| Začetnik |
Tema: FAE1 Forum Racing - S18 (8.5€ Prize) |
1095 odgovora
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Season Eighteen Niuean Round Summary
|
|
|
|
Season Eighteen Niuean Sprint Race Results
|
|
|
|
Season Eighteen Niuean Feature Race Results
|
|
|
|
Season Eighteen Niuean Endurance Race Results
|
|
|
|
Final Championship Standings
Drivers Championship
Teams Championship
Enzo Ferrari Trophy
John Love Cup
Final Entry List
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Season Eighteen Review
Overview
The Season began as… the alphabetical list of FIFA Mens Association Football World Cup Winners (?) does, in Argentina, starting as it very much did not mean to go on. So it was the opportunity for the less-fortunate to enjoy their time in the sun while it lasted and while in such beatific surrounds. Gilbert flew the flag for Belgium and privateers with his first victory for over a year, and his only one of the season, which was also the only time all year that a Manufacturer failed to make the podium. Sonverdi snagged his only Fastest Lap of the year in the Feature, while Charman took second twice and looked set to mount an upstart charge for the title come the end of the Endurance, only for Harding’s victory a few seconds up the road to put the Ligier driver ahead on countback.
However, the main surprise from the opening round had been Gergov, in surely the most important event in world news at the time. So important, in fact, that he deserved the paragraph break, and he proved his revolutionary zeal by claiming another Sprint podium on the dusty streets of Willemstad to put himself deep in the scrambling battle for the top-spot. Except it was suddenly the turn of an unlikely name to turn everything on its head, albeit briefly. The offer of a free trip to the Caribbean tempted Jundt into the Lotus hotseat, and within hours of landing on the island the Swiss had brushed aside his near-eight-year-dearth of Fastest Laps, before sweeping aside the competition with a fine win in the Endurance. That race also saw his team-mate Dunlop debut in the series and Wen make his return with a fine fourth, whilst Harding grabbed his only Fastest Lap of the year. However it was Sonverdi, after claiming his first win of the year in the Feature, who led the field back across the Atlantic.
After two frenetic Rounds, it was almost hoped that a return to Donington Park and its dreary surrounds in the part of England that England forgets about might bring about some calm normality. But Usonia was reasserting its greatness, and its America-ness, in the form of a man named Stallone at the wheel of an Eagle powered by an almighty Climax. Re-used material. Jundt capped off a run of three consecutive trophies just as Cucciardi began one which would leave the reigning Champion at the head of the standing come weekend’s end. However, the Swiss’s was to be his last trip to the dais, as was Charman’s in the Endurance that allowed the Englishman to cling to fifth for a little longer yet. Gergov added a final frisson to the weekend; having briefly taken the series by storm and pushed for an Independents title, the Bulgarian vanished at the end of the Sprint.
Sweden brought a modicum of stability back to proceedings, with Cucciardi bookending the weekend in fine style, claiming as he did a brace of victories to consolidates his and McLaren’s respective leads. However, that image of stability was rather spoiled by the rat king on a barbecue on the roof of a stars-and-stripes Camaro leaping over the Rift Valley to The Communards that was the Feature. (If it hadn’t already been distrupted by Stallone nabbing his first podium finish in the Sprint). Not only did this race see Morris make his triumphant return in a hail of smoked tyres and clutch. Not only did this race see Wen blitz the field after an early tumble to take second and spoil Cucciardi’s eight-race-run of Fastest Laps. Not only did this race even see Dunlop cling on as others fell away to take his first victory in magnificent style. But! For most of this year, this race officially had two fourth-placed finishers.
While the maker of such a mistake was led away to become a test subject for ‘The Device’, Harding set about ending his year on a high in Belgium, seemingly unaware of the fact that there was more than half of it to go. The Englishman found his Ligier well-suited to the smooth lines and hidden depths of Nivelles, and he swept to victory in both Saturday events, where he would be joined on the podium in Stallone. However, Harding’s poor qualifying and subsequent attempt to make overtaking literal via to the cowling of Charman’s Renault put paid to his attempt to sneak third overall back from Sonverdi. It was have been the first sneak ever accomplished with full marching band. Karda took the win in his stead, his first since the opening Round, while his team-mate Adorján’s cameo performances for Super Aguri stopped after the Sprint.
The above meant that Cucciardi had been absent from the top step for a whole Round. This had not happened since Argentina. This would not do. So, on the streets of Ibiza that he had so wanted to drag the series to, Cucciardi again bagged a brace of wins, although Karda was to pop up in first place between the Maltese’s triumphs. Further back, Dunlop, Gilbert, and Stallone all lodged their first failures to finish of the season in the Balearics, having evidently found better uses of their time on the island. Morris, who had got his long walk back out of the way only to find out that he was in southern Sweden had ample motivation to claim a second podium in three races, an early sign of the way his season was to pan out. And that Charman, also, as, for the first time since he joined the series in Season Sixteen, the Englishman was absent for an entire Round.
