Round 17: USA - Circuit of the Americas (07Feb18 @ 8:15pm AEDT)

[AaronWebb85]

Last Season's Results (F1 2014):
1st: RAF1FA
2nd: Dubzzy__
3rd: El_Majacko
Pole: RAF1FA (1.39.103)
Fastest Lap: Dubzzy__ (1.39.303)

Pre-race Questions:

1. The driver's title race is down to two, with dreglar trailing by 64 points. A 12 point increase in his lead will see Jacko secure the title in Austin. Will the Sauber driver wrap it up in America, or will dreglar stay alive in the Lone Star state?
2. Sauber secured the constructor's title last week in Japan, having only scored a single pole position and two fastest laps in the first 16 rounds. Are you surprised by these relatively low stats for the champions or do you think things like pole aren't as important as they appear?
3. Austin is a relatively new track to the F1 calendar. Is it among your favourites or least favourites and why?
4. With 80% of the season complete, have you matched your campaign objectives, and/or do you have new aims for the remaining four events?

 

[El_Majacko]

1. The driver's title race is down to two, with dreglar trailing by 64 points. A 12 point increase in his lead will see Jacko secure the title in Austin. Will the Sauber driver wrap it up in America, or will dreglar stay alive in the Lone Star state?
I doubt dreglar will finish outside the top 3 so I'd say probably not quite yet.
2. Sauber secured the constructor's title last week in Japan, having only scored a single pole position and two fastest laps in the first 16 rounds. Are you surprised by these relatively low stats for the champions or do you think things like pole aren't as important as they appear?
Consistency and strategy will always trump speed, and despite track position being key where overtaking is difficult, there are other ways to take the lead. Certainly the fastest lap is of no concern to a championship contender, its just a bonus.
3. Austin is a relatively new track to the F1 calendar. Is it among your favourites or least favourites and why?
While I've had a decent amount of success around the Texan track, its not one of my favourites. Its hard to put my finger on exactly why, I think I just enjoy other tracks more, rather than particularly disliking this one.
4. With 80% of the season complete, have you matched your campaign objectives, and/or do you have new aims for the remaining four events?
I have actually failed my season objective of a 100% podium streak (with the low finish in Monza), but otherwise I'm happy with the races. The qualifying sessions have been woeful though. The goals remain unchanged for the remainder of the campaign.

 

[El_Majacko]

Q: 1st
Performed a decent banker which put me 2nd at the time behind dani. We would both improve on our second runs, but I prevailed in the Sauber front row lockout with a tidy first and second sector combo! Finally my second pole of the season, only took 11 rounds since the previous one.

R: 3rd
Instantly upon building my revs I noticed I had a sound glitch where my engine sounded like a kettle several rooms away. I struggled for pace as a result as sound is part of my shifting timing. Dani was P2 within DRS, so when it was activated I ran lean while she took over the position as part of Sauber teamwork. She certainly didn't lack pace as she pulled 4 seconds by the end of the stint. Meanwhile I held P2 with craig behind and dreglar closing on supers. I was undercut by craig but overtook him on my outlap. Dani went a lap longer and just emerged in front. From there the top 3, dani, myself and dreglar lapped at similar pace, with dani perhaps just shading us. Maznat was the only driver to finish strongly with ultras and overtook his was to P3 with 4 or 5 laps remaining. I knew dreglar had at least one penalty, so I felt confident of staying ahead of him, while I was determined to make Maz work for P2 so dani had a margin if he managed to overtake me. In the end, we had contact which cost us both positions to dreglar and me a red winglet. It was a weird clash, but Maz was gentlemanly enough to stay behind for the final laps despite his relatively minimal damage. Congrats to dani on her victory! dreglar escaped with a points gain rather than a loss in our title battle, but the damage was minimal for me at just 3 points. I'm happy with the result.

 

[El_Majacko]

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