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Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai International Circuit
Tuesday 23rd of April 2024 19:00:00
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November 02, 2004
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Running order (based in reversed order from 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix Race, first all new drivers (driver who didn't drive at Suzuka) in ascending [0-99] numeric order)
Group 1 (5 cars) - Whiteman, Irisarri, Lock, McConkey, Wagner
Group 2 (5 cars) - Mihailovic, Goodley, Maple, Koski, Loram
Group 3 (6 cars) - Nuti, Ponissi, Forausberger, Harding, Frueh, Brown
Group 4 (6 cars) - Sleight, Ryan, Bratonja, Wilkinson, Jakonen, Elencevski
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Intro:
Hello and welcome to follow the final qualifying session of the F1VWC 2004 season here at sunny Interlagos track. Today we have nice and clear weather, but rain is expected to arrive later this afternoon and there is big chance we will have some rain during tomorrow's race. All eyes are watching the duel between Mikko Jakonen current championship leader and Steve Elencenvski who has been eating out Jakonen's lead race-by-race. Gap is down to 8 points, so Jakonen has the celar advantage but anything can still happen. Steve needs to win or to be in 2nd place to be champion of 2004 season. If Steve wins Mikko needs to finish in 6th place to be this years drivers champion. If Steve is 2nd in the race 8th place is still needed for Mikko. If drivers are in equal points at the end Steve has more wins and therefore he will be champion.
A lap of Interlagos with Kari Koski:
"I start a lap accelerating up to a maximum speed of over 185 mph (300 kph) on the way to the first corner Descida do Sol which is quite a tricky downhill left-hand 2nd gear corner which I take at about 60 mph (95 kph). The circuit drops down sharply which makes braking very difficult for this turn.
Straight after this it leads into a right-hand corner the Senna S, I am still in 2nd gear but then I accelerate up into 3rd gear, it is almost flat but very difficult. There is then a long left-hand corner Curva do Sol, that leads on to the back straight where I go over 185 mph (300 kph) before braking very hard into the next left-hand corner, Descida do Lago. This is a medium speed corner taken in 3rd gear at around 85 mph (135 kph) from here I accelerate along a short straight reaching 5th gear and a speed of about 175 mph (280 kph) before going into the very difficult fast right-hand 4th gear corner Ferradura which has a double apex and is taken at about 110 mph (180 kph).
Next I have to brake into a very slow corner which is taken in 1st gear at under 50 mph (80 kph), this is immediately followed by a slow left-hand corner, Pinheirinho, still taken in 1st gear at around 60 mph (95 kph). A very short straight then leads into the slowest corner of the circuit Cotovelo, again back into 1st gear and this time right down to 45 mph (70 kph).
I take the next left-hand corner Mergulho almost flat in qualifying at around 125 mph (200 kph) in 4th gear with just a slight lifting of the throttle before braking hard again for what is probably the most important corner in the lap the final corner (Juncao) leading on to the straight which is taken in 2nd gear at just over 60 mph (100 kph). I have to get a clean exit from this corner is very important to start the uphill climb to the finish line to end the lap."
As well as being notoriously bumpy, Interlagos (like Imola) is run anti-clockwise, which combined with the heat makes the Brazilian GP particularly hard on drivers.
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(Sector times are allways being compared to the fastest legal lap time.)
Group 1:
(Whiteman, Irisarri, Lock, McConkey, Wagner)
Whiteman
EIRE
Guess who is back? Scott Whiteman! And he will be the first driver on the track today. Scott has secured the 3rd place on the drivers championship standings but he his here to help EIRE to stay on 3rd place in front of Phoenix on the constructors standings. S1 for Whiteman is 22.686 still too early to say is it good or bad, but looking Scott's previous qualifying sessions I think it is good. Now into twisty and slow infield here you really can gain or lose time depending who your car is working. S2 for Scott is 51.8 Last years race fastest lap was 1:13.988 set by Daniel Wilkinson and that will give us some clue how fast is Whiteman going when he crosses the line. Whiteman stops the clock to show 1:13.564 already 4 tenths under last years fastest lap of the race.
Whiteman Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.686
1:13.564 Sector 2 51.847
Irisarri
Phoenix F1
Driver was discualified (illegal track checksum)
Irisarri Finish Line 22 Sector 1 -.---
-:--.--- Sector 2 -.---
Lock
JTM
Toby Lock is also back in business after missing Japanese Grand Prix. S1 for Lock is very good as he is over one tenths quicker than Whiteman was. JTM has had very difficult season so far and there are some rumors at the pitlane they might lose the Ferrari deal although the current deal is till end of 2005 season but it's believed that Ferrari is not happy with the team results. JTM hasn't confirmed any drivers for next year either so it will be interesting winter to see what will happen with the team. S2 for Lock and he has lost his advantage and now trails by 66 thousands of a second. It's that twisty 2nd sector where you can lose time so easy. Lock crosses the line and goes to 2nd place 0.127 seconds slower than Whiteman.
Lock Finish Line 2 Sector 1 22.567 -0.119
1:13.691 +0.127 Sector 2 51.913 +0.066
McConkey
MMC Racing
Ryan McConkey is also back he also missed the Japanese GP but his replacement driver Fernando Laaff did superb job by winning the GP. Here at Brazil McConkey and Paul Sleight will be the MMC Racing drivers so Laaff's drive was 2 races long. S1 for McConkey and he is flying! Look at that time 22.343 and over 3 tenths quicker than Whiteman, but can he hold on in the 2nd sector. We just saw Lock to lose 2 tenths there compared to Whiteman. S2 for McConkey and he is still in front by 0.197 seconds. He did also lose some time on 2nd sector. McConkey crosses the line and takes first place by over half a second! He really nailed that last corner and got the speed for the last sector, great stuff from Ryan.