Matters suddenly returned to ‘not doing’ for Cucciardi in Sicily, as the Maltese could only muster a best finish of six on the lakeside blast of Enna-Pergusa. Fortunately for the seven-time Champion, Karda did not capitalise especially well, taking only a solitary win in the Feature and failing to even make the rostrum in the Endurance. Wen helped to ensure that, as the Singaporean again showed sparkling pace to claim a pair of second places and another Fastest Lap, which at that point put him on the second-highest tally of them for the year (he would end as third-highest). Dunlop again showed his potential with a spirited drive to victory in the Sprint, but it was the Endurance where some history was made, as Probert returned Ligier to the winner’s circle after a dominant run in the blazing sun. It was his first win since Season Eleven, and, in spite of his reputation, the Welshman’s first in an Endurance since the European Round of Season One.
That was in 2009. Specifically, the point in 2009 where Jenson Button looked all-set to take an eighth win from seven.
Normal service resumed for the title challengers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In fact, it more than resumed: it almost repeated, as Cucciardi and Karda scored almost precisely the same results as they managed in Ibiza. The only difference this time around was that Cucciardi did not manage to set the Feature Fastest Lap. Instead, that honour went to Morris, his only example of the year as he powered home to second… after finishing second in the Ibizan Feature, also. Less eerily, Probert kept up appearances on the dais, whilst Gilbert made his first return to the steps since his shock victory. Continuing the air of repetition from Ibiza, both Jundt and Charman made their final early exits for the year at the side of Zalužani, whilst Sonverdi joined the impromptu walking tour of Republika Srpska after the first DNF of his FAE1 career.
Saturday in Angola saw the final FAE1 wins ever of the year for two drivers, results which would ensure that they would tie for fourth at the end of the Round. However, as it was Dunlop’s third as part of a triumphant breakthrough, to Probert’s second as part of a measured resurgence, it was the Englishman who came out ahead. Cucciardi claimed the Endurance, which was enough to ensure that McLaren retained the Enzo Ferrari Trophy with a full quarter of the season left to run despite Sonverdi deciding that he liked the long walk so much that he would repeat it on the Sunday. Charman made his final run to the finish in the Feature, and indeed his last start, while Stallone found space for one last trophy in the Sprint.
Karda had at one point clawed his way back into the title hunt, leaving himself a Sprint victory away from the title lead after Bosnia and Herzegovina; as the series began island hopping towards the Pacific, Cucciardi dropped just two points in the Comoros to push his lead back up to almost thirty, and to emphatically declare that McLaren would be Teams Champions again. Among the Independents, the faltering DMR finally fell off the top spot in the John Love Cup. For a few moments after the LEC crossed the line in Moroni, the lead belonged to Mach One Racing, for possibly the first time in ten full seasons, only for the results of Eeveelution to trickle in and sweep the trophy into gloves of crisp green and beige.
The trophy would never leave those gloves, metaphorically at least, as they transitioned to blue for Singapore: after Gilbert’s class win in the Sprint, Morris would win every remaining race among Independents. More momentously, Cucciardi kept up his pattern of results in the last remaining city-state, albeit with a slight change in formation as he dropped a full five points this time around. The two wins from three for the Maltese were still enough to put the title beyond all but mathematical reach for Karda, however. Jundt took his final bow in the Feature to end the year on a perfect century of points, whilst Wen had his most disappointing performance of the year on home soil--where else?--spinning off for his only retirement of the season before one-fifth of the way through.
The Singaporean determined to make up for it as the series landed on, and then took over the airport of, Niue; it was no real trouble, as the one return flight per week would not have been due back for six days. However, Wen’s two podiums on the Saturday were rather upstaged by Morris, who spent the entire Round on the podium, coming second twice in the shorter events before capping off a glorious end to the year with a victory, his only one of Season Eighteen. That same race also saw Gilbert make one last climb to the rostrum before the curtain fell, as well as Probert making a surprise and successful bid for Fastest Lap. However, none of that took away from Cucciardi’s victory… in the Sprint, a fine drive through the narrow twists and shimmies which finally confirmed that the eighth title was his. Oh, and Karda took the win in the Feature to put himself second overall, for wins, podiums, and for Fastest Laps. Who noticed?
