The league is only open to the drivers who have reached the absolute
pinnacles of their racing careers. It is what newbie VROC racers
should aspire to. The standard is aimed to be the very highest.
Today's race got off to a bad start for both Team Orange Cooper
drivers. Both blew engines at the start line and misinterpreted the
shift-r only in pits rule to include being stationary outside the
pits. Both were later disqualified.
The race was marred by a huge pile up at T1 - removing half of the
field. Confusion reigned as rule books were checked by team
managers, but the officials chose to simulate a safety car to give
everyone crashed time to press Esc and get the hell out of it. There
was the normal "Bonehead smacked into me" vs "He was so slow - I can
't believe anyone would brake that early" remarks in the in race
chat.
The young Finn, driving a Mclaren (Eagle) took advantage of a
shift-r in the pits to repair his damaged but running car. He also
took the opportunity to retrieve his cigarette lighter that he'd
dropped in his seat seconds before the race start - much to the
relief of his rear end.
At the race restart the leading Scot managed to get away as the
second placed Italian in the yellow & blue Brabham managed to fend
off the Ferrari & Eagle behind him. Unfortunately at the second
Lesmo his throttle spring broke - spinning him off. Disappearing
under the desk to try to repair his pedals he left his car parked on
the exit of the bend, giving the officials no choice but for a
second simulated safety car.
Disaster struck for the Scot as on the entry to Parabolica at the
next restart his gear shift button failed to operate - leading to an
embarrassing trip across the grass before the restart, dropping
several places in the process. This was to be start of more
controller maladies.
The Eagle (driven by the only Columbian in the race) got the legs on
the Ferrari down the straight to snatch first. A good fight followed
with the Ferrari clearly faster but unable to match the Eagle's pace
down the straights. Eventually the Eagle ran wide into Lesmo1 giving
the Ferari the lead into Lesmo2.
The Scot finally succumbed to his controller problems when he couldn
't change down out of top gear.
Further down the field the only Canadian (Murasama) suffered
disaster as his home built race simulator collapsed under him -
sending him off the track. "I built it myself for $25" he later
explained "I think I'll have to go back to drawing board for the
next race"
The race finished with victory for the only Ferrari driver, the
Columbian second in the Eagle and the Finn third in the Mclaren. In
fourth place was a surprised Irish driver in a Cooper. "Qualifying
was a disaster" he explained "I never planned to drive a Cooper here
at Monza but I was driving a spec race before & forgot to change
cars" he grinned. "Add to that my pots were spiking - I was way off
the pace - even behind a BRM - what a bizarre race!"
Even more surprising was fifth place for a rookie Aussie in a BRM.
Only really included to add to the e***ment for the front runners
dealing with lapped traffic, the demise of most of the field left
him in a points scoring position. The biggest scare was when he was
reeled by another Finn (Murasama) in the closing stages. A basic
error into Parabolica running wide and putting a wheel on the grass
causing a spin halted the Finn's charge, though he still retained
sixth place.
Race organiser Bernie Ecclescake insisted the race was a success.
"Losing half of the field in T1, and having to disqualify two for
shift-r violations was disappointing." He added "I am sure the next
race will be better and there will be better preparation with
controllers"
Many of the VROC community may yet be convinced that this is truly
the cream of their beloved sport. One commented "So much for GLA -
care into T1 - I've seen better rookie races than this"
NB: Following a post race meeting between the stewards and drivers,
it was agreed all the drivers should spend some time with F1RC to
avoid braking on the racing line when being closely followed.