Category: Motorsport Manager

What’s Coming Up? 201904, Tondela B (Broadcast Dates 11, 12 and 18, 19 Aug 2018)

There will be only one episode this weekend, I’m afraid. The leadup episode will be going out when the race episode normally would have.

For once The TM1 Channel needs to do something related to the actual “TM1” thing. I’ll be giving a talk at a user conference next week and need time to prepare. I’m therefore going to be splitting Tondela over Two! Big! Weekends! This weekend will be the leadup, and next weekend will be the practice and race.

And let’s be brutally honest; after the way the planets aligned for Little Max last weekend, and knowing that they won’t for either driver at Tondela… I’m not in a rush to get there!

Race 5, on the other hand… well then.

What’s Coming Up? 201902, Munich B (Broadcast Dates 28 and 29 Jul 2018)

Believe it or not, the most interesting part of this week’s episodes comes in the setup one.

Don’t expect to read that sentence too often on these pages.

UFOs. Bigfoot. Having the EXACT SAME, TO THE PIXEL, needle location in different stints yielding two different feedback results.

There are believers, and there are sceptics.

In this weekend’s episode, we offer the most convincing video evidence since that fuzzy, out of focus video of Bigfoot that came to light in the 1970’s.

No, not about the existence of UFOs – about the exact same needle location yielding an Excellent in one stint, and a Great in another one.

But first in the leadup episode, there is good news, bad news and ugly news. We look at all three types.

We think about the question of team orders, their benefits and their drawbacks.

What do we think about Amanda Cavalcanti? What does Sara think about her?

The pedal is dropping on part production. It’s still not fast enough, but we’re getting there. However conditional components cause us some sleepless nights.

We get well and truly done over on the slot 4 sponsorship deal. Hey, what’s new?

On the other hand, Max Porter learns the art of praise which makes a refreshing change from the last couple of years.

Finally, we contemplate the weekend appearances of both Maxes.

Kirkus puts out a tweet and gets a “pretty damn cool” reaction to it as real life collides with gameplay.

In the practice episode we get done over by the weather (again), and discover evidence for the Motorsport Manager equivalent of Bigfoot, as discussed above.

In the race itself, if you’re expecting a repeat of the one-two finish from the last race? It ain’t gonna happen. With our current strategy race 2 is and shall forever be our low water mark of a season.

And to a lesser extent, race 3.

Still, we’re a better team than we have been in the past and we are not devoid of either rabbits, or hats to pull them out of.

How many rabbits? Grab a refreshing beverage of choice, settle back, and yell ‘GO LITTLE MAX!” or “GO SARA!”, according to preference.

Both, if you like.

What’s Coming Up? 201901, Black Sea F (Broadcast Dates 21 and 22 Jul 2018)

Ooops. Mea culpa. I meant to display the car summary sheet during the intro to the race episode (and even said that I would do so in the Practice episode), but then completely forgot about it. So if you’re interested…

The car summary sheet for race 1 of 2019.
The car summary sheet for race 1 of 2019.

Motorsport Manager Evolves. But Not Here, Not Yet

PlayMotorsport has been dropping hints for some time that Something Big Was Coming for Motorsport Manager.

Today, the other boot has dropped; they’ve announced (but not yet released) Motorsport Manager 3… for mobile. The web page will be found here.

It’s interesting that the drivers look much more realistic and less cartoony. It’ll be interesting to see what Gomes looks like behind the shades.

{Max: “Peed off”, I would say, after the method of his “dismissal”.}

Thank you, Max.

Although my first response was to be half-relieved, half-disappointed that it wasn’t PC, this exchange raised hopes:
MM Owner: “So is the PC version is dead? Pretty disappointing….”
PlayMotorsport: “PC is still super important to us. We’ll talk about that more when we can.”

As you all know, I see the Motorsport Manager series on The TM1 Channel as being less “gameplay demonstration” than “grand operatic storyline with more than a few eccentricities” these days. Had they dropped Motorsport Manager 2 on the PC, I would have had no choice but to switch to covering it (unless it turned out to be a total dog, which the history of the series suggests it would not be) or be left behind in the dirt the way Little Max will leave Iannizzi behind in the 2019 season. The fact that I can’t (regularly) crack triple figure viewerships on Motorsport Manager is in part a testament to how woefully late I was getting on board. (More specifically, I wasn’t even doing videos when MSM released on the PC.)

