Race REPORT & PICTURES - 07 - France GP (Paul Ricard)

France Pics:


PRE-RACE
Arek: A quiet before a storm at Paul Ricard
Sexy: I could swear the forecast said 'sunny'... Damn, I forgot my umbrella!... and also my lifeboat!


PRE-RACE
Arek: Last preparations for the race.
Sexy: I think everyone was at the pits watching the Super Bowl... ok, maybe not...


LAP 1
Arek: Denis starts from the pole position followed by soutie, Tom McKay and Sven.
Sexy: And BTW, Denis and soutie had the SAME 0:59.181 pole time - amazing! It's a shame we can't have 2 poles in the same race!


LAP 1
Arek: Otti falls asleep at the start and causes a crash between raikkO and Antonio.
Sexy: Actually, he was too awake! He started BEFORE the 'green' (actually yellow at Paul Ricard..) light, so.. jah, penalty for him.. oh, boy!..


LAP 1
Arek: Denis keeps the lead. Other drivers fight for the positions very hard.
Sexy: It's a long way until T1, which gives everyone a high speed and then a hard braking for the tight T1 and following esses, so... what would come of that dangerous combination?!...


LAP 1
Arek: This time another Brawn GP driver falls asleep... Alex Hill misses his braking point and sends Arek off by a huge hit!
Sexy: Well, later, after the race, I was talking to China Boy and he told me he was kinda 'drunk' from the previous night and I said 'See? This is why children aren't supposed to drink!' - but then he said 'Nah, it was just water from the toilet...' - ...and that pretty much explains everything..


LAP 1
Arek: That's how it looked like from the wider perspective There was also one more driver who made a mistake in a crutial moment which caused Bober's flight. I heard that it was ADI
Sexy: Looks like someone just dropped a bomb there... - BOOM!!! - a better view of the whole mess:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wKXSDXmj80&hd=1


LAP 1
Arek: Adrian leaves the first turn in the 3rd place. It wouldn't be so weird if not the fact that he started from the 18th grid
Sexy: Err.. Actually, he started in 15th place..


LAP 1
Arek: Sven who fights vs Luft for the 6th place makes a mistake and spins.
Sexy: The fact is that they tried to put 2 cars where there was enough space only for 1, so..


LAP 1
Arek: A picture from the series called "The picture for request". Wallagada (8th) goes wide losing his great place
Sexy: Wallace sentiu a pressão.. Mas é assim mesmo, cara! Vá se acostumando, pois espero te ver no pelotão de frente mais vezes!


LAP 1
Arek: soutie makes a mistake going wide. Tom and Arnie passes him. Luft does the same a while later.
Sexy: It's rare to see soutie making mistakes like that, but I guess it was due to lack of practice on this track - still since he is too damn fast, the other drivers thank him for his mistakes, since it's one of the best chances they have to overtake him!


LAP 1
Arek: Adrian touches the tyres at the exit of the last turn losing his 2nd place for Tom. But as it turned out later in the race the tyres wanted more blood
Sexy: Jah, by their shape it's easier to see those are stone tyres from the cars of the Flintstones...


LAP 1
Arek: Otti goes to the pits having some problems with his car. Arek defends his 9th place vs Sexy, ADI and lau.
Sexy: Otti did well in serving his penalty as soon as possible, so he could try to recover later in the race with whatever pit stop strategy he picked, but.. it seems rFactor just didn't accept his service and he abandoned after lap 2..


LAP 3
Arek: A Hard battle between all them.
Sexy: What do you mean by 'all them'?! We have names, you know? And it's 'Sexy and 3 other noobs!'


LAP 3
Arek: A while later Tony joins the group and even overtakes ADI lau gets stuck behind Arek.
Sexy: Ok, now it's 'Sexy and a LOT of other noobs!'


LAP 4
Arek: Luft_inspektor overtakes Arnoldinhu in the flat right hander take takes the 4th place.
Sexy: Luft was both pretty damn lucky to escape that huge mess at the start and also pretty skillful! And then he went from 21st (and last) place to 4th in only 4 laps! And still he had more of that amazing exhibition to show until the end of the race - anti-doping, pliss?!


LAP 5
Arek: Blackfox overtook soutie and got up to 6th place. Half lap earlier lau passed Arek.
Sexy: Black WAS doing a good job as well!.. until then..


LAP 5
Arek: Seems like Black was overexcited because of that so as fast he overtook he spun... Then lau passed soutie who started losing his pace and jumped up to 7th. Black landed in 13th place...
Sexy: That's why I said 'WAS'..


