19 +88. PIT

Lap 36:
1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +3.7 3. Chapman +8.5
Vidal P11 +64.0
Woodford P19 +90.7

Lap 37:
Chapman is going to win this race as the tyres go away for Saarinen and Holtz

1. Saarinen 2. Chapman +7.3 3. Holtz +9.0
Vidal P11 +64.1
Woodford P19 +89.6

Lap 38:
1. Saarinen 2. Chapman +2.1 3. Holtz +8.4
Vidal P10 +64.3
Woodford P19 +88.4

Lap 39:
A matter of time now...

1. Saarinen 2. Chapman +0.2 3. Holtz +7.2
Vidal P10 +58.6
Woodford P18 +85.8

Lap 40:
OR NOT AS CHAPMAN PITS FOR ANOTHER SET OF ULTRA SOFTS! He burned through the first set too fast...

1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +5.9 3. Chapman +21.0
Vidal P10 +55.7
Woodford P17 +83.5

Lap 41:
1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +5.9 3. Chapman +17.5
Vidal P10 +53.7
Woodford P17 +80.3

Final Lap:
AND THAT IS THE FIRST WIN FOR THE VAN DORT TEAM AND THE THIRD CAREER WIN FOR NIILO SAARINEN. He was the only runner that started on the soft tyre, drove a sensible stategy, and then made it stick when the Steinmann cars had technical problems or drove a strange strategy.

Wexler finishes fourth in a salvage operation after his mistake in the first lap!

1. Saarinen 2. Holtz +5.8 3. Chapman +12.9
Vidal P10 +53.3
Woodford P17 +81.5

[Griever20]

South African GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com

July 2nd, 2017

A rare smile cracked the face of Van Dort Racing driver Niilo Saarinen when he got handed the winners trophy for the prestigious South African GP by the prime minister, and the champagne did the rest.

"Great win, great drive, that gets us past Lotus in the Constructors, and shows that he have the pace to win. Perfect work by the team," said their team principal.

Scutineering...
Was failed by the Rossini by Dieter Wexler, making a bad Sunday worse as he was demoted from fourth to sixth. He already left the track when that became public, but he was very vocal about his excursion into the runoff in the first lap.

"That was rather dangerous. Margate came in like a torpedo and failed the braking point, and the only way for me to avoid his car was braking later and running wide... and once I bumped over the kerb, things got out of hand..."

Tyres, Tyres, Tyres
Were key today as a number of runners found out. Iker Vidal made a big mistake at the end of his first stint, pushing his already worn ultrasofts over their limits. "That was all on me. I thought they had the tyre life to survive a fast in lap, and instead I lost like 10-15 seconds. That screwed our strategy and lost us valuable points."

Another runner that experienced tyre issues... Harry Chapman. "Yeah, I pushed too hard. I wanted to catch both Niilo and Nina and eventually win the race, but once I was past the other car and behind the Van Dort, it was clear that the tyre would not last. In the end, we decided to not push things and risk an incident...

Reliability
Cost both Steinmann cars big today. "They could've easily put in a 1-2 if it was not for all those repairs," said BBC's Martin Brundle after the race. Both cars stood in the pit lane waiting for repairs for around 13-15 seconds each. Wolfgang Roth, the Steinmann team principal was not available for comment after the race.

After Seven Races:
The pendulum has swung towards the Silver Arrows again, at least in the Constructors as they now coaxed a 13 point advantage. Obviously, Van Dort made the biggest of all jumps and passed both Lotus and Windsor for forth here, and the Drivers Championship is stll everyone's business.

Wexler has now only 10 points of cushion, and Holtz also can still win it, being 24 points behind... there are nine races to go...

Race Result:

Standings:

[Griever20]

That was a salvage operation. We screwed up Vidal's race all by ourselves by telling him to push the ultra soft tyre in his in lap... that was a flat out stupid mistake and cost us a lot of time that lap, and a lot of time as we came out behind a number of soft runners that were on their first stint... and overtaking is rather hard here unless you have a big advantage. That cost us another eighth, maybe even seventh place finish.