So with a bucketload of luck and a bit more time, I may yet stand astride the WMC podium with Max before the time comes to move on.

What’s Coming Up? 201807, Guildford A Preview (Broadcast Dates 09 and 10 Jun 2018)

The Leadup

Sara apparently turned champagne into a deadly weapon, if one is to believe a priggish town council representative. Kirkus deals with the fallout.

We do a post mortem on Munich and contemplate the choice of staying out on the wrong tyres vs coming in for an extra refuelling pit, looking at some data centre numbers from Munich.

Celebration time! Silvia’s level 2 scouting centre arrives. Was it worth the $5 million? We’ll see. Unfortunately her scouting on pit crew, well…

At least we’re not paying the amount for drivers that ONE team is. Which one? Tune in and see!

In the sordid world of motorsport politics, we look at whether suspension systems will be made spec for 2019, leaving only three parts (engine, brakes and gearbox) being able to be developed. Just by coincidence, those are Freddie’s three strong suits. How do you think we’ll vote?

Freddie, Gary and Kirkus hatch a devious plan to get a new part into use early using one of Freddie’s custom components.

We sign on another new sponsor, and yet again get less than we had been. The A sponsors are for the most part out there in 2019.

And at the end of all that we pack our galoshes, raincoats and umbrellas, and board a BA flight to Heathrow.

Before The Lights

Nobody is getting out of here in only 2 pits.

Lightning flashes, thunder roars, and the odds of at least one crash are very short indeed.

At least in the GT series you have a roof, a nice comfy heater and a stereo system to tune into the latest hits.

In an open wheeler, there’s nothing but Nomex and a helmet between you and the delightful English weather.

What’s Coming Up? 201806, Munich A Preview (Broadcast Dates 02 and 03 Jun 2018)

The Leadup

FAKE NEWS! The media start scurrilous rumours about a rift between Martino Pozzi of Silva and Kirkus after race 5 in the Ardennes. While it is true that we will be crushing his team mercilessly under our wheels and turning their dreams of glory to ashes in their mouths, it’s nothing personal. We plan to do that to everyone.

Who pays a quarter of a million for a day spa treatment? Or worse, gets someone else to pay it for them? I’ll give you one guess.

It’s not Freddie, who is so busy churning out parts that he looks like a Meccano factory. And telling Kirkus that he ought to sack the mechanics, which Kirkus responds to in his usual warm and fatherly way. If your father happens to be Don Corleone in a particularly foul mood.

Ebony Tyler seems confused about the number zero, and runs the very real risk of Kirkus making a series of TM1 Nybbles on mathematical theories.

Kirkus reveals that “Yes, Virginia, there really IS a Scuderia Quantistica web site.” (But if you’re here, you already know that.)

We need to look at two sponsor deals and are reminded painfully that more stars do not mean a better sponsor.

Before The Lights

Her lips parted as her breath, slightly heavier than usual, departed her body. Warm, wet breath. Her heart beat slightly, just slightly faster, and she thought that she could feel her own pulse, but perhaps she was just imagining it. She knew that she was being watched, but that no longer bothered her. Let them watch. Let them admire. They were relatively harmless.

“By t’skull of Brian Boru, it’s bloody rainin’ again”, she muttered under her breath as she slammed her visor down. “Every bloody time we come t’Munich in August, it bloody rains!”

She could see Gomes a couple of cars ahead of her and smiled slightly. Gomes, she knew, would be feeling even more apprehensive about the rain than she was, given its potential to wreak havoc on his hairdo.

She thought about her team. There was Kirkus in the pit lane, eyes locked on the telemetry readouts from her and Gomes’ cars. She hoped that he’d keep an eye on the tyre temps this time. Max wasn’t there; he rarely was when they came to Munich. Right now he would be lying next to a wood fire in a traditional Bavarian beer hall, surrounded by empty beer steins and empty plates which once held schnitzels and strudel. He would be upside down and snoring.

Gary was looking around the pit crew, offering a word of encouragement here and there, and kicking Tayaji in the butt every time he sat down.