McConkey Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.343 -0.343
1:13.027 -0.537 Sector 2 51.650 -0.197
Wagner
Puma F1
Andreas Wagner will be last man on the 1st group on his Puma F1 outfit. Puma team has shown some good progress with some fine results but then they have faded back again, can they make something special on the last GP of the season? S1 for Wagner is strong 22.531 he is also faster than Whiteman was. S2 for Wagner and he is still there 51.845 and he is now 0.195 seconds behind McConkey, can Wagner take p2 from Whiteman? Puma goes over the line and Wagner goes to 2nd! 1:13.523 and he is just under half a second slower than McConkey and drops Whiteman into 3rd place with Lock now 4th.
Wagner Finish Line 2 Sector 1 22.531 +0.188
1:13.523 +0.496 Sector 2 51.845 +0.195
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Group 2:
(Mihailovic, Goodley, Maple, Koski, Loram)
Welcome back to follow Brazilian GP qualifying live. On the next group we will see Mihailovic, Goodley, Maple, Koski and Loram
Mihailovic
MMRT
Miodrag Mihailovic has driven all races this season but he has scored only one point so far and he is in tied 26th place on the drivers standings tomorrow will have a chance to better that position. S1 for Mihailovic is 22.7 seconds and he is nearly 4 tenths off the pace, but if he can keep the gap in under 1 second after the 2nd sector he can get good starting position for the race. S2 for Mihailovic and he is outside the 1 second gap, 52.792 is 1.142 seconds off the pace set by Ryan McConkey. Mihailovic crosses the line and he goes down to 5th place at the moment 1:14.360 is 1.333 seconds slower than McConkey did.
Mihailovic Finish Line 5 Sector 1 22.713 +0.370
1:14.360 +1.333 Sector 2 52.792 +1.142
Goodley
Woods Racing
Chris Goodley is next on the flyer on his Woods Racing outfit. Goodley had superb race at Monaco where he finished in 4th place. Those 5 points are his only points he has scored this season. S1 for Goodley is better than Mihailovic did by almost 2 tenths and he is just over 2 tenths behind McConkey. S2 and Goodley is still there! 51.921 and he is only 0.271 seconds away McConkey's pace. Chris crosses the line and he goes to 4th? he lost almost 4 tenths on the final sector, 1:13.663 is 0.636 seconds slower than the pole time so far.
Goodley Finish Line 4 Sector 1 22.549 +0.206
1:13.663 +0.636 Sector 2 51.921 +0.271
Maple
JTM
Matt Maple is right back where he started the season, back at JTM after racing on his co-owned team Mapes-VO some races on mid-season. Then Maple missed few races, 4 to be exact, and he was back behind the wheel at Japanese GP but there he was driving for Phoenix, but now he is back at JTM. S1 for Maple is good 22.346, he is only 3 tenths away from McConkey's time. S2 for Maple and he is flying! 51.228 and he is over 4 tenths quicker than McConkey! I'm sure he will take the pole unless he makes a mistake on the final uphill left hander. Maple doesn't make mistake there and crosses the line to take P1 by 0.178 seconds, he also lost quite much time to McConkey on final sector. 1:12.849 is new poleposition time.
Maple Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.346 +0.003
1:12.849 -0.178 Sector 2 51.228 -0.422
Koski
FinOz Racing
Next is FinOz Racing's Kari Koski. Kari has had terrible time in last 2 races with both ending to technical breakdown on the car. He must be hoping his bad luck is now ended and final race of the season will be good one. S1 for Kari and he is not in the Maple or McConkey pace, 22.664 and that's over 3 tenths off the pace. Kari's qualifying performance has come down quite much from what it was on the 1st half of the season, in fact in last qualifying he has been outside the top 10. S2 for Kari and he has lost more time and now trails by 0.754 seconds. Koski goes over the line and he takes 5th place 1:13.600 just in front of Goodley and 0.751 seconds slower than Maple.
Koski Finish Line 5 Sector 1 22.664 +0.318
1:13.600 +0.751 Sector 2 51.982 +0.754
Loram
EIRE
Ross Loram can be one key player at the fight between Phoenix F1 and EIRE over the 3rd place on the constructor's championship. If Loram can take any points from the Phoenix drivers it can be crucial. S1 for Loram is 22.921 and he is nearly 6 tenths off the pace, doesn't look too promising for the team. S2 for Loram and he is now over 1.7 seconds off the pace and he is slowest on S2 so far, so looks like 9th place for Loram. He crosses the line and indeed goes to 9th, 1:14.975 and that is over 2.1 seconds off the Maple's pole time.
Loram Finish Line 9 Sector 1 22.921 +0.575
1:14.975 +2.126 Sector 2 52.998 +1.770
Join us back soon after this short break!
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Group 3:
(Nuti, Ponissi, Forausberger, Harding, Frueh, Brown)
On the 3rd group we have two Simsoa cars, Williams Ponissi on Woods Racing Toyota and Cristian Forausberger on MMRT. Also Peter Harding on Scum and Wilhelm Frueh on Puma will be on this group.
Nuti
Simsoa
First driver on this group is quite interesting drivers, Nazario Nuti driving on Simsoa, he is team manager on JTM and took the driving spot on his own team after Matt Maple left the team to drive on his own team. Now as Maple is back at JTM partnering Toby Lock and there were vacant seat at Simsoa Nuti went for it. S1 for Nuti is 22.473 he is 0.127 seconds off the pace with that. S2 is 51.6 and he is still under 4 tenths off the pace. This could be quite good place for him. Nuti crosses the line and he goes to 3rd place 1:13.299 and that is 0.450 seconds slower than current leader Matt Maple did.
