OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

Griever20 · 08-23-2017, 08:48 AM

Preseason Report: World Motorsport Championship
motorsport-live.com

March 17th, 2016

Three days till the red lights go off and the race to the podium begins. Ten teams. Twenty drivers. Two Championships. Team check:

Kitano Sport – Honda
Japan
Car: 5th
Drivers: 2nd
HQ: 2nd
Staff: 9th
Sponsors: 10th

Based in Yokohama, near the Grand Prix track, Kitano has the Honda partnership, japanese know-how, and three impressive drivers. The team finished third in the APSC last season and qualified for the Championship this way, and with their impressive aero package, points are in the cards at Qatar to start the season.

However, the Honda engine has NOT impressed anyone in preseason testing, may it be the chassis around it, or the engine itself, but they need to work on that. What they DO have is two veteran drivers.

Javier Vázquez is a 2x European Touring Car Champion and a veteran of motorsport and has all experience in the world. Jenny North, already 36, has won the WSSC(Woman Single Seater Championship, short lived FIA series scrapped together with F1) in its final year and raced in various japanese based racing series since and can be blindingly quick.

Expected finish: 3rd-6th

Lotus Racing – BMW
Great Britain
Car: 10th
Drivers: 10th
HQ: 10th
Staff: 7th
Sponsors: 4th

The last minute entry has a big brand name, a good sponsorship package, two young, marketable drivers, and a dog of a car. Spotters from other teams watched their testing in Tondela, Portugal closely, and neither the chassis, nor the basic BMW engine look close to WMC ready.

On the driver side, Jeremy Woodford brings cash and replacement level driving, being hard to the tyres as well. But, he brings some hard cash to the team, and we all love to see the 24-year old brit in the series right?

Iker Vidal, from many regarded as the next Fernando Alonso, outpaced his teammate in testing by a wide margin, and he has been a qualifying expert for what it is worth. He had some room to grow, and he needs to if he wants to stay in this series.

Expected finish: 10th

Panther Racing Team – Ferrari
Great Britain
Car: 3rd
Drivers: 4th
HQ: 5th
Staff: 1st
Sponsors: 5th

Driving with customer Ferrari engines and based in Milton Keynes, Great Britain, out of the old Red Bull factory, they have some traits of that team for sure. 57-year old Rachel Adams, former assistant of genius designer Adrian Newey, led their car development, and many think their front wing and gearbox solution are a class of its own.

26-year australian driver Zoe Sharp has been blindingly quick last season, leading his team to a second place finish in the APSC, winning two races and scoring five podiums. She was once part of the Red Bull driver development program so...

21-year old russian wonderkid Nikolai Surikov will work hard to match the sister car, but he has some potential and, according to team principal Jack Guinness, will be followed closely by the highest authority in Russia. Whatever that means.

Expected Finish: 2th-4th

Rezzato Corsa – BMW
Italy
Car: 7th
Drivers: 6th
HQ: 6th
Staff: 10th
Sponsors: 8th

Minardi DNA. Based in Faenza in Italy, the Rezzato Corsa team seems to have a good car, but there are serious questions about their engineers and lead designer, and many expect them to suffer in reliability and performance at the end of the year, something they also showed when finishing fourth in the APSC last year.

Their driver lineup is incredibly inexperienced with 18-year old wonderkid Rick De Graaf the youngest driver in the field, and 21-year old hotblooded spanish racer girl Lucía Flores. Flores made headlines two years ago for ramming another driver under the safety car after he blocked her two laps ago. Michael Neumann, the poor team principle, will have a hard time working with those young kids and maybe inept race engineers.

Expected Finish: 7th-9th

Scuderia Rossini – Ferrari
Italy
Car: 2nd
Drivers: 1st
HQ: 3rd
Staff: 3rd
Sponsors: 1st

Not hard to guess who backs this team, is it. Cars in flashing red with an italian flag, rolling out of a factory in Maranello, Italy? This is Ferrari's partner and it should make a great job representing the prancing horse as they build a great car.

And if you look for good drivers, you are at the right place. Dieter Wexler from Germany won the german DTM touring car championship from 2010 to 2013 in impressive fashion and is only 28, and veteran Niilo Sarinen from Finland returned from the rally sport to race in single seaters once again.

They won the EASC qualifying series by a wide margin.

