Race #01, Australia: Post-Race Discussion

[Mikko Puumalainen]

Feel free to discuss the race in this thread, as long as it is within the forum rules.

 

[Dian Kostadinov]

I had good pace looking for the top 5 but I got taken out on lap one and race over.

 

[Ivan Navarro]

What a great race today! Congrats to podium and all the drivers for a very entertaining Easter Sunday race day.

Morgan Moran owes Stoffel Vandoorne a beer for the gap in the first few laps. But he gets all the credit for maintaining it under the pursuit from the reigning champion. Well done, way to kick off the season! Thank you, thank you!

 

[Gergo Baldi]

It was better than i expected, i could be in the top 8 if i hadn't got some problems in the first and second stint, but i think, it's not very bad on my first FSR race. I hope Sepang will be better, i like that track more, than the australian one. Grats everyone!

 

[David Dominguez]

It was better than i expected, i could be in the top 8 if i hadn't got some problems in the first and second stint, but i think, it's not very bad on my first FSR race. I hope Sepang will be better, i like that track more, than the australian one. Grats everyone!

You guys did a very solid race, keep pushing and better results will come, I am sure

 

[patrick de wit]

Made my debut at Mak Racing
well qualifying 1 was not what i expected beforehand
managing only a 22nd place

Then i was not able to take part in q2 for top 10 shootout

So had my focus on the race my car was not ok in q
In race it was a bit better

The start i managed to pass many drivers and at the end of lap 1 i was 14th
Then at the start of the 2nd lap i managed to pass both Netrex
And at the end of lap 3 i was 9th

After my pitstop i had to defend hard from Nilson and eventually he passed me
When i crossed the finish line i was overjoyed!!!!!!!!
With my 10th place having no pace at all

This feels like a victory to me!!!Happy te score a point on my mak debut!

This is for Simon Abidesi

de wit start and lap 1
passing some cars in turn 1

turn 1 passing saxen+disley end of lap 1 de wit from 22nd to 14th

lap 2+3 passing the both Netrex cars after fighting outbraking them both into turn 2

lap 3 lying 9th

lap 15 to 20 de wit defends from Nilson for 8th place

de wit crosses fininsh line in 10th"

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

From GPCOS:

"My season starts have traditionally been poor and this year made no exception. I was struggling a lot with slower cars ahead in qualifying and only managed to set one decent lap time on the final attempt, which unfortunately was a few tenths off the top 10 this time.

In the race my luck lasted two corners, after which a blue car, I reckon Masciulli, spun in front of me, leaving no room and time for reaction. After front-wing repairs I was already 40 seconds behind the point battles, so I decided to drive safely and hope for retirements. Unfortunately none came, so I finished on the same position as where I started at.

It was a shame I couldn't score points for Faster Than Speed in my debut, but I think the next few tracks should suit my style better, as I struggle at the moment with riding the kerbs the proper way with this mod."

 

[Mikko Puumalainen]

From GPCOS:

Q1: 24.6, shocking time, no excuses

Race:

Took a careful start, people were falling off the road quite frequently so I got up to 13th from 18th in a couple laps.

Managed to narrowly avoid a spinning Silverline on lap 1 T4. On the second lap in the final corner I came across a spinning GhostSpeed I think and tried to avoid but made light contact with my front left, didn't seem to pick up any damage though.

Lap 3 I was being careful not to get tangled up with the 2 Netrex and a MakCorp fighting in T3-4 and I lost a position to Jaakko.

Lap 15 I was following Jaakko in T1-2 when he lost traction behind another car and I touched his left rear with my right front. Unfortunately he lost some positions and my steering was bent. I decided not to repair it in the pits because I felt every second was crucial to try to get at least some points.

Lap 42 T1 I managed to pass Disley when he exited the pits, was my only positive from the race.

For the last ~5 laps I was struggling a lot, trying to keep my 8th position. I made a mistake in the final corner on lap 56, allowing Disley to take the place. 9th place in the end is better than nothing considering the struggle that this race has been.