Nuti Finish Line 3 Sector 1 22.473 +0.127
1:13.299 +0.450 Sector 2 51.611 +0.383
Ponissi
Woods Racing
Woods Racing and Williams Ponissi is next on a flyer. S1 for Ponissi is slowish 23.6 and he is already 1.3 seconds off the pace after first few corners. Ponissi is one of the few drivers who haven't scored any points this season but he is consistent racer so if all goes well and he has some better luck maybe he can score some points at the season final, who knows. S2 for Ponissi is 55.187 and he is 4 seconds off the pace. Ponissi crosses the line and goes to 11th and last, with the time of 1:17.487 which is 4.6 seconds slower than polesitter Matt Maple did.
Ponissi Finish Line 11 Sector 1 23.644 +1.298
1:17.487 +4.638 Sector 2 55.187 +3.959
Forausberger
MMRT
Cristian Forausberger and 2nd of MMRT cars is next on turn. S1 for Forausberger is 22.792, teammate Mihailovic is currently on 9th place. Miodrag was slightly quicker on s1 than Cristian, Miodrag's time was 22.713 so it's very close, as usual, between the two MMRT drivers. S2 for Forausberger is 52.616 and he is 1.4 seconds slower than Maple, but now in front of Mihailovic's time by 2 tenths, if Cristian gets the final corner cleanly he could beat his teammate. Forausberger crosses he line and goes to 10th! 1.6 seconds slower than Maple. Looks like Cristian lost a lot of time compared to his teammate on final sector and Mihailovic holds on p9.
Forausberger Finish Line 10 Sector 1 22.792 +0.446
1:14.464 +1.615 Sector 2 52.616 +1.388
Harding
SCUM
Peter Harding and first of the SCUM outfits is next on a flyer. Teammate Kieran Ryan's turn will be after Frueh, Brown and Sleight. S1 for Harding is 22.476 and he is 0.130 seconds off the pace so far. Neither Harding as Ponissi earlier hasn't scored any points this season, but if the weather forecast is true and we will have more or less rain and slippery conditions on the race you never knows what can happen then. S2 for Harding is 52.111 seconds and he is within 9 tenths of the pole time. This looks like solid top-10 position at the moment for him. Harding crosses the line and he takes 9th place at the moment. 1:13.694 is 0.845 seconds slower than pole time.
Harding Finish Line 9 Sector 1 22.476 +0.130
1:13.694 +0.845 Sector 2 52.111 +0.883
Frueh
Puma F1
2 to go in the 3rd group and next on the flyer is Wilhelm Frueh who for sure wants to impress the team bosses at Puma and on the other teams to keep his drive for 2005 season also. S1 for Frueh and he starts his qualifying lap nicely, 22.559 seconds is 0.213 slower than Maple's sector time. If Frueh can keep up same kind of pace and doesn't lose more than 2-3 tenths per sector he will in good position for tomorrow's race. S2 for Frueh and he lost that 2 tenths like in 1st sector but he is still within half a second away from Maple. Now into crucial final sector where you have long uphill acceleration where the engine BHP is really needed and Porsche might lack some of that. Frueh crosses the line and goes to 4th! 1:13.301 and he lost only some hundreds of a second on final sector!
Frueh Finish Line 4 Sector 1 22.559 +0.213
1:13.301 +0.452 Sector 2 51.653 +0.425
Brown
Simsoa
David Brown will be last driver on the 3rd group. Teammate Nazario Nuti is currently 3rd place with time of 1:13.299 what can Brown do here? S1 for Brown is 22.565, that's 0.219 seconds off the pace and nearly one tenths slower than Nuti did. Brown has scored 8 points during this season for example he finished in 8th place at the Suzuka so he got one point from there. S2 for Browm is 52.0 and he is now 8 tenths off the pace and lost the fight to his teammate by 4 tenths. Brown crosses the line and goes to 8th place 1:13.661 is 0.812 seconds slower than Maple did and nearly 4 tenths slower than teammate Nuti did.
Brown Finish Line 8 Sector 1 22.565 +0.219
1:13.661 +0.812 Sector 2 52.043 +0.815
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Group 4:
(Sleight, Ryan, Bratonja, Wilkinson, Jakonen, Elencevski)
Welcome back to Interlagos where last group of 6 cars is about to start their qualifying laps. Matt Maple leads, Ryan McConkey is in 2nd place and Nazario Nuti holds the 3rd place at the moment. On the final group we have Sleight, Ryan, Bratonja, Wilkinson and then last but not least the two championship fighters Jakonen and Elencevski.
Sleight
MMC Racing
Paul Sleight starts this final group on this years Brazilian GP qualifying. S1 for Sleight is 22.570 seconds and that is 0.224 seconds slower than Maple did, will he JTM driver hold on the pole till the end? Sleight has scored 26 points during the season and he holds the 7 place on the standings with that. Ryong, who is not driving here, is only 3 points ahead so with good race result Sleight can move up one position. S2 for Sleight is 51.842 and he lost some 4 tenths to Maple at the 2nd sector. Sleight crosses the line and he goes to 5th place with the time of 1:13.385 which is 0.536 seconds slower than current pole time. Sleight gained almost one tenths to Maple on last sector.
Sleight Finish Line 5 Sector 1 22.570 +0.224
1:13.385 +0.536 Sector 2 51.842 +0.614
Ryan
SCUM
5 to go and the tension is build up, who will be on the pole to this years Brazilian GP, where will the two championship contenders start? But before we get either Jakonen or Elencevski to the track we have few drivers to watch. Kieran Ryan has been driving like half of the teams through out the season and in this event he is on the SCUM team. S1 for him is good 22.421 which is only 75 thousands off the Maple's sector time. Ryan indeed has been driving at Simsoa, Phoenix, MMRT, MMC and SCUM, that is 5 teams out of 11. S2 for Ryan he is still there, 51.284 is only 56 thousands off the Maple's sector time, can Ryan drop Maple from P1? Ryan crosses the line and he takes P1 from Maple! 1:12.730 is 0.119 seconds quicker than JTM driver did and we have new leader with 4 drivers still to go!
