Diary of a Mad Man Part 4

Responsibilities.

We all have them. Some like to walk away from them, others take them very seriously. As an airliner pilot, the responsibilities I bear are enormous. One single mistake can mean the loss of hundres of thousands of euro's worth of cargo, or worse, hundreds of lives. A bit closer to home for most of you is probably drinking. Remember DON'T drink and drive. Be a responsible drinker in general. And I am aware of how much of a hypocrite I am. I am writing this while staring at a glass of wine set on my desk. And even go as far as drinking during the test on Magny Cours. And I will openly admit that I crashed the car while taking a swig of beer. The ultimate proof that drinking and driving don't mix. Never...

Speaking of which. These tests are getting a bit out of hand. Apart from the fact that there is a rule installed to prevent sand bagging and people are still sandbagging, some new faces sat at the top of the charts this week. Gergo Baldi taking the number one spot, setting the fastest time in the Hawkeye, and freshly signed Nordsjoen driver Toby Davis took second.
Also I want to give probs to the Torrent guys for constantly lapping just below the maximum allowed lap time. That is also a skill, and secretly amusing.

Now, I will continue my preview of the 2014 Superleague season with the Woods Racing team. Led by Ollie Woods, this outfit is probably one of the most up and down bouncing teams I know. Plagued by the terrible "Woods Curse" Ollie will be looking for a better season now. Though there was already trouble before we even started. With the, forced departure, of the initially signed Oscar Hardwick, Woods was long left without a second driver. But, they have completed their line up and are ready to take on the field with Roy Schroten and Danny Asbury. Signing Roy was a good move by Woods. Succesful in his Supercup campaign last year, and impressive in his few races in the Constant, Roy proves to be an asset to the team. If he's able to push passed the curse we don't know. But we know he will give it his all. Team mate Danny Asbury. I'm sorry mate, I barely know anything about him. I've heard good things though. His testing times look promising and if he's spared by the curse we might see him pick up some points for Woods.

Phoenix F1. Keeping the same line up as last year with Boyd Bryson and Kieran Ryan. Fun fact, the only team to choose a 2013 spec engine. It will give them an advantage in the early stages of the season. They will have no ways to upgrade it though. So it might become a drag in the second part of the season. Last year must have been a struggle for the team. Being at the back of the field most of the time, scoring a few points every now and then. They will be looking to improve this season. With Ryan and Bryson, Phoenix is looking at a stable and experienced line up. This might be the year where Phoenix F1 shows their true colours. And not through their livery but through their driving.

Green Stripes. Fallen from the grace of a succesfull 2012 campaign with Dave Carr-Smith. GSR struggeled the entire season. Not with just results, but with keeping both cars occupied as well. We've seen multiple drivers take the wheel of the GSR cars and not always has this resulted in a positive outcome for the team. I'm sure they'll be looking to improve on last season. With two Finnish drivers spearheading the campaign. Mikael Tuomaala and Tommi Koivunen. Tuomala has been looking very quick the entire pre-season. Obviously a fast driver he'll be looking to put GSR back where it once was, on the podium. Koivunen isn't looking as quick as his team mate yet. If my memory hasn't bailed on me, he did some races for Red Archer last season in which he did reasonbly well. Now we'll get to see what he can make of the Green Stripes Racing car.

To be continued....