Not expecting any better from Sepang, hopefully China will bring some improvements.

 

[Morgan Morand]

From gpcos :

"The strong form in winter test kept our team positive for the first round of the Championship.
With very intense testing programmes, and a lot of hard work, it was a great relief to see it payd of in the end.
Now its just a matter of keeping the shape and deliver through all season!

Q1 : I made only one lap with Q1 setup and the 2 others try in Q2 setup.
Traffic could be difficult, but our strategy for Q1 turned out to be quite good. P3 in the end, for me is good.

Q2 : 10minutes on hold, waiting for my lap, make it very difficult to not stress, as i watched stoffels lap i was confident for the pace of my car!
I made my lap. My target for this lap was to be safe and to do no mistakes in the 1st and 2nd sector, and then attack maximum in the 3rd sector.
After my turn i was surprised that Nilsson and Huis wasnt faster. So i made POLE... I was surprised. 1st pole in WC! I am very proud to experience this part of a race []
Also proud to drive a Senna Tribute car, wearing Senna.s helmet, and then do what he did best - Pole position ! Im sure the helmet helped me

Race : I made a good start, keeping Vandoorne and Huis behind me.
Vandoorne and Huis had quite a good battle, and this allowed me to make a gap of 8sec between me and stoffel.
Huis then overtook Vandoorne on lap 10, with a little bump and after that he had clean air to catch me.
Lucky for me, the pace of huis wasnt overwhelming, and i was able to keep it under control, and build on the gap when needed.
I was a little worried for the gap to Huis when i allmost stalled in my 2nd stop, but overall my pit stops were very good, and i could manage the gap.
I kept the gap of 8s for the rest of the race between me and bono, and same time i was able to save the material as well.
On the final lap all seemed ok for taking the win and the car was ok as well, so i was told by my engineer to make a fastest lap of the race on last lap, and i did!

An amazing weekend for us here downunder, pole, fastest lap, and a win. We could not have asked for more.
Im sad the race didnt go well for my teammate Lapchin, but with his speed and experience, im sure he will come back strong!


I dedicate this pole, fastest lap and win to Ayrton Senna - The greatest racing driver of all time.


I feel very blessed with this result!
I want to say a big thanks to my team, ATR Management IYF, our main sponsor InsideSimRacing, and all our supporters!


- Morgan Morand"

 

[Adam Hartwell]

What has Vandoorne done? I thoroughly enjoyed that broadcast and it has really motivated me but a big congratulations to a personal favourite of mine Morand, stunning drive and you really deserve it, great drive by Malourqui (If i spelt it wrong, excuse me) and the two Net-rex cars were solid.

 

[Liam Jenkins]

Hey guys Firstly I want to congratulate Morgan for the pole position and the victory, he drove a fantastic race and deserved the win. The race had everything and it felt great to commentate on the World Championship again. I think Eduard did an exceptional job for Twister and acting as a reserve as well I think a promotion may be in order
In regard to the Vandoorne and Huis battle, I think both drivers are going to have extremely different outlooks on the race. Stoffel had every right to deffend the position after earning the 2nd place grid spot but if his intention was to push to catch Morgan or simply hold Bono up for a Morand getaway is another issue and the only guys who will know the answer are Stoffel and his team. Either way it was a fantastic race, the rookies performed well and got themselves in the thick of the action. A 26 car grid was awesome! Thanks to Nick for commentating with me. See you all in Sepang!
Liam

 

[Peter Varga]

From gpcos:

"Well it was not a bad debut race. I started from 17 position and finnished at 12th. After the start my main goal was to not get in any trouble. With this tactics I moved up from 17.th to 11th..At lap 3 I 'v have overtake my teammate, and take 10th place.. after the first pitstops I also gain a position.. and move up to 9th.. sadly I drove in a slipstream a lot and my engine didn't liked that and it get really hot, so I had to short shift and save my engine during at the second half of the race to get to the finnish line. Because of that i couldn't be as fast as I want, so I loose positions and only finnish at 12th. I hope we will not have any engine problem next race, and we will improve our race pace.. "

I watched back the broadcast today..the Commentators did a great job! It was a really good race to watch back, congrats to Morgan Morand, he had an amazing race pace..also for Stoffel Vandoorne he did an amazing job holding up Bono ...