LAP 6
Arek: ...right in front of Tony, Alex and Sven who were having some fun fighting each other
Sexy: Well, at least now he has some new little friends to play with! YAY!!!


LAP 7
Arek: Luft pushes very hard to pass Adrian (3rd). Arek tries to do the same to soutie.
Sexy: And also lau x Arnie! 3 pretty interesting matchups!


LAP 7
Arek: Arnie gets overtaken by lau losing his 5th place. A while earlier Arek passed soutie and jumped up to the 7th. Moment later Luft finally overtakes Adrian and takes the 3rd place. A lot of action!
Sexy: Yes, changes on the 3 matchups mentioned before - great race for the spectators (and drivers, of cousre)!!!


LAP 8
Arek: Comes to the contact between Adrian and lau! Adrian spins and lose his 4th place dropping down to the 9th.
Sexy: Uh-oh.. This wasn't on the 'Amazing rFR League Paul Ricard Race' script!..


LAP 9
Arek: Very weird moment. I think there must have been oil on the tarmac or at least a banana peel 4 cars lost control there. At first two unforced errors by lau and Arek (who passed Arnie a while earlier - as you can see not for so long). Moment later soutie touches ADI and another two cars spins. What a show for spectators!
Sexy: I watched the surveillance cams and they showed that a few moments before those cars took those corners, there was a guy spilling oil on the track.. The marshals yelled at him and he ran away.. singing 'Oh, baby, baby, baby!'.. I wonder who the hell was him.. (although some of the marshals could swear 'he' looked more like a 'she'..) - what?! Too soon?!


LAP 9
Arek: lau goes to the pits as first from the pack. It was a good move. With a good pace and a free track he was able to get some time back and pass some drivers who stopped later.
Sexy: If I was ever able to keep a damn fast pace as lau's, I would do the same as well!


LAP 10
Arek: Tom goes a bit wide and Luft takes the 2nd place! Right after that Tom goes to the pits.
Sexy: That was enough proof that Tom's tyres were begging to be replaced..


LAP 10
Arek: Arek who lost the least at the previous incident continued in 5th place till he got overtaken by Adrian at flat right hander. They are folloed by Sexy Brigadeiro and Joe McLaggen who sussesfuly moves up to the forward after a bad begining where he was involved in a crash (btw who wasn't?)
Sexy: I can name a few: kurt, Jure, pxr5, deadfish, Roadster, Michal, Ax89, Alexander Clover, minha benga, etc... Anyway... - McLarens, assemble!!!


LAP 11
Arek: Arek and Adrian were having a long and tough fight with multiple overtakes. Meanwhile Denis had his pit stop and rejoined between Sexy and Joe.
Sexy: That was a complicated moment of the race to me.. I couldn't have my best pace, because there were guys fighting in front of me and they were not easy to overtake either.. and then I got Denis (who was naturaly faster than me) with fresh Soft tyres (while I was on Hards) behind of me, so.. I couldn't keep my best pace, I couldn't attack and I had to defend too, so.. Damn! Leave me alone, all of you!!!


LAP 12
Arek: Ferrari and BMW went to the pits on the previous lap so now Denis has to struggle behind Sexy (3rd) But not for so long. Sexy goes wide at T1 and Denis takes his chance. Luft_inspektor leads the race. Arnie is 2nd and Joe pits.
Sexy: That was a genuine (and dumb) mistake.. I kept the internal (right) line on the main straight to defend T1 and I knew I was going to go wide and.. it was just a 'not smart' move, since I was on Hards and Denis had fresh Softs and he would easily X me - which he did and I also lost speed on the following chicanes, so I couldn't get close enough to overtake him back on the long straight, so.. jah, I paid for being dumb - yay!


LAP 14
Arek: Tony overtakes Sven at the fastest curve on the track. Takes the 14th place but Sven is able to revenge at the main straight.
Sexy: Tony was having a nice race, with great fights and overtakes! He was trying to show to his dad that he grew up since the Ferrari times in Season 1! But I guess dadSvenoob was just spanking Tony's ass with his best pet shark!.. - 'You asked; you got it, son - Achtung!' - German humor.. go figure!..


LAP 15
Arek: Luft (1st) goes to the pits for new tyres.
Sexy: So, in 15 laps he went from last (21st) to first - nice!!! But now stop showing off, pliss!..


