A bit disappointed with my lack of pace in this one BUT...in spite of a number of duels and a horrible traffic situation through the first lap, I had a clean race with no damaged wings, no spins, and no collision incidents with other drivers. Taken with the solid points for 5th, I won't complain about it too much. This race was a great example of further improved driving skills, and I was very happy to demonstrate that on my home track. I just wish I had been able to use the tweaked setup that I came up with later that day...it was a whole 2sec faster!!!! ARGH!!! Favorite moment of the race was that back and forth I had with benny before his race started going downhill.
Also, you may notice that there isn't a text commentary to go with the video this time. Going forward, I'm probably not going to be doing one anymore because it takes too much time on top of editing the video. I try to edit the videos in such a way that it makes events pretty clear, so I think it will be okay, and it will save loads of time leaving it out.
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 8
Finishes: 7
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 90
League table rank 5th of 15
--------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 12
Finishes: 11
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 129
--------------------------------
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 25
Finishes: 22
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 264
Been a while since I've made a post about this project. My summer was pretty chaotic and I wasn't able to really dedicate the right kind of time and attention to it, so I left it be, lest the quality of the finished product suffer. Things have finally slowed down some, and I got the primer on the lower half of the other leg finished. Hoping to keep the ball rolling a bit more consistently now!
Click the 'Custom Halo Reach Spartan' link below to see more posts about this project, or 'Custom Figures' to view posts about all my custom figure projects.
Qualifying: Run 1 Options, 1 hot lap. No time set, as I accidentally cut the final corner and invalidated my lap. Run 2 options, 1 hot lap 1:41.595. Would be moved up to P4 for race start due to a grid penalty for Crafty gun. On my in lap, benny is sideways at the bridge, but yellow flags aren't yet out...I don't see him until it's too late. I am undamaged and unpenalized, but I watch half of poor benny's wing fall off.
Race: Lap 1 Not my best start as I accidentally hit the look back button instead of KERS and drop to P5 coming around the first turn. Two cars run wide at turn 2 and I find myself running P3. In trying to leave space for COALHILL at the bridge, I experience a traction problem and eventually lose the position to him going down the DRS straight. Coming up to turn 12, he moves back over on me and I have nowhere to go...I don't think we touch but I do some minor damage to my wing courtesy of the outside wall. I get back P3 as we go through turn 13-14. Benny is right on my tail as we cross start/finish. Benny loses it and drops back, then Crafty gun goes into the runoff at the hairpin, leaving me with a little breathing room. Lap 3-4 Battling with Earmack. Lap 5 Finally get the pass for P2 when Earmack makes a mistake and runs wide at turn 2. Lap 6 Pass Giles while he's pitted to take over P1. Lap 10 Tires are going off (I can tell by the way I'm losing time to car behind), and then I have a slide coming around turn 13. Bump the wall, but no serious wing damage. I do lose my gap over Crafty gun and Giles though, and they both get past, dropping me to P3. I have to pit at the end of the lap, and I'm concerned with how early I'm having to make the stop (5 laps early). According to original strategy my crew puts on primes and I return in P6. Lap 12 Take over P5 from benny when he hits pit lane. Lap 14 Pass Dementino while he's pitted for P4. Lap 19 Pass Van Challis while he is pitted to take P3. Lap 20 Wheel to wheel with Van Challis through turn 4-5 and he makes an excellent pass. Drop back to P4. Lap 22 Van Challis has made a mistake at turn 2 and I retake P3. Lap 29 Catch Crafty gun while he's pitted for P2. Lap 33 I've been maintaining about 5sec over Crafty gun, and am planning to pit at the end of the lap when I get a right rear tire puncture. Crafty gun goes past around turn 14, then Earmack goes past when I pit. Return in P4 on fresh primes. Lap 34 My own teammate, Grosjean AI, pulls over in front of me and slows way down...I see this and am on the brakes but can't avoid getting into the back of him and lose my front wing. Pit for a new wing and Dementino gets past. Return in P5. Lap 45 Catch Earmack while he's pitted for P4. Lap 51 My worn tires lose traction and I have a small slide at turn 4, but I'm able to get back underway without losing the position. Earmack has now closed to within 3sec. With about 4-5 laps remaining, it's going to be a battle with me on worn primes and he on options! Lap 52-56 Battle with Earmack for P4 that literally comes down to the final turn! I had opened up some space on him and was actually using mix 1 to try and nurse tires for a safe finish when I had another slide in the same spot as before. I get back underway with no damage but Earmack is literally right behind for the whole last lap, and had I not timed that move into the final turn perfectly I would not have beaten him. Finish +1 lap in P4.
The incident with Grosjean AI probably cost me the podium, or at least a real chance at it. That said this is the best race I've had for a while. I'd a say a true return to my 2011 form, and against an overall faster field. That fight with Earmack was so good, and I was very happy to bag 12pts. Can't complain!
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 7
Finishes: 6
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 70
League table rank 4th of 15
--------------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 11
Finishes: 10
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 109
-------------------------------------
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 24
Finishes: 21
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 244
Team: Sauber
Participants: 8+4 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P6 (moved up to P5 due to a grid penalty)
Race: P6
Qualifying: Run 1 on options, 1 hot lap 1:36.719. Run 2 Scrubbed options, 1 hot lap. Improve to 1:36.341. Will start in P5 due to a 10 place grid penalty for Crafty gun.