As for Jeremy, he drove a sensible race. The soft trye did not last as long as we hoped it would, and we had to pit him a lot more than expected, but he made ends meet and overtook some drivers late... better than finishing last every race.

Development Report:
We are very excited for the new factory upgrade and 10 new engineers. That should definitely help us pushing our parts over the edge and gets us closer to the ideal scenario to FINALLY roll out two rather equal cars once Alex Barbosa and Jeremy get along... upgrading the factory again, you ask? $35M. Not going to happen soon...

With our home Grand Prix coming up in two weeks time, little will be done to the cars, but we hope to get the 2017 top engine ready for Iker's car...

[Griever20]

Lotus Racing:
Engine: 5th
Gearbox: 9th
Brakes: 5th
Front Wing: 4th
Suspension: 8th
Rear Wing: 9th
Overall: 6th

We pushed our new engine out for our home Grand Prix... and Iker will get it and enjoy it as it was ready for action right away thanks to a +50 performance, +50% reliability hit by Jenny... not bad. The second engine is in the works, and will finish after the race. That means it will be ready for Milan.

Anyways, there is untapped potential in the engine, and it is already fifth on the grid, and that pushed Vidal's car into sixth overall... together with the factory work on the brakes, we jumped the Windsor outfit there...

And, of course, the new factory opened three days before we left our factory... for the race track just in front of our doors...

Sponsors:

Fixed Payment Sponsors:
Hyper Tech(12/14 races) $500k upfront, $500k per race
Cortés Tyre Co(11/15) $500k upfront, $400k per race
Jogo Games(6/12) $250k upfront, $400k per race

Race Bonus Sponsors:
Condor Telecoms(7/8) $1M upfront, $800k bonus pool for 4th or above
Luxina(6/6) $300k upfront, $250k bonus pool for 12th or above
Northern Harbour(2/6) $1.25M upfront, $880k bonus pool for 2nd or above

We will lose Luxina after this race... hopefully we get a similar offer again as those $250k are driven in regularly by Iker these days.

The Track:
One of three tracks coming up where the gas pedal is absolutely crucial, Guildford, home of British Motorsport, features a ton of medium and high speed corners and virtually no low speed corners, so our front wing and brakes are basically useless here. Last season, a 16th place was all we got here.

A 28 lap race, we failed to make a run on the medium tyre work as the soft tyre was the one to use... we will try that this year. On the weather side... it is expected to be overcast for the whole weekend... which means... we know nothing...

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
Also playing the engine game, Van Dort Racing brought a new Honda aggregate to Guildford... out of their factory right down the road. They jumped Windsor for third place in the horse power rankings...

A new suspension was put onto Wolfgang Schmidt's Rezzato Corsa to get the maximum out of his car for the British GP. "This is one where we can score some points," he said after making a selfie with the car on Friday. Experts say that the suspension is still only a small step forward.

[Griever20]

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

July 15th, 2017

Just days after the official opening of the new wing of the Lotus Racing factory, racing returned to Guildford for the British Grand Prix. And the crowd is loving it. 80000 people turned up for Saturday action and a full house is expected for tomorrow... cheering for their favorite Brits.

While Harry Chapman was very vocal of winning the British Grand Prix for the second time in a row, Winston Margate simply inhaled the athmosphere... while Jeremy Woodford was inhaling something else as he is nursing a cold.

"It was nip and tuck, but we decided that he would be able to drive here, and he really wants to," via Lotus boss Dan Martinson. The big story however, was the ever exciting battle between Rossini and Steinmann. And free practice did not tell us much.

Both Steinmann drivers did not put in a lap on the soft compound, leaving Wexler firmly on top of the time sheets with a 1:19.244, +0.823 ahead of Winston Margate while Chapman was fifth, +1.185 behind on the medium tyre and still a favorite for many experts...

And things got slightly crazy in early qualifying. The first to cross the line was Iker Vidal with a 1:16.730 and the quickest first sector... and Chapman the first of the favorites was slower in sector one... faster in sector two... JUST AHEAD! 1:16.634! The Lotus ace came out to play today!