Rachel chewed nervously on her thumbnail, and kept looking at the pit board. Without a forecasting centre, Kirkus would have to be working out the pits on the fly. She preferred the certainty of a dry race. Actually she’d prefer it if Kirkus would shell out for a forecasting centre. However he explained the financial realities of that at the last staff meeting which, like most staff meetings, were like getting a dressing down from Don Corleone.

Freddie wasn’t here, Sara knew. He was back at the Design Centre in Rome. Sure, she wanted her new suspension, but she felt a twinge of uncertainty about whether a human being was designed to spend 8 months inside a building without ever seeing the sun the way Freddie had. Kirkus had promised to build a level 2 centre next year. She hoped that it at least had a skylight.

Of course, that assumed that any of them were still working at Scuderia Quantistica next year to see it. Their contracts expired at the end of the year and Kirkus had not spoken to any of them about it yet. When they asked Max, he’d just go and get his rubber ball and drop it at their feet for them to throw for him. The huddled conversations in a corner between Kirkus, Max and Silvia probably meant something… but what?

She’d have to survive the race first. “Bloody rain…” she repeated, as the support crews started to move away from the cars.

Welcome To Scuderia Quantistica

Doubtless you are a fan of the European Racing Series. (Unless you are reading this after we’ve been promoted to higher tiers.)

You are also most likely a fan of the Italian racing team Scuderia Quantistica.

If so, I congratulate you on your excellent taste.

Perhaps you are instead a fan of Ozu, Krüger, Silva, Dragon Race Team China {chortle!}, ZRT or Octane Racing. If so, there is still a chance that your eternal soul can be redeemed.

If you are a fan of Archer or Vexala, though, there is little hope for you.

Still, if you would like to stick around for a while and bask in the throaty roar of our mighty engines… OK, our engines aren’t that mighty yet but Freddie is working on it… you may yet find a path to motoring salvation.

Welcome to the madhouse.

Breaking the 4th wall for a moment, this site is dedicated to a YouTube series on a motorsport management game called Motorsport Manager. You will find the series >>here<<.

No, I’m not taking the game that seriously. In fact, if you have ever watched the series you’ll find that it swings much more toward parody and absurdity with a splash of dry humour (much as the game does itself), except for the data analytics part which is real enough.

The real reason for the existence of this site is that I wanted to learn to use the WordPress Content Management System, and this seemed as good a way of doing it as any. And incidentally, thus far I am massively impressed by WordPress. This entire site to date was built in under 20 minutes. It’s massively easier than hand crafting a site in Dreamweaver or some such thing. I speak from experience.

Important disclaimer: Neither this site nor the associated YouTube series have any connection with the developers, producers or publishers of the Motorsport Management game. They just supplied the building materials, I built the storyline with them.

European Racing Series, 2018 Team Rosters

Having trouble remembering who is in which team as you’re watching the episodes? I’ve prepared this quick reference guide to help you out!

Yes, it might be better in a table, but tables tend to spill over into the right pane so we need to play around with our site style a little more.