Ryan Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.421 +0.075
1:12.730 -0.119 Sector 2 51.284 +0.056
Bratonja
Mapes-VO
Zlatko Bratonja is new rising star at Mapes-VO. Bratonja joined the team French GP 2 races ago. There he finished in 8th place but already 2 weeks later at Japan he was up to 5th place so he could be fighting over the podium place here? S1 looks very promising for him! 22.245 and he is 0.176 seconds quicker than new our leader Ryan was. Now into twisty 2nd sector where car setup and the driver skills will be tested out. S2 for Bratonja is 51.298 but he has lost is advantage over Ryan and is now 14 thousands behind! But with Honda power he should have slight advantage for the uphill acceleration and still can take the p1 from Ryan. And indeed he does, Bratonja goes to P1 by 89 thousands and new pole time is 1:12.641.
Bratonja Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.245 -0.176
1:12.641 -0.089 Sector 2 51.298 +0.014
Wilkinson
Phoenix F1
Only 3 drivers to go. Daniel Wilkinson has important role on the constructors fight between EIRE and Phoenix F1. In a good day Wilkinson can challenge the fastest guys out there. S1 for Daniel is 22.727 and he is nearly half a second off the Bratonja's pace with that. Teammate Irisarri couldn't get into track in time and therefore he will be starting right back of the grid so EIRE drivers might has small advantage on the starting grid over Phoenix drivers and we also have to remember it's EIRE which leads Phoenix at the standings by 6 points. S2 for Wilkinson is 52.103 and he is now over 8 tenths off the pace. Now only short burst to the line and Wilkinson stops the clocks to show 1:13.753 and he goes down to 15th place, he is only 1.112 seconds slower than Bratonja but it is so tight on the short track like Interlagos is.
Wilkinson Finish Line 15 Sector 1 22.727 +0.482
1:13.753 +1.112 Sector 2 52.103 +0.805
Jakonen
Mapes-VO
Mikko Jakonen holds 8 point lead over Elencevski at the driver's championship standings so he can almost see the championship trophy at his bookshelf, but also he has a lot to lose so late on the season if he now loses the championship. S1 for Mikko is 0.217 seconds slower than teammate did. Are Mapes-VO drivers out on different tactics and they want to get Bratonja in front to hold on Elencevski at the start? S2 for Jakonen and he closes the gap down to 0.130 seconds, he can still be on the front row with his teammate if the last sector goes perfectly. Jakonen crosses the line and he goes to 4th palce! 1:12.885 is only 0.244 seconds slower than Bratonja did few moment ago, but Ryan and Maple are between the two yellow cars? but where does Elencevski start?
Jakonen Finish Line 4 Sector 1 22.462 +0.217
1:12.885 +0.244 Sector 2 51.428 +0.130
Elencevski
FinOz Racing
Last man on track is Steve Elencevski who has been on the podium since American GP late June. American GP was 9th GP of the season and since then Steve has been 2nd at Indianapolis also 2nd at Silverstone then 3rd at Hockenheim. After German GP Steve took two wins first at Hungary and then at Belgium. Then at Monza Steve was 3rd, but he took his 4th win of the season at the French GP. 2 weeks ago Steve finished in 2nd place at Suzuka and he is now 8 points from Jakonen on the standings where the gap was up to 27 points after Canadian GP which was the 8th GP of the season. So you can really call Steve as king of 2nd half of the season. S1 for Elencevski and he can't match Bratonja's sector time, in fact he is quite far of, 0.164 seconds. Look how decisive he is with the turning the car into corners, he is really pushing the car to the limit. S2 for Steve and looks that time! 51.180 seconds and he is 0.118 seconds in front! But does the Ferrari have the BHP over the Honda powet on the uphill section? Steve crosses the line and he goes to 2nd! Bratonja starts from poleposition to tomorrows Brazilian GP at the end Steve loses out the pole by 34 thousands of a second!
Elencevski Finish Line 2 Sector 1 22.409 +0.164
1:12.675 +0.034 Sector 2 51.180 -0.118
Summary
Short track and small gaps was known fact before the qualifying started. Top-3 was covered within tenths of a second, but it was even closer on the p12 to p16 where five drivers are within one tenth also. Some surprises like poor starting places for the Phoenix drivers with Wilkinson down on 17 place and Irisarri forced to start from the back of the grid. What comes to the drivers championship fight it is far from over with Steve Elencevski starting from 2nd place on the grid but Mikko Jakonen isn't far away either as he was 5th quickest.
Some rain is expected to arrive in time for the race which can make things even more interesting for the final race of the season. Normally when it rains at Interlagos it really does and then making the right tire choices in time and if you are out one lap too long on the rain you can lose the whole race by spinning the car into gravel or to the wall.
