FR 3.5 Paul Ricard

[chunterer]

It's Paul Ricard this weekend for the penultimate weekend of the series.

Wickens v JEV.....

It was that way round at the end of the testing today with Ramos 3rd and Hartley also well up.

[bella]

thanks chunty, i've been on top of a hill with carrier pigeon internet for a week

this circuit is absolutely absurd! the main building is like a posh hotel reception... it's very polished in a local sort of way, though if they want to turn it into a big tourist attraction they're going to have to sort out the access roads! bernie won't have that, even if there is an airport next door

edit: vergne's got his win back from monza on appeal. those of you with good memories will remember that he was given a penalty to be applied to the result for not respecting the track limits which was harsh considering he was avoiding an avoidable accident at the time...

details including revised result and standings here: http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=2551

[bella]

meanwhile, back to this weekends racing and it's all coming up milhouse for vergne (if you'll excuse the totally accurate popculture reference). he's also on pole, alongside albert costa. not a great day to be french if your name isn't jean eric though, nathanael berthon is 11th, panciatici 21st and pic 23rd.

the circuit layout in use is the snappily titled 01c v2 though frankly, from outside of the car you can't tell the difference. it's all a bit of a stripey tarmac wilderness!

[chunterer]

Hmmm, looking pretty gof for JEV now isn't it?

Drat can anyone suggest where I could watch it online in half an hour?

Not got Eurosport HD and i'll miss the re-run on Brit Eurosport this evening as will be out and unabkle to record it....

[bella]

race result attached - vergne from costa and wickens. definitely not a classic - this circuit just isn't right. maybe there's a layout a bit more suited to the cars...

seems to be quiet on the spectator front but the impression seems to be this one is for the corporate guests, not the spectators. there's all the usual road cars, funfair and other entertainment, but perhaps it'll need a couple of years for people to get the hang of it, like silverstone did.

second race so far today and another french winner in paul loup chatin in the eurocup. there's definitely a fair amount of french talent on its way to formula one, which makes it all the more surprising that there isn't a grand prix...

one things for sure though. as nice as it is here, it's just not suited to a grand prix.

[chunterer]

Hartley's sojourn in GP2 seems to have given him a kick up the behind, as he's been on the pace all meeting so far, 4th today's not bad right on Wickens' tail is that right?

[bella]

he was all over rossi, but rossi was equally all over the road himself. the circuit definitely seems to suit him!

there's so many flippin' penalties today, it's like gp2. we have costa disqualified (2kg underweight), ricciardo exceeded track limits, and then during the race berthon was given a 10s penalty for doing the same.

[chunterer]

Blimey all sounds a bit ott? Both from official and driver sides? Hope tomorrow's race is cleaner....

[bella]

i think the not respecting the track limits thing reflects the nature of the circuit. it's a giant skid pan that someone has attacked with a couple of marker pens. it is, as everything everywhere persistently reminds you, a test track... i think as well since all the observing and yellow flagging etc is done centrally there's less scope for things to go unnoticed (with the exception of monza). but that's just my opinion.

costa being thrown out means wickens has clawed back a couple of points to his lead, but the weather forecast looks a bit iffy so anything can happen!

[p-matt]

Just on Vergne getting his points back from Monza - has there been any word of the reasoning behind this? Because it sets a dangerous precedent.

I don't think it matters if he should have been penalised for the move in the first place; the point is that Ricciardo definitely backed off knowing JEV had a penalty and didn't risk an overtake that might take them both out. They should have done what they do in F1 and say that no one can argue with a drive-thru penalty.

The upshot of it all I guess is that JEV is closer in the championship, but it still might leave a bitter taste in my mouth if he wins by fewer than 10 points. Much like if Kevin Ceccon wins Auto GP (who fluked into his only win of the year when the safety car was not deployed correctly).

[bella]

i think the precedent of which you speak is also the benefit. it's up to the following driver to decide whether he wants to push to get ahead, regardless of penalties. and it's also up to the driver ahead to decide whether he wants to defend his position and risk damaging his car. vergne chose to defend the lead, ricciardo chose not to take the risk. would it have mattered to ricciardo if he'd won on the track? not half as much as it mattered to vergne.

i think f1 needs to implement penalties post race like fr3.5 does, not the other way around. it's obvious that mistakes can be made mid-race when deciding whether to penalise a driver or not. if the decision can't be made without all the appropriate information then it should be postponed till after the race.

personally for me it's the other way around - it'd have left a bitter taste if vergne had lost the title because of the penalty from monza. that'd have been seriously wrong.

[Last2LiftOff]

A whole lotta why I oughta...

[chunterer]

So then, thw title decider#s been well and truly set up after today's race.....

Rossi drove a belter and genuinely looked ther quickest guy other three to win.

But like Silverstone's second race, JEV lost out (1st-3rd )thanks to a long pit stop, otherwise it may have been very different. In the end he got bottled up behind Ricciardo and tweaked his front wing endplate trying to reassert himself....

Wickens had a shocker, languishing home out of the points after an assault from Canamasas ledt the Candian with a puncture. Rob was 4th at the time but not on really the pace of the front two, although to be fair he didn't need to push, just to finish in the points.

Elsewhere there were impressive drives from Rosenzweig, Yelloly in 4th and 5th, Negrao 6th from 18th and Ramos who came up to the top 10 from 23rd!!

It spat with rain at time which made the surface a little greasy but not a huge problem, although clearly some drivers fancied the conditions a lot more than others!

That's what I gleaned from the delayed Eurosport coverage anyhow!

Any other thoughts people?

[ptclaus98]

YESSSSS


I don't know if I've ever had a weekend turn sporting wise like this one had. Saturday was abysmal, but today has been such a great day.

[Stephen H]

Any clues yet to next years calendar?

[bella]

that's announced as usual on the sunday night of barcelona. from the new car launch at silverstone it sounded like they were dropping germany and spa.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by bella

that's announced as usual on the sunday night of barcelona. from the new car launch at silverstone it sounded like they were dropping germany and spa.

Will that mean replacement events or just less rounds of the series?

[bella]

there's going to be one fewer wsr event, so there will be 6 in 2012, but there will be 9 fr3.5 events. i suppose it depends whether they stick with the wtcc or not as to whether the extra wsr event will be instead of monza, or perhaps they'd use somewhere in russia to get their brand hammered home in conjunction with personal appearances from petrov.

it'd be good to keep monza. that was some seriously good racing, though you wouldn't have known if you were just watching the telly and not live timing and the circuit.

meanwhile, paul ricard needs to change layout or it needs to go back to magny cours. the facilities at ricard are superb and it's a fabulous place to race, but the track is pants.

[Stephen H]

Originally Posted by bella

that's announced as usual on the sunday night of barcelona. from the new car launch at silverstone it sounded like they were dropping germany and spa.

Shame I was hoping that Spa would be on the calendar, thanks for the info