Andrew Hurn medal 5000 11 years 138 days ago (edited 11 years 138 days ago)
WINNERS - Season 19
Rookie - Tarvo Allmere takes both titles & Benjamin Smith promotes to Pro.
Pro - Leon Creighton takes both titles & Fargo Farinas promotes to Elite
Elite - Lewis Goodway takes both titles & Chris Louth takes the other 100 ranking points
Well done all of you
The top 3 ranked teams are in our league....if you think you are good enough.....we have places in Rookie & Pro.
Andrew Hurn medal 5000 11 years 135 days ago
British Racing League – Elite Tier – Season 19 Review
This season was dominated by 3 teams & whilst there was a gallant battle for best of the rest, the fight at the front was absorbing.
Australia
Jerayesh took pole for King Power (KP) & the 1st 17 were covered by 1 second. Palmer was on the front row for Follow Me On Twitter, (FMOT) & hounded Jerayesh from the start, making it passed during their 2nd stint on lap 19. Jerayesh looked as if he might take the lead back for the next few laps, never more than 0.8 behind, but after their 2nd stops Palmer pulled away by just a few seconds. The chasers were unable to get close enough to make a challenge & Palmer took the opening round. His team mate Nowak was 2nd 4 seconds behind, with Jerayesh for King Power (KP) taking 3rd a further 5 seconds back. Lauda for DoxJQ held off a late challenge from Hamilton (KP) for the minor places. In the best of the rest battle, Atomic GP F1 took the lead with Kuznetsov finishing 7th.
Malaysia
Palmer was on pole & the top 18 were covered by 1 second. Palmer led almost the entire race & finished some 12 seconds ahead. Behind though there was a great scrap which started after their 2nd pit stops. Never more than a few seconds apart, Mansell (DoxJQ) made his decisive move on lap 28 when he passed Jerayesh for 2nd place. Lauda passed Nowak on lap 29 & Jerayesh on lap 30. Jerayesh took 3rd back on lap 50, which secured his 3rd place. Nowak looked faster than Lauda & set his fastest lap of the race with 1 lap to go & took 4th, but Lauda fought back & retook the place on the final lap. Kuznetsov was again best of the rest in 7th.
EJ Technical Motorsport (EJTM) formerly so often at the sharp end, failed to score in the opening 2 rounds. The team had never previously had 2 consecutive non scores & your writer resolved to have a serious rethink about the teams direction. Someone else considering their team was Lewis Goodway. Despite Nowak finishing 2nd & 5th in the opening 2 rounds Lewis chose this moment to replace him; he surely didn't have anyone faster, did he?
China
He did. Kubica was the replacement & he was on pole, with 1 second covering the top 19. Qualifying was wet & so was the start of the race, but the new pairing at FMOT were not affected by this & Kubica led every lap, while his team mate came from 4th on the grid to take their 2nd 1,2. They were 16 seconds clear of the rest & to many it appeared that the championship was already over. It stopped raining on lap 11, but the front runners took it in their stride. Jerayesh had an uneventful run to 3rd & was followed by Lauda & Hamilton. In a change of fortune EJTM was best of the rest, Zerdzinski finishing 7th albeit 25 seconds behind Mansell & his team mate Dogan with one of the drives of the season to 8th from 21st on the grid.
The points:
Drivers: Palmer 68, Jerayesh 45, Lauda 36, Mansell 34, Hamilton 28.
Teams: FMOT 121, KP 73, DoxJQ 70, Atomic 15, EJTM 10.
Bahrain
Pole went to Hamilton & the 1st 22 on the grid were covered by 1 second. Hamilton led for most of the race & had 6 seconds at the end over Lauda & Mansell. Palmer looked like he was going to be 4th, but he stopped on the final lap for fuel dropping him to 7th. Jerayesh moved up to 4th & Schmidt for That Slow Team (TST), broke into the top 5 with a superb drive from 17th on the grid.
Spain
In a close battle for Pole, Hamilton just pipped Kubica & Palmer, the 3 separated by just 0.014 seconds & the 1st 24 were covered by 0.9 seconds. Palmer passed Kubica almost immediately & started to chase Hamilton. They ran nose to tail, rarely more than a second apart, until their 2nd stops when Palmer made it into the lead on time adjusted for pit stops & took his 3rd victory of the season. Hamilton stayed in 2nd some 3 seconds ahead of Jerayesh who held off a late challenge from Kubica. Lauda came from 10th on the grid to make up the top 5. Webber was best of the rest in 7th for Project Lyons Mercedes (PLM).