1 Bratonja 1:12.641
2 Elencevski +0.034
3 Ryan +0.089
4 Maple +0.208
5 Jakonen +0.244
6 McConkey +0.386
7 Nuti +0.658
8 Frueh +0.660
9 Sleight +0.744
10 Wagner +0.882
11 Whiteman +0.923
12 Koski +0.959
13 Brown +1.020
14 Goodley +1.022
15 Lock +1.050
16 Harding +1.053
17 Wilkinson +1.112
18 Mihailovic +1.720
19 Forausberger +1.823
20 Loram +2.334
21 Ponissi +4.846
22 Irisarri penalty
Poleposition development
Whiteman Finish Line Sector 1 22.686
1:13.564 Sector 2 51.847
McConkey Finish Line Sector 1 22.343 -0.343
1:13.027 -0.537 Sector 2 51.650 -0.197
Maple Finish Line Sector 1 22.346 +0.003
1:12.849 -0.178 Sector 2 51.228 -0.422
Ryan Finish Line Sector 1 22.421 +0.075
1:12.730 -0.119 Sector 2 51.284 +0.056
Bratonja Finish Line Sector 1 22.245 -0.176
1:12.641 -0.089 Sector 2 51.298 +0.014
Group 1 (5 cars) - Whiteman, Irisarri, Lock, McConkey, Wagner
Group 2 (5 cars) - Mihailovic, Goodley, Maple, Koski, Loram
Group 3 (6 cars) - Nuti, Ponissi, Forausberger, Harding, Frueh, Brown
Group 4 (6 cars) - Sleight, Ryan, Bratonja, Wilkinson, Jakonen, Elencevski
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Intro:
Hello and welcome to follow the final qualifying session of the F1VWC 2004 season here at sunny Interlagos track. Today we have nice and clear weather, but rain is expected to arrive later this afternoon and there is big chance we will have some rain during tomorrow's race. All eyes are watching the duel between Mikko Jakonen current championship leader and Steve Elencenvski who has been eating out Jakonen's lead race-by-race. Gap is down to 8 points, so Jakonen has the celar advantage but anything can still happen. Steve needs to win or to be in 2nd place to be champion of 2004 season. If Steve wins Mikko needs to finish in 6th place to be this years drivers champion. If Steve is 2nd in the race 8th place is still needed for Mikko. If drivers are in equal points at the end Steve has more wins and therefore he will be champion.
A lap of Interlagos with Kari Koski:
"I start a lap accelerating up to a maximum speed of over 185 mph (300 kph) on the way to the first corner Descida do Sol which is quite a tricky downhill left-hand 2nd gear corner which I take at about 60 mph (95 kph). The circuit drops down sharply which makes braking very difficult for this turn.
Straight after this it leads into a right-hand corner the Senna S, I am still in 2nd gear but then I accelerate up into 3rd gear, it is almost flat but very difficult. There is then a long left-hand corner Curva do Sol, that leads on to the back straight where I go over 185 mph (300 kph) before braking very hard into the next left-hand corner, Descida do Lago. This is a medium speed corner taken in 3rd gear at around 85 mph (135 kph) from here I accelerate along a short straight reaching 5th gear and a speed of about 175 mph (280 kph) before going into the very difficult fast right-hand 4th gear corner Ferradura which has a double apex and is taken at about 110 mph (180 kph).
Next I have to brake into a very slow corner which is taken in 1st gear at under 50 mph (80 kph), this is immediately followed by a slow left-hand corner, Pinheirinho, still taken in 1st gear at around 60 mph (95 kph). A very short straight then leads into the slowest corner of the circuit Cotovelo, again back into 1st gear and this time right down to 45 mph (70 kph).
I take the next left-hand corner Mergulho almost flat in qualifying at around 125 mph (200 kph) in 4th gear with just a slight lifting of the throttle before braking hard again for what is probably the most important corner in the lap the final corner (Juncao) leading on to the straight which is taken in 2nd gear at just over 60 mph (100 kph). I have to get a clean exit from this corner is very important to start the uphill climb to the finish line to end the lap."
As well as being notoriously bumpy, Interlagos (like Imola) is run anti-clockwise, which combined with the heat makes the Brazilian GP particularly hard on drivers.
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(Sector times are allways being compared to the fastest legal lap time.)
Group 1:
(Whiteman, Irisarri, Lock, McConkey, Wagner)
Whiteman
EIRE
Guess who is back? Scott Whiteman! And he will be the first driver on the track today. Scott has secured the 3rd place on the drivers championship standings but he his here to help EIRE to stay on 3rd place in front of Phoenix on the constructors standings. S1 for Whiteman is 22.686 still too early to say is it good or bad, but looking Scott's previous qualifying sessions I think it is good. Now into twisty and slow infield here you really can gain or lose time depending who your car is working. S2 for Scott is 51.8 Last years race fastest lap was 1:13.988 set by Daniel Wilkinson and that will give us some clue how fast is Whiteman going when he crosses the line. Whiteman stops the clock to show 1:13.564 already 4 tenths under last years fastest lap of the race.
Whiteman Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.686
1:13.564 Sector 2 51.847
Irisarri
Phoenix F1
Driver was discualified (illegal track checksum)
Irisarri Finish Line 22 Sector 1 -.---
-:--.--- Sector 2 -.---
Lock
JTM
Toby Lock is also back in business after missing Japanese Grand Prix. S1 for Lock is very good as he is over one tenths quicker than Whiteman was. JTM has had very difficult season so far and there are some rumors at the pitlane they might lose the Ferrari deal although the current deal is till end of 2005 season but it's believed that Ferrari is not happy with the team results. JTM hasn't confirmed any drivers for next year either so it will be interesting winter to see what will happen with the team. S2 for Lock and he has lost his advantage and now trails by 66 thousands of a second. It's that twisty 2nd sector where you can lose time so easy. Lock crosses the line and goes to 2nd place 0.127 seconds slower than Whiteman.
Lock Finish Line 2 Sector 1 22.567 -0.119
1:13.691 +0.127 Sector 2 51.913 +0.066
McConkey
MMC Racing
Ryan McConkey is also back he also missed the Japanese GP but his replacement driver Fernando Laaff did superb job by winning the GP. Here at Brazil McConkey and Paul Sleight will be the MMC Racing drivers so Laaff's drive was 2 races long. S1 for McConkey and he is flying! Look at that time 22.343 and over 3 tenths quicker than Whiteman, but can he hold on in the 2nd sector. We just saw Lock to lose 2 tenths there compared to Whiteman. S2 for McConkey and he is still in front by 0.197 seconds. He did also lose some time on 2nd sector. McConkey crosses the line and takes first place by over half a second! He really nailed that last corner and got the speed for the last sector, great stuff from Ryan.