Expected Finish: 1st-3rd

Steinmann Motorsport – Mercedes
Germany
Car: 1st
Drivers: 3rd
HQ: 1st
Staff: 2nd
Sponsors: 2nd

Winners of the APSC in 2015, Steinmann has german engineering power as the partner of Mercedes and Brawn GP DNA as they operate from Brackley, Great Britain and managed to lay a great foundation for a Championship run.

Their driver lineup is experienced, but can blow in their face. 31-year old Harry Chapman once was part of McLaren's young driver program, but lost that honor when he lost his driver licence in 2008 and instead worked his way up in the US-based NASCAR series to winning three championships there... before getting fired halfway through the 2014 season for having an affair with the team principal's wife.

30-year old Nina Holtz on the other hand is a grounded, almost shy person that became a star overnight when she won the 24-hours of the Nürburgring Nordschleife at age 22 in a underpowered car, and then drove for Mercedes in the DTM and WEC.

With 18-year old Pascal Becker as reserve driver, they have the next big german talent in the waiting.

Predicted Finish: 1st-2nd

Thornton – BMW
Car: 8th
Drivers: 9th
HQ: 7th
Staff: 6th
Sponsors: 7th

BMW bought into the Thornton project late, and the Guildford based racing team did not exactly impress anybody. Having finished fourth in the ERSC, the only thing they excel is rear end downforce as their rear wing and diffuser is fantastic.

32-year old frenchman Samuel Blanc took their only race win in 2015, driving his heart out in the South African Grand Prix, and that one secured their qualification. A rally driver for most of his career, he impressed at the 2009 Race of Champions, and the Thornton team boss remembered that.

31-year old columbian hotshot Alejandro Moreno trained years with former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya and both drivers have the same weakness... Consistency. Once day, Moreno looks like a super star, one day more like a New Yorker taxi driver.

Expected Finish: 6th-9th

Van Dort Racing – Honda
Great Britain
Car: 6th
Drivers: 7th
HQ: 9th
Staff: 5th
Sponsors: 6th

Close neighbors to the Lotus team in Guildford, the Van Dort used stashed away Force India equipment and knowledge to build up their challenger, and nobody is surprised that the ownership group is from India right?

Their headquarter is the second smallest in the series, and still is 2x larger than the Lotus garage nearby, but they obviously have to work with a shoestring budget and that means they basically run one solid driver.

That is 28-year old Wolfgang Schmidt, a red-haired and bearded german that had a GP2 seat for the 2010 season... that never materialized as we now. Looking more like a woodchopper, he has won various Asian racing series over the years.

That means that 26-year old Maria Gonzalez is not that good. She could be a good racing driver if you give her another 2-3 years, but here, she is a rear gunner at most. What cost her... is the fact that she started racing at age 16, quite late.

Predicted Finish: 4th-7th

Vélan Racing - Renault
Switzerland
Car: 9th
Drivers: 8th
HQ: 8th
Staff: 8th
Sponsors: 9th

Based in the former BMW-Sauber factory in Hinwill, Vélan Racing was supposed to be Renault's darling... before they barely qualified for the Championship in fifth place.

Like the Thornton lineup, they have to real strength and would be favorites for the last place... were it not for Lotus. The driver lineup of 25-year old swedish driver Siri Lundquist and 23-year brazilian Esteban Ribeiro has room for growth... but not much.

Predicted Finish: 7th-9th

Windsor Racing – Mercedes
Great Britain
Car: 4th
Drivers: 5th
HQ: 4th
Staff: 4th
Sponsors: 3rd

Located in Grove, Oxfordshire in Great Britain, the Windsor Racing team is the successor of Williams GP. The factory was kept alive by some funds allocated by the british government, and Claire Williams, daughter of the legendary Frank Williams, was signed as team principal two years ago.

And they got one hell of a car, a premium HQ and two... solid drivers. Aki Lipponen is the typical finn, 26-years of age, not exactly talking a ton, but he is fast, consistent and focused on the race 100%. He won the shortlived Scandinavian Touring Car championship in 2013.

Ana Olivera, 34-years of age, is a interesting character. She grew up two streets away from former F1 driver Felipe Massa and drive with him for years before he went to Europe, and she was left to drive low fame series in South Africa.