Monaco
Mansell was on pole & the 1st 25 were covered by 1 second. Palmer was once again at the front when it mattered. This was a much more systematic victory though, slowly moving forward from 5th on the grid, 3rd before his opening stop, 2nd before his second stop, taking the lead on lap 43. His margin of victory was only 9.3 seconds, but it might just as well have been 9 minutes, such was his advantage. With 4 wins from the 1st 6 races he had one hand on the trophy already. Mansell had been leading early on, but slid back a little, taking 3rd behind his team mate Lauda. Jerayesh was 3rd early on & finished 4th 2 seconds behind Mansell & 3 seconds ahead of Kubica who came from 12th on the grid. Schmidt was again best of the rest in 7th. Peter Brandenburg's USF1 team scored their 1st point in the Elite tier with one of the drives of the season; Magee finishing a fine 10th from 21st on the grid.
The points:
Drivers: Palmer 124, Jerayesh 84, Lauda 82, Hamilton 79, Mansell 72.
Teams: FMOT 199, KP 163, DoxJQ 154, TST 19, Reidj Scuderia (RS) 16.
Turkey
Smetowski was on pole for Richard Johnstone Racing (RJR) & 1 second covered the top 20. Smetowski led until his opening stop on lap 9, but he fell back down the order as the race progressed finishing 7th. Jerayesh qualified 3rd & passed Mansell for 2nd on lap 4. These 2 then battled at the front for the 1st half of the race, with Jerayesh making a decisive move during their 5th stint. Mansell followed closely however, but he just couldn't get quite close enough to challenge for the lead & was just 2.3 seconds behind at the flag. Schmidt was again going nicely & in the 2nd half of the race he fought with Hamilton for 3rd, finishing 1.8 seconds ahead at the end. The top 4 were covered by just 4.8 seconds. Kubica rounded out the top 5.
GB
Palmer took his 2nd pole of the season & the top 22 were covered by 1 second. Schmidt was a brilliant 2nd on the grid, but this was not his best race & he finished a disappointing 11th. Hamilton was 3rd & he quickly passed Schmidt & began to pressurise Palmer. He took the lead briefly on lap 9 but Palmer came straight back on lap 10. Hamilton passed during the opening stops & for a while their battle was joined by Lauda who took the lead on lap 24. Palmer fell back a little & for a time it looked as though he would be 3rd, but it was Lauda who cracked 1st, falling back into a battle with Kubica & Jerayesh. Hamilton took the lead on lap 37, only for Palmer to come back passed 4 laps later. Hamilton was back in front on lap 45 & suddenly there was a small gap. Palmer emerged from his final stop 1.9 seconds behind, & did close to just half a second on the penultimate lap, but Hamilton held on to take his 2nd victory of the season.
The order behind them with 7 laps to go was Jerayesh 0.2 Lauda 1.3 Kubica. With 2 laps to go, Lauda made it passed Jerayesh & then on the final lap Kubica also passed Jerayesh the 3 covered by 1.4 seconds at the flag. Monteiro for PLM was best of the rest in 7th.
Germany
Hamilton took his 3rd pole of the season & 1 second covered the top 21. Monteiro had his best qualifying of the season here, taking the other place on the front row & finishing best of the rest in 7th. It was Kubica's turn to shine here though & whilst the margin of victory was only 6.4 seconds, he was in control from lap 8 when he took the lead. Jerayesh had an easy run to 2nd & Mansell came through from 7th on the grid to take a comfortable 3rd. Hamilton was 4th & Lauda 5th.
The points:
Drivers: Palmer 158, Jerayesh 137, Hamilton 128, Mansell 113, Lauda 111.
Teams: FMOT 280, KP 265, DoxJQ 224, TST 34, PLM 32.
Hungary
Hamilton was on pole again & the 1st 21 were covered by 1 second. The King Power pair were dominant here & it seemed that manager Chris Louth was allowing them to fight for the win, as they swapped places twice in the last 5 laps. Hamilton was victorious & whilst Mansell got close in the final stages, he could not make a pass & finished 3rd. Palmer was 4th & Kubica 5th. Monteiro was again best of the rest in 7th.
Europe
Mansell took the pole & the top 21 were covered by 1 second. The FMOT pair were on fire here. Palmer took the lead on the opening lap & Kubica made it into 2nd on lap 8. They finished 22 seconds ahead of Mansell in 3rd. This 1,2 came at a critical point in the championship for FMOT. After 4th & 5th in Hungary, Jerayesh & Hamilton had closed the gap in the drivers title to 15 points & KP had taken the lead in the teams. Here though Hamilton was 4th & Jerayesh just 10th after qualifying 22nd. Juhno for RS was best of the rest in 5th.
The points:
Drivers: Palmer 195, Hamilton 165, Jerayesh 156, Mansell 143, Lauda 127.
Teams: FMOT 345, KP 321, DoxJQ 270, PLM 46, TST 42.
Belgium
Mansell took his 3rd pole of the season & 1 second covered the 1st 13. It was Mansell's turn to dominate here & he led almost the entire race. Behind Jerayesh & Hamilton fought for 2nd, with Hamilton claiming it with 4 laps to go. Palmer was 4th & Kubica 5th. Monteiro went well again to finish best of the rest in 6th.