McConkey Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.343 -0.343
1:13.027 -0.537 Sector 2 51.650 -0.197
Wagner
Puma F1
Andreas Wagner will be last man on the 1st group on his Puma F1 outfit. Puma team has shown some good progress with some fine results but then they have faded back again, can they make something special on the last GP of the season? S1 for Wagner is strong 22.531 he is also faster than Whiteman was. S2 for Wagner and he is still there 51.845 and he is now 0.195 seconds behind McConkey, can Wagner take p2 from Whiteman? Puma goes over the line and Wagner goes to 2nd! 1:13.523 and he is just under half a second slower than McConkey and drops Whiteman into 3rd place with Lock now 4th.
Wagner Finish Line 2 Sector 1 22.531 +0.188
1:13.523 +0.496 Sector 2 51.845 +0.195
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Group 2:
(Mihailovic, Goodley, Maple, Koski, Loram)
Welcome back to follow Brazilian GP qualifying live. On the next group we will see Mihailovic, Goodley, Maple, Koski and Loram
Mihailovic
MMRT
Miodrag Mihailovic has driven all races this season but he has scored only one point so far and he is in tied 26th place on the drivers standings tomorrow will have a chance to better that position. S1 for Mihailovic is 22.7 seconds and he is nearly 4 tenths off the pace, but if he can keep the gap in under 1 second after the 2nd sector he can get good starting position for the race. S2 for Mihailovic and he is outside the 1 second gap, 52.792 is 1.142 seconds off the pace set by Ryan McConkey. Mihailovic crosses the line and he goes down to 5th place at the moment 1:14.360 is 1.333 seconds slower than McConkey did.
Mihailovic Finish Line 5 Sector 1 22.713 +0.370
1:14.360 +1.333 Sector 2 52.792 +1.142
Goodley
Woods Racing
Chris Goodley is next on the flyer on his Woods Racing outfit. Goodley had superb race at Monaco where he finished in 4th place. Those 5 points are his only points he has scored this season. S1 for Goodley is better than Mihailovic did by almost 2 tenths and he is just over 2 tenths behind McConkey. S2 and Goodley is still there! 51.921 and he is only 0.271 seconds away McConkey's pace. Chris crosses the line and he goes to 4th? he lost almost 4 tenths on the final sector, 1:13.663 is 0.636 seconds slower than the pole time so far.
Goodley Finish Line 4 Sector 1 22.549 +0.206
1:13.663 +0.636 Sector 2 51.921 +0.271
Maple
JTM
Matt Maple is right back where he started the season, back at JTM after racing on his co-owned team Mapes-VO some races on mid-season. Then Maple missed few races, 4 to be exact, and he was back behind the wheel at Japanese GP but there he was driving for Phoenix, but now he is back at JTM. S1 for Maple is good 22.346, he is only 3 tenths away from McConkey's time. S2 for Maple and he is flying! 51.228 and he is over 4 tenths quicker than McConkey! I'm sure he will take the pole unless he makes a mistake on the final uphill left hander. Maple doesn't make mistake there and crosses the line to take P1 by 0.178 seconds, he also lost quite much time to McConkey on final sector. 1:12.849 is new poleposition time.
Maple Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.346 +0.003
1:12.849 -0.178 Sector 2 51.228 -0.422
Koski
FinOz Racing
Next is FinOz Racing's Kari Koski. Kari has had terrible time in last 2 races with both ending to technical breakdown on the car. He must be hoping his bad luck is now ended and final race of the season will be good one. S1 for Kari and he is not in the Maple or McConkey pace, 22.664 and that's over 3 tenths off the pace. Kari's qualifying performance has come down quite much from what it was on the 1st half of the season, in fact in last qualifying he has been outside the top 10. S2 for Kari and he has lost more time and now trails by 0.754 seconds. Koski goes over the line and he takes 5th place 1:13.600 just in front of Goodley and 0.751 seconds slower than Maple.
Koski Finish Line 5 Sector 1 22.664 +0.318
1:13.600 +0.751 Sector 2 51.982 +0.754
Loram
EIRE
Ross Loram can be one key player at the fight between Phoenix F1 and EIRE over the 3rd place on the constructor's championship. If Loram can take any points from the Phoenix drivers it can be crucial. S1 for Loram is 22.921 and he is nearly 6 tenths off the pace, doesn't look too promising for the team. S2 for Loram and he is now over 1.7 seconds off the pace and he is slowest on S2 so far, so looks like 9th place for Loram. He crosses the line and indeed goes to 9th, 1:14.975 and that is over 2.1 seconds off the Maple's pole time.
Loram Finish Line 9 Sector 1 22.921 +0.575
1:14.975 +2.126 Sector 2 52.998 +1.770
Join us back soon after this short break!
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Group 3:
(Nuti, Ponissi, Forausberger, Harding, Frueh, Brown)
On the 3rd group we have two Simsoa cars, Williams Ponissi on Woods Racing Toyota and Cristian Forausberger on MMRT. Also Peter Harding on Scum and Wilhelm Frueh on Puma will be on this group.
Nuti
Simsoa
First driver on this group is quite interesting drivers, Nazario Nuti driving on Simsoa, he is team manager on JTM and took the driving spot on his own team after Matt Maple left the team to drive on his own team. Now as Maple is back at JTM partnering Toby Lock and there were vacant seat at Simsoa Nuti went for it. S1 for Nuti is 22.473 he is 0.127 seconds off the pace with that. S2 is 51.6 and he is still under 4 tenths off the pace. This could be quite good place for him. Nuti crosses the line and he goes to 3rd place 1:13.299 and that is 0.450 seconds slower than current leader Matt Maple did.
Nuti Finish Line 3 Sector 1 22.473 +0.127
1:13.299 +0.450 Sector 2 51.611 +0.383
Ponissi
Woods Racing
Woods Racing and Williams Ponissi is next on a flyer. S1 for Ponissi is slowish 23.6 and he is already 1.3 seconds off the pace after first few corners. Ponissi is one of the few drivers who haven't scored any points this season but he is consistent racer so if all goes well and he has some better luck maybe he can score some points at the season final, who knows. S2 for Ponissi is 55.187 and he is 4 seconds off the pace. Ponissi crosses the line and goes to 11th and last, with the time of 1:17.487 which is 4.6 seconds slower than polesitter Matt Maple did.
