241 replies to this topic

[PayasYouRace]

 

Now here's an exciting classic race.

[Risil]

Now we're talking!

[Risil]

Here's qualifying to get you up to speed:

[jonpollak]

One of my favorite words of all time is "Colossally"

 

Listen out for it...

Jp

[jonpollak]

This is Wednesday right?

(like some struggle with time zones, I struggle with the British date method -Day, Month, Year.)

 

Jp

[PayasYouRace]

This is Wednesday right?

(like some struggle with time zones, I struggle with the British date method -Day, Month, Year.)

 

Jp

 

Yes. It's tomorrow.

[midgrid]

Hurrah! I was worried that they would stick only to races featuring current drivers.

[midgrid]

The scheduled time suggests 19:00 BST for me - unless there's an hour of build-up.

[PayasYouRace]

It has been rescheduled. I'll edit the title.

[Collombin]

This is like Halley's Comet for me - I haven't seen it since 1986.

[jonpollak]

I remember waking up at 03:00 for this when we lived back in LA. While I worked for ABC.
We had a pirate cable box.
I gave the guy $20 to get all the channels.

In addition, even Mrs.Jp woke up to see this race. She was a Piquet fan and I was Nigel all the way.

I think Jackie Stewart was commenting on ESPN at the time and the misses(an English lass) said “I can’t understand a word he’s saying”.

Ahh the good old days.
Jp

[BuddyHolly]

ohh good!  love that era.

 

off topic for a moment, I hope you're staying safe JP mate, I hope you know you are treasured on here and we need you safe and sound. 

[Bleu]

Of the current drivers only three were born at that time. 
Kimi had just turned seven.

Lewis was nearing two years.

Romain was about six months.

[jonpollak]

ohh good! love that era.

off topic for a moment, I hope you're staying safe JP mate, I hope you know you are treasured on here and we need you safe and sound.

That’s very kind.
We’re fine here

I was on tour in France when Macron shut the country down and only made it out with a few hours left before all transport stopped.

After 2 months on the road in places like Iceland, Finland, Russia and all over Europe (not Italy) Our crew arrived at our last venue of the Tindersticks European tour in Bordeaux for load in only to hear the local techs say “aller à l'aéroport maintenant” Get to the airport NOW !

We scrambled immediately and got flights to the UK and the others were able to get flights to their homes from there.
Some of the band, who arrived later that day, were stuck in France and had to go to their various consulates to get a pass out.

There is no work for the foreseeable future in the world of rock tours. So here I remain.

I’ve been self-isolating since my return,as have the family. We all sat down, laid out our guidelines and came up with a survival plan. It’s been working well and I’m getting a lot of reading done, which is a joy for me.

Jp

[bargeboard]

The cars from this era were just amazingly brutal machines. 1350HP in qualifying, rudimentary aero, half-measures all-around for safety.

[Neno]

I wonder who will win. 

[TomNokoe]

I'm hoping there's more to this race than the main highlight it's known for.

[noikeee]

50 minutes to race start. I've got a feeling this is gonna be an exciting finale to the season!

[Otaku]

Tyres will be important, I believe

[Risil]

I'm hoping there's more to this race than the main highlight it's known for.

Well as always in F1 if you're not emotionally and/or intellectually invested it's just young men wasting their lives in noisy cars (and typically older men wasting their lives talking about them).

 

But in brief, the situation is as follows: Nigel Mansell leads the driver's championship with 70 points to Alain Prost's 64, with Nelson Piquet also in contention with 63 (the points system is 9-6-4-3-2-1). He had the opportunity to wrap up the title in Mexico by outscoring his opponents, but ultimately laboured to a fifth place while Gerhard Berger, of all people, managed his ultra-durable Pirellis (ha!) to win for the new Benetton team while the Goodyear runners required pitstops (no refuelling in 1986). A second for Prost and fourth for Piquet sets up a finale with three drivers in contention for the championship.

 

Williams-Honda teammates Piquet and Mansell have been well-matched over the season, with Piquet having a slight edge since the German Grand Prix in July. Prost led the points table halfway through the season owing to consistent finishing and wins at Imola and Monaco, but the Williams drivers have had the upper hand on pace since the Belgian Grand Prix in May. An erstwhile championship contender, Lotus's Ayrton Senna, has faded badly in the second half of the season, crashing out of second place at the French Grand Prix and retiring from four more.

 

Owing to the "dropped scores" rule they used in those days for some reason, only your best 11 points finishes count towards your total. This makes things seriously complicated. Mansell had a fifth place in Detroit which he can replace with a better finish in Australia. If he gets a third that will get him up to 72 points, out of the reach of Prost who can win to move up to 72, dropping a sixth place from Spa in the process, but will lose on countback owing to Mansell's greater number of wins. Piquet only has 10 points finishes so will not drop a score, meaning that he can also win to get 72 points, but again Mansell will win on countback, this time on third places. Prost and Piquet both need to win in order to overhaul Mansell. Mansell can let Prost and Piquet battle for the win, finish third and take the title. Mind you, that was also true last race in Mexico and it didn't happen then.

