GTP 7th F1 World Championship - Round 5 - Spain
Weather - Light rain during qualifying, dry race
Qualifying Results:
Pole -
Shaggy Alonso (Tyrrell) -
1:22.482 (10 pts)
2nd. - DarkPSI (Benetton) - 1:22.5xx (8 pts)
3rd. -
Pipeslice (Jordan) -
1:24.313 (6 pts)
4th. - Baumi27 (Brawn)- 1:24.481 (5 pts)
5th. -
Mutu20 (Tyrrell)-
1:24.731 (4 pts)
6th. - Ardius (Brawn)- 1:25.091(3 pts)
7th. -
AliT12 (Brabham)-
1:27.818 (2 pts)
8th. - MikeTheHockeyFan (Benetton)- 1:28.851 (1 pts)
9th. -
Tombrooks97 (Jordan)-
1:29.000
10th. - kcheeb (Hesketh)- 1:29.838
11th. -
jordy7777 (Hesketh)-
1:30.431
12th. - Upuaut (Brabham)- 1:30.635
Race Results:
1st.
Shaggy Alonso (Tyrrell) (25 pts) - 46m12.879s
2nd.
DarkPSI (Benetton) (18 pts) + 2.6s
3rd.
Mutu20 (Tyrrell) (15 pts) + 77.4s
4th.
Ardius (Brawn) (12 pts) + 77.7s
5th.
Baumi27 (Brawn) (10 pts) + 79.9s
6th.
MikeTheHockeyFan (Benetton) (8 pts) + 1 lap
7th.
Tombrooks97 (Jordan) (6 pts) + 2 laps
8th.
AliT12 (Brabham) (4 pts) + 2 laps
9th.
kcheeb (Hesketh) (2 pts) + 2 laps
DNF.
Upuaut (Brabham)
DNF.
Pipeslice (Jordan)
DNF.
jordy7777 (Hesketh)
Qualifying:
I entered qualifying not knowing if I had pole position in me, both
DarkPSI and
Pipeslice looked as fast if not faster than me in practice throughout the week. I had always thought Catalunya to be one of my strongest circuits, so maybe it isn't, or maybe it's just that everyone is strong here just like in real life
And indeed, Pipeslice's very first flyer was a 1:20.5 (the same as my best
ever around here). I felt I had a 1:20.4 in me if I hooked all my best sectors together but i'd never be able to replicate Pipe's mind-bending 1:20.1 set during the week. So when Dark and Pipe got disconnected midway through quali, I certainly could have taken advantage by pressing on!
When we restarted the session, the rain had arrived which was a good thing from my perspective - changable conditions negate my rivals' carefully refined dry set ups
![Sly :sly: :sly:](/wp-content/themes/gtp16/images/smilies/sly.svg?v=3)
👍
My first lap was pretty timid, a 1:23.7 - no obvious mistakes but I didn't didn't commit very much to the corners. I ballsed up my following lap so it became my in-lap.
My next flying lap I carried much more speed into the corners and did what would result in the eventual pole lap of 1:22.4. This was part of a 2 lap run but unfortunately I screwed my second lap again so this once again became my in-lap. Then on my final run, I was 3 tenths down on my best at the end of the 2nd sector so gave up on it and was relieved that my 1:22.4 held for pole position, even though Dark got within a whisker of it on his final run. Pipeslice was mysteriously off the pace and was hit with a 5 place grid penalty, for apparently no reason according to him 👎
Race:
Wet qualifying gave us a clean slate for which compound to start on, but given my obvious vulnerability to cars behind, I wasn't going to try any fancy strategy so I fitted a pair of fresh options and the plan was to build and consolidate enough of a gap to be able to turn the wick down near the end without losing the lead.
I got a great start (still haven't had a bad one yet, it's bound to come soon) and pulled several car lengths on the pack, before they drafted me and came closer. I braked at about 85 metres which was too late and made turns 2-3 really scruffy but it was well worth it because it helped to escape contact from behind.
Baumi27 briefly made it past Dark after the start but mid-way through the first lap Dark retook 2nd position. My first lap was pretty cautious but I really stretched my legs on the second lap and did a 1:23 flat, which I was disheartened to see had only eked out a paltry 2 tenths on Dark - it was clear that I was in for a tough evening
We held station for the first 5-6 laps, and I noticed a trend where on average Dark would catch me by a tenth in the first sector, another tenth in the second sector, then i'd pull out two tenths in the final sector on him - it was a virtual stalemate and would simply come down to who made the least mistakes. Unfortunately, I made a couple; under braking for turn 5 which allowed Dark to get closer, then another at turn 15 which almost cost me the lead. But then I did lose it. Frustrated at Dark's ability to gain on me through 7 & 8, I carried a tiny bit more speed than the car would allow through here and understeered my right-front onto the gravel of 8 and Dark went round outside of me to take the lead by about half a second.