Ponissi Finish Line 11 Sector 1 23.644 +1.298
1:17.487 +4.638 Sector 2 55.187 +3.959
Forausberger
MMRT
Cristian Forausberger and 2nd of MMRT cars is next on turn. S1 for Forausberger is 22.792, teammate Mihailovic is currently on 9th place. Miodrag was slightly quicker on s1 than Cristian, Miodrag's time was 22.713 so it's very close, as usual, between the two MMRT drivers. S2 for Forausberger is 52.616 and he is 1.4 seconds slower than Maple, but now in front of Mihailovic's time by 2 tenths, if Cristian gets the final corner cleanly he could beat his teammate. Forausberger crosses he line and goes to 10th! 1.6 seconds slower than Maple. Looks like Cristian lost a lot of time compared to his teammate on final sector and Mihailovic holds on p9.
Forausberger Finish Line 10 Sector 1 22.792 +0.446
1:14.464 +1.615 Sector 2 52.616 +1.388
Harding
SCUM
Peter Harding and first of the SCUM outfits is next on a flyer. Teammate Kieran Ryan's turn will be after Frueh, Brown and Sleight. S1 for Harding is 22.476 and he is 0.130 seconds off the pace so far. Neither Harding as Ponissi earlier hasn't scored any points this season, but if the weather forecast is true and we will have more or less rain and slippery conditions on the race you never knows what can happen then. S2 for Harding is 52.111 seconds and he is within 9 tenths of the pole time. This looks like solid top-10 position at the moment for him. Harding crosses the line and he takes 9th place at the moment. 1:13.694 is 0.845 seconds slower than pole time.
Harding Finish Line 9 Sector 1 22.476 +0.130
1:13.694 +0.845 Sector 2 52.111 +0.883
Frueh
Puma F1
2 to go in the 3rd group and next on the flyer is Wilhelm Frueh who for sure wants to impress the team bosses at Puma and on the other teams to keep his drive for 2005 season also. S1 for Frueh and he starts his qualifying lap nicely, 22.559 seconds is 0.213 slower than Maple's sector time. If Frueh can keep up same kind of pace and doesn't lose more than 2-3 tenths per sector he will in good position for tomorrow's race. S2 for Frueh and he lost that 2 tenths like in 1st sector but he is still within half a second away from Maple. Now into crucial final sector where you have long uphill acceleration where the engine BHP is really needed and Porsche might lack some of that. Frueh crosses the line and goes to 4th! 1:13.301 and he lost only some hundreds of a second on final sector!
Frueh Finish Line 4 Sector 1 22.559 +0.213
1:13.301 +0.452 Sector 2 51.653 +0.425
Brown
Simsoa
David Brown will be last driver on the 3rd group. Teammate Nazario Nuti is currently 3rd place with time of 1:13.299 what can Brown do here? S1 for Brown is 22.565, that's 0.219 seconds off the pace and nearly one tenths slower than Nuti did. Brown has scored 8 points during this season for example he finished in 8th place at the Suzuka so he got one point from there. S2 for Browm is 52.0 and he is now 8 tenths off the pace and lost the fight to his teammate by 4 tenths. Brown crosses the line and goes to 8th place 1:13.661 is 0.812 seconds slower than Maple did and nearly 4 tenths slower than teammate Nuti did.
Brown Finish Line 8 Sector 1 22.565 +0.219
1:13.661 +0.812 Sector 2 52.043 +0.815
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Group 4:
(Sleight, Ryan, Bratonja, Wilkinson, Jakonen, Elencevski)
Welcome back to Interlagos where last group of 6 cars is about to start their qualifying laps. Matt Maple leads, Ryan McConkey is in 2nd place and Nazario Nuti holds the 3rd place at the moment. On the final group we have Sleight, Ryan, Bratonja, Wilkinson and then last but not least the two championship fighters Jakonen and Elencevski.
Sleight
MMC Racing
Paul Sleight starts this final group on this years Brazilian GP qualifying. S1 for Sleight is 22.570 seconds and that is 0.224 seconds slower than Maple did, will he JTM driver hold on the pole till the end? Sleight has scored 26 points during the season and he holds the 7 place on the standings with that. Ryong, who is not driving here, is only 3 points ahead so with good race result Sleight can move up one position. S2 for Sleight is 51.842 and he lost some 4 tenths to Maple at the 2nd sector. Sleight crosses the line and he goes to 5th place with the time of 1:13.385 which is 0.536 seconds slower than current pole time. Sleight gained almost one tenths to Maple on last sector.
Sleight Finish Line 5 Sector 1 22.570 +0.224
1:13.385 +0.536 Sector 2 51.842 +0.614
Ryan
SCUM
5 to go and the tension is build up, who will be on the pole to this years Brazilian GP, where will the two championship contenders start? But before we get either Jakonen or Elencevski to the track we have few drivers to watch. Kieran Ryan has been driving like half of the teams through out the season and in this event he is on the SCUM team. S1 for him is good 22.421 which is only 75 thousands off the Maple's sector time. Ryan indeed has been driving at Simsoa, Phoenix, MMRT, MMC and SCUM, that is 5 teams out of 11. S2 for Ryan he is still there, 51.284 is only 56 thousands off the Maple's sector time, can Ryan drop Maple from P1? Ryan crosses the line and he takes P1 from Maple! 1:12.730 is 0.119 seconds quicker than JTM driver did and we have new leader with 4 drivers still to go!
