Chris Dagnall F1 Career -- 1984/????

[Aerond]

1987 - ROUND 5 - USA

Qualifying

I like street circuits and Detroit is no exception. I´m feeling way more confident with the car than at the beggining of the season and that means I´m getting closer to Fabi as well. As in the last two GPs, I sort of failed to record a good time on Saturday so I had to stick with my Friday time. Berger failed to record a time after suffering an stomach flu so Moreno got into the grid.

1. Mansell -- 1.28.519
2. Senna -- 1.29.235
3. Piquet -- 1.29.517
4. Prost -- 1.29.747
5. Johansson -- 1.30.316
6. Fabi -- 1.30.358
---
8. Cheever -- 1.30.836
9. Dagnall -- 1.31.161
10. Alboreto -- 1.31.553

Race

I kept my position after first corner, while Patrese lost his front wing and Cheever, in his home GP, climbed to 6th. Before the end of the lap I passed De Cesaris and I got in a battle with Johansson, Cheever, Fabi and Alboreto. The first one to fall was Cheever, in lap 5, then Prost, in lap 9 and then Piquet in lap 10. That meant I was suddenly fighting for a podium finish!! ... That was really brief: In lap 11 some piece of the rear suspension learnt to fly and I had to retire.

ROUND 6 - FRANCE

Qualifying

The previous years Paul Ricard was a nightmare for me, but having a powerful car changes things completely and I was confident to do a good race this time. This was confirmed in qualifying, where for the first time this season I could pass Fabi. Both Friday and saturday was all about improving the base setup. Apparently it worked out!

1. Mansell -- 1.10.842
2. Piquet -- 1.11.717
3. Senna -- 1.11.860
4. Berger -- 1.12.076
5. Prost -- 1.12.118
6. Alboreto -- 1.12.334
7. Dagnall -- 1.12.565
8. Fabi -- 1.12.859

Race

In the start I felt to 8th, just between both Arrows. Fabi also felt so it wasn´t a very positive beggining. It was even worse when I lost control of the car at the spoon and I touched the gravel, falling to 13th. Before the end of the first lap I was 12th, as I passed Arnoux. Then in second lap I advanced to 10th, as Prost ended his home GP entry. In lap 3 I passed Fabi for 9th and I started to pursuit Johansson and both Arrows. Johansson was done in lap 6 and Warwick in lap 11. In lap 16 I passed Cheever and Piquet (who retired again!!). By then I was 4th, and having some trouble lapping some cars. In lap 22 I was approaching Ghinzani´s Ligier by the end of the lap. Apparently he couldn´t control the car due to a throttle problem and I crashed into his back. Luckily, I was very close to the pit and close enough to my first pit-stop to really ruin my race, but when I came out I was 8th and out of the points. I shouldn´t have worried much because in lap 29 I was passing Patrese for 4th, then 3rd after Mansell retired and pursuing Berger, who was second some 30 seconds behind. I wasn´t losing ground to him but I went over the top at the end of lap 42 and spun, so options of catching him after that were quite remote. I was concentrating on keeping the 3rd position when I had some engine trouble in lap 51. I lost power but I was able to get to the pits and my mechanics were able to find the problem: Some piece of rubbish got into the engine and the temperature had gone up. Back on the track I was 6th, passing Patrese for 5th in lap 55 and Fabi for 4th in lap 58. Then, Warwick said goodbye to the race and Berger too; I was 2nd and Fabi 3rd!! With no chance of fighting Senna I just kept my position. Fabi was very unlucky: His engine broke in lap 78 out of 80; but fortunately he only lost one place due to the retirements at the front. All in all, a fantastic weekend. It´s great to have scored my first points and a podium finish for Benetton.

1. Senna -- 1h39m48.670
2. Dagnall -- +1 lap
3. Patrese -- +2 laps
4. Fabi -- +4 laps
5. Arnoux -- +4 laps
6. Nakajima -- +4 laps
7. Palmer -- +5 laps
8. Streiff -- +5 laps
9. Campos -- +5 laps
10. Nannini -- +7 laps
11. Dalmas -- +8 laps

[thehemogoblin]

Nice podium.