|
|
|
|
Drivers
Sebastian Cucciardi
Entrant: McLaren-TAG
One Word: Brew
Eight Championships. Eight. How can anything new be added after an eighth title? Even sports video games keep things nice and generic to cover for when the player begins to blitz the algorithms in such a way. However, there was something atypical in the manner with which the Maltese secured his latest lease of the big trophy. His usual way is to start strong, winning plenty of early races and building an impregnable base of points from which to defend the crown; this was only the second title-winning season for Cucciardi where he won more races in the second half. The first time he managed that, though, he was was largely running up the score without a credible challenger; this time around, Karda successfully kept up the fight until the very final Round, after the Maltese was kept largely in check by the rest of the field for much of the year. Though he was always part of the leading pack, Cucciardi took some time to truly emerge as the main title protagonist, only leading the charge after the third Round as he adjusted the low-slung McLaren to race-trim and allowed the rear to settle fully. From there, the title-lead would remain in his hands as he dutifully went about building a successful tally of rostrum visits, blistering pole positions and silky overtakes. McLaren as a whole momentarily wobbled in Sicily, as their brakes proved inadequate in the face of their sheer speed on the straights and led to unsteady hobbles through the chicanes, but Cucciardi never appeared flustered: he simply found an extra gear in the following Rounds and recouped all the ground he had lost. Cucciardi’s eighth title was the result of a patient, methodical process, slowly brewing over the course of a full season rather than bursting out in the first few weeks, but was no less impressive for it.
Dominik Karda
Entrant: Super Aguri-Honda
One Word: Rebuild
Though his eventual bid for the title came up short at the final stages, there was much for the Czech to feel accomplished about in Season Eighteen. Most obviously--hence the choice of succinct summation above--it involved him fully vindicating his status as the most recent new Champion and his worthiness of the award; following on from a year in which his stunted Super Aguri was unable to hold back the McLaren juggernaut, even being surpassed by the ‘rookie’ in the second Woking machine, Karda truly rebuilt his reputation by demonstrating that, amongst all the talent and pace on the FAE1 grid, he was the one able to provide a season-long challenge to the most successful driver in the sport’s history. Much like his title rival, Karda’s climb back to almost the very top of the field was not an especially rapid one: despite grabbing a victory in Argentina, he finished the Round fourth overall (though only four points from the peak), and it would be another four Rounds before he again made the top step. He also finished out of the top six twice in the first two Rounds, and finished off the podium seven times in the first eleven races. But he did start, and finish, every single race; it was that indomitable consistency, so often a feature of his driving in the past, which kept him in the hunt for a title even when he was out of the spotlight. Plus, though he only took three wins in the first half of the year, that was as many as he managed in the entirety of Season Seventeen. A strong run of podiums in the middle of the year led the Czech into the form which would yield five wins over the rest of the Season, only falling out of contention on the last weekend; if Karda had been doubted as one of the series’ leading figures, then maintaining his overall podium record for an eleventh season surely removed them.
Ahmet Sonverdi
Entrant: McLaren-TAG
One Word: Dredge
A warning: the author is an environmental professional, or is at least moving up the ladder of such a field. The author is motivated by recorded evidence and personal opinion that dredging a river is a misguided but highly popular method of flood prevention; because the actual problem isn’t dealt with, it takes greater amounts of dredging on each successive occasion in order to generate the same effect. This, in a roundabout way, mirrors Sonverdi’s second year in FAE1. The Turk ended his first at the very peak of his powers, having won the last race and elbowed his way up to second in the standings, ahead of the defending Champion. Carrying on this form into Eighteen, Sonverdi claimed three podiums from the first five races, and he led the chase for the title as the circus boarded the plane to leave Curaçao. Though he was one of many in a congested leading pack, the Turk was operating on an incredibly high level, and it seemed possible that he might actually press his illustrious team-mate for the title; however, it soon emerged that, in this particular car, said high level was the limit of Sonverdi’s performance. As others gradually settled in and began to build their momentum, Sonverdi’s performance flatlined. Said line was far enough above the ground to warrant a parachute, but it was soon eclipsed, and not only by the two eventual title protagonists. After grabbing a further victory in Leicestershire, Sonverdi muddled through the rest of the year with increasingly sporadic appearances on the rostrum, finishing a full twenty-one times off the dais, with a run of five finishes at the death outside the top four. It was be harsh to call this a bad season, but, much like dredging is not ineffective, it is not enough on its own. However, he certainly has the ability and pace to make the required step up to truly challenge in future.
Marcus Probert
Entrant: Ligier-Mugen-Honda
One Word: Emergent
Yes: you did read that right. The driver with the longest career in FAE1, in terms of time, and the winner of a Championship that occurred eight actual years ago has been awarded the label as ‘emergent’. And, most surprisingly of all, it actually fitted. At least, within the context of the single season. Within the wider context of Probert’s illustrious two stints in the sport, this may have been the Welshman’s highest Championship placing since Season Four (for those keeping track in real-time, that’s pre-Vettel-Webber-colliding-at-Istanbul-gate), but he scored fewer points this season than when he finished sixth overall in Seventeen, and he was only four points above finishing in that position this time around. However, to restore some burnish to what was a fine season, this was the first time since Season Five that he won multiple races in a single year, and the first time since the early years that Probert could truly be considered part of the leading pack in FAE1, rather than quietly, and effectively, accumulating points in their wake. So there is some doubt as to the accuracy of ‘emergent’ within the scope of Probert’s career, but to return to the original context, Probert began the year very much in the shadows of Harding at Ligier. He dutifully racked up the points while out of the spotlight, but was there in a show of strength as the French marque secured double podiums in early Endurances, and even kept a professional level of decorum as the team gently shifted its focus to the Englishman’s putative title bid. However, once Harding disappeared in a bout of creativity, Probert swept back into vogue and to nearer the front of the field then imagined. The second half of the year, with the team’s resources behind him, yielded two victories, six podiums, and a Fastest Lap; just enough to clinch that fourth place and show, if it ever needed to be, that his titles may almost be antique but they certainly weren’t given away.