Race: Lap 1 Nice clean start with a good jump. Maintain P5 into turn 1, then take the slippery turn 2 apex a bit wrong and go sliding toward outside but fortunately don't make contact with the car beside. Keeping about a second over SinFoolio and benny, then dyn0sp3ctrum goes into the pits (penalty?) and I find myself P4. Lap 2 Chasing down Earmack for P3 and widening my gap over cars behind. Lap 3 Earmack becomes a victim of slippery turn 2 and slides, letting me past to claim P3. Lap 4 Battling with Earmack for P3. I don't get onto the inside quickly enough out of turn 13 and Earmack gets the pass on the inside, but has come into turn 14 too hot and overshoots, letting me back past. He gets the inside again coming down start/finish and makes his pass stick for good. Drop to P4. Lap 5 Earmack gets wide at the tricky left hander turn 9-10, but recovers before I can get past. The chase ends with a throttle mistake out of turn 13 that starts me sliding. I recover, but watch Earmack disappear into the distance. Lap 6 Fighting off Crafty gun. Lap 7 In the thick of dueling with Crafty when my controller disconnects! Fortunately doesn't result in a fatal crash and I get back underway having dropped to P6. Lap 10 Catch dyn0sp3ctrum while he's pitted for P5. Struggling with grip on my worn tires + the slippery track. SinFoolio has made up almost 2sec on me over the lap, so I pit early for fresh options. Come out P8, right behind benny. Lap 11 Take benny on the inside at turn 10 for P7. Lap 12 Wait too long to brake at turn 1 and go into the runoff. Drop back to P8. Just as I'm getting another crack at him...another controller disconnect!!! Once again lucky to not have a fatal crash and get back underway still P8, but dead last of human drivers. At this point the disconnects have cost me 1-1.5 of a lap. Lap 19 Get the tiniest bit wide around the slippery uphill turn 11. Front right touches the curbing and starts me sliding. Can't recover and take front wing off in the wall. Pit for repairs and decide to change tire strategy, asking for primes. My pace has been fairly quick so I'm hoping two long runs to the finish will catch me up to the car in front in time to jump them in the closing stages. Resume still P8. Lap 29 Slippery turn 2 + loss of some aero grip behind Alonso AI results in a slide. Fortunately front wing does not get damaged and I'm able to continue still P8. Lap 38 Braking mistake at turn 9-10 starts me going sideways, but I catch it with no harm done. Lap 40 Final pit stop, for primes, from P8, about 7sec behind benny. Wondering if I will ever catch him, but not giving up in the slightest. Lap 45 Running in P7 now after SinFoolio wrecked his car. Continue to have good pace on primes and I've clawed my up to within the delta when benny makes his pit stop. I move up to P6, just ahead of him as he comes out, on options. So, another options vs primes battle, like last race. Lap 46 Benny has caught up now that his tires are up to temperature. He gets the pass around the outside into turn 14 and I'm back to P7. Lap 47 Benny goes wide into the runoff at turn 8, and I take back P6. He tries to take the outside at turn 13. We make slight contact when he turns in on me, and I think he ends up having a traction problem when he tries to re-enter the track. I punch mix 3 briefly to take advantage. Lap 51 I've been maintaining about 12-13sec over benny when my engineer tells me I need to go to mix 1 to save fuel. This is in spite of using the 'normal' fuel strategy and hardly using mix 3 at all. Will benny catch me now? Is he already saving fuel? Lap 55 With the pressure heaped on, I maintain the gap over benny and finish +2 laps in P6.
In almost all ways this was an epic finish almost better than a win. 2 wheel disconnects and a busted front wing, and somehow I survive and push and in the end defeat my direct rival. YES!!!
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 6
Finishes: 5
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 58
League table rank 5th of 14
--------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 10
Finishes: 9
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 97
----------------------------------
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 23
Finishes: 20
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 232
Team: Red Bull
Participants: 14
Qualifying: P9
Race: P7
Objective: 11th or better PASSED
Qualifying: Run 1 One hot lap on options 1:28.772. Run 2 One hot lap on options. Improve by about 4 hundredths to 1:28.733, but only good enough for P9
Race: Lap 1 got a great start, but unfortunately myself and an HRT go for the same spot at the same time and make contact. I get in the wall and lose my front wing. Pit for repairs and get back underway in P14, dead last and a ways behind. I also ask for primes to see if I can run until the rain comes since chance of rain is 47%. Lap 2 Overcook it into turn one on my cold tires and lose my shot at TheHemps. Coming into turn 14 I pass a very slow Benny to take P13. A bit too near to crashing for my taste though! TheHemps is up next, and he loses it coming out of the final turn, allowing me to shoot past for P12. Lap 5 Tiny mistake with the curb puts me in the wall and I've lost another front wing. Almost to the pits, and still running in P11 after someone disconnected, when I get into the gravel and TheHemps passes. Pit from P12 for repairs and the team gives me new primes. Back underway still P12. Lap 6 Benny is in pursuit and I have to slow for a blue flag at turn 6. I'm back on the gas as soon as the driver is past, but Benny has closed and gets a pass on the inside at turn 9. Once again dead last in P13. Then Benny makes a mistake through turn 11-12 and gets sideways. I pick the outside to go past since I think he is headed for the inside wall, but he comes back across still out of control and we collide. I have only a bit of front wing damage and get past him as he's still maneuvering to right himself following the collision. Not the best way to get back P12! Lap 21 After a disconnect and two race ending crashes I've moved up to P9 when I have a little spin just as I'm about to head into the pits. Pit from P9 and ask for options hoping to make some hay before the rain. Return still P9. Lap 31 A retirement has moved me up to P8. Pit for inters at the end of the lap as the first two sectors are pretty wet, but rain is still light. Return still P8, but then the call comes over the radio that heavy rain is coming in a few minutes. Should have chosen wets... Lap 33 Spin and tap the wall, as I'm not getting enough traction from inters. Minor damage only so I carry on, but I have to pit for wets at the end of the lap. Come out still P8. Lap 46 Moved up to P7 after another disconnect. Pass Earmack while he is pitted to take P6. Lap 47 Should have pitted for inters on the last lap as I am now struggling for grip on the wets and Earmack has caught up. He hits me at turn 13 and I spin off into the gravel, but I am able to get back underway still P6. Pit for inters and come out P7. Lap 52 Stayed out one lap too long and inters have lost grip. Pit for options and come out still P7. Lap 54 Finish 4 laps down in P7.