[JeanDenisAlcatraz]

Great race. I'm enjoying following your career

[Phoenix]

Do you have any future plans to sign with Life when they show up?

[Aerond]

1987 - ROUND 7 - GREAT BRITAIN

Now that I drive a fast car I guess is double exciting to drive at home!! I prefer Brands Hatch over to Silverstone but driving a faster car makes things easier. In qualify I just decided to use a similar setup to the Paul Ricard one with small changes and it worked out pretty well, having in count the difference in power against the Hondas and Ferrari. All in all, a productive qualifying, setting my best time on Saturday.

1. Senna -- 1.02.757
2. Piquet -- 1.02.847
3. Mansell -- 1.03.181
4. Prost -- 1.03.251
5. Berger -- 1.03.307
6. Dagnall -- 1.03.503
7. Alboreto -- 1.03.714
8. Fabi -- 1.03.876

Race

I didn´t start well enough from the 6th palce and I was 8th after the first corner only to gain advantage of the fights ahead of me and place myself 4th at the end of the first lap!! Since the very beggining it was clear I wouldn´t be able to catch the Williams and Senna so I concentrated on the battle with Berger and Prost. I was clearly in disadvantage to them and Berger managed to pass me on lap 4. Then it was about holding Prost but I lost control of the car under his pressure at the chicane on lap 10 and the lack of a gravel trap meant inmediate retirement. Ahead, Piquet finally managed to finish a race!!!

1. Piquet -- 1h13m57.153
2. Senna -- +9.535
3. Mansell -- +21.912
4. Prost -- +1.09.625
5. Berger -- +1 lap
6. Johansson -- +2 laps
7. Cheever -- +2 laps
8. Nakajima -- +3 laps
9. Arnoux -- +4 laps
10. Alliot -- +5 laps
11. Campos -- +5 laps
12. Palmer -- +5 laps
13. Streiff -- +6 laps
14. Danner -- +7 laps

[shinji]

Just so you know Aerond, whenever I see you're the most recent poster on this thread I get a bit excited.

[Aerond]

Just so you know Aerond, whenever I see you're the most recent poster on this thread I get a bit excited.

More to come! I already have to more races to report!

[shinji]

Just so you know Aerond, whenever I see you're the most recent poster on this thread I get a bit excited.

More to come! I already have to more races to report!

Excited already

[Aerond]

ROUND 8 - GERMANY

Confidence is everything and the new car setup helps a lot. I believe the car is improving from race to race and I can foresee and encouraging second half of the season!
At the quali in Hockenheim I continued improving. On Friday I was 7th, but come Saturday I found a great equilibrium with the gear ratios and I was 4th ahead of the Ferraris!! I also passed Fabi for the 3rd time in a row

1. Mansell -- 1.34.222
2. Senna -- 1.34.472
3. Piquet -- 1.34.501
4. Dagnall -- 1.34.871
5. Alboreto -- 1.35.315
6. Berger -- 1.35.519
---
9. Fabi -- 1.36.004

Come again a not very good start (much better than the previous two, though) and I was dropped to 5th place. However, I was able to pass Alboreto in 1st lap and I thought I could be happy to be there, but to my suprise I could keep the pace with the cars powered by Honda, so by lap 2 I was on a head to head with Mansell, who just lost his place against the brazilian guys in first lap. Even though I could keep the pace, I went a little bit wide in Ostkurve in lap 7 and I had to pit for a front wing. I had chosen 2 pits against 1 -chosen by most of the drivers- so it didn´t really ruin my race, but it compromised my tyre wear a little bit and I decided to take it a little bit easier from there. Out of the pits I was 13th, but by lap 15 I was 7th (having passed Fabi, who was on a 2 stop strategy as well). In lap 16 I passed Patrese and by then I was some 20 secs behind Alboreto, then I started the chase. In lap 23 the gap was 14.5 and in lap 25 both Johansson and Alboreto had stopped so I was 4th. In lap 28 I did my second pit-stop, but was only 3 secs behind Alboreto! I spun in lap 31 at the third chicane but Alboreto retired two laps later and the race was going even better when Johansson stopped with throttle problems and Mansell spun, so I was 3rd in lap 37!!!
Unluckily, the rear left wheel became loose in lap 40 and I had to pit again!!!! That put my race to a quiet ending in 5th, having been passed by Mansell and Johansson again. In the end, I managed to score the fastest lap in last lap due to the new tyres and low fuel! Poor Fabi managed to break his gearbox in last lap when he was running 6th and amazingly 18 cars classified despite how harsh Hockenheim is to engines!