Amazingly, as soon as I saw Dark ahead of me, I found a couple of tenths. The problem with being the hunted is that too much of your driving is done consciously, for fear of making a mistake. When you're the pursuer this factor doesn't come into the equation so your subconscious takes over and does a greater proportion of the driving. It's the same in virtually every sport, where pressure takes its toll on performance.
Initially I stalked Dark's every move, then he pulled out a 1 second lead (this was about as much as there ever was between us in the whole first stint 👍 ) with a good lap of his and an average lap of mine. However next lap he made a mistake in the final sector and I was right on him going into turn 14. Conscious of needing a good exit from 15, I kept it really tidy going through here and got on the power nice and early for the main straight which worked a treat. I sat in his diffuser for two thirds of the straight before pulling out to the right to take the high-ground into 1. I just about inched ahead and braked at about 110-115 metres (late) but Dark braked even later (!) - this was ****ing EPIC! - and we both went into it side by side! Visions of
Mansell vs Senna.......(not to compare us to them though it's worth making clear!)
Then the inevitable happened when neither of us would yield into turn 2 and we made contact, Dark tagging my rear slightly (just a sideways moment, but no spin), although he probably didn't have much choice as i'd forced him quite deep into turn one. He graciously gave the place back and the chase continued just as it had before, until Dark pitted on lap 12, and myself on lap 14. The undercut doesn't really work in F1 2010 unless you're pitting for options, so I find you're best stretching out the superior grip of the options and then fitting the primes later than scheduled so that there's a seamless transition in lap times. I made a decent pit-stop and came out a surprising 6 seconds in front of Dark. This would be the pivotal point in the race - Dark ran over his poor jack-man and lost a heap of time.
For whatever reason, Dark didn't seem to like the primes as much as I did and I found extending the gap between us more managable in this second stint. He no longer seemed to hold much advantage in the first sector, still a slight advantage in sector two, but I was eking out the lead in the final sector more and more. The gap eventually became close to 11 seconds when I set my fastest lap of 1:21.6 on lap 28 before turning the engine mode to cruise for the rest of the race. This was the target i'd initially set myself to ensure that I wouldn't be overtaken at the end of the race. Dark started reeling me in by roughly 1.5 secs a lap, but this wouldn't be enough with 5 laps to go so long as I didn't make any mistakes or get held up by traffic. Thankfully, traffic parted for me and I limped over the line, winning by a slender 2.6 second margin. What a great battle, and definitely the most draining I can remember having in this game. You Dark, are a most worthy adversary
Elsewhere,
Pipeslice had made his way up to 3rd before getting disconnected, a shame as it should have been a 3-way tussle for the win. This promoted my team mate James, or his real name,
Mutu20, to the final step of the podium and his first of the championship 👍
He just about held off a superb debut performance from
Ardius who came home in 4th. The other debutant to impress was Dark's team mate,
MikeTheHockeyFan who finished a solid 6th and picked up good points for Benetton.
Upuaut appeared to crash his car purposefully, I hope he's not getting too frustrated and will be there at Monaco.
Jordy7777 like Pipeslice, seemed to get disconnected (a frustrating reality of this championship will be that people getting d/c is always possible). I hope this doesn't discourage you Jordy from the championship.
So all in all an exciting race and many battles fought right throughout the field. Nice full house of 12 drivers which was great but for the connection issues some had. I look forward to seeing you all again at Monaco
![Smile :) :)](/wp-content/themes/gtp16/images/smilies/smile.svg?v=3)
👍
Here's the tables:
Drivers Championship
1st.
Shaggy Alonso - 163 pts
2nd.
DarkPSI - 125 pts
3rd.
Baumi27 - 97 pts
4th.
Mutu20 - 62 pts
5th.
Pipeslice - 50 pts
6th.
NumbPhase - 34 pts
7th.
Upuaut - 34 pts
8th.
tombrooks97 - 33 pts
9th.
DOUQA - 19 pts
10th.
AliT12 - 17 pts
11th
Ardius - 15 pts
12th
Jerry786 - 12 pts
13th.
MikeTheHockeyFan - 9 pts
14th.
kcheeb - 9 pts
15th.
Shark33 - 3 pts
16th.
Manios22DC - 2 pts
17th.
jordy7777 - 0 pts
Teams Championship
1st.
Tyrrell - 225 pts (Shaggy Alonso, Mutu20)
2nd.
Benetton - 134 pts (DarkPSI, MikeTheHockeyFan)
3rd.
Brawn - 112 pts (Baumi27, Manios22DC, Ardius)
4th.
Jordan - 98 pts (Tombrooks97, Pipeslice, Jerry786, Shark33)
5th.
Hesketh - 62 pts (kcheeb, NumbPhase, DOUQA, jordy7777)
6th.
Brabham - 51 pts (Upuaut, AliT12)