On one hand, I'm happy with my result 12th.. couple of sec behind Mikko Puumalainen.. and I succesfully hold up Jaakko Mikkonen.. but on the other hand, I had engine problem, and my race pace was not as good as I want..without that maybe I could score some point.. so.. hopefully I can improve for next race

 

[Fredrik Nilsson]

From gpcos

"Not a very good qualifying, with 4th I knew fighting for the win would be very hard when it's almost impossible to overtake.

Got an OK start, fourth through the first turn behind Bono and Vandoorne. They fought quite hard in front of me, almost making me come through at some points, but with this tight track it was hard to sneak past.

Eventually Bono passed Vandoorne, and I was about to do the same a couple of laps later. I was on the inside for braking at turn 2, but Vandoorne braked diagonally from the outside right into me, almost making me spin. Very questionable move. Later I made a mistake in the fast ess, touching the wall. Luckily it happened about when the first stop was due, but I lost precious time and had damage the rest of the race.

From then on it was damage limitation which worked out fine, p6 in the end. P5 was about to happen, but my brakes failed in the end so I had to let go of it. Great job by my team mate Eduard who finished a strong 5th.

Encouraging from this race is that we for sure have the pace to fight for wins, despite losing very valuable persons in the off season, and all the other things that happened. So big thanks to Twister-Racing Team, especially David for his persistence in the team. Let's hope we can put up a problem free fight at Sepang."

 

[Eduard Mallorquí]

From GPCOS

"Wonderful weekend since I am in Formula Sim-Racing and I finished in 5th place at FSR World Championship, which proves the great performance we had.

Q1: I had technical issues so I only had two shots to try get inside Q2 but I did awful laps that made it impossible to be in Q2, in the end I was 14th.

Race: I had a perfect start from the middle of the grid, overtaking a lot of cars in the first, second and third turns and I managed to put the car in 10th place.

Then at the start of second lap Yannick Lapchin was trying to overtake Raino Room and he lost traction in the exit of first turn, so I got his slipstream and I overtook him in the braking of the third turn in a clean move. The next car was Raino Room so I got as close as I could and I made a great pass around the outside in T13, achieving the 8th place. Unfortunately he lost the control of his car, because of our contact, and Yannick Lapchin touch his rear wing taking both outside of the track.

After this crazy start I had free track to get my pace and try to catch Marcel vd Linden. On lap 7 I could get his slipstream and I made an inside move into turn one which give me the 7th place. Then I caught the group of Stoffel Vandoorne, Fredrik Nilsson, Rasmus Tali and David Greco in lap 11, and I won another place passing Rasmus Tali, who had to go almost outside of the track in fourth turn because of the battle. Then I tried some moves to overtake David Greco but it was impossible because of his great defensive driving, I lost traction in the exit of the second turn and that allowed Rasmus Tali to overtake me in the T3 but luckily he braked late and he went into the gravel losing a lot of time. So finally I tried some more moves to overtake David Greco without luck and I decided to stay behind him saving fuel and engine until my first stop.

At that time I had a free track again to get my pace back until David Greco was exiting the pits and I overtook him in a very risky move at T3. I get a clear track to put some distance between myself and him.

At the end of the race I was in a very comfortable 5th place but my teammate, Fredrik Nilsson, was catching me very fast, so after pushing hard in the final lap he passed me in T1, but luckily for me, he had a brake failure at T9, so I had a fantastic 5th position.

This is my best result so far in Formula Sim-Racing and I am very proud of it. Thanks to Twister-Racing for give me this fantastic chance and I hope to keep this amazing performance for the whole season, but it will be very hard."