Expected Finish: 3rd-5th

08-23-2017, 08:48 AM	#7
Griever20 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Dortmund, Germany Posts: 3,723	2016 Preseason Report: Team Check Preseason Report: World Motorsport Championship motorsport-live.com March 17th, 2016 Three days till the red lights go off and the race to the podium begins. Ten teams. Twenty drivers. Two Championships. Team check: Kitano Sport – Honda Japan Car: 5th Drivers: 2nd HQ: 2nd Staff: 9th Sponsors: 10th Based in Yokohama, near the Grand Prix track, Kitano has the Honda partnership, japanese know-how, and three impressive drivers. The team finished third in the APSC last season and qualified for the Championship this way, and with their impressive aero package, points are in the cards at Qatar to start the season. However, the Honda engine has NOT impressed anyone in preseason testing, may it be the chassis around it, or the engine itself, but they need to work on that. What they DO have is two veteran drivers. Javier Vázquez is a 2x European Touring Car Champion and a veteran of motorsport and has all experience in the world. Jenny North, already 36, has won the WSSC(Woman Single Seater Championship, short lived FIA series scrapped together with F1) in its final year and raced in various japanese based racing series since and can be blindingly quick. Expected finish: 3rd-6th Lotus Racing – BMW Great Britain Car: 10th Drivers: 10th HQ: 10th Staff: 7th Sponsors: 4th The last minute entry has a big brand name, a good sponsorship package, two young, marketable drivers, and a dog of a car. Spotters from other teams watched their testing in Tondela, Portugal closely, and neither the chassis, nor the basic BMW engine look close to WMC ready. On the driver side, Jeremy Woodford brings cash and replacement level driving, being hard to the tyres as well. But, he brings some hard cash to the team, and we all love to see the 24-year old brit in the series right? Iker Vidal, from many regarded as the next Fernando Alonso, outpaced his teammate in testing by a wide margin, and he has been a qualifying expert for what it is worth. He had some room to grow, and he needs to if he wants to stay in this series. Expected finish: 10th Panther Racing Team – Ferrari Great Britain Car: 3rd Drivers: 4th HQ: 5th Staff: 1st Sponsors: 5th Driving with customer Ferrari engines and based in Milton Keynes, Great Britain, out of the old Red Bull factory, they have some traits of that team for sure. 57-year old Rachel Adams, former assistant of genius designer Adrian Newey, led their car development, and many think their front wing and gearbox solution are a class of its own. 26-year australian driver Zoe Sharp has been blindingly quick last season, leading his team to a second place finish in the APSC, winning two races and scoring five podiums. She was once part of the Red Bull driver development program so... 21-year old russian wonderkid Nikolai Surikov will work hard to match the sister car, but he has some potential and, according to team principal Jack Guinness, will be followed closely by the highest authority in Russia. Whatever that means. Expected Finish: 2th-4th Rezzato Corsa – BMW Italy Car: 7th Drivers: 6th HQ: 6th Staff: 10th Sponsors: 8th Minardi DNA. Based in Faenza in Italy, the Rezzato Corsa team seems to have a good car, but there are serious questions about their engineers and lead designer, and many expect them to suffer in reliability and performance at the end of the year, something they also showed when finishing fourth in the APSC last year. Their driver lineup is incredibly inexperienced with 18-year old wonderkid Rick De Graaf the youngest driver in the field, and 21-year old hotblooded spanish racer girl Lucía Flores. Flores made headlines two years ago for ramming another driver under the safety car after he blocked her two laps ago. Michael Neumann, the poor team principle, will have a hard time working with those young kids and maybe inept race engineers. Expected Finish: 7th-9th Scuderia Rossini – Ferrari Italy Car: 2nd Drivers: 1st HQ: 3rd Staff: 3rd Sponsors: 1st Not hard to guess who backs this team, is it. Cars in flashing red with an italian flag, rolling out of a factory in Maranello, Italy? This is Ferrari's partner and it should make a great job representing the prancing horse as they build a great car. And if you look for good drivers, you are at the right place. Dieter Wexler from Germany won the german DTM touring car championship from 2010 to 2013 in impressive fashion and is only 28, and veteran Niilo Sarinen from Finland returned from the rally sport to race in single seaters once again. They won the EASC qualifying