And then Dieter Wexler started his first flying lap... -0.055 faster in sector one... -0.115 at the second intermediate... PROVISIONAL POLE FOR THE GERMAN! 1:16.424! But the story of the first part of qualifying... Iker Vidal still in P3, two tenth of a second faster than Nina Holtz in the second Steinmann.

That set things up for a monster second round of the boxing fight... and it was Nina Holtz who kicked things off... pink... -0.143 faster than Wexler in sector one... but she was in traffic and lost pace in sector one... and Wexler was suddenly -0.159 faster in one! Holtz across the finish line... faster... but only P4 still!

Scratch that! P5 as Aki Lipponen drove magical 1.16.629 for P2... but Vidal is still around, and Chapman is still around... Chapman slower than Wexler at the second intermediate... AND Wexler subtracted almost two tenth to his time, 1:16.242!

Chapman back into P2! Then Lipponen and Vidal in the second row!

Team Radio of the Day:
"That was a monster of a lap! Chapman is only one tenth ahead" "Jiihaw! The new engine is great, much faster!"
Iker Vidal, Lotus Racing after his first attempt put him into the top four!

--

That came out of nowhere. Having a new engine is great, but putting the car into the second row??? Yeah, we did alot of weight stripping, but still... as usual, we will go with the flow and start on the supersoft with Iker, and try a 2-stopper with the soft tyre, using the data we collected to our advantage.

As for the weather... an hour before the race, we expect a sunny start with 20°C. Knowing the British summer weather, a shower could be in the air despite the sun shining now... but at most, a light shower that may force out the inters...

[Griever20]

British GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com

July 16th, 2017

The British fans were a bit depressed after their local hero Harry Chapman finished only second in qualifying, but after sleeping over that result, they turned out in bunches as they know... one pass into the first corner, and Chapman could lead the race!

With Iker Vidal, a known brawler in the midfield, in fourth place, he could mix things up big time like he did in his win earlier this season... but he has Holtz and Margate right behind him...

Lap 1:
The formation lap is on and the cars slowly crawl around the track... and look at that Windsor in third place... Lipponen on the soft tyre! That could mix up things here if he can defend his position.

A short rundown into the first corner, Maggotts as they call it here...

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

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

WEXLER SLOW OFF THE LINE AND HE LOSES THE LEAD TO CHAPMAN AND VIDAL IS ALL OVER HIS GEARBOX... CHAPMAN LEADS THROUGH MAGGOTTS... AND WEXLER GOT IT ALL WRONG AND IS ON THE GRASS!

Chapman leads the race, Vidal is second and two seconds clear of the chasing and fighting pack, and the Rossini ace is down to 17th and fighting in the pack. Has his undertray damage after his big day out in the runoff area?

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +1.9 3. Holtz +4.0
Woodford P16 +9.0

Lap 2:
Monster lap by Wexler! He took drivers left, right and center, including the struggling Lipponen, and was up to 11th.

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +3.6 3. Holtz +4.5
Woodford P17 +16.0

Lap 3:
Faszinating race. The top three streak clear as Margate(P4), Saarinen(P5) and Rodrigues(P6) fight each other.

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +4.9 3. Holtz +5.6
Woodford P16 +20.3

Lap 4:
1. Chapman 2. Vidal +6.3 3. Holtz +6.8
Woodford P16 +26.1

Lap 5:
1. Chapman 2. Vidal +6.9 3. Holtz +7.8
Woodford P16 +29.6

Lap 6:
"How are the tyres Iker?" - "Two laps, two laps." Guess they are talking about pit stop strategy.

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +7.4 3. Holtz +8.2
Woodford P16 +32.7

Lap 7:
1. Chapman 2. Vidal +8.6 3. Holtz +9.0
Woodford P14 +35.5

Lap 8:
Vidal first to blink.

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +10.2 3. Margate +12.2
Vidal P11 +30.1 PIT
Woodford P14 +38.4

Lap 9:
And there are the Steinmann...