LAP 15
Arek: A moment later Arnie (3rd) who was passed by Denis a moment ago does the same. Denis got back to the lead, Sexy is 2nd, Blackfox 3rd (both without pit stop yet)
Sexy: It was fun to be in 2nd, even if only momentarily! Still I wonder if I could've actually lead a lap or two if I haven't lost so much time involved in lots of fights and unable to keep my best pace - that would've been even more fun!


LAP 16
Arek: Tom overtakes soutie and takes the 4th place.
Sexy: He had a good and close corner exit and entering for the long straight, so it was a nice and easy overtake!


LAP 17
Arek: Controversial moment between Adrian and Joe. Joe make a pass after a contact which caused Adrian went wide. Probably it was a matter of lag.
Sexy: It was a pretty good and clean fight, between two great and fair drivers! It's a shame some lag decided to interfere..


LAP 17
Arek: Sexy Brigadeiro (2nd) in the pits. He rejoined in 10th place (two places higher than Black who stopped one lap earlier being in 3rd place before that).
Sexy: I had a terrible 17th lap and my tyres were already gone, so I lost too much time.. But I was putting some Mediums now and hoping I could recover by having a good pace and some free track for the next 13 laps, but.. I didn't have any of that..


LAP 18
Arek: But right after he came out, it happened this...
Sexy: IMO, this was just a regular race incident caused by a miscalculation both by me and by ADI. I thought I could move to the left to take T1 without touching (or being touched by) ADI and he thought he could brake without touching me, but.. it seems both of us were wrong!..


LAP 18
Arek: Luft (4th) who takes that curve much faster touches soutie from behind causing his spin... Tom sees everything in his mirrors. soutie has a very interesting one stop pit stop strategy. He hasn't pited yet and that's the reason he found himself so high with slower pace. But it doesn't explain Luft's move.
Sexy: Well, other than THIS, he (Luft) was having a pretty damn good race.. - the stewards certainly have a LOT of homework from their last weekend at Paul Ricard!..


LAP 18
Arek: At the same moment Adrian S Shole (8th) makes a mistake and spins as well losing his place for Arnie, ADI, Sexy and Blackfox.
Sexy: Poor Kangaroo Kid!.. I can't help but say.. THANK YOU!


LAP 19
Arek: Fight between Antonio Hreljanovic and Bober for the 14th place.
Sexy: Again Tony fighting with some of the fastest drivers and fighting as a grown man - great job, kid-o!!!


LAP 20
Arek: Arek reduced gap to Luft and lau (lau passed him due to earlier stop at previous series of pit stops). lau goes to the pits for his second stop, Arek jumps up to 3rd.
Sexy: lau, as always, annoyingly fast! He even finds time enough to make 3 stops while most of the drivers make only 2.. and still finish in front of them - damn!


LAP 21
Arek: Adrian tries to defend his 9th place against Tom but comes to the contact and Adrian spins. What a bad luck for Adrian again... Definitely it wasn't his mistake. If it wasn't too much he almost got hit being off the track by Bober who lost control and went wide moment later at the same place.
Sexy: Adrian was having a Sexy Brigadeiro day.. - don't worry, mate, you'll survive! Look at me - I turned out alright!.. right?!..


LAP 24
Arek: lau overtakes Sexy and takes the 6th place. In that part of the race a tension went down and we got less action on the track. Denis still leads, Luft is 2nd, Arek 3rd, Joe climbed up to 4th and Arnie closes the top 5.
Sexy: It's also annoying when you just can't do anything to hold a faster car behind, so.. Maybe it's better to just let them go anyway.. - GRRR!!!


LAP 25
Arek: The joke of the year: Antonio overtakes Adrian and takes the 12th place! I'm gonna bet it was just because Adrian was devastated after all those bad things he had to come through during this race Now he's got one more But to be honest they had a pretty nice fight overtaking each other a few times till Adrian spun at the exit of last turn...
Sexy: No 'joke' at all! Tony had a pretty consistent race and fought with equal skill against some of the fastest drivers - including the current rFR League Champion (Adrian) and even got some compliments from him as well! Very well deserved, BTW! Congrats Tony and Adrian for the very nice sportsmanship!!!


LAP 26
Arek: Denis leaves the pits after his 2nd stop and rejoins the track in 3rd place behind Arek.
Sexy: Denis got lucky at the start by escaping from all of that shit and no one bothered him, so he could keep his fastest pace - but that was HIS merit and he did it VERY well and it paid off later on the race!