Riley Dunlop
Entrant: Lotus-Lamborghini
One Word: Founder
Back to double meanings for the surprise rookie breakout of Season Eighteen; after all, Gergov began the year by continuing the routine of no-name novices barging their way to the front of the grid before Dunlop even made it to an FAE1 grid, and yet it was the Englishman who finished the season with the third-highest tally of wins and a genuine, on-merit, undoubted space in the leading pack of the sport. It was also the Englishman who tore asunder expectations within the Lotus team, who had exhumed Jundt’s career in the hopes that the Swiss would provide direction and leadership--which, admittedly, was the case in the early days, when Dunlop trailed his team-mate by seven whole places in a field of eleven--only for Dunlop to sweep to victory in only his fourth attempt, and regularly push the ageing machinery into spots which grant entry to the champagne wars. And it wasn’t as though the Englishman relied on luck or the aberration to rise up the order; though never especially quick, being the highest finisher in the standings without a Fastest Lap, Dunlop’s dogged, gritty style kept the Lotus vaguely on pace and allowed him to capitalise when others faltered. So, much like Charman and Sonverdi in years before, Dunlop’s association with ‘founder’ comes partly from a season in which he comfortably settled into the series, assimilated into the leading pack, and founded what might be a successful enterprise. However, the other form of founder, as a verb relating to shipping accidents or running aground, came to the fore at the tail of the season, when Lotus finally ran out of potential and reliability to squeeze out of their venerable design. Even as his form tailed off, with just one podium in the last three Rounds, Dunlop can still be proud of a higher points/race ratio this year than Sonverdi. With a stronger, or even modern, set of machinery, Dunlop might go places in future. Hopefully forwards.
Kyle Morris
Entrant: Eeveelution-Cosworth
One Word: Crescendo
How original. Marvellous, even. Yes, it is possibly the most obvious word that could have been selected, but it’s also rare to see a driver’s form improve so measurably and with near-perfect consistency over the course of a season. That, of course, meant that it had to have started at rock-bottom, and if such a term can be defined in one way as being left completely in the lurch following the withdrawal of his major backers, themselves prompted to do so by his unexpectedly inconsistent form in the previous season, having only made the start on sixteen occasions. This left the Englishman scrabbling for funds over the first three Rounds, which itself brought the amount needed for the rest of the season to a more manageable level, but he did eventually find a willing set of partners… provided that he would endeavour to make every start. After bursting back onto the scene in Sweden, Morris would only just fall short of that promise, but it was enough to keep the cash flowing and his momentum building. An early wipeout and an eighth-placed finish in Sweden was followed by two middling efforts and a trip to the bottom step of the dais in Belgium. From then on he would expertly grab at least one overall trophy in every Round, usually pulling through in the Feature, whilst his results in the other races gradually ticked up, barring one minor wobble in Enna where he slipped back down to tenth in the Endurance--but he still made the finish. That was also the only race all season where he didn’t make the top-three amongst privateers, and being able to mix so comfortably in the upper midfield and leading pack soon brought in the results. On two separate occasions he put together strings of five consecutive class wins, with the latter of these coming at the end of the year. This was the peak of his season, the end result of all that effort and momentum, where he spent the whole Round in the top two and blasted to victory in the final race. All in all fine way to bounce back after the disappointment in Seventeen, and claim his second JLC in just four seasons.
Rocco Stallone
Entrant: Eagle-Climax
One Word: Steady
Very simple reasoning behind this choice of words: though he didn’t quite settle at the front of the field, despite coming close on a surprising number of occasions, Stallone largely turned heads this season by very pointedly not doing so during the races. Perfectly competent. Refreshingly accomplished. Determinedly above-average. Never soaring to the spectacular highs that other rookies have managed, but equally adept at avoiding all the possible pitfalls that come with being the face of a brand-new enterprise in FAE1. Stallone was simply steady; steady behind the wheel, steady in his improvement through the course of the year, and steady in the complete lack of waves he made on the media front. Were it not for the fact that his name and team combination evokes images of Rocky Balboa as Maverick leading a bombing run against General Cornwallis, it might have been easy to forget the American’s involvement in the series until one suddenly saw his name marginally higher up in the results than expected. And that was exactly what the Eagle team needed in their first toddle through FAE1, and what he needed in his first role off the pitwall and behind the wheel. A reserved drive to sixth through the teething troubles put the American’s year on an even footing that it never lost, even as he attempted to bring the car up to scratch with ‘improvements’; his first attempt at a new nosecone failed to pass scrutineering, while his second seemed to actually reduce grip at the front, though it allowed the car to ride more smoothly than before. Still, a spot of technical inexperience should not detract from the five podiums and impressive haul of points that Stallone has to show for his first foray into FAE1; maybe a win could beckon if he decides to stay on.
