- 543
(standard spoiler deal)
(I can outspoiler you, Casio)
(for some reason I need three of these)
Yuuji's Race Report: Melbourne
Well, it was an interesting race. I think that sums it up pretty well for all the drivers. Interesting in a good way...very no.
It started the usual way, in a wall after one lap of qualifying. That placed me 10th on the grid. Not too bad. Unfortunately I was so frustrated after wrecking that I left the wet tires on the car.
This was only apparent after I had left the grid at 200 miles per hour. Luckily, I didn't lose too much track position, but the team called me in to put on dry tires anyway. Anyways, they reasoned, it was 120 degrees out, and it would stay dry and most definitely not rain this race.
Ha.
Luckily, after my first pitstop, a Toyota stuffed it into the wall pretty spectacularly and the SC came out. Although I was down in 16th, I was hoping I could jump a few positions on the restart.
I sorta did. I gained 2 in 2 laps, after a Midland botched a turn and subsequently broke something to pieces. But then things started to a) pull away, and b) get wet. It began getting slightly slippery, and the team called me in to put on inters. It was a gamble, but hopefully it would stay vaguely rainy.
It seemed to pay off as it began sprinkling, as I jumped a few positions. But eventually it became pretty dreary as it continued to rain harder, and I failed to gain positions. The team decided to continue having pitting practice on lap 20 and called me in for wets. Luckily I wasn't dumped to the back of the order this time. Meanwhile, a Ferrari placed itself neatly in a sand trap and retired.
But as the rain intensified, the wet tires really kicked in and I shot into the top 10. Maybe things were looking up.
And then on lap 28 one Williams clipped a wall and the other performed a beautiful double-axel with a half-twist into the sand. The safety car came out, and I felt it a good idea to come into the pits. Unfortunately, so did my teammate and I ended up twiddling my thumbs for a little bit longer. And so I was back to second-last.
I gained a position on the restart as a Renault dived into the pits with a possibly engine problem, although they were probably just hallucinating. It rained some harder, and I was scarily reminded of Sepang, a whole 2 days ago. Slowly I worked my way up into the top 10 with 20 laps to go, at which point a Renault drove into me and we both pitted.
Once again the pit crew had some fun and I was placed back in 12th position. Luckily, my car was still fast enough to move up a few places, but on lap 42 my rear wing decided it had enough and abandoned ship.
Unfortunately, the consequences of losing a wing while decelerating from 200 plus are pretty grim, although entertaining to viewers, and eventually I slid to a stop somewhere in another state.
Meanwhile, my teammate was somehow still up in 5th. Things looked good as one of the Williams finally kicked it and the attacking Ferrari dropped a gear. After a safety car period, he pursued a Toyota for many laps, while cars behind him had problems left and right. A Red Bull and a McLaren had exciting excursions on consecutive laps. But eventually things settled down and the BMW team was on track to have a nice points finish.
On the last lap my clearly faster teammate dove to the inside of the Toyota in a daring move. Details are very sketchy and I'm sure you'll get a different story from the Toyota crew, but all I know is that it ended with a BMW tricycle in the sand and a Toyota car driving away to the finish.
No shortage of helmet-tossing and cursing this race.
(I can outspoiler you, Casio)
(for some reason I need three of these)
Yuuji's Race Report: Melbourne
Well, it was an interesting race. I think that sums it up pretty well for all the drivers. Interesting in a good way...very no.
It started the usual way, in a wall after one lap of qualifying. That placed me 10th on the grid. Not too bad. Unfortunately I was so frustrated after wrecking that I left the wet tires on the car.
This was only apparent after I had left the grid at 200 miles per hour. Luckily, I didn't lose too much track position, but the team called me in to put on dry tires anyway. Anyways, they reasoned, it was 120 degrees out, and it would stay dry and most definitely not rain this race.
Ha.
Luckily, after my first pitstop, a Toyota stuffed it into the wall pretty spectacularly and the SC came out. Although I was down in 16th, I was hoping I could jump a few positions on the restart.
I sorta did. I gained 2 in 2 laps, after a Midland botched a turn and subsequently broke something to pieces. But then things started to a) pull away, and b) get wet. It began getting slightly slippery, and the team called me in to put on inters. It was a gamble, but hopefully it would stay vaguely rainy.
It seemed to pay off as it began sprinkling, as I jumped a few positions. But eventually it became pretty dreary as it continued to rain harder, and I failed to gain positions. The team decided to continue having pitting practice on lap 20 and called me in for wets. Luckily I wasn't dumped to the back of the order this time. Meanwhile, a Ferrari placed itself neatly in a sand trap and retired.
But as the rain intensified, the wet tires really kicked in and I shot into the top 10. Maybe things were looking up.
And then on lap 28 one Williams clipped a wall and the other performed a beautiful double-axel with a half-twist into the sand. The safety car came out, and I felt it a good idea to come into the pits. Unfortunately, so did my teammate and I ended up twiddling my thumbs for a little bit longer. And so I was back to second-last.
I gained a position on the restart as a Renault dived into the pits with a possibly engine problem, although they were probably just hallucinating. It rained some harder, and I was scarily reminded of Sepang, a whole 2 days ago. Slowly I worked my way up into the top 10 with 20 laps to go, at which point a Renault drove into me and we both pitted.
Once again the pit crew had some fun and I was placed back in 12th position. Luckily, my car was still fast enough to move up a few places, but on lap 42 my rear wing decided it had enough and abandoned ship.
Unfortunately, the consequences of losing a wing while decelerating from 200 plus are pretty grim, although entertaining to viewers, and eventually I slid to a stop somewhere in another state.
Meanwhile, my teammate was somehow still up in 5th. Things looked good as one of the Williams finally kicked it and the attacking Ferrari dropped a gear. After a safety car period, he pursued a Toyota for many laps, while cars behind him had problems left and right. A Red Bull and a McLaren had exciting excursions on consecutive laps. But eventually things settled down and the BMW team was on track to have a nice points finish.
On the last lap my clearly faster teammate dove to the inside of the Toyota in a daring move. Details are very sketchy and I'm sure you'll get a different story from the Toyota crew, but all I know is that it ended with a BMW tricycle in the sand and a Toyota car driving away to the finish.
No shortage of helmet-tossing and cursing this race.
.
. By lap 23 I was soaked, trying my hardest to get my body covered from the rain as much as possible I accidentally, and I mean accidentally, took my steering wheel off down the front straight to place on top of my head as some kind of umbrella. Of course the result was I lost front end grip, stupid front wing, and collided with a Red Bull, it was like a magic trick, I suddenly had no front left wheel!