LAP 28
Arek: Arek gets back on the track in 7th place behind fighting Sexy and Tom.
Sexy: And I was about to go to my 2nd pit stop on lap 30, so I just wanted to keep my place until then..


LAP 29
Arek: Tom (6th) was pretty close but still unable to pass Sexy. Meanwhile Arek joins them on fresh tyres.
Sexy: I'm glad his tyres were also worn - I thought it was just me..


LAP 29
Arek: Whoops! A small miscommunication in Lotus... Tom has to wait and gets overtaken by Sven and Tony (but Tony has still one stop to do).
Sexy: That also helped me! When I came back from my pit stop I had to fight only against 1 Renault instead of against both of them!


LAP 30
Arek: Sven overtakes Tony and now Tom's turn.
Sexy: -2 hit combo.. Ouch!..


LAP 31
Arek: Tony goes wide but he forgot that driver who is on the track has right to go as first Then he realized that his road is gonna end up quickly
Sexy:


LAP 31
Arek: Meanwhile soutie (4th) ends up his race after a mistake at the fastest right hander. Right before the final crash got hit from Joe who could't brake on time and sent him into the barriers.
Sexy: Jah, soutie was just out of luck here.. He made a mistake and spun on the fastest part of the track and while trying to recover (and still spinning in the middle of the track), he got slightly touched by Joe (who was actually lucky by not losing his front wing) and then ended up on the wall.. Now we won't ever know if his 1 stop strategy would pay off of not..


LAP 32
Arek: Sexy overtakes Arnie and jumps up to 6th.
Sexy: HELL YEAH!!! - But seriously.. that was easy!.. The hardest part was to defend from Arnie's revenge for the remaining 7-8 laps - DAMN!!!


LAP 34
Arek: Luft made his last pit stop on lap 30 and rejoin in front of Arek who switched himself to the full atack mode and few laps later he sat on his rear wing Manwhile Tom overtook Sven taking the 8th place. Later Sven spins.
Sexy: You meant 'Full (or Fool...) Juvenil Mode', right?!...


LAP 36
Arek: This is how the crazy chase of Arek (3rd) ended up. The huge groan of anticlimax of fans from the main stand rang out across the surrounding villages Joe goes up to 3rd.
Sexy: See what I meant?!..


LAP 36
Arek: Tom makes a mistake and this time he spins. Sven gets his 8th place back and then overtakes Arek fixing his front wing.
Sexy: Sven getting lucky at the final laps - good job!


LAP 38
Arek: Arek dropped down to 10th but was close to Bober and Tom and had fresh tyres. Nothing to lose so full attack once again. In my humble opinion it was probably the best overtaking of the race Fastest curve on the track and a try by the outside. Just pedal to the metal though the whole curve with confident to Bober. He lifted just a bit but it was enough to find out side by side with a little adventage before the next right hander. Bober had to let me go seing that I wasn't joking
Sexy: Bober was probably just afraid of you screwing up his race as well with your mighty juvenil powers!.. - he probably thought: Nah, whatever! He's gonna make a noobish mistake on the next corners/laps anyway! Why worry?!.. (and.. he was right!..)


LAP 40 - LAST LAP!
Arek: On the last lap Arek tries to repeat the maneuver on Tom (8th) but comes to the contact and both spun. Bober passes them.
Sexy: I can only imagine the size of Bober's smile under his helmet!..


LAP 40 - LAST LAP!
Arek: A moment later Bober does mistake goes wide and gets back on the racing line right under Tom coming from behind. Comes to the contact once again and Bober spun. Arek catches him and overtakes at last turn taking 9th place by half of the car! What a lap
Sexy: Damn! Poor Bober! He just couldn't stop laughing and he lost his focus for a split second! I can't blame him for that!


LAP 40 - LAST LAP!
Arek: Denis wins the race!
Sexy: Congrats for your 1st win ever, Denis!!! Дзіўныя працы!!!


LAP 40 - LAST LAP!
Arek: Luft gets the 2nd place!
Sexy: Congrats Luft too!!! From last (21st) to 2nd!!! Iznenađujuće posao!!!


LAP 40 - LAST LAP!
Arek: Joe gets another podium as a gift from Arek
Sexy: And McLaren team says: OBRIGADO e PASSA AMANHÃ, SEU JUVENIL!!!

Arek's Slideshow: (Don't be a juvenil! Watch it in HD (720p) and full screen, pliss!)

FRANCE FULL RESULTS
For ALL the pointers and Championship standings, just take a look below!!!