  • Faith Anthony , F, United States, 28 Feb 1982, Octane Racing (Main)
  • Waldemar Bica Bernardo , M, Brazil, 01 Jan 1997, Scuderia Quantistica (Reserve)
  • Bruno Cabral , M, Portugal, 27 Sep 1998, Silva Racing (Reserve)
  • Amanda Cavalcanti , F, Brazil, 16 Sep 1995, Ozu Motor Team (Main)
  • Nick Chu , M, Thailand, 23 Feb 1998, ZRT Autosport (Main)
  • Michelle Cooper , F, New Zealand, 19 Oct 1984, Dragon Race Team China (Reserve)
  • Cristiano De Oeste , M, Argentina, 19 Oct 1995, Vexala Motorsport (Main)
  • Aurélie Dembélé , F, France, 16 Jun 1983, ZRT Autosport (Reserve)
  • Claudia Dreyfuss , F, Germany, 18 Jun 1998, Dragon Race Team China (Main)
  • Adrian Earle , M, UK, 08 Jul 1987, Octane Racing (Reserve)
  • Mustafa El Sadat , M, Egypt, 18 Aug 1993, Archer BMR (Main)
  • Jean-Pierre Gérard , M, France, 01 Dec 1991, Firebird MRT (Reserve)
  • André Gomes , M, Brazil, 28 Feb 1994, Scuderia Quantistica (Main)
  • Agostino Iannizzi , M, Italy, 01 Jan 1997, Silva Racing (Main)
  • Hong Liào , M, China, 20 Oct 1998, Dragon Race Team China (Main)
  • Luigi Marchetta , M, Italy, 22 Apr 1984, Octane Racing (Main)
  • Eduardo Melo , M, Brazil, 20 Mar 1993, Silva Racing (Main)
  • Alex Rogers , M, UK, 21 Jan 1982, Archer BMR (Main)
  • André Sabado , M, Brazil, 23 Apr 1985, Firebird MRT (Main)
  • Ines Santa Ana , F, Argentina, 29 May 1992, Vexala Motorsport (Main)
  • Simone Santore , F, Italy, 24 Oct 1991, Vexala Motorsport (Reserve)
  • Malcolm Sidwell , M, UK, 01 Jan 1998, Firebird MRT (Main)
  • Niccolo’ Strambi , M, Italy, 15 Jan 1991, Ozu Motor Team (Main)
  • Sara Thomas , F, Ireland, 03 Sep 1993, Scuderia Quantistica (Main)
  • Ebony Tyler , F, UK, 06 Oct 1998, Krüger Motorsport (Main)
  • Sergio Valdés , M, Spain, 04 Mar 1996, ZRT Autosport (Main)
  • Jaidee Veerapol , F, Thailand, 24 May 1993, Krüger Motorsport (Reserve)
  • Mami Watanuki , F, Japan, 01 Jan 1996, Ozu Motor Team (Reserve)
  • Peter Young , M, UK, 14 Jan 1985, Archer BMR (Reserve)
  • Austin Zarate , M, Indonesia, 28 Jan 1991, Krüger Motorsport (Main)

If you want to search by team instead (much as the boss will not be pleased about Archer appearing at the top):

  • Mustafa El Sadat , M, Egypt, 18 Aug 1993, Archer BMR (Main)
  • Alex Rogers , M, UK, 21 Jan 1982, Archer BMR (Main)
  • Peter Young , M, UK, 14 Jan 1985, Archer BMR (Reserve)
  • Michelle Cooper , F, New Zealand, 19 Oct 1984, Dragon Race Team China (Reserve)
  • Claudia Dreyfuss , F, Germany, 18 Jun 1998, Dragon Race Team China (Main)
  • Hong Liào , M, China, 20 Oct 1998, Dragon Race Team China (Main)
  • Jean-Pierre Gérard , M, France, 01 Dec 1991, Firebird MRT (Reserve)
  • André Sabado , M, Brazil, 23 Apr 1985, Firebird MRT (Main)
  • Malcolm Sidwell , M, UK, 01 Jan 1998, Firebird MRT (Main)
  • Ebony Tyler , F, UK, 06 Oct 1998, Krüger Motorsport (Main)
  • Jaidee Veerapol , F, Thailand, 24 May 1993, Krüger Motorsport (Reserve)
  • Austin Zarate , M, Indonesia, 28 Jan 1991, Krüger Motorsport (Main)
  • Faith Anthony , F, United States, 28 Feb 1982, Octane Racing (Main)
  • Adrian Earle , M, UK, 08 Jul 1987, Octane Racing (Reserve)
  • Luigi Marchetta , M, Italy, 22 Apr 1984, Octane Racing (Main)
  • Amanda Cavalcanti , F, Brazil, 16 Sep 1995, Ozu Motor Team (Main)
  • Niccolo’ Strambi , M, Italy, 15 Jan 1991, Ozu Motor Team (Main)
  • Mami Watanuki , F, Japan, 01 Jan 1996, Ozu Motor Team (Reserve)
  • Waldemar Bica Bernardo , M, Brazil, 01 Jan 1997, Scuderia Quantistica (Reserve)
  • André Gomes , M, Brazil, 28 Feb 1994, Scuderia Quantistica (Main)
  • Sara Thomas , F, Ireland, 03 Sep 1993, Scuderia Quantistica (Main)
  • Bruno Cabral , M, Portugal, 27 Sep 1998, Silva Racing (Reserve)
  • Agostino Iannizzi , M, Italy, 01 Jan 1997, Silva Racing (Main)
  • Eduardo Melo , M, Brazil, 20 Mar 1993, Silva Racing (Main)
  • Cristiano De Oeste , M, Argentina, 19 Oct 1995, Vexala Motorsport (Main)
  • Ines Santa Ana , F, Argentina, 29 May 1992, Vexala Motorsport (Main)
  • Simone Santore , F, Italy, 24 Oct 1991, Vexala Motorsport (Reserve)
  • Nick Chu , M, Thailand, 23 Feb 1998, ZRT Autosport (Main)
  • Aurélie Dembélé , F, France, 16 Jun 1983, ZRT Autosport (Reserve)
  • Sergio Valdés , M, Spain, 04 Mar 1996, ZRT Autosport (Main)

