Round 13: Italy - Autodromo Nazionale Monza (10Jan18 @ 8:15pm AEDT)

[AaronWebb85]

Last Season's Results (F1 2014):
1st: danirox88
2nd: Dubzzy__
3rd: RAF1FA
Pole: El_Majacko (1.23.554)
Fastest Lap: RAF1FA (1.23.597)

Pre-race Questions:

1. We arrive at the Temple of Speed having seen Ferrari lock out the front row in pre-season in front of Tifosi. Will one of the Prancing Horse duo take pole this week?
2. The same pre-season event saw Jacko cross the line first. Might he do so again, and claim his fifth win of the season?
3. Last season danirox was victorious with a dominant win against the likes of Dubzzy, Rafa (Antal) & Jacko. Can she break through for her first win of the season?
4. Some would say Monza is the easiest track on the calendar, while some, including the championship leader, would place it in the hardest 5. How do you rate the difficulty of the circuit?

 

[El_Majacko]

1. We arrive at the Temple of Speed having seen Ferrari lock out the front row in pre-season in front of Tifosi. Will one of the Prancing Horse duo take pole this week?
Since that event, there has been a reshuffle at Ferrari, and I believe other teams have made more progress than the Scuderia. Unless HSV is able to find the pace he found for pole on that occasion once again, plus a bit more, I think we'll see either Williams, Red Bull, Force India or Sauber on pole.
2. The same pre-season event saw Jacko cross the line first. Might he do so again, and claim his fifth win of the season?
It would be nice, but just surviving the high speed chicanes for a safe podium is the aim.
3. Last season danirox was victorious with a dominant win against the likes of Dubzzy, Rafa (Antal) & Jacko. Can she break through for her first win of the season?
Dani has the potential for greatness around here, but her luck this season has been incredibly bad. Hopefully that changes and she can lead home a 1-2 for Sauber.
4. Some would say Monza is the easiest track on the calendar, while some, including the championship leader, would place it in the hardest 5. How do you rate the difficulty of the circuit?
Definitely one of the more difficult tracks. There's less room for error than Monaco, because the speed is so much higher, and a little miscue could see the car airbourne or spinning into a wall.

 

[El_Majacko]

Q: 7th
Recorded the slowest time I've done in qualifying on my banker then when purple at S2 on my second lap, mysteriously lost the delta and the lap was only a half tenth improvement. My hypothesis is lag screwed me over. I was expecting a 1.20.8-1.21.0 so I was disappointed to not only miss pole, but be so far back.

R: 8th
Made a decent start and overtook the lagging craig before T1. Running just behind kart and whan in P6 towards the second chicane, and with murph a distance back, I was caught completely off guard when danielson hit me at high speed. Normally such a hard ramming could only be provided by pornhub or equivalent. He had cut the corner significantly and made contact with my wing causing damage and forcing me off track causing a 5 second stop and go penalty. Of course I was instantly screwed by this as Monza is not a track one can afford to have a long pitstop (probably one of the only tracks you can't really catch people). This meant I was running 12th having made it to lap 5 struggling with damage. I went to mediums, further destroying my chances of a decent result, and upon realising 7th was unattainable, I pitted to try for the fastest lap. Mysteriously, my wing was damaged by nothing, yet I still managed a purple lap. Bozza was lagging insanely and I was fairly sure I'd be taken out by it, but in a rare piece of fortune I was unaffected. My 100% podium streak was lost through no fault of my own, and ominously dreglar is 21 points closer having become the first driver to win back-to-back races this season. I am not impressed.

 

[ForceWhan]

Q: I set a decent lap on my first but i knew i could go again & get pole, my pace was very good with no assists since i actually put in the effort to practice. But i braked too early & cut the corner going on 5 tenths up, so that was end of that, luckily i still started p3 & could mix it with the front.

R: I got off to a decentish start but dnai got around my outside & i got stuck behind her for a few corners, i knew i had the pace over her at the time so i just buyed my time. By that time dregs had already passed hsv & now it was my time to do the same. That put me into p2. Me Dreg & kart all had similar pace so no one was really gaining on each other in the first stint. On the last lap kart was gaining as my soft tyres started to die but it wasn't enough. Brought it home with a strong p2 with consistent pace all race, happy happy happy! There was one downside, my footage mucked up at the start & i won't be able to make a video, which sucks!

 

[El_Majacko]

[youtube]tCAuSmQqxeU[/youtube]