Ryan Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.421 +0.075
1:12.730 -0.119 Sector 2 51.284 +0.056
Bratonja
Mapes-VO
Zlatko Bratonja is new rising star at Mapes-VO. Bratonja joined the team French GP 2 races ago. There he finished in 8th place but already 2 weeks later at Japan he was up to 5th place so he could be fighting over the podium place here? S1 looks very promising for him! 22.245 and he is 0.176 seconds quicker than new our leader Ryan was. Now into twisty 2nd sector where car setup and the driver skills will be tested out. S2 for Bratonja is 51.298 but he has lost is advantage over Ryan and is now 14 thousands behind! But with Honda power he should have slight advantage for the uphill acceleration and still can take the p1 from Ryan. And indeed he does, Bratonja goes to P1 by 89 thousands and new pole time is 1:12.641.
Bratonja Finish Line 1 Sector 1 22.245 -0.176
1:12.641 -0.089 Sector 2 51.298 +0.014
Wilkinson
Phoenix F1
Only 3 drivers to go. Daniel Wilkinson has important role on the constructors fight between EIRE and Phoenix F1. In a good day Wilkinson can challenge the fastest guys out there. S1 for Daniel is 22.727 and he is nearly half a second off the Bratonja's pace with that. Teammate Irisarri couldn't get into track in time and therefore he will be starting right back of the grid so EIRE drivers might has small advantage on the starting grid over Phoenix drivers and we also have to remember it's EIRE which leads Phoenix at the standings by 6 points. S2 for Wilkinson is 52.103 and he is now over 8 tenths off the pace. Now only short burst to the line and Wilkinson stops the clocks to show 1:13.753 and he goes down to 15th place, he is only 1.112 seconds slower than Bratonja but it is so tight on the short track like Interlagos is.
Wilkinson Finish Line 15 Sector 1 22.727 +0.482
1:13.753 +1.112 Sector 2 52.103 +0.805
Jakonen
Mapes-VO
Mikko Jakonen holds 8 point lead over Elencevski at the driver's championship standings so he can almost see the championship trophy at his bookshelf, but also he has a lot to lose so late on the season if he now loses the championship. S1 for Mikko is 0.217 seconds slower than teammate did. Are Mapes-VO drivers out on different tactics and they want to get Bratonja in front to hold on Elencevski at the start? S2 for Jakonen and he closes the gap down to 0.130 seconds, he can still be on the front row with his teammate if the last sector goes perfectly. Jakonen crosses the line and he goes to 4th palce! 1:12.885 is only 0.244 seconds slower than Bratonja did few moment ago, but Ryan and Maple are between the two yellow cars? but where does Elencevski start?
Jakonen Finish Line 4 Sector 1 22.462 +0.217
1:12.885 +0.244 Sector 2 51.428 +0.130
Elencevski
FinOz Racing
Last man on track is Steve Elencevski who has been on the podium since American GP late June. American GP was 9th GP of the season and since then Steve has been 2nd at Indianapolis also 2nd at Silverstone then 3rd at Hockenheim. After German GP Steve took two wins first at Hungary and then at Belgium. Then at Monza Steve was 3rd, but he took his 4th win of the season at the French GP. 2 weeks ago Steve finished in 2nd place at Suzuka and he is now 8 points from Jakonen on the standings where the gap was up to 27 points after Canadian GP which was the 8th GP of the season. So you can really call Steve as king of 2nd half of the season. S1 for Elencevski and he can't match Bratonja's sector time, in fact he is quite far of, 0.164 seconds. Look how decisive he is with the turning the car into corners, he is really pushing the car to the limit. S2 for Steve and looks that time! 51.180 seconds and he is 0.118 seconds in front! But does the Ferrari have the BHP over the Honda powet on the uphill section? Steve crosses the line and he goes to 2nd! Bratonja starts from poleposition to tomorrows Brazilian GP at the end Steve loses out the pole by 34 thousands of a second!
Elencevski Finish Line 2 Sector 1 22.409 +0.164
1:12.675 +0.034 Sector 2 51.180 -0.118
Summary
Short track and small gaps was known fact before the qualifying started. Top-3 was covered within tenths of a second, but it was even closer on the p12 to p16 where five drivers are within one tenth also. Some surprises like poor starting places for the Phoenix drivers with Wilkinson down on 17 place and Irisarri forced to start from the back of the grid. What comes to the drivers championship fight it is far from over with Steve Elencevski starting from 2nd place on the grid but Mikko Jakonen isn't far away either as he was 5th quickest.
Some rain is expected to arrive in time for the race which can make things even more interesting for the final race of the season. Normally when it rains at Interlagos it really does and then making the right tire choices in time and if you are out one lap too long on the rain you can lose the whole race by spinning the car into gravel or to the wall.
1 Bratonja 1:12.641
2 Elencevski +0.034
3 Ryan +0.089
4 Maple +0.208
5 Jakonen +0.244
6 McConkey +0.386
7 Nuti +0.658
8 Frueh +0.660
9 Sleight +0.744
10 Wagner +0.882
11 Whiteman +0.923
12 Koski +0.959
13 Brown +1.020
14 Goodley +1.022
15 Lock +1.050
16 Harding +1.053
17 Wilkinson +1.112
18 Mihailovic +1.720
19 Forausberger +1.823
20 Loram +2.334
21 Ponissi +4.846
22 Irisarri penalty
Poleposition development
Whiteman Finish Line Sector 1 22.686
1:13.564 Sector 2 51.847
McConkey Finish Line Sector 1 22.343 -0.343
1:13.027 -0.537 Sector 2 51.650 -0.197
Maple Finish Line Sector 1 22.346 +0.003
1:12.849 -0.178 Sector 2 51.228 -0.422
Ryan Finish Line Sector 1 22.421 +0.075
1:12.730 -0.119 Sector 2 51.284 +0.056
Bratonja Finish Line Sector 1 22.245 -0.176
1:12.641 -0.089 Sector 2 51.298 +0.014
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