Jeddah Corniche Circuit

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX

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July 30, 2004
Running order (based in reversed order from 2004 British Grand Prix Race, first all new drivers in descending numeric order)

Group 1 (5 cars) - Cummings, Graydon, Aparicio, Forausberger, Tortella

Group 2 (5 cars) - Wilkinson, Loram, Sleight, Wolner, Irisarri

Group 3 (6 cars) - Nuti, Ryan, Harding, Perkins, Brown, Mihailovic

Group 4 (6 cars) - Koski, Jakonen, Maple, Whiteman, Elencevski, Williams

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Intro:

Hello and welcome to follow Formula One Virtual World Championship qualifying session live from sunny Hockenheim track. It's been almost perfect weather through out the season so far, and looks like this years German GP doesn't won't be different either with sun and peerfect weather forecasted through out the weekend.

Lap around the track:

?A flying lap of Hockenheim begins with the fast and challenging Nord Kurve, you take it in 4th gear anda bout200km/h good exit is vital for the looooong straight to first chicane. Chicane 1, Jim Clark Kurve taken in 1st gear. Drivers approach the braking zone in over 350km/h if you have BHP in the engine. This is the best overtaking place on this track. Right-left-right chicane and right after the chicane 1st sector is done.?

?Again power through the gears and speed builds up to 320km/h before 2nd chicane at the far end of the track. If you car breaks down here you have a long walk back to pits if you are not able to get a lift back. 2nd chicane is taken also in 1st. Bump hard over the curb, but try to get as soon as possible to the gas and power through long righthander Ostkurve for the next long straight. Speed is back up to 330km/h before next chicane.?

?Break hard into left-right-left Ayrton Senna Kurve, Chicane 3, this is also place to try outbreak your competitor, but entry to this chicane is so thight there is big risk to tangle up the tyres here. Again good exit and fast on gas is advisable before you enter the "stadium complex". Right hander Agipkurve leads you infront of tens of thousands of spectators. Agip corner is taken in 4th gear and 200+ km/h then is the Sachskurve which is like a long hairpin. Track drops down after small lefthander and then climbs back up on the Opelkurve, long 3rd gear double-right hander which leads you back to start finish straight.?

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(Sector times are allways being compared to the fastest legal lap time. In this case long time leader Andy Graydon)

Group 1:

(Cummings, Graydon, Aparicio, Forausberger, Tortella)

It's 14.00 local time and it's time to open the pitlane and get first car out on track. Today we are going to have the new drivers in descending numeric order so we have two Puma's first on track with David Cummings starting this qualifying session. And after Cummings we will see Andy Graydon who returns to the cockpit for the first time since the Japanese GP in October 2003. Two Puma drivers will be followed by Aparicio driving in Simsoa team then Forausberger in MMRT outfit and last man on this group is Tortella on JTM car.

Cummings

Puma F1

Cummings takes first corner nicely and heads down the long straight into 1st chicane. Looks like he doesn't take any risks and S1 time is 31.5 that's a bit slowish I would say. Now through 2nd chicane without problems and approaches the 3rd chicane and stops the clocks on S2 to show time of 1:01.510. Now into most challenging part of this track 'Stadium' section. Cleanly through the final corners and over the line he goes 1:43.101 for Cummings. Hard to say how high he will end up with that time.

Cummings Finish Line 1 Sector 1 31.500

1:43.101 Sector 2 1:01.510

Graydon

Puma F1

Next Andy Graydon, his lap will be interesting to watch, how competitive he can be after 8 months absence from active racing. S1 for Graydon and he is 1.3 seconds quicker than his teammate was. Good start at least. S2 and Graydon extends his lead now to 1.9 seconds, if he can keep the car on the track on Stadium too he will make new pole time for sure. P1 for Graydon by massive 4.2 seconds! 1:38.888 is new pole time, good lap from Andy, it's nice to see he back in the car.

Graydon Finish Line 1 Sector 1 30.200 -1.300

1:38.888 -4.213 Sector 2 59.571 -1.939

Aparicio

Simsoa

Driver was disqualified.

Aparicio Finish Line 0 Sector 1 29.805 -0.395

1:37.860 -1.028 Sector 2 59.172 -0.399

Forausberger

MMRT

With two Puma's in front, can Forausberger fight back with his MMRT? S1 for him is 30.4 and he is 0.2 seconds down on Andy's time, it's still a long way to go, so that's almost nothing on this track. S2 and he has lost 3 tenths more and is now half a second down on Graydon's top-time. Now into final sector and the final challenging corners, these corners are quite tight and cars has so low downforce setup it's actually very hard to keep the cars on track. Forausberger goes over the line and take 2nd place, he was 1.1 seconds slower than Graydon. His lap time was 1:40.062.

Forausberger Finish Line 2 Sector 1 30.418 0.218

1:40.062 1.174 Sector 2 1:00.067 0.496

Tortella

JTM

Didn't drive qualifying - can't race

Tortella Finish Line 0 Sector 1 -.--- -.---

-:--.--- -.--- Sector 2 -.--- -.---

So after first group the top-3 is Graydon, Forausberger and Cummings. We will have short break now, don't go away!