Italy
Palmer was on pole for the 3rd time this season & the 1st 25 were covered by 1 second. Palmer was at it again here, leading most of the way & finishing 8 seconds in front of Kubica, the teams 3rd 1,2 of the season, coming at a crucial point in the championship. Kubica came from 11th on the grid, passing Schmidt in his final stint. Jerayesh & Lauda battled over 4th, with the deciding blow coming on the final lap when Jerayesh set his fastest lap & passed Lauda. Hamilton could manage only 10th after another poor qualifying & it now looked difficult for KP to challenge FMOT.
The points:
Drivers: Palmer 232, Hamilton 184, Jerayesh 183, Mansell 176, Kubica 150.
Teams: FMOT 410, KP 367, DoxJQ 317, TST 63, PLM 58.
Singapore
Pole was taken for the 2nd time by Kubica & the top 16 were covered by 1 second. Mansell was again on blistering form here. He passed Kubica on lap 11 & never looked back, finishing 21 seconds ahead; a better start to the season would surely have seen him challenging for the title. Kubica ran 2nd for much of the race, but RS were having their best run of the season & on the final lap, both Juhno & Chan made it passed; Lauda was just 0.7 behind in 5th.
Japan
Hamilton took his 5th pole position just 0.002 ahead of Chan & 1 second covered the leading 23. Hamilton had a straight forward run to the flag leading almost all the way. It was Palmer’s turn to qualify poorly, but he had the drive of the season coming from 18th to finish 2nd. Jerayesh was 2nd until Palmer came through towards the end & Kubica got the better of Mansell in the last stint. Schmidt once again led the rest in 6th.
The points:
Drivers: Palmer 254, Hamilton 217, Mansell 211, Jerayesh 204, Kubica 174.
Teams: FMOT 456, KP 421, DoxJQ 368, RS 77, TST 74
Brazil
After Japan Neil Robinson joined the tier & he was immediately on the pace, with Pedersen taking pole for the Nudist GAME ON Racers, (NGOR) in a wet qualifying. The race started dry though, but Pedersen took all of this in his stride & led almost the entire race, taking a maiden victory. Lauda was 4th on the grid, but took 2nd place on lap 14 & followed Pedersen home some 4 seconds behind. Schmidt, Hamilton & Jerayesh finished in that order; they were just 2 seconds apart, but none of them had managed to put in overtaking move.
Palmer finished just 9th but this was enough to give him his 3rd drivers title & the 11th for the team. The teams title chase went to the last race with FMOT leading KP by 15 points.
Abu Dhabi
FMOT started the race in the best position after Palmer took pole & the the top 24 were covered by 1 second. His team mate managed only 13th on the grid, whilst Hamilton was 7th & Jerayesh 9th. Sadly for the King Power team Palmer was once again on fire here. He led every lap & finished 12 seconds ahead of Chan clinching the the teams title for the Follow Me On Twitter team; their 11th. Mansell had an easy run to 3rd & Kubica took 4th after passing Lauda with 2 laps to go. Chan's excellent finish with Schmidt finishing 6th, meant that RS took 4th place in the teams title by 1 point from TST, but Schmidt's fine season gave him 7th in the drivers championship & the award for most improved team.
The final standings:
Drivers: Palmer 281, Mansell 234, Hamilton 231, Jerayesh 220, Kubica 186, Lauda 185, Schmidt 95.
Teams: FMOT 495, KP 451, DoxJQ 419, RS 99, TST 98.
Another fascinating season which divided the tier in 2. The top 3 teams scored 80% of the available points & frankly there were a few behind who had a poor season. Lewis Goodway did make the impression that was expected & Chris Louth got the better of Jason Lee, but behind their dominance we saw the emerging talent of Adam Gosling who & I quote Lewis Goodway here, “did some sexy things with Schmidt”. Once again Reidj Free showed his class when he was able to attend & Neil Robinson showed in just 2 races that he may have the speed to compete next season. But behind them all was not well. EJTM had their worst season ever & this had prompted your writer to rethink his strategy. David Lyons & Richard Johnstone can do much better too. Sadly Lisa Cosgrove lasted just 1 season in Elite & it looked increasingly likely that a team scoring points next season would be relegated.
So we round out the year & start our 20th season on the 6th with the league in rude health. We have a waiting list of eager teams wanting to join the fun in Elite & full grids in all tiers. We have the privileged position of being the top ranked open league & having the games 3 top ranked players. The chasm between Pro & Elite had never been bigger but with the holidays over, we can expect a greater challenge from some of the more established teams.
But I can be sure of only 1 thing & that is, as ever, there will be some great racing.
Edwin Smith
Daniel Page medal 5000 11 years 128 days ago
Hi,
I have just joinned the "Support League" (was a little disappointed at only 25% race distance, but ive been having trouble finding a decent league).
Im fairly new to iGP but im sure youve got a big waiting list to join the "Rookie" league, so could i be added to it as i would love to race a 100% race.
Anyway im sure i will enjoy the Support League but i feel it will be over too quickly lol
