F1 2012 Race Report - RaceDepartment Random Fun Series 16 Yeongam

Team: Toro Rosso
Participants: 6 + 6 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P4 1:44.xxx (Start P9 due to grid penalty)
Race: P4

A grid penalty...then 2 drive throughs in the first 3 laps...and yet I emerged victorious over my direct competition and scraped out a solid P4. I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to catch benny, but I didn't give up. My setup really started to pay off about half way through the race, and when I got back on super softs I started FLYING. I was able to push hard but still preserve the tires and reel benny in. It was really tough though. Definitely had to earn it, but that's the best kind of race, when it isn't easy, and things look bad, but somehow you pull it out of the fire. I really had fun having benny as my teammate in the race too. Nothing like a little teammate rivalry duel! We even had a perfectly orchestrated team pit stop sequence on lap 32, where I pulled into the pit box just as he was exiting pit lane!

You can also check out bennyherbs video. Great view of our up close battles! A teammate battle for the ages...


Random Fun Series Race 16 Highlights from bennyherbs on Vimeo.

RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series

Starts: 11

Finishes: 10

Best Grid: P1

Best Race: P2

Podiums: 1

Wins: 0

Points: 126

League table rank 4th of 18 (126pts)

RD F1 2012 Club Stats

Starts: 15

Finishes: 14

Best Grid: P1

Best Race: P1

Podiums: 2

Wins: 1

Points: 165

RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats

Starts: 28

Finishes: 25

Best Grid: P1

Best Race: P1

Podiums: 7

Wins: 1

Points: 300

F1 2012 Race Report - RaceDepartment Random Fun Series 15 Suzuka

Team: Marussia
Participants: 7 + 6 Intermediate AI
Qualifying: P1 1:38.777
Race: P4

RD F1 2012 Random Fun Series

Starts: 10

Finishes: 9

Best Grid: P1

Best Race: P2

Podiums: 1

Wins: 0

Points: 114

League table rank 5th of 17 (114pts)

RD F1 2012 Club Stats

Starts: 14

Finishes: 13

Best Grid: P1

Best Race: P1

Podiums: 2

Wins: 1

Points: 153

RD Lifetime F1 Games Club Stats

Starts: 27

Finishes: 24

Best Grid: P1

Best Race: P1

Podiums: 7

Wins: 1

Points: 288

Space Shuttle Endeavour

This weekend while I was in Los Angeles I went to see the space shuttle Endeavour. I discovered at the very last minute that the temporary exhibit at the California Science Center was open, and I was fortunately able to go get tickets. I don't know what else to say except that it was incredible. What a beautiful, grand lady she is. I actually got emotional when they walked us into the hangar and I finally saw her. I spent my childhood, really my entire life up to the final mission, captivated and fascinated by the program, so to see one of these orbiters for real, so close that I could touch it if I wanted to...I had no idea we would get that close. I don't have the words to describe how it made me feel. I did feel just a tiny bit guilty shopping for souvenirs in her majestic shadow...

Visit my Flickr album here to see the rest of my photos.

F1 2012 Career Season 1 - Round 6 Monte Carlo

Team: Williams
Season Objective: Finish 10th in Drivers Championship
Qualifying Objective: FAILED
Race Objective: PASSED

Of all the races where I would accidentally screw the pooch, it had to be this one. My very most favorite, Monaco. And the worst part was, I had the pace to probably qualify on the third or 4th row. Unfortunately, in a moment of distraction after finishing Q1, I reverted to my old F1 2011 habits, where I didn't have full qualifying and there was only one session, so I would set a time and then skip to the race. So after only doing Q1, I accidentally skipped to the race instead of skipping to the next session, Q2, which put me 17th on the grid. Total disaster, and no way to undo it. To make matters worse, my setup was not ideal in the tire wear department, and I would be making 2 stops instead of 1 like the rest of the field. Uh oh. That alone makes me think I might have finished in the same position even if I had gotten the benefit of being further up the grid, but who knows for sure. To make a long story short, I ended up doing this at 25% distance (instead of the usual 50%) because finishing 14th or 16th after a second pitstop could spell disaster for my season, and I just wasn't willing to accept that big of a blow, especially since it all started with a dumb mistake in the menus during qualifying. 25% made a one-stopper possible for me, and believe me, it was a plenty hard fought race. I got up as high as P3, but didn't have enough pace to create a gap that would let me keep it, and wound up P6. The important thing was I scored a good number of points and beat Maldonado again for more breathing room in the teammate challenge. Still disgusted that it was such a mess. Lost opportunity...

Put up a great time in the first session of qualifying...and then blew it by accidentally skipping ahead to the race instead of the next qualifying session.

 After switching to 25% distance so that I could successfully run the same one-stop strategy as the computer, I managed to salvage the mess with P6. 

 Still sitting 8th in the WDC.

Race Results:

Australia Q-P18 R-P16

Malaysia Q-P17 R-P4

China Q-P15 R-P7

Bahrain Q-P8 R-P3

Spain Q-P8 R-P12

Monte Carlo Q-P17 R-P6

Career Progress:

Season 1

Team: Williams

Professional AI

Starts 6

Best Grid P8 (x2)

Best Finish P3

Podiums 1

Wins 0

Points 41

WDC 0

ABS/Full TC/Auto gearbox/Dynamic racing line/penalties realistic/damage full/tire & fuel sim/long race weekend/50% distance

F1 2012 Career Season 1 - Round 5 Spain

Team: Williams
Season Objective: Finish 10th in the Drivers Championship
R&D Objective - PASSED
Qualifying Objective - PASSED
Race Objective - FAILED

Q1

Q2

Another appearance in Q3...Just edged by my teammate.

After a promising start, getting as high as P4, I finished out of the points. Struggled for pace all weekend and it caught me in the race. But I did beat my teammate!

Still doing well in the Drivers Championship

...and still winning 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
Spain Q-P8 R-P12


Career Progress-Playthrough 1

Season 1

Team: Williams

Professional AI

Starts 5

Best Grid P8 (x2)

Best Finish P3

Podiums 1

Wins 0

Points 33

WDC 0

ABS/Full TC/Auto gearbox/Dynamic racing line/penalties realistic/damage full/tire & fuel sim/long race weekend/50% distance