series by a wide margin. Expected Finish: 1st-3rd Steinmann Motorsport – Mercedes Germany Car: 1st Drivers: 3rd HQ: 1st Staff: 2nd Sponsors: 2nd Winners of the APSC in 2015, Steinmann has german engineering power as the partner of Mercedes and Brawn GP DNA as they operate from Brackley, Great Britain and managed to lay a great foundation for a Championship run. Their driver lineup is experienced, but can blow in their face. 31-year old Harry Chapman once was part of McLaren's young driver program, but lost that honor when he lost his driver licence in 2008 and instead worked his way up in the US-based NASCAR series to winning three championships there... before getting fired halfway through the 2014 season for having an affair with the team principal's wife. 30-year old Nina Holtz on the other hand is a grounded, almost shy person that became a star overnight when she won the 24-hours of the Nürburgring Nordschleife at age 22 in a underpowered car, and then drove for Mercedes in the DTM and WEC. With 18-year old Pascal Becker as reserve driver, they have the next big german talent in the waiting. Predicted Finish: 1st-2nd Thornton – BMW Car: 8th Drivers: 9th HQ: 7th Staff: 6th Sponsors: 7th BMW bought into the Thornton project late, and the Guildford based racing team did not exactly impress anybody. Having finished fourth in the ERSC, the only thing they excel is rear end downforce as their rear wing and diffuser is fantastic. 32-year old frenchman Samuel Blanc took their only race win in 2015, driving his heart out in the South African Grand Prix, and that one secured their qualification. A rally driver for most of his career, he impressed at the 2009 Race of Champions, and the Thornton team boss remembered that. 31-year old columbian hotshot Alejandro Moreno trained years with former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya and both drivers have the same weakness... Consistency. Once day, Moreno looks like a super star, one day more like a New Yorker taxi driver. Expected Finish: 6th-9th Van Dort Racing – Honda Great Britain Car: 6th Drivers: 7th HQ: 9th Staff: 5th Sponsors: 6th Close neighbors to the Lotus team in Guildford, the Van Dort used stashed away Force India equipment and knowledge to build up their challenger, and nobody is surprised that the ownership group is from India right? Their headquarter is the second smallest in the series, and still is 2x larger than the Lotus garage nearby, but they obviously have to work with a shoestring budget and that means they basically run one solid driver. That is 28-year old Wolfgang Schmidt, a red-haired and bearded german that had a GP2 seat for the 2010 season... that never materialized as we now. Looking more like a woodchopper, he has won various Asian racing series over the years. That means that 26-year old Maria Gonzalez is not that good. She could be a good racing driver if you give her another 2-3 years, but here, she is a rear gunner at most. What cost her... is the fact that she started racing at age 16, quite late. Predicted Finish: 4th-7th Vélan Racing - Renault Switzerland Car: 9th Drivers: 8th HQ: 8th Staff: 8th Sponsors: 9th Based in the former BMW-Sauber factory in Hinwill, Vélan Racing was supposed to be Renault's darling... before they barely qualified for the Championship in fifth place. Like the Thornton lineup, they have to real strength and would be favorites for the last place... were it not for Lotus. The driver lineup of 25-year old swedish driver Siri Lundquist and 23-year brazilian Esteban Ribeiro has room for growth... but not much. Predicted Finish: 7th-9th Windsor Racing – Mercedes Great Britain Car: 4th Drivers: 5th HQ: 4th Staff: 4th Sponsors: 3rd Located in Grove, Oxfordshire in Great Britain, the Windsor Racing team is the successor of Williams GP. The factory was kept alive by some funds allocated by the british government, and Claire Williams, daughter of the legendary Frank Williams, was signed as team principal two years ago. And they got one hell of a car, a premium HQ and two... solid drivers. Aki Lipponen is the typical finn, 26-years of age, not exactly talking a ton, but he is fast, consistent and focused on the race 100%. He won the shortlived Scandinavian Touring Car championship in 2013. Ana Olivera, 34-years of age, is a interesting character. She grew up two streets away from former F1 driver Felipe Massa and drive with him for years before he went to Europe, and she was left to drive low fame series in South Africa. Expected Finish: 3rd-5th __________________ The Montreal Expos... Exposing the New MLB? MLB 2015 - Being the Brewmaster(ended) MLB 2013: The Blue Jays That Never Were(concluded)