RD F1 2012 Weekly/Practice Fun Series
Starts: 1
Finishes: 1
Best Grid: P9
Best Race: P7
Podiums: 0
Wins: 0
Points: 6
Random Fun Series
Team: Sauber
Participants: 7+5 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P5
Race: P5
Objective: 11th or better PASSED
Apologies for the really poor video this time. Technical difficulties meant that the recording of this race was pretty much lost. Fortunately I was able to salvage my duel for 3rd with FrenziedSine in the opening laps, albeit crudely. The damaged video would play back in one of the players on my laptop, so I basically pointed my video cam at the laptop screen and recorded that. Sorry about the blaring TV in the background. The race came undone for me when FrenziedSine tapped me in the rear coming around the first turn and I got sideways. That was bad enough, but I was relatively undamaged until I got sideways in the marbles trying to get back on track in a very slippery turn 2, the second slide putting me in the wall and taking off my front wing. Almost the best racing that I had was unfortunately lost, a real battle for the ages with Benny for P4 after clawing my way back within reach of him. On what would end up being the last lap, my tires gave up and I lost P4 to Benny, limping over the line a lap down with all 4 of my tires punctured. Guess I pushed a little too far on tires that had been off track a wee bit too much. Ah well. I figure P4 was the "best available" to me. Might have been able to keep P3, but who knows. Lag ruined things for Frenzied and I both, but it was still really fun, even though I got frustrated. Those two battles were EPIC. If only my tires could have held on just a little longer! Still and all, a solid 10 points.
Here is Benny's video that captured the action. Honestly his POV is probably the better one lol. Where I got the pass on him isn't in there (he came out of his final pit stop just in front of me and I was able to make a move on him while his tires were cold), but the battle footage starts at the 08:21 mark. It is especially epic when you note that he is on options and I am on worn primes! He finally goes past me at around 22:44 as I'm having trouble getting around with at least one tire punctured at that point.
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 5
Finishes: 4
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 50
League table rank: 4th of 13 (3-way tie)
--------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 9
Finishes: 8
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 89
----------------------------------
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 22
Finishes: 19
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 224
Fair warning ahead of time, I am using my blunt honesty voice here, but it is in no way meant to sound attacking or belittling to my racing friend. Just being totally honest about what I think.
Anyway...After our most recent club race at China, one of my best racing friends and I had a difference of opinion about the employment of defending. I'm not even going to escalate the issue by calling it a disagreement, because no one was mad, there was no arguing, and the legality of my defending maneuvers was not in question.
To sum it up, my friend feels that defending is something that is saved for the closing stages of a race to protect a "earned" position. He feels that it is cowardly to employ defending tactics against a clearly faster driver that you happen to get the upper hand on in the first say two thirds of a race. He thinks the strategic roll over is what a driver should do. He went on to tell me that even in real life defending, especially in the early stages of a race, is not respected and considered spiteful. I am amazed as I have never heard this before in my life. There was also mention about not making moves offline because of things that might happen with lag and what could happen when you unlag.
My honest opinion is that I have every right to employ legal defending tactics in any and all stages of the race. If I'm only making the one move that the rules stipulate, and I'm not shoving you off the track, there is no problem. If you want to get around me, you're going to have to race me. That is racing. I am NOT going to roll over just because the attacking driver is "faster" and it's the first two-thirds of a race. I'm going to fight you tooth and nail, ESPECIALLY if I'm in a podium position, as I was against this friend I'm having the difference of opinion with. And I'm not sorry about it. Aggressive? Maybe. Legal? Definitely. And I say there is nothing unsporting about it so long as its WITHIN THE RULES. Period. If you really are faster you might get me eventually anyway, but I'm not going to hold the door open for you to waltz right through. As for the lag situation, I am not going to stick like glue to the racing line and not try to defend just because of what lag may or may not do to a pursuing driver behind me. It is far too unpredictable for me to try and control it, and once again, I'm not rolling over for you just because of lagging. More often than not I end up paying for the lag because the driver behind slams into me and plows me off track without ever knowing it, so I call that pretty much even in the end if not a massive disadvantage to me because I can't defend at all at any point in the race.
Team: Marussia
Participants: 5+7 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P7
Race: P5
Objective: Finish 11th or better PASSED
Not a lot to say about this race really, except that I've been away from racing for almost 3 weeks, and I think it played at least a small part in the disaster that was this round of the series for me. I'm also not terribly good at Hockenhiem, to be perfectly honest, and the whole issue with the grip being broken during weather transition ultimately cost me at least one place, the one I figure I deserved, P4, which could have maybe been a P3 if not for an unnecessary incident with a human backmarker. With chance of rain at 45%, I opted to start on primes and set up for wet - neither of which I think were mistakes.
Qualifying:
All sorts of wrong for me. Run 1 I got a decent banker lap of 1:21.921 that was enough for P7. Run 2 My one truly good hot lap got ruined by a slide and crash when I had bettered my banker by around 8 10ths, without enough time to go back out and try again. It would have been good enough for P4 or P5 I figure depending on how good last sector was.