Ben Gilbert
Entrant: Mach One-Cosworth
One Word: Still
Still going. Just about.
Gary Harding
Entrant: Ligier-Mugen-Honda
One Word: Houdini
More nails being hit squarely on the head, this time around. Harding has seemingly made a career out of a record that would leave him virtually unemployable in any other discipline; when not being merely mercurial and inconsistent in the application of his prodigious pace, the Englishman has bowed out of putative title challenges without warning, seemingly earlier the better his position had been. However, while in Sixteen he had the excuse of an unusual injury through personal shenanigans, this time the Englishman simply wandered off. Or, at least, that is the best guess, as there was no official line from either the team or his handlers to provide reason for this latest bout of creativity. Perhaps he had grown frustrated with the gap between his own performance and those of the McLarens, even after giving his best in Belgium? Perhaps he had succumb to the pressure of yet another season of driving in circles? Or perhaps he had bowed out to allow the team to coalesce around Probert’s comeback? Regardless, his later absence serves as an unfortunate end to what had otherwise been a typically boisterous season from Harding. The first four Rounds had seen the Englishman playing his usual mercurial self, interspersing a pair of wins and another two podiums with a view from the sidelines and a pair of drives well outside the top six. Then the Belgian Round saw Harding rise to his formidable best, blitzing both of the Saturday events with aplomb before his attempt to put his car’s wings to the opposite of their intended use saw him walk back to the paddock early, and seemingly keep going from there. That last Round put him fourth in the standings, averaging twenty-five points per Round; usual misgivings over what-ifs aside, a year-long effort at that level would have put him third overall. But it, and he, didn’t, so we must instead focus on his great disappearing act, much like his one word.
Chew Kai Wen
Entrant: RCU-Cosworth
One Word: Explosive
At the beginning of the season, out highly prescient Preview highlighted the fact that his attendance would be the deciding factor in how successful his season was. Twelve Rounds on, and the Singaporean scraped together fourteen entries in the Honda; the same number as Harding, who lodged an impressive four victories with the might of Ligier’s works effort behind him, and who outscored the privateer and his ruler-and-pencil Honda by a resounding, earth-conquering, three points. And, like the Englishman, if Wen had been able to enter as many races as the front-runners managed, he would have challenged for the top-three… assuming that Wen could have matched his excellent form over the course of a full season, though there is evidence to support that. After all, it was not finances that put paid to any consistent appearances for the Singaporean, more logistics; being based far away from the European hub, although close to the final few Rounds of the season--in which he starred--and electing to press on with his Honda partnership despite their lack of appearances in the preceding few years and absence on the Manufacturer front for even longer meant that appearances would be limited. After all, no amount of money could buy parts that haven’t been made yet. But Wen made the most of his opportunities, bursting back into the line-up at sporadic and seemingly odd times to hurl his Honda far higher up the order than it otherwise deserved to be. Though he only truly challenged for the lead once, in the Belgian Sprint, his explosive pace netted a pair of Fastest Laps in the middle of the year, and he was the only driver to push Cucciardi in the Maltese’s pomp for one-lap pace, hence the selection of his one word. Three seconds and three third places, and a run of nine class wins in his first ten starts, served to show just how well Wen timed his opportunities to loudly make the most impact.
Callum Charman
Entrant: DMR-Cosworth
One Word: Fizzle
Because there was a fizzle about the Englishman’s season at the very start of the year, though it very quickly began to fizzle-out. Simple, really. Charman’s re-branded Renault-based effort began the season at its highest point, claiming second in the opening Sprint after varying calamities pushed seemingly all away from the top spot, before following it up with another trip to the middle step on Sunday: only countback kept the Englishman from the title lead. He finished every one of the first five races in the top six in a feat of consistency reminiscent of his debut year, though a lowly tenth in the Endurance in Willemstad saw him slip to fifth in the standings, though just ten points off the top. However, it was the Sunday result which was to more emblematic of his form to come. Though reasonably solid, the pensionable Renault chassis around which the entire effort was formed proved an increasingly fickle machine to set up and coax decent pace out of, rapidly falling away to becoming only suited to conditions when the mercury shied away in the thermometers. This worked well in the frigid conditions of Donington and Anderstorp, where Charman was able to cling on for one last rostrum and a fourth place respectively, but theses were to be his final forays into the top six. As the series returned to more equatorial climes around the Mediterranean and deep across Africa, the Englishman’s troubles deepened, and his best result in the latter half of the year came in the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Sprint, where he rose from dead-last on the grid to trickle home seventh, a full fifteenth of the race behind the leaders. With the team’s reserves draining away steadily for increasingly little returns, and lacking the resources to finally upgrade on the Renault in hopes of at least returning to the midfield, Charman withdrew after the Comorian Feature, where his non-submission of the entry fee earnt one last mark against a disappointing year.
