Yuuji's Race Report: The Nurburgring
Ah, the Nurburging. Such a scenic and historical place. The circuit, all 13 miles of it - a very tricky and long drive. The trees - hurt a lot when you run into them. And the name - sounds like something I'd get at McDonalds.
But for the Formula 1 race it's on quite a shorter circuit. It's still fun, but hey, I love racing cars: I don't think I legitimately can say I hate any track. Now, can I say I hate driving certain cars? Very much so.
The race started eerily similar as many previous races. My teammate qualified an impressive 2nd, and I was in the top 10 (7th). The 2 Ferraris, a Renault, and both Midlands surprisingly laid ahead of me.
The start went quite well. I gained a place simply because I moved forward on the start - as opposed to the polesitter, who appeared to start in reverse. He fell well behind me and many others.
Otherwise not much happened around me for a few laps until lap 6, where the Japanese cars of Toyota and Aguri went at it. The guided missile of the Aguri emerged victorious, and the safety car came out.
The ensuing period of tedium and the restart were rather uninteresting, and I gained a spot when a Renault pitted surprisingly early from 2nd.
But then once again a Midland stuffed itself into the sand and the safety car came out for the 2nd time. During the caution period I was surprised to see a Red Bull sitting on the side of the road. It didn't seem to have any problems but the driver was out of the car.
The green flag came back out on lap 22 and I was subsequently shuffled up and down the order through pit stops - when I pitted I rejoined in 5th.
And then the safety car came out once AGAIN for something exciting that happened involving a Toyota, a stuck right petal and lots of shiny metal debris. It went away on lap 28 and I was up in 4th, with my teammate 2 spots behind.
Once again pitstops came and went and eventually our BMW team was running a 1-2 about 2/3 through the race. Good stuff!
Behind us, a Ferrari appeared to digest itself and its engine, and was another contender out of the race. A lap later one of the Renault begun the same process, but continued on.
The next lap my teammate dived into the pits, leaving me to the lead. However, I managed to pull the steering wheel out of it's socket while driving down the main straightaway. I subsequently put it back in upside-down and driving the rest of the lap was kind of a pain.
I decided to pit to have the team correct this issue in ways I couldn't do at 200 miles an hour, and rejoined with a slim lead over my teammate.
On lap 47 a Honda went splat for reasons that are still leaving them scratching their heads.
2 laps later a Renault got in touch with its natural side and subsequently damaged the undertray of the car, forcing it to pit next lap.
And so it looked to be BMW's first 1-2 of the year. Great stuff! ...and then things ground to a halt again with Chang's car spitting lots of nasty stuff out the exhaust. Once again, he was forced to retire. I find it really strange that it's happened again. I don't know what the team's doing to him.
Luckily, the rest of the race settled down and was rather boring and I drove away to a 15-second win. Break out the champange!!
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