Race: Lap 1 I find myself in P3 after a very chaotic and out of practice first lap. Lap 4 Finally catch and pass Alonso AI after a lot of mistakes. NOT the kind of pass I would ever try on a real human driver! Lap 7 As expected Giles has battled back after his early difficulties. I can't match his pace and he gets me on the DRS straight. I made a mistake not doing enough to protect the inside as well. Drop to P3. Lap 22 I've been keeping Crafty gun around 30sec behind me. He has closed to around 26sec when I pit from P3. Not confident that options will make it until its time for wet tires, I fit primes and come out still in front of Crafty by about 10sec. Lap 25-26 I lap Benny, but in trying to unlap himself we get into contact. I get sideways, but no damage, and I am back underway still in P3, though a little peeved at what has happened because Crafty is now within 2sec. Lap 29-33 I've been keeping the gap over Crafty to around 3sec. A mistake on the apex of the final turn sends me wide into the gravel, which results in Crafty getting DRS. I make another mistake with not getting over far enough to protect the inside and he gets past, dropping me to P4. I try to chase him down but eventually he starts to pull away in the clean air. The final nail in the coffin was me outbraking myself and getting into the runoff, which allowed him to finally slip away. Lap 35 Rain has started to fall. I decide to stay out for one more lap before asking for wets and pass Crafty while he is pitted to take back P3. Lap 36 Get sideways when I don't use quite enough care turning in on the slippery track. No damage and I'm back underway quickly, pulling into the pits from P3 for wets. Crafty passes me and I'm back down to P4. Lap 37 Throttle mistake out of a turn starts me aquaplaning and I get into the wall, taking off my front wing. Pit for repairs and get back underway still P4. I still have over a minute on Alonso AI. Lap 41-42 Pass Crafty while he is pitted to once again take back P3. Unfortunately I make a braking mistake and get sideways, letting him past. I think he would have gotten me anyway, as his wet pace seemed much better than mine. Back to P4. Lap 44 Spin. Alonso AI is now within 1min behind. Lap 52-53 Another spin in that same turn that's been giving me trouble all during this wet part of the race. Get righted and back under way with no damage. Alonso AI is still about 50sec behind. Unfortunately I lose the rear again when I go a bit off coming out of the final turn, and this time I take my front wing off in the barrier and have to do an entire lap before I can pit for repairs. Alonso AI is now just 7sec behind. Lap 59 Another slide. Alonso AI is now right behind me. Lap 60 Alonso AI bashes into me on the inside sending me sliding. Making matters worse Webber AI drives right into me, pushing me off onto the infield grass and through a sign before backing off. Dropped to P5. Then another slide because my wet tires on a wet track have no grip, even though they SHOULD, because the game has decided only inters have grip. ARGH. Pit for inters at end of lap and come out still P5. Lap 64 Surprised by Benny slowing down right in front of me on racing line, I overreact, not expecting his car to ghost, and crash. Fitting finish 3 laps down. Bleh.
Still and all, it could have been much much worse with my lack of practice, the conditions, and the broken grip during weather transition bug. I was consoled somewhat by meeting my finishing position goal and scoring a solid 10 points. My battle with Crafty over P3 was really really good, too.
----------------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 4
Finishes: 3
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 40
--------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 7
Finishes: 6
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 73
------------------------------------
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 20
Finishes: 17
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 208
Team: Williams
Season Objective: Finish 10th in Drivers Championship
Forecast had called for rain, but thanks to the patch it was realistically dry.
Q1
Q2
Finally made it to Q3!
Forgot to capture the race results screen...oops...but the important info is in the results email. First podium of the season!
With this first podium, I finally get ahead of Maldonado in the teammate challenge.
Season Results:
Australia Q-P18 R-P16
Malaysia Q-P17 R-P4
China Q-P15 R-P7
Bahrain Q-P8 R-P3
Career Progress-Playthrough 1
Season 1
Team: Williams
Professional AI
Starts 4
Best Grid P8
Best Finish P3
Podiums 1
Wins 0
Points 33
WDC 0
ABS/Full TC/Auto gearbox/Dynamic racing line/penalties realistic/damage full/tire & sim/long race weekend/50% distance
Team: Force India
Participants: 6 + 4 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P2
Race: DSQ
Qualifying: Run 1 Out lap troubles on full wets. 1st hot lap 1:32.666 P4. More trouble on hot lap #2. Hot lap #3 1:29.994, up to P3 from P7. dyn0sp3ctrum is disqualified, giving me P2. Run 2 1:27.705 on one hot lap for P2.
Race: Lap 1 Good start, but Bravo has the advantage on the inside and I can't get him going into St. Devote. Stupid braking mistake at Mirabeau Haute (T5) gets me into the wall and I lose my front wing. Pit from P2 for repairs and come out P10, dead last. Lap 2 Benny goes into the run off at T5. Pass for P9. Lap 3 Pass boothy while he's in the pits to take P7. Lap 6 Earmack pits, letting me take over P3. Lap 7 Braking mistake at Tabac (T12) and I spin, hitting the wall. Front wing takes some damage but performance is still ok so I stay out. Lap 13 Scary slide when I take a wee bit too much curb at T16, but I am able to save it. Lap 26 Mistake out of Nouvelle chicane finishes off my front wing and punctures right front tire. Limp the rest of the way back to the pits and come back out still safely in P3. Lap 27 Bravo has crashed out. Safety car deployed. Lap 28 I don't realize that I am about to catch the safety car (I didn't see its black icon when I glanced at the track map) and am surprised to see it in front of me as I round Massenet. I can't avoid hitting it, and I get disqualified. Race over.
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 3
Finishes: 2
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 30
League table rank 2nd of 12
-------------------------------------
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 19
Finishes: 16
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 198
--------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 6
Finishes: 5
Best Grid: P2
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 63
Team: HRT
Participants: 5 + 7 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: Random Grid - P11 (last human driver)
Race: P2
Objective: Finish 11th or better PASSED
Lap 1 Good launch at lights out. Get in front of benny for P10. P7 coming out of turn 1, passing earmack. P5 exiting turn 3. P3 after exiting turn 4. Lap 2 Fast lap. Lap 3 Boothy off at turn 6-7 complex. Move up to P2. Lap 4 Bravo spins coming out of turn 11, letting me take over P1. Lap 7 Fast lap. Lap 12 Pit 1 lap early from P1 for primes. Rejoin P2. Lap 22 Fast lap. Lap 24 Pass earmack while he's pitted to take back P1. Lap 31 Outbrake myself and go wide into the gravel at turn 3, letting earmack past to take back the lead. Drop to P2. Lap 35 Pit stop 1 lap early from P2 for primes. Final stop. Rejoin P2. Lap 60 Finish P2 on the lead lap +5.677
Both Bravo and boothy got disconnected after about 1/3 of the race, BUT both of them were behind me and not closing in. My mistake on Lap 31 at turn 3 was moot; considering how much faster earmack was, he would have gotten me soon anyway. I did get back to within about 6 sec of him when I lost the use of KERS for laps 53-54...I slipped back to +13sec but at race finish found myself just about 6sec behind because he had run out of fuel at the end of the final lap. If not for that KERS failure, I could very well have passed him for a win. It would have been much closer, to say the least! Still, I think P2 is about what I deserved. No less than P3. I was very happy to collect several fast laps, and also have a clean race free of any contact or spins. Much improved over race 1. F1 2012 definitely requires more care and discipline, but I think that makes it more like real life and therefore more fun. Feels more like we're doing what the real guys do. Definitely more of a challenge to hold it all together over 100% distance though!
RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 18
Finishes: 16
Best Grid: P3 (x2)
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 7
Wins: 1
Points: 198
--------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 5
Finishes: 5
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 2
Wins: 1
Points: 63
----------------------------------------
RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 2
Finishes: 2
Best Grid: P5
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 30
League table rank 2nd of 11
Season Objective: Finish 10th in Driver's Championship
Q1 Results (Dry)
Knocked out in Q2 (Wet)
Season Results:
Australia Q-P18 R-P16
Malaysia Q-P17 R-P4
China Q-P15 R-P7
-------------------------
Career Progress-Playthrough 1:
Season 1
Team: Williams
Professional AI
Starts 3
Best Grid P15
Best Finish P4
Podiums 0
Wins 0
Points 18
WDC 0
ABS/Full TC/Auto gearbox/Dynamic racing line/penalties realistic/damage full/tire & sim/long race weekend/50% distance
This was my experience with the Season Challenge mode, and what I discovered about how to win the WDC on Hard difficulty.
You can think of F1 2012's Season Challenge mode as "Quick Career". You have just one season of 10 races to try and win the Driver's Championship. Assuming you choose to play on the Hard difficulty setting like I did, you will get to choose one of the 3 lowest tier (tier 4) teams to start with: HRT, Marussia, or Caterham. Medium difficulty adds the next tier (tier 3) up, Williams, Torro Rosso, Sauber or Force India, while easy lets you choose any team. You advance through the team ranks by selecting a rival driver on the team you wish to join and beating them in a best two out of three races scenario. Conceivably you can get to a better team every two races with this format, affording you the opportunity to race with up to 5 different teams over the course of the season.
In keeping with the quick theme, your race weekend consists of one-shot qualifying (just one lap to do the best time you can) and a 5 lap race. You also only have the use of the engineer presets for your car setup. Due to parc ferme rules, this means you can only make an adjustment to your front wing before rolling out to go race. Its hard to meet the qualifying goals your team sets for you when you are in the lower teams because of this. Its a fair trade however since a front wing adjustment can make a massive difference in your race pace and that's what really counts in this mode.
My first time through, my career path was:
Caterham --> Williams (beat Maldonado) --> Lotus (beat Grosjean) --> Red Bull (beat Vettel)
In all cases, I was able to achieve the ideal outcome of beating my rival in back to back races to take their seat*. I reached a top tier team with 4 races still to go in the season. Now that I was with Red Bull Racing, winning races was a foregone conclusion. However, winning the Driver's Championship would not be. While I was tooling around in the lower teams working my way up, the top drivers, Alonso in particular, had been collecting a fair amount of points. I had only scored one win, with Lotus at Austin, and just one other podium, a P3. I only had a small handful of points in addition to that from my time at Caterham and Williams. I realize now that I could have won the championship by taking Alonso's seat at Ferrari after beating him in the rival challenge after my two races with Red Bull. But loving Red Bull I stayed there, and while I won all of those last 4 races, I lost out on the championship because Alonso collected enough points finishing 4th or so behind me to stay in the points lead. Mission failed, but I did come away from it knowing exactly what I wanted to try for my next playthrough.
(*Another important improvement for this years game is actually taking over for the driver you beat in a rival challenge, rather than defaulting to the number 2 driver seat with the number 1 driver still on the team, even if the number 1 driver was the rival you beat. ie If you choose Vettel as your rival and beat him, Mark Webber will now be your teammate, rather than getting Webber's seat by default when you join the team. Nice for us folks that care about which driver is our teammate.)
I noticed as I was playing through the first time that "number 2" drivers from the tier 2 teams were finishing within striking distance of my lower team during the course of the season, namely Grosjean and Rosberg. I had finished ahead of them when I was racing at Caterham. So I decided for my second play to pick Rosberg as my first rival (because I didn't have much success with the pace of the Lotus in my first play). If things unfolded in a similar fashion as last time, I could take his seat at Mercedes and after just two races be in a position to challenge a rival from one of the big 3 (Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari), effectively leapfrogging an entire tier and having a chance to take serious points off of a leading driver while gunning for their seat. I could potentially have a seat at a top tier team with a whole 6 races to go, rather than just 4.
My second playthrough path was:
Caterham --> Mercedes (beat Rosberg) --> Red Bull (beat Vettel)
The Mercedes was a vastly improved choice for me vs the Lotus. I was able to absolutely dominate with it in races 3 and 4, at Silverstone and Montreal respectively, bagging an unexpected 50pts. The silver arrow was particularly lights out at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Wow!
So, Rosberg beaten in two races to move from Caterham to Mercedes. Then Vettel beaten in two races to take his seat at Red Bull. I picked Vettel mainly because he was lagging in the standings and seemed easiest to pick off for my coveted Red Bull seat, but truthfully I wanted Webber as my teammate anyway. Webber was also the much stronger driver and so would be a big help taking points away from the drivers I was chasing in the championship. This time, I was going to a top team just 14pts adrift of championship leader Alonso. For insurance I chose him to be my rival. I win the next 4 races, then take 2nd at Hockenheim in the rain which is enough to mathematically eliminate all challengers and clinch the Driver's Championship with the final race at Abu Dhabi yet to be run. All without having to resort to stealing Alonso's ride at Ferrari.