David Jundt
Entrant: Lotus-Lamborghini
One Word: Burst
Another fairly simple concept to grasp for a one-word, but it follows swiftly from Charman’s and in much the same logic. However, whilst the Englishman’s season took several weeks to truly unravel, Jundt’s time back at the forefront of FAE1 came to a crashing halt after just three races. They were three excellent races, to be perfectly clear: being drafted in at the last minute on the promise of a week in the Caribbean, Jundt put in a steady effort in the first race in Willemstad before pushing his way back into the leading pack for the Feature. In brilliant form and with a dusty track to squeeze some pace out of, the Swiss deftly steered the Lotus all the way up the order to its first podium finish in more than ten seasons, and his driving was silky enough to end his more than three-hundred-entry drought on Fastest Laps in the series. Buoyed by this success, he went even better the next day by surging past Harding and then clinging on to secure his first victory since Season Fifteen, and his first as a works driver since Season Twelve, which put him sixth overall in the standings despite not being present for the first Round. A spirited drive to second in the European Sprint meant that Jundt’s last six starts in FAE1 had yielded five podiums and two victories. However, it seemed that this was to be his ration of success for the year: whilst Lotus were busily talking up prospects of continuing to push for victories, Jundt settled in for an eventually dismal long haul. After that second place, the closest he would manage to returning to the dais was a meandering drive to fifth in his final race, five laps down on the leader. Dunlop’s star had risen swiftly within the Lotus fold, and, having only budgeted at the start of the season for one driver and with Jundt not bringing any sponsors on board, resources were soon put in place behind the Englishman. Jundt kept the car vaguely on track and vaguely in the midfield, reminiscent of his usual efforts for Monteverdi Onyx, but in comparison to his earlier results the decline was prominent and disappointing.
And now, the drivers who couldn’t quite be included in the review: Boyan Gergov, and István Adorján.
|
|
|
|
Teams
McLaren (McLaren-TAG)
Drivers: Sebastian Cucciardi (1) & Ahmet Sonverdi (2)
One Word: Consolidation
Last year, McLaren returned to the FAE1 fold after a lengthy period of hibernation and set about the unusual combination of ruthless and unrelenting domination of all possible Championships whilst maintaining only a charitably above-average performance in most of the individual races. It was sheer consistency and discipline that won the Woking squad so much silverware in Season Seventeen; the fact that the first four lines of their Season Eighteen summation has been spent re-treading this ground is simply a manifestation of how effectively McLaren managed to repeat this feat for a second year. In fact, the subtle overlords did more than merely repeat their performance: they improved upon it. They consolidated it. True, Cucciardi’s actual facing of an actual threat in the Drivers Championship meant that the Maltese had to actually use all of his actual skill at some points, and use all of the available power from his TAG to win a few more individual contests, but the team’s overall tally of sixteen wins was not some overbearing statement of a new sporting order. However, it is their yield of podium visits which shows just how little time McLaren spent actually at the forefront of FAE1 as a whole: a return of thirty-three trophies from seventy starts for the team is significantly overshadowed by Super Aguri’s rate of trips to the dais, it barely eclipses that of Wen’s Remote Countries United privateers, and actually falls below that of the BAR-Honda team which snuck through at the death to claim the Season Fourteen title. But this wasn’t Season Fourteen; it was Season Eighteen (obviously), and McLaren did their level best to best and level the flimsy hopes of the opposition put before them. It was not their fault that Super Aguri and Ligier both struggled for consistent appearances. A new super-team, or the loss of either driver to one, might knock McLaren off their perch, but for now they have truly consolidated a strategy that has put them ahead of all rivals all the time once again. Except for after the very first race, when Mach One--yes, really--led the title on countback.