 

What about the others? Prost's teammate Keke Rosberg has had a depressing year, leaving his team leader role at Williams for regularly finishing behind his teammate at McLaren. He's leaving Grand Prix racing at the end of the year to race sports cars and teach Nico the art of winning a world championship through persistence. Berger and Teo Fabi's Benetton-BMWs are fast but almost always break down. The Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson (yet to be re-christened Stevie Johnson) are slower but a fraction more reliable. 1986 curios include Alan Jones driving a Lola for Carl Haas, odd-looking Brabhams, turbo Tyrrells and the new Minardi team, which are powered by something called a Motori Moderni.

 

I don't have a spotter's guide but this is 80s F1 so identification is pretty easy. Williams are ICI blue, yellow and Canon white; McLaren are Marlboro red and white; Lotus are JPS black and gold; Ferrari are red; Ligier are blue; Tyrrell are a darker shade of blue; Brabham are an even darker shade of blue; Benetton are a complete mess with green highlights.

[ANF]

Here's qualifying to get you up to speed:

Nice build-up with Jackie Stewart and Murray Walker.

[Risil]

Here's the grid. Mansell where he needs to be. Piquet and Prost need someone like a Senna or Berger to worry Number Five. Look at those Ligiers! 

 

Christian Danner more or less where he was when we did the 1995 Indycar GP of Miami two weeks ago. Incidentally does anybody know anything about Allen Berg?

[TomNokoe]

Thank you Risil

I've just finished qualifying (massive anti climax!!) and I'm now reading a season overview posted to Reddit.

Edit: 1350bhp, blimey ... crazy how many poles Senna had ... who is Teo Fabi .... I hate the scoring system

Edited by TomNokoe, 01 April 2020 - 17:50.

[John B]

Back when a team winning 3 titles in a row was considered a big deal....

[Risil]

Correction: I've noticed from looking at that Youtube thumbnail I posted earlier that the Tyrrells this year are white, not blue. And sponsored by Courtaulds, which means that between Williams and Tyrrell pretty much the whole British chemical industry was represented on the 1986 grid?

[Collombin]

Back when a team winning 3 titles in a row was considered a big deal....

Even 2 in a row.

Btw, criticising the scoring system of that time always shows who the millennials are.

[Otaku]

Almost 4 seconds between senna and dumfries 

[Risil]

More fun sponsor facts, courtesy of Wikipedia: the name "Canon", as in "Canon Williams" is an Englished version of the bodhisattva Guanyin.

[Risil]

Almost 4 seconds between senna and dumfries 

I wonder how good Dumfries was. Two years before, he was British F3 champion; two years later, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours.

[ANF]

One-minute warning if there is such a thing.

[PayasYouRace]

I wonder how good Dumfries was. Two years before, he was British F3 champion; two years later, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours.

 

Better than being given Ayrton's sloppy seconds at Lotus would suggest.

[ANF]

Is this countdown clock a Youtube thing or an F1 thing?

[PayasYouRace]

Is this countdown clock a Youtube thing or an F1 thing?

 

A youtube thing.

[Risil]

ONBOARD CAMERA

[PayasYouRace]

An on board camera. What a wonderful modern age we live in.

[jonpollak]

In Car !!!

[jonpollak]

Pace lap... missed it in real time cuz I was making Mrs Jp’s Tea
Jp

[Spillage]

This race was seven years before I was born but I already know what happens. That's how sad I am.

[PayasYouRace]

Can we expect Rosberg to make an early charge then?

[TomNokoe]

Is this countdown clock a Youtube thing or an F1 thing?

F1 would never design something so slick

Formation lap, never knew about the lettered compounds - A, B, C, D, E?

[jonpollak]

And a Beatrice is in this race
Jp

[PayasYouRace]

F1 would never design something so slick

Formation lap, never knew about the lettered compounds - A, B, C, D, E?

 

That's how Goodyear always labelled their compounds in F1.

[jonpollak]

I still have a Benetton TeeShirt from this era.
Jp

[Risil]

Such wheelspin!

[PayasYouRace]

Bit of a traffic jam behind Arnoux.

[Collombin]

Formation lap, never knew about the lettered compounds - A, B, C, D, E?

Hard to soft, just like what happens when.......well, never mind when.

[Risil]

Piquet follows Senna through on Mansell! Did Nigel miss a gear there?

[PayasYouRace]

Rosberg had his porridge this morning.

[Risil]

Alboreto's done! Or has a rear puncture, anyway.

[TomNokoe]

Two lead changes on the opening lap!

More overtakes!

Mansell very slow on the first lap

Edited by TomNokoe, 01 April 2020 - 18:10.