1. Margate 2. Surikov +7.5 3. Chapman +7.6
Vidal P8 +18.5
Woodford P14 +41.0

Lap 10:
Chapman comfortable in the lead, Vidal lost tons of ground behind the Kitano of Blanc and now lost another place to Holtz.

1. Chapman 2. Oliveira +8.8 3. Lipponen +9.4
Vidal P7 +15.5
Woodford P12 +30.8

Lap 11:
1. Chapman 2. Oliveira +12.5 3. Gonzalez +13.6
Vidal P8 +18.5
Woodford P19 +48.8 PIT

Lap 12:
Most guys on the soft compound come in... and fall back a good way...

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +12.5 3. Gonzalez +17.1
Vidal P5 +20.4
Woodford P19 +51.6

Lap 13:
OH NO! Winston Margate lost it in Club Corner and ran into the barrier, driving in fourth place. Yellow in sector TWO!

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +16.7 3. Vidal +21.3
Woodford P18 +54.5

Lap 14:
The two Steinmann are on the supersoft, Vidal on the soft, and he has seven seconds of cushion to Rodrigues behind him... who is trying to get past Blanc...

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +17.8 3. Vidal +22.6
Woodford P18 +57.2

Lap 15:
1. Chapman 2. Holtz +18.2 3. Vidal +23.2
Woodford P18 +59.1
Getting past Blanc was crucial as is was holding up the drivers behind by 3 seconds per lap...

Lap 16:
Yellow in sector one... It's Lipponen! Oh his race went soo wrong. Starting from third, he went straight on in Stove Corner and hit the wall. Game over for him.

1. Chapman 2. Holtz +18.4 3. Vidal +23.3
Woodford P17 +60.7

Lap 17:
1. Chapman 2. Holtz +18.6 3. Vidal +23.1
Woodford P16 +61.5

Lap 18:
Both Steinmann pit... Vidal BARELY takes the lead... AND HOLTZ HAS A PROBLEM... they are playing around on the engine... and that takes a long time... 15 seconds, 20 seconds... 28 SECONDS BEFORE SHE IS OUT AGAIN!

1. Vidal 2. Chapman +0.6 3. Wexler +21.1
Woodford P11 +41.3

Lap 19:
Vidal in for his final pit stop... he takes no risk and takes the soft compound... underway to a second place finish? He exits in third, but Wexler has to pit again.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +20.9 3. Vidal +21.7
Woodford P11 +41.3

Lap 20:
"Wexler in front of you is on old softs, don't attack him. We are racing Oliveira, 5 seconds behind you on mediums, conserve your tyres." via Lotus.

1. Chapman 2. Wexler +24.0 3. Vidal +24.6
Woodford P12 +48.3

Lap 21:
1. Chapman 2. Wexler +26.5 3. Vidal +27.2
Woodford P16 +73.4 PIT

Lap 22:
And there Wexler pits.

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +27.2 3. Oliveira +31.0
Woodford P16 +74.2

Lap 23:
"I have some fuel left, shouldn't I push?" - "Negative Iker, Chapman is 27 seconds in front of you and you were 2 seconds faster then the Windsor behind you."

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +27.3 3. Oliveira +33.3
Woodford P16 +74.1

Lap 24:
1. Chapman 2. Vidal +27.7 3. Oliveira +35.1
Woodford P16 +75.5

Lap 25:
"OK, Rafael, let Dieter pass for the Championship," Team orders at Rossini, Wexler P4 with the fastest lap of the race.

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +25.7 3. Oliveira +34.9
Woodford P16 +75.1

Lap 26:
Oliveira's medium tyres look second hand... and Wexler on the super soft is just 4 seconds adrift...

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +25.3 3. Oliveira +36.4
Woodford P16 +74.5

Lap 27:
Now 1.2 seconds...

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +24.6 3. Oliveira +37.3
Woodford P16 +76.7

Final Lap:
AND OLIVEIRA BRINGS P3 HOME, ANOTHER BLOW FOR DIETER WEXLER! Chapman wins the eleventh race of his career and his second at home, and Iker Vidal collects his second career podium!

1. Chapman 2. Vidal +23.5 3. Oliveira +36.2
Woodford P16 +78.9