2017 Season, Race 10 (Black Sea A)

Track

26 laps, 2.96 miles (4.76 km), 11 lap stints.

Very Low fuel burn, Very High tyre wear.

Tyres

  • Softs 8-10 (Excess of 1)
  • Mediums 12-14 (Excess of 13)
  • Wet weather 13-15 (Excess of 16).

Critical

  • Acceleration
  • High Speed Corners
  • Top Speed**

Weather

Practice

6°C with rain commencing at around the 9 minutes to go mark.

Race

Started with 7°C and thunderstorms.
Water on track was at around 50% on lap 1 and then shot up to 100% by lap 2.
The rain dropped to 2 bars from around lap 8, and ceased around lap 13.
By lap 11, the temperature rose to 7° for 4 laps and then dropped back by 1 to 6°.

Weight Stripping And Config

!!! To be added.

Pit Plan

There wasn’t one. The forecast was completely wrong as a result of which we had to make it up as we went along, depending on the rain.

Note: In 2016 during the first stint, Faith Anthony hit the cliff number on Softs at about 6.75 laps. Gomes hit it at about 7.5 laps. There would have been hardly any rubber on the track but future pit plans should take this into account.

Gomes

10/17/26 (10/7/9)
10: 19% Wets and 0.23 fuel. FW 70 B 66 E 67 G 62 RW 73 S 65. Balanced mode. Sent out with a fresh set of Wets and 8 laps of fuel to do 7. Entered 4th, exited 9th, 11.047 seconds.
17: 40% Wets and 0.42 fuel. FW 60, B 52, E 57, G 48, RW 56, S 52. Balanced mode, fresh set of Inters and 11 laps to do 9. Entered 5th, exited 14th 14.224, seconds.

Thomas

Plan 8/16/21 (8/8/5)
9/16/26 (9/7/10)
9: 26% Wets and 1.21 fuel. FW 69 B 63 E 73 G 67 RW 82 S 66. Balanced mode. Fresh set of wets, 8 laps of fuel to do 7 (expected time of the rain ceasing).Entered 15th, exited 16th, 10.231 seconds.
16: 42% Wets and 0.37 Fuel. FW 61 B 56 E 64 G55 RW 69 S 61. Balanced mode. Fresh set of inters and 11 laps to do 10. Entered 7th, exited 17th, 14.392 seconds.

Race Report

Target: 7th or above, 600K. (Playsport)

Bonuses

Gomes

10% Performance Medium Tyres
10% Performance Race Trim

Thomas

10% Performance Medium Tyres
10% Performance Race Trim

The Start

Both drivers launched on wets with 11 laps (full tank of fuel) on Attack / High mode.
Gomes launched from 12th (Row 6)
Thomas from 15th (row 8)

All other teams launched using wets.

Lap By Lap

Lap 2: Heavy rain and storms continued. Gomes had dropped to 16th, Thomas to 17th.

Lap 3: Gomes up to 11th (1:25.990), Thomas still 17th (1:26.346). Chu 1st (1:25.523), Cooper 2nd (1:25.714), Dreyfus 3rd (1:25.882). The better drivers had yet to catch up and were mostly in the 1:26’s with a handful of 1:27’s. The best guess is that the weather made overtaking difficult giving those at the front of the grid more of a chance to run their own race.
Most of the other cars were still on attack mode for tyres except for Rogers (12th) and Santa Ana (15th) who were on Neutral. Only a handful of cars (including us) were still on high engine mode with most of the rest having dropped back to Medium, though some cars periodically went to Overtake.