Super Aguri (Super Aguri-Honda)
Drivers: Dominik Karda (5) & István Adorján (6)
One Word: Increment
There was much that Super Aguri got right in Season Eighteen; after all, they did climb up a place in the overall and class Championships relative to Seventeen, so that is almost a given. They reverted to their title-winning chassis, for a start, with the quiet improvement to the aerodynamics and the very loud enhancements to the engine refining what had been an already supremely balanced package. They gave Karda the space, time, and freedom to find the few tenths that he had misplaced in the stuttering season beforehand, before working with the Czech in the latter half of the season to tinker with a squeeze every last drop of speed out of the greying tub. They also made some surprise interventions in the races themselves; estimating that Karda would be able to preserve his tyres more effectively in Singapore, and Karda bearing that estimate out beautifully, kept the Czech in contention for the title after a remarkable Feature victory. They also, less proudly but still rightly, made the early decision to concentrate their efforts on the one car for the year; as foreseen in the Preview by this highly prescient author, the development saga between their old, new, and new-old cars coupled with the reduced success on track meant that Super Aguri had decidedly less funding to play around with. So while they respected Adorján for his loyalty and valued his contributions over the years, as well as his occasional flashes of brilliance, if he could not flash said brilliance on track more often then he would receive even fewer opportunities to do so: two eighths later, the Hungarian was out in the cold. This left Super Aguri in the unusual situation of scoring significantly more points in the overall Championship compared to last season, but significantly fewer in class. However, with their car issues finally fully resolved, and a clear path back to success, Super Aguri have a good chance of fighting for the title again. Their improvement may be in increments, but it is improvement nonetheless.
Ligier (Ligier-Mugen-Honda)
Drivers: Gary Harding (7) & Marcus Probert (8)
One Word: Diversion
Originally, the French marque’s debut season in the sport--at least as a full works outfit, having supplied chassis to Harding’s Independents the year prior--was going to be summarised with ‘redirect’, owing to their very abrupt shift in focus in the middle of the year following Harding’s trip into the ether. However, redirection implies a conscious change after considered thought, or at the very least a hasty decision from corporate following poor results in focus groups; diversion, as motorists might know, implies no such decision in the matter. Aside from the drama on the driver front, Ligier do have much to be satisfied about following their first foray into the series proper: they ended up with a healthy smattering of six victories, and they were the only Manufacturer other than McLaren to get both their cars to the overall podium in the same race, and to have both their drivers secure a Fastest Lap. It also must be said that their car appeared to be equally well suited to all tracks and conditions, which truly cemented the quality of their engineering and spoke volumes of the work undertaken by Harding and the crew during Seventeen in preparation. However, that work was undermined to a significant extent by the Englishman’s mercurial nature, as his disappearance left the team in a lurch and ended their putative bids for second in both titles; unable to challenge the might of McLaren at the first attempt, Ligier had the chance to build for the future with a solid second, but the Englishman vanished before his contract could be undone and so Ligier had no choice but to watch Super Aguri inch back past them. True, there was some evidence that Ligier didn’t quite have the resources to sustain two front-running cars, as Probert only stepped up--and admirably so--after Harding dematerialised, but their momentum changed from challenging the status quo to simply treading water following their demotion to singleton status. A firm base to build for the future, but perhaps requiring better planning next time around.
Lotus (Lotus-Lamborghini)
Drivers: Riley Dunlop (9) & David Jundt (10)
One Word: Upset
No. Not in a negative sense: Lotus have earnt this word for the very simple reason that they were the undoubted upset in the original order this year, and were the source of many surprise, indeed upset, results over the course of it. They started the season with a decade-old design that had been hastily mangled into some vague approximation of a modern FAE1 car, a powerplant from a very small and highly inexperienced manufacturer with far too many cylinders to possibly work, and the talents of a F1 Forum upper-midfielder to try and wring something out of this. It should have been obvious that they were going to win races, kock established names out of their rightful places, and sent monocles scattering; how many times does the Hesketh fable have to be mentioned? And yet it was still surprising to see Jundt sweep back into FAE1 and, after a moment to regain his bearings, push the dusted-off design to both victory and Fastest Lap in a single weekend. It was further surprising still to see Dunlop blow away all questions regarding the transition of his talents between the series, and directly mock the point that he had yet to win in F1 Forum, by elbowing his way to victory at only the fourth time of asking. And it continued to surprise throughout the year as the Lotus, though hampered by its rudimentary suspension and a limit to its usable power as a consequence, continued to pop up in and around the leading group, or else just behind it as the best of the rest. Dunlop went on to grab two more victories before the season was three-quarters done, with a smattering of top-fives to go alongside, but it was Jundt’s car that proved the forebear of bad news, as the Swiss struggled for both reliability and pace once the team’s pensionable machinery and crippling lack of resources started to bite. It eventually spread to both cars in the Lotus fold, with Dunlop’s results tailing off markedly at the end of the season as it became apparent just how long in the tooth the suspension was, scouting miserably for grip in every corner of Comoros and Niue but finding little. A second place in Singapore showed that, without the drop-off, Lotus might have even pushed Ligier for third: a small reason to actually be upset for Lotus after an all around promising return.