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Group 2:

(Wilkinson, Loram, Sleight, Wolner, Irisarri)

Wilkinson

Phoenix F1

Driver was disqualified.

Wilkinson Finish Line 0 Sector 1 29.855 -0.345

1:38.104 -0.784 Sector 2 59.111 -0.460

Loram

EIRE

Ross Loram makes comeback after he missed one race at Silverstone few weeks ago. S1 for Loram and he is in good pace, goes 45 thousands under Graydon's S1 time. S2 for Loram and he is now 1 thousand of a second behind! This is going to be very close! Enters nicely into Stadium section, Agip, Sachs and Opel corners goes without problems and he goes over the line? and goes 2nd! By 4 thousands of a second!

Loram Finish Line 2 Sector 1 30.155 -0.045

1:38.892 0.004 Sector 2 59.572 0.001

Sleight

MMC Racing

Driver was disqualified.

Sleight Finish Line 0 Sector 1 29.548 -0.652

1:36.516 -2.372 Sector 2 58.328 -1.243

Wolner

SCUM

Didn't drive qualifying - can't race

Wolner Finish Line 0 Sector 1 -.--- -.---

-:--.--- -.--- Sector 2 -.--- -.---

Irisarri

Phoenix F1

Driver was disqualified.

Irisarri Finish Line 0 Sector 1 30.157 -0.043

1:38.276 -0.612 Sector 2 59.589 0.018

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Group 3:

(Nuti, Ryan, Harding, Perkins, Brown, Mihailovic)

Nuti

JTM

Driver was disqualified.

Nuti Finish Line 0 Sector 1 30.085 -0.115

1:38.318 -0.570 Sector 2 59.258 -0.313

Ryan

MMC Racing

Driver was disqualified.

Ryan Finish Line 0 Sector 1 29.578 -0.622

1:36.831 -2.057 Sector 2 58.530 -1.041

Harding

SCUM

Didn't drive qualifying - can't race

Harding Finish Line 0 Sector 1 -.--- -.---

-:--.--- -.--- Sector 2 -.--- -.---

Perkins

Woods Racing

Phil Perking starts his flying lap on his Woods Racing Toyota teammate Philip Williams will be last man on track after he won the British GP. S1 for Perkins and he is 76 thousands behind Graydon, it's still very close and anything can happen on this long track. S2 for Perkins and he is now 98 thousands behind? it's still very close between them and Perkins has all chances to take p1 from Graydon. Over the line he goes and goes to 3rd. 0.108 seconds separates P1 and P3 with Loram between Graydon and Perkins.

Perkins Finish Line 3 Sector 1 30.276 0.076

1:38.996 0.108 Sector 2 59.669 0.098

Brown

Simsoa

Driver was disqualified.

Brown Finish Line 0 Sector 1 30.022 -0.178

1:38.475 -0.413 Sector 2 59.335 -0.236

Mihailovic

MMRT

Miodrag Mihailovic starts his flying lap. Teammate is currently on 4th place 1.1 seconds from Graydon's pole time. S1 for Mihailovic shows he is 2 tenths behind, can he crawl back? S2 and Mihailovic sets new sector record and closes the gap down to 33 thousands to Graydon. Also Loram and Perkins were very close after 2nd sector but Graydon's final sector was fast enough to hold on the two behind, but can Mihailovic now take P1 from Graydon? Over the line and NO! he goes to 3rd by 9 thousands of a seconds to Graydon and Loram is there between Graydon and Mihailovic now! Wow? p1 to p2 4 thousands and from p2 to p3 5 thousands of a second on this 6.8 kilometer track!

Mihailovic Finish Line 3 Sector 1 30.401 0.201

1:38.897 0.009 Sector 2 59.604 0.033

So after 3rd group (and only 6 valid lap times!!!) we have Andy Graydon holding on to pole positions, Loram is 2nd and Mihailovic is 3rd. We will be right back with the top-6 from British GP, don't go away!

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Group 4:

(Koski, Jakonen, Maple, Whiteman, Elencevski, Williams)

Koski

FinOz

Kari Koski starts his flying lap. He was down on 8th place at British GP and I'm sure that wasn't the results he was hoping for. Anyway S1 now here at Hockenheim shows Koski is 0.257 seconds quicker than Graydon was. Will Graydon finally loose his P1? S2 for Koski and gap is now up to 0.533 seconds that should be enough to get Koski P1 from Graydon. Over the line he goes and Koski takes P1, 1:37.555 and he was 1.333 seconds quicker than Graydon who is now in 2nd place with 5 drivers to go. So Graydon will be at least 7th on his comeback!