Lap 4: Our tyre temps were around mid line, and the strategy was taken back to Push. Most of the rest of the field were still on Attack except for the two mentioned previously and Watanuki, who joined them on Neutral. Gomes 13th (1:26.992), Thomas 18th (1:27.651 for no obvious reason other than that her tyre strategy was dropped).

Lap 5: Water remained at 100%.Gomes 12th, Thomas 16th.

Lap 7: Many cars had gone to Neutral / Medium, and some to Neutral / Backup. We were the only two still on high. The others were obviously conserving fuel to extend the stint since it was clear that the rain would continue for several laps.

Lap 9: Thomas was called in.

10: Gomes was called in. About half the field had pitted by the end of lap 10 and had decided to go out on wets again. Both cars set to Push / High mode to get the tyre temperatures up.

Lap 11: The last 4 cars to do a first pit came in. (Iannizzi, Zarate, Santa Ana and Rogers.) Gomes 9th, Thomas 10th.

Lap 12: Gomes 5th after picking up places from the last pitters, Thomas 7th. The leaders were Melo, Fox and De Oeste.

Lap 14: The last lap with 100% water on track. Gomes still 5th, Thomas still 7th, same three in front.

Lap 16: Sara was called in. The forecast was for water to be on the track at least out to lap 21, making Inters the best tyre. Chu, Falko and Watanuki had pitted for Inters. The leaders were Fox, Melo and Stone.

Lap 17: Gomes was called in. Both cars were still on Push / High. Gomes 5th (1:23.282), Thomas 17th (1:51.725 pit lap). De Oeste (1:23.779) had overtaken Stone for 3rd.Fox (1st) was doing 1:23.086. The front runners were mostly on attack or push and either Medium or Overtake engine modes, as were the ones at the end. (Dreyfus (13th), Valdes (14th) and Watanuki (20th) were all on backup. The mid field was mostly Neutral / Medium.

Lap 18: The first 12 cars had pitted only once and were out when the water on track had fallen to Inters level. Thomas 13th, Gomes 14th; the first two of the two pit cars. Melo, Fox, De Oeste and Stone were in the pits. These were followed by Marchetta, Antonov, Iannizi, Sabado El Sadat and Zarate.

Lap 19: Fox exited the pits before we could get there and was holding first. De Oeste second, Melo 3rd. Thomas 4th, then Stone, then Gomes. Everyone was out on Inters. Thomas had dropped to 5th by the end of the lap. The last two cars entered the pits, putting everyone on Inters by the end of it. Both cars were still on Push / High with excess fuel.

Lap 21: Thomas had overtaken Melo by the end of the last lap. The first 7 were Fox, De Oeste, Stone, Thomas, Melo, Gomes and Falko.

Lap 22: Melo continued to try to claim 4th back from Thomas. “He’s going after her like Max goes after a piece of roast beef with gravy…” There was less than 0.2 seconds in it. Gomes was 1.8 seconds behind Melo but had a 3.259 second lead over Falko. Near the end of the lap Thomas was sent to Overtake mode. Sara’s parts were FW 50, B 48, E 52, G 39, RW 54 and S 50. She had 52% on her tyres near the end of the lap.

Lap 24: Sara’s excess fuel indicator went off and she was brought back to High mode. Melo had dropped back to Neutral / Medium. Fox was doing 1:19.285, De Oeste 1:19.925, Stone 1:19.712. Thomas was doing 1:19.589 while Melo was on 1:20.681. Gomes was doing 1:20.477. About half of the cars were on high engine mode but the other half were no higher than Medium. The tyre modes were similar. The exception was Chu (16th) who was conserving both fuel and tyres. Toward the end both drivers were taken back to Neutral. Sara was sent to Medium but Gomes stayed on high.

Lap 25: Sara’s tyres were down to 21%, fuel 1.28 laps. Gomes was still at 28% and 2.26.