I really really enjoyed my time with this mode. You get to enjoy the thrill of a season and moving up through the teams in a nice condensed format that is fabulous for those of us that don't have as much time to play. Now I'm not saying I would rather have this than the full career. What I am saying is this is an awesome thing to have available as an option when you want to play and don't have the time for one of your full career race weekends. Really good addition. Much more satisfying than simple quick race.
The path I've presented here is the easiest way. If you are looking for more of a challenge, pick either Marussia or HRT, as neither team has the use of the KERS system. Then try moving on to Lotus. I imagine it would be quite the gamble to see if you could beat either a Mercedes or a Lotus in one of those cars, but there you have it. I declare HRT/Marussia --> Lotus --> Ferrari the proper 'hardest' mode.
Team: Lotus
Participants: 9+3 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P5
Race: P4
Objective: Finish 9th or better PASSED
Qualifying:
Run 1 1:35.583 on options. Good for provisional pole, but I dropped to P4 by the time I returned to the garage. Run 2 On options, no improvement. End session in P5.
Race:
Lap 1 Initially lose a position to winky going around turn 1. I'm taking extra care to be safe, leave enough room, and stay out of contact. Winky goes wide at turn 4 letting me take back P5. Someone is off at turn 6, giving me P4. Winky passes me on the outside into turn 15, dropping me back to P5. Ash has pitted and I pass him to move back into P4. Lap 2 Chasing winky. He goes too deep at turn 16, letting me past to take P3. Lap 6 Calzonie gets DRS but goes too deep into turn 6 giving the position back. Lap 8 Make a mistake chasing Sentry Bravo through Maggotts/Becketts and get a bit wide onto the grass. Lose traction as my wheels come back onto the tarmac and get sideways, taking my front wing off in the barrier. Pit from P5 for a new wing and ask for primes. Come out P8. Lap 10 Trying to pass down straight into turn 6, but I'm blocked with Alonso AI inside and benny outside. Benny goes off onto the grass at turn 13 and I go past for P6. Lap 12 Pass Calzonie while he's pitted for P5. Lap 13 Battling Irish. Lap 14 On Irish's tail through Maggotts/Becketts, getting the pass finally at turn 13 for P4. Lap 16 Calzonie taps me on the inside going around turn 6 and I start to get sideways but am able to save it. He gets by in the process, dropping me to P5. Then he gets on the grass at turn 13 and I take back P4. Lap 17 Calzonie gets a clean pass on me this time into turn 6. Drop back to P5. We're fighting it out down the old pit straight. He moves offline to block the inside. I try to go outside, and he moves back to block me. I then try to dive inside only to have him turn in and hit me, which sends me sideways, but at least my front wing doesn't get destroyed this time. Irish gets past and I'm down to P6. Lap 18 Get wide around turn 1 and lose traction as wheels come back onto the tarmac (just like earlier incident). I almost save it but end up spinning. Get back underway still in P6. Lap 21 Pass Irish while he's pitted to take back P5. Next lap Calzonie gets disconnected, giving me P4. Lap 25 Pit stop for another set of primes that I hope will make it to the end of the race. Irish passes me and I come out P5. Lap 33 Catch Irish while he's pitted for P4. Lap 51 Finish in P4, one lap down.
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RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series
Starts: 1
Finishes: 1
Best Grid: P5
Best Race: P4
Podiums: 0
Wins: 0
Points: 12
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RD F1 2012 Club Stats
Starts: 4
Finishes: 4
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 1
Wins: 1
Points: 45
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RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 17
Finishes: 15
Best Grid: P3 (x2)
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 6
Wins: 1
Points: 180
Team: Sauber
Participants: 3 + 21 Legend AI
Qualifying: P20
Race: P2
Objective: Finish 19th or better PASSED
Qualifying:
Disastrous...Run 1 Setup was all wrong, and I think also I might have been struggling due to using a different television than I learned to play the game on. I got into the wall going wide coming up to the top of Eau Rouge, taking off my front wing in the tire wall. Run 2 Best I could manage on 1 hot lap was 1:49.610, which was only good enough for P19. By the time I got back to the garage I had slipped to P20. Worst of all, I did not have enough time for another run. I was stuck well down the grid behind a lot of AI. Work would be cut out for me in this final round of the series. The only good news was that benny had waited until the last minute to roll out for his run and then made an error that disqualified him from the session. He would start behind me dead last in P24 having set no time.
Race:
I decided to stick with the recommended tire strategy, which was option-option-prime (and starting on options). If I could be good and fast on the softer rubber, I might be able to continually undercut the drivers ahead to pass them when they pit after me, then have a nice long run on primes for my final stint to at least keep me in position if not catch anyone still ahead that would need be stopping after me to end on options. Lap 1 I get an excellent start and come away from the first turn in P7, in spite of coming in way hotter than I intended. What matters is I got through spin and penalty free! I am however experiencing a lot of lag with the AI cars, watching them bouncing and popping in and out ahead of me. I'm struggling a bit on high fuel and then have an incident coming around turn 16 where it seemed like the AI car behind suddenly lagged forward, slamming into me on the inside. I slide sideways into the gravel trap and get up on two wheels, nearly flipping over. Somehow, I escape damage and get back underway in P10. Lap 5 Bizzare AI weirdness courtesy of network lag. Luckily, I don't get crashed out. It looks like my front wing gets destroyed, but status shows its ok. Passing the lagged AI carefully enough to not crash is going to be tough. Lap 6 Button & Rosberg AI both overshoot turn 7 at the end of the Kemmel straight and nearly take me out when they re-enter unsafely. Lap 8 Button AI is giving me hell but I get DRS on him and get him on the inside at turn 7. I'm now P5 with a couple of laps to go in my first stint. FrenziedSine has long since disappeared off into the distance, but benny is still somewhere back behind. Lap 10 Pit stop for options. Come out P11 with benny having gone past. Lap 15 My undercut strategy has worked. I've caught all the AI drivers and am P3 when benny ahead hits pit lane. I pass him to take over P2. Lap 20 Pit stop for options. Come out still in P2. Benny was behind me in P3 but has dropped to P4 behind Vettel AI. A couple laps later he's dropped even further back. Maybe a pit stop for damage? Lap 29 Around Lap 24 benny starts setting blinding laps, setting fast lap several times in a row. He is about 2sec behind me when I decide to hit pit lane one lap early for my final stop to fit primes. I'm hoping to undercut him and get by when he makes his last stop. I come out P3. Lap 34 I am able to stay within the pit delta and pass benny when he stops to take back P2. Lap 35 Benny is a lot faster than I am on his options. He has closed the gap and gets DRS on me down Kemmel. Unfortunately I am lagged out and getting hit going around turn 7 so I have to let him pass or risk crashing. Drop back to P3. Lap 43 Benny has pulled out a 23sec lead, even getting another fast lap, and though I know P3 is probably where I will finish, I am still pushing in the hopes that I could take advantage if he makes some kind of mistake. Then I hear him say over my headset that he's got a puncture. He has to do a whole lap on the bad tire. I catch him at turn 15 where he has gone off into the gravel and go by to once again take back P2. He pits behind me, and I have a clear run to the end. Lap 44 Finish in P2 on the lead lap to clinch third place in the series!