Eagle (Eagle-Climax)
Driver: Rocco Stallone (14)
One Word: Unassuming
Well, the one-car team can’t exactly be too far apart from its driver in terms of the one-word selection, especially when there were very few members of staff at Eagle besides the one behind the wheel. Modest. Unpretentious. Aware of one’s limitations. All things that very pointedly don’t come to mind when faced with, again: Stallone, in Eagle, mighty Climax. But lazily relying on stereotypes is a very lazy form of characterisation, the author pointed out with self-aware laziness, and Eagle certainly dispelled any doubt surrounding their place on the grid by proving that it was… somewhere on it. Somewhere in the midfield. Somewhere far ahead of where incompetence and outright ill-fortune has landed others in the past, but somewhere a little behind the level of success which requires technical brilliance and/or pockets deeper than the Marianas Trench. And somewhere that, admittedly, in amongst the throes of a title competition and notable results for other rookies and other returnees, it is very easy to get lost in. However, that should be thought of as a positive thing; after all, many teams with better credentialed drivers, more resources, and years of experience behind them have come away with far less from a season than Eagle managed at their first attempt, and a record of three podiums from their first eight races is both quietly impressive and a reflection of how easily they adapted to the rigours of FAE1. True, the adaptation was not always perfect, with Stallone’s later improvements to the chassis serving mainly to push it away from each apex and a little further away from the front of the grid, but team showed that they were quick to learn from their mistakes. With efforts known to have been diverted into a revised chassis for next year, and Stallone having shown himself a thoroughly dependable driver, Eagle could push themselves to the front of FAE1’s cluttered midfield. Or at least patiently ease themselves there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Season 18 Awards
As with last eighteen seasons, there will be two unique awards to go with the eight that will be given each year, as well as nominating what (in my opinion) were the best and worst races.
“The Giancarlo Baghetti Award” for instantly producing good results: Boyan Gergov
“The Nick Heidfeld Award” for consistency and reliability: Dominik Karda
“The Andrea de Cesaris Award” for spectacular crashes: Chew Kai Wen
“The Tom Jones Award” for mystery disappearance: Gary Harding
“The Mark Webber Award” for appalling luck: Callum Charman
“The Sebastien Buemi Award” for being the best Rookie: Riley Dunlop
“The Martin Brundle Award” for determination without winning: Rocco Stallone
“The Michael Schumacher Award” for bending the rules: Gary Harding, Rocco Stallone, Callum Charman (Shared)
And now for the unique awards this season
“The Denny Hulme Award” for taking a remarkably long time a secure a career first: David Jundt
“The Jacques Laffite Award” for faltering to third after a dominant start to the season: Ahmet Sonverdi
Best Race: Mediterranean Endurance: Once again, the best race wasn’t simply the one with the largest field; it was one of several which tied for the largest field, at eleven. Several of the larger races threw up interesting results, including the finale where Morris’ season-long effort finally came good to see him hold back a resurgent Karda for the win, and the slow-speed jaunt around Curaçao which saw Jundt sneak past Harding and cling on for a resounding win during his comeback weekend. However, it was the high-speed lakeside fling which took the prize, partly for the sheer incongruity of a podium consisting of Probert, Wen, and Stallone, partly for the Singaporean’s lurid displays through the chicanes to secure the Fastest Lap, but mostly for the litany of spins, collisions, accidents, and blow-ups on the dusty trails which meant some drivers technically finishing an hour behind the Welshman.
Worst Race: Angolan Sprint: And to prove that there is no bias towards the series’ first, and most definitely, absolutely, tremendously greatest, Champion, his other victory this season slots in here, though it is almost by default. There were no standouts for this particular accolade: no events with exceptionally low turnout, for example, and every event had at least one major incident on-track. Plus, the relatively tight title challenge, at least compared to Seventeen, limited the number of races without stakes. To one. However, a race in which the famously steady Probert ambles to the chequered flag two laps ahead of all opponents because those other opponents all miscalculated their wheel cambers and forced themselves into multiple stops for tyres simply has to be noted somehow. And not even the impromptu striptease by Sonverdi’s McLaren could lift it, nor this race, from the bottom of the barrel.
|
|
|
|
Okay, confession time: I seriously overestimated how much time I would have in the last few weeks to get the Review out. Part of that was due to me taking a little time to adjust to my new job (and moving to a new city), but that was mostly out of the way by the time I had the writing 90% complete. All I had to do was find a few hours free to scribble out a few half-baked jokes and lazy references, and it would be finished for another year.
Then I began working on a project which involved 12-14 hour days and limited-to-no access to personal electronics. Still, it's my fault for not informing you (if any of you are left) that there would be a severe delay, and for that I apologise.
The thread for the next Season will be up tonight, though I will probably not be able to update it until Wednesday evening at the earliest. The first races of the next season will (as of now) be on June 17-18. Hope to see you there!
|
|
|
|
|
Well I enjoy that JLC but alas I won't be trying to defend it as I will be going full time constructor :p
|
|
|
English
Deutsch
Español
Română
Italiano
Português
Português
Français
Polski
Русский
Български
Македонски
Српски
Nederlands
Vlaams
Suomi
Lietuvių
Čeština
Magyar
Eesti keel
Slovenčina
Türkçe
Shqip
Ελληνικά
Bahasa Melayu
Dansk
Pirate