Lap 26: By less than half way around the lap Thomas was down to 8% and 0.49 laps of fuel. Melo was 0.639 seconds behind. Gomes was at 16% and 1.74 laps. She was at 1% when she crossed the line. Gomes held 6th. Most of the cars had almost no rubber left when they crossed. Amazingly nobody crashed.

Aftermath

The race was completed in 37:11.204.

De Oeste was demoted 4 places after a part was found in breach of the rules. This elevated Thomas to 3rd and Gomes to 5th. Falko came 15th, killing his lead on the drivers’ championship and dropped him to 3rd.

Molly Fox took the championship with 194 points including 42 points from the final race (including a fastest lap bonus), 7 ahead of Bobby Stone Jr, with Falko 25 behind Fox.
Thomas came 6th at 145 points, Gomes 8th at 139 points.
Watanuki (Dragon) took last place with 38 points.

Garuda won the competition with 356 points and accepted promotion to the APS, with Ozu replacing them.
Kruger were 4 points behind at 352 followed by Firebird (286).
We were in 4th at 284, 72 points behind Garuda.
The others were Silva (275), Vexala (218), Octane (178), Archer (150), ZRT (116) and lastly Dragon (115).

In other competitions, Dieter Wexler won the last WMC race of the year giving the WMC to Scuderia Rossini (452 points) ahead of Panther (402) and Steinman (266). Espirit GP finished last and headed back to the APS.
Wexler also won the Drivers’ Championship (238 points) from his teammate Saarinen (214) and Zoe Sharp of Panther (207).

Velan won the final race of the APS. Lundqvist for Velan took the Drivers’ Championship with 65 points from Winston Margate at Team Kirov and E Ribiero (also Velan), both on 53. Margate would move to MacNeil the following year. Strambi for Ozo came last.
Velan took the team championship with 118 ahead of Boa Esperanca on 93 and Team Kirov on 74. Eastwood (ex APS) came 6th. Ozu came last with only 2 points and were relegated to make way for Garuda.

2017 Season, Race 09 (Milan B)

Track

21 laps, 3.73 miles (6 km), 9 lap stints.

Very low fuel burn, Low tyre wear.

Tyres

  • Softs 10-12 (Excess of 12)
  • Mediums 14-16 (Excess of 24)
  • Wet weather 15-17 (Excess of 27).

Critical

  • Top Speed
  • Deceleration
  • High Speed Corners

Weather

Practice

12°C to 14°C, sunny with some cloud.

Race

14°C, sunny with occasional patchy cloud.

Weight Stripping And Config

!!! To be added.

Pit Plan

Gomes

9/17/21 (9/8/4)
9: 12% Softs, 0.63. Balanced. FW 69, B 62, E 53, G 50, RW 66, S 59. Length: 11.114. Fresh softs and 8 laps of fuel to do 8 laps. Exited 10th.
17: 24% Softs, 0.54. Balanced. FW 57, B 43, E 41, G 37, RW 50, S 50. Length: 9.565. Fresh Softs and 6 laps to do 4. Entered 2nd, exited 10th.

Thomas

Plan 8/16/21 (8/8/5)
8: 13% Softs, 0.59. Balanced. FW 70, B 64, E 63, G 57, RW 67, S 60. Length: 11.297. Fresh softs and 8 laps of fuel to do 8 laps.
16: 19% Softs, 0.46. Balanced. FW 55, B 43, E 40, G 43, RW 39, S 44. Length: 10.271. Fresh Softs and 7 laps of fuel to do 5 laps. Exited 7th.

Race Report

Target: 7th or above, 600K. (Playsport)

Practice had been done on Softs.
Gomes Bonuses: 10% Race Trim, 10% Softs.
Thomas Bonuses: 10% Race Trim, 10% Softs.

Thomas started 11th, on row 6.
Gomes started 12th, Row 6.

Both launched on Push.
Both Vexala cars (row 6) and Sabado (Firebird, row 7) launched on Mediums; almost everyone else launched on softs.

Lap 1: Sara dropped to 20th, Gomes to 18th. Almost everyone else was on Attack / Overtake or Attack / High. We went up to Attack as we weren’t getting enough heat into the tyres.