RaceDepartment Random Fun League Stats
Starts: 8
Finishes: 7
Best Grid: P3 (x2)
Best Race: P2 (x2)
Podiums: 4
Wins: 0
Points: 98
3rd place in series
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RaceDepartment Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats
Starts: 16
Finishes: 14
Best Grid: P3 (x2)
Best Race: P1
Podiums: 6
Wins: 1
Points: 168
It was the third of three 25% distance test races that we were doing for the new Random Fun Series that my club is putting together for F1 2012. As fate would have it, the randomly selected track was Monaco, which has thus far proven to be my multiplayer nemesis. I've had two races there (in F1 2011), and both ended early with crash out DNFs. My first hint of a change of fortune came in being placed in the McLaren, a car that I had setup and driving experience with at this track from doing one of the previous RaceNet events. The next hint came when I saw my grid assignment. For this test we were using a no quali, random grid assignment, and the computer had chosen to put me on pole! A car I knew what to do with, and pole...I've had some bad luck at this track, but I am still a Monaco specialist, and this time I aimed to show it, especially with the amazing car/grid gift I had been given. All I had to do was get through 20 laps. Easier said than done. No margin for error. It might be "easiest" from pole, but it is very very far from "easy".
Starting on options. At lights out I get a fabulous jump. Perfect KERS boost start! I slam the door on the inside around St. Devote, no one gets around on the outside, and I accelerate cleanly away up the hill in first place. As the laps tick off, I maintain a 10-12sec gap over the car behind. I am scheduled to stop on lap 9, but my lap times have started going off as of lap 7. The car behind is starting to reel me in, with gap down to around 7sec. I know from my engineer chatter (and timing and scoring) that he has not stopped yet. He is still on the options he started with and will need to pit, so I make the call to pit early on lap 8 before he gets any closer, hoping to undercut him and then pass him by when he eventually goes in. He does not follow me in to the pits. I can't remember if I came out in P2, or if it was further down the field. If I did come out lower than P2, I caught drivers in front while they were pitted in the laps after my stop, and stayed within 10-12sec of Giles before passing him when he finally pitted to take back the lead. I crank up the engine temporarily to try and build more of a gap while Giles is running on cold tires and try to just drive smoothly. It is all going well until someone destroys their car and brings out the safety car, totally buggering the gap I had built over Giles. We do maybe 2 or 3 laps under the safety car, and its set to go in with about 5 laps to go. I've been studiously warming my tires, and turn the engine back up as we come to the pit entrance. The safety car dives into the pits, the lights go green, and I get a great jump at the restart. I streak down start/finish with Giles hot on my tail and once again slam the door on him at St. Devote, keeping him behind. He is literally up my tailpipe, applying enormous pressure. Any mistake will let him past. DRS is reactivated, and I start switching to mix 3 and dumping KERS down start/finish to keep him from making a run on me into St. Devote. The rest of the lap I'm aggressively defending the inside for insurance. No question I'm feeling the pressure, and there are a few close calls going around the Leows hairpin, where I wasn't so sure that he wasn't going to squeeze past me on the inside, but I'm still keeping him behind me. On the last lap something happens to Giles (I think he went into St. Devote too hot trying to get a run on me with DRS) and I find myself heading up the hill with some breathing room. I keep the final lap quick enough, but careful, and cross the finish line safely for the win! Woo hoo!!!
I know it was only a test race, but I really wish I had recorded it. Error free driving from me, epic outfoxing with my stop strategy call, and what a battle to the end with Giles. He had me terrified the whole way to the end! Finally got redemption for those two DNFs. Knew I could do it, and it was so awesome to pull it off!
It seems too that I had no lag at all during any of the three races we ran today, and that was with at least 2 americans present and combined with several UK folks. Even with a small grid I have always had lag issues with Giles, and they seem to be gone and least with this smaller grid that we had. Hard to say if I will lag out again or not when there are 8-16 players. So far so good though. Miles better than F1 2011. It was such a difference that I'm actually not sure now if I'm going to go back to playing F1 2011 online. We will see.
Team: Red Bull
Participants: 4+7 Legend AI
Qualifying: P4
Race: P2
Qualifying:
We had wet weather for qualifying, on inters. I decided to go with my dry setup as it would be a dry race, so my times were going to be a bit compromised. Run 1 After spending 4 laps getting tires warmed up and feeling out grip levels I did a hot lap on mix 3 to get a 1:35.926 Run 2 Went back out on the scrubbed inters from run one since I knew I wouldn't need them for the race. I had enough time for 1 warmup lap and 1 mix 3 hot lap and improved to 1:34.610, P4 but last of human drivers.