Koski Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.943 -0.257

1:37.555 -1.333 Sector 2 59.038 -0.533

Jakonen

Mapes-VO

Mikko Jakonen who has lost from his championship lead 12 points on last 4 races and leads now only by 10 points, his lead was up to 22 points after Monaco, 6th race of the season. Jakonen for sure wants to turn that around now here at Hockenheim and open up the gap to Whiteman more. S1 for Jakonen and he is 0.159 seconds faster than fellow Finn Koski just was. S2 For Jakonen and he has lost his lead! He is now 33 thousands of a second behind, but can he take it back on final sector? Yes he can, Jakonen takes p1 by 0.305 seconds and new pole time is now 1:37.250.

Jakonen Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.784 -0.159

1:37.250 -0.305 Sector 2 59.071 0.033

Maple

Mapes-VO

Jakonen's teammate Matt Maple is next on a flyer. S1 for the young Brit and he is 0.351 seconds down on his teammate pace, Jakonen lost quite much time on 2nd sector compared to Koski's pace, can Maple take some time back? S2 for Maple and he was slightly faster than Jakonen, but not much, he is still over 3 tenths behind. Black'n'Yellow Mapes-VO car goes over the line and Maple takes 3rd place 1:37.866, that's 0.616 seconds slower than teammate Jakonen did.

Maple Finish Line 3 Sector 1 30.135 0.351

1:37.866 0.616 Sector 2 59.389 0.318

Whiteman

EIRE

Now top-3 from British GP, first Scott Whiteman, then we will see Steve Elencevski and last but not least on the track will be Philip Williams. S1 for Whiteman and he is 2 tenths quicker than Jakonen was. Whiteman has stunning start for the season but then all went wrong for couple of races with retirements from San Marino, Spain and Monaco and he found himself 22 points behind Jakonen after season was started with 3 wins and 10 point champ lead. After Monaco Whiteman was been taking points from Jakonen champ lead and is now 10 points behind. S2 for Whiteman and he is now 0.263 seconds in front of Jakonen, this could be new pole time? Whiteman goes over the line and takes P1 1:36.946 which is 0.304 seconds quicker than Jakonen did.

Whiteman Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.586 -0.198

1:36.946 -0.304 Sector 2 58.808 -0.263

Elencevski

FinOz

Two to go and Steve Elencevski starts his flying lap. Whiteman set fast time to S1 29.586 and Elencevski is behind, by 0.268 seconds, that's quite much, but still catchable. S2 for Elencevski is 58.9 and he has closed the gap down to 0.135 seconds, can he make in on Stadium section? Steve is Fast, hard and attacking those corners and goes over the line and? No? he goes to 2nd by 35 thousands, he goes right between Whiteman and Jakonen.

Elencevski Finish Line 2 Sector 1 29.854 0.268

1:36.981 0.035 Sector 2 58.943 0.135

Williams

Woods Racing

Now British GP winner Philip Williams, Whiteman will be on front row, but will he take pole or can Williams take 2nd pole in a row. S1 for Williams 29.689, it's looking good for Whiteman as Williams is 0.103 seconds slower than he was. It all can be due BHP difference and Williams top speed is less than Whiteman gets from his Jaguar power. S2 for Williams and he is in front! Only by 8 thousands but still he is faster than Whiteman was. This one will go right down to the line, it's too early to say anything. Stadium section looks good for Williams, but neither Whiteman did any mistakes there, we saw Elencevski being one tenth faster than Whiteman was so Williams should have all possibilities to do the same. He goes over the line and WILLIAMS TAKES POLE! By nearly 2 tenths of a seconds, great final sector for him as he sets new sector record to final sector and takes 2nd pole in a row.

Williams Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.689 0.103

1:36.759 -0.187 Sector 2 58.800 -0.008

Summary

Philip Williams takes another pole in front of Whiteman and Elencevski. Championship leader Jakonen is fourth and tries to keep the gap from him to Whiteman to atleast on that 10 points he currently has. Williams was outstanding at Silverstone and took pole here with underpowered Woods Racing car. Can he keep fast challenging Whiteman, Elencevski and Jakonen trio behind?

1 Williams 1:36.759

2 Whiteman +0.187

3 Elencevski +0.222

4 Jakonen +0.491

5 Koski +0.796

6 Maple +1.107

7 Graydon +2.129

8 Loram +2.133

9 Mihailovic +2.138

10 Perkins +2.237

11 Forausberger +3.303

12 Cummings +6.342

13 Sleight penalty

14 Ryan penalty

15 Aparicio penalty

16 Wilkinson penalty

17 Irisarri penalty

18 Nuti penalty

19 Brown penalty

- Harding didn't drive

- Tortella didn't drive

- Wolner didn't drive

Poleposition development

Cummings Finish Line 1 Sector 1 31.500

1:43.101 Sector 2 61.510

Graydon Finish Line 1 Sector 1 30.200 -1.300

1:38.888 -4.213 Sector 2 59.571 -1.939

Koski Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.943 -0.257

1:37.555 -1.333 Sector 2 59.038 -0.533

Jakonen Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.784 -0.159

1:37.250 -0.305 Sector 2 59.071 0.033

Whiteman Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.586 -0.198

1:36.946 -0.304 Sector 2 58.808 -0.263

Williams Finish Line 1 Sector 1 29.689 0.103

1:36.759 -0.187 Sector 2 58.800 -0.008