Lap 2: Sara sent to High engine mode. Gomes left on Medium to extend his range. Gomes 16th, Thomas 18th.

Lap 3: Gomes 13th, Thomas 14th. Tyre temps reached nominal and they were brought back to Push.

Lap 5: Thomas 10th, Gomes 13th. Previous lap 1:17.349 and 1:17.948 respectively. Dreyfus, Zarate and Fox were the first 3. Fox’s previous lap was 1:15.878. The front half were mostly 1:16 to 1:17, the back half 1:17 to 1:18. Melo crashed near the end of the lap; yellow flag only, no safety car.

Lap 7: Both tyres nudging the red zone and brought back to Neutral.

Lap 8: Thomas brought back to Neutral to conserve fuel. Ordered to pit.

Lap 9: Gomes 2nd, Thomas 9th. Fox, Gomes and Santa Ana were 1 to 3 and the only ones who had not pitted.

Lap 10: Both cars in a Neutral / medium strategy. Thomas 7th, Gomes 11th.

Lap 12: Both sets of tyres were slightly below the middle and were set to Push. Thomas 8th, Gomes 11th.

Lap 13: Thomas 8th (1:17.377) and Gomes 11th (1:17.883). Zarate 1st (1:16.191, Overtake / Medium). Best lap times 1:16.190 (De Oeste, 4th, Overtake / Low, on Medium tyres), 1:16.226( Stone, 6th, Overtake / Mediums), 1:16.231 (Fox, 5th, Overtake / Medium, Softs) and Falko (1:16.313, 7th, Overtake / Medium on Softs). Zarate, Stone, De Oeste, Antonov, Santa Ana, Sabado, Cooper, Rogers and Watanuki on Mediums, everyone else on Softs.

Lap 15: Thomas 6th, Gomes 9th. Dreyfuss, Sabado and Valdes in the pits, Sabado with mechanical issues. These are the first to do 2 pits.

Lap 16: Sara called in.Iannizzi, Engelhart, Antonov, Cooper and Marchetta pitted on the same lap.

Lap 17: Sara had dropped to 10th. Sent to Push / High. Gomes called in. Rogers also in the pits.

Lap 18: The only ones still to do a 2nd pit were Fox (1st, about 20% on Softs), Santa Ana (about 25% on Mediums), and Watanuki (16th, about 15% on Mediums). Gomes was also sent to Push / High.

Lap 20: We were still running on 2* speed and went to a higher mode late. By this point everyone haddone their second pit and we gained Santa Ana’s spot. Thomas 6th, Gomes 10th. Both sent to Push / Overtake.

Lap 21: Parts were close to failure but both were sent to Attack / Overtake. Thomas had already overtaken Falko to get 5th but Bobby Stone was 5.642 seconds away. Gomes was in 10th, 0.169 behind Antonov. By the end of the lap Gomes managed to push past both Antonov and Dreyfuss to take 8th. Thomas has closed the gap to 4.633 but had no realistic chance of taking 4th from Stone.

Race Completion Time: 27:51.397
Gomes: 7th (After Silva Penalty).
Thomas: 5th.

1 A. Zarate Krüger Motorsport
2 C. De Oeste Firebird MRT
3 M. Fox Krüger Motorsport
4 B. Stone Jr. Garuda Racing
5 S. Thomas Scuderia Quantistica (4.633 behind)
6 F. Engelhart Garuda Racing
7 A. lannizzi Silva Racing
8 A. Gomes Scuderia Quantistica (0.459 behind)
Note: Iannizzi was penalised 2 places which lifted Gomes to 7th, placing both cars above the sponsor objective. Dreyfuss was penalised 4 places which had no effect on us.

Aftermath

Sara went from 9th to 6th (48 points behind championship leader Falko, a gain of 1 point), Gomes went from 10th to 9th.
The team rose from 5th to 4th, overtaking Silva. We were 90 points behind 1st placed Garuda. Kruger and Firebird were 2nd and 3rd. Silva was only 3 points behind.
The race cost us 293K.

Best Laps

  • Gomes: 1:15.719 (9th fastest, 7th place.)
  • Thomas: 1:15.049 (3rd fastest, 5th place.)
  • Fox: 1:14.453 (Fastest, 3rd Place.)

The Race Video