Race: Lap 1 Get Jaegermeister on the inside under braking going into turn 3 to steal P3. Lap 2-3 Defending against Jaegermeister. Lap 4 Jaegermeister gets me when I go wide braking too late into turn 15. Drop to P4. I almost get the position back at turn 16, but I can't quite get the advantage. Lap 10 Pit stop for primes. Come out P5. Lap 13 Jaeger has had an off at turn 3 or 4. I go past for P3. My hope at this point is to stay in front of him and out run his next pit stop. Lap 18 Pass Warleb while he is in the pits for P2. Lap 20 Warleb is hot on my tail, but I keep him behind me at turn 15. Lap 21 Warleb makes contact with me coming into turn 6 and upsets my car, sending me off track. Fortunately car is undamaged and I only drop to P3. Lap 23 Warleb is disqualified over an incident with the AI, and I move back up to P2. Lap 28 I've been keeping a gap of around 10-12sec over Jaegermeister behind me in P3. He pitted at the end of lap 27, and I have cranked up my engine to mix 3 to try and get even more of a gap for the stop I will make at the end of this lap in immediate response to his. Jaegermeister is 40sec behind when I hit the pit lane for my final stop, to fit options. I come out still in P2, with Jaegermeister around 13sec behind. Lap 39 Jaegermeister had gotten as close as 7sec, but I'm able to hold him off until the finish, taking P2 with a nice 11sec cusion.
This race was a rematch of the Random Fun race between Eric and I, so I was keen to beat him. I knew what I had done wrong last time, my setup was tuned, and I had an improved tire strategy. I needed him to make a mistake as well, but I have learned that he frequently does, and I was really ready to pounce on him this time if and when he did. I was really proud of the job I did this time around. Let me tell you, he kept me honest in the 2nd and especially the final stint. I was doing a lot of fancy fuel mix switching to give me a little boost where I needed it every single lap during that time. I still thought for sure he was going to catch me, but he never did. It was almost a perfect reversal of our last race against each other here. Key decision of the race was outlasting his pit stop and then making mine immediately after on the next lap while he was still slow on cold tires. I had to be quick on that lap as well, and I was able to pull off the gap and get back out before he could get too close. That was THE moment where I beat him.
After the race there was a big tantrum from someone about how they didn't join RD to race AI and how they were refusing from this point to participate in any races with AI. They're sick of getting crashed into blah blah throwing their toys. My response to people that whine about the AI is that you have to learn to drive around them safely. That's the game. We all know how they behave. It should be in your skill set to be able to overtake them with enough care not to have an incident. To me a driver that's always getting into it with the AI can't adjust to the difference of their driving, and its just not that hard. To me, if you can't do that, then you aren't as good a driver as you think you are. I'm no hotshot, but I'm able to deal with the AI just fine and usually it causes barely a ripple in my race. But I have the discipline to use the proper care, and the ability to respond and adapt to the way the AI behaves. Now of course I would rather race with all humans and no AI, but when the grid is small I feel like some AI need to be there or its just too easy for the fastest guys to run away with it. If they are so good, dealing with the traffic should be no problem. And if they can't do that, they deserve the consequence of their inability to handle it. Plus an empty track is just way too boring.
Race Department Weekly Fun Series Stats
Starts: 5
Finishes: 4
Best Grid: P4
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 1
Wins: 0
Points: 37
Random Fun Series 9 Brazil
Team: HRT
Participants: 3+8 Legend AI
Qualifying: P3
Race: P3
Qualifying:
Took two different runs in dry conditions and just could not do better than P3, last among human drivers. Though my setup was good the other two human drivers were 1-2sec better than me on dry pace, even the driver that was on primes like me. I didn't make major adjustments for the wet race since the forecast said 27% chance of rain.
Race: Lap 1 Mistake at the start as I carry a bit too much speed through the Senna S while trying to safely pass FrenziedSine who has gone off and is re-entering. I bump the wall and spin. Down to P11, dead last. Lap 7 I've made it back up to P3. Ahead, FrenziedSine is making mistakes. My wet pace is good. I'm catching up, and he gets wide at turn 12, letting me past for P2. Lap 25 I've kept FrenziedSine behind me. I pit and ask for inters since its still very wet on track even though the rain has pretty much stopped. Its just too wet for me to risk primes. I come out still in P2. Lap 36 The drier it gets, the more pace FrenziedSine is finding. He's been reeling me in all through the stint. Benny has long ago disappeared into the distance, so I know at this point my race is for P2. I pit at the end of the lap for primes to go to the end. FrenziedSine goes past, and I come out in P3. Lap 39 Fast lap! Lap 40 Improve fast lap and pass FrenziedSine while he's pitted to take back P2. Lap 41 Another fast lap! Lap 43 FrenziedSine gets DRS on me down start/finish and make the pass under braking down the inside going into turn 1, putting me back to P3. I just don't have the pace now that its dry. Lap 53 Finish 1 lap down.
I would have of course loved to beat a real human driver in this one, but I'm not disappointed because I had great fun racing FrenziedSine this time around. I held him off all race until there were just 9 laps to go. I can't be too upset about that when I know how much better he is than me. It was just a shame that I suffered from such lack of pace once it was dry. I also got another great compliment from FrenziedSine post race:
"I had a great enjoyable battle or battles with SLIDERZ for pretty much the rest of the race. I spent probably about 15 or 20 laps on your tail trying to get by or hoping I can pressure you into a mistake but that never happened. Beautiful defensive driving on your part."
So next week is the 10th and final race in the series, and there's a nice little 3 way battle for third place in the standings which I currently occupy. Depending on whether or not the one guy shows up (I'm thinking not), its pretty much going to be between me and benny to duke it out, but as long as I don't DNF and finish say top 3, third place should be mine.
Race Department Random Fun League Stats
Starts: 7
Finishes: 6
Best Grid: P3 (x2)
Best Race: P2
Podiums: 3
Wins: 0
Points: 83
League table rank: 3rd of 10
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Race Department Lifetime Club Stats
Starts: 12
Finishes: 10
Best Grid: P3 (x2)
Best Race: P2 (x2)
Podiums: 4
Wins: 0
Points: 120