1. Senna -- 1h12m14.518
2. Piquet -- +9.513
3. Mansell -- +1.26.420
4. Johansson -- +1.31.217
5. Dagnall -- +1 lap
6. Patrese -- +1 lap
7. Cheever -- +1 lap
8. Fabi -- +2 laps
9. Warwick -- +2 laps
10. Nakajima -- +2 laps
11. Ghinzani -- +2 laps
12. Brundle -- +2 laps
13. Dalmas -- +3 laps
14. Streiff -- +3 laps
15. Campos -- +4 laps
16. Palmer -- +4 laps
17. Alliot -- +4 laps
18. Danner -- +4 laps

[Aerond]

1987 - ROUND 9 - HUNGARY

After the round of fast tracks and before the races at Osterreichring and Monza, I was asking myself how the Benetton would fare in a slower track now that I´m finding my way with the setup.

Qualifying

Friday wasn´t a bad day. I just tried to find the correct amount of wing and I finished the session in 7th position. On saturday, with the first set of tyres I improved to 6th position and I, again, changed a little bit the balance of the car for a better performance in fast corners. The thing is, it went so well! Suddenly I had lots of grip at my disposal and with the last set of tyres (there´s only 3 qualifying tyre sets per weekend) I scored a fantastic time: 1.23.597! More than enough to score the first pole position of my career. Just after crossing the line on that lap, I suffered a water leak...

1. Dagnall -- 1.23.597
2. Mansell -- 1.24.015
3. Senna -- 1.24.685
4. Piquet -- 1.24.726
5. Prost -- 1.25.398
6. Berger -- 1.25.558
7. Fabi -- 1.25.693

Race

The water leak must affected the car a little bit as it felt less powerful in straights (I could hardly reach 6th), that and the fact that the track was more slippery on Sunday really affected my drive, as the car felt much more unstable than the day before. My start was awful and I fell to 6th! Then I passed Berger for 5th in lap 3 and in lap 4 Prost retired once again, but I wasn´t the fastest on track anymore and I could hardly keep up with Mansell´s times (who was 3rd). On Lap 5 I spun without consequences but that inestability I was talking about hit me again at the 1st corner in lap 10 and I spun to the gravel trap. I could continue but I lost 30 seconds and I was down to 10th. That wasn´t any good having in count that I was going for a 3 stop strategy. On lap 18 I did my first pit when I was 8th and onlap 24 I hit Brundle when I was lapping a group of cars and I had to pit again for a new wing, then I decided to stop only once more. That meant I would have to fight for points!
I was down to 10th again but I was lucky enough to pass Warwick and see the retirements of Patrese and Alboreto so I was 7th in lap 26, then 6th when Berger retired 10 laps later (in an awful season regarding reliability for Ferrari) and I was trying to get back to the group when I suffered and Electrical problem in lap 41. I lost several seconds trying to reach the pits (thank Hungaroring is a slow track!) and I was down to 7th again, but with no stops left.
I passed Fabi but with tyres worn the car was really hard to drive and I spun twice before the end of the race (one in lap 56, when I lost my place to Fabi, but passed him again in Lap 60, the second in lap 69 with no consequences), finishing 5th. All in all, regarding how hard to drive the car was on sunday, the result is not bad, but I wonder what would happened if the track kept the same grip from saturday. I´m sure the race would´ve been very different!

1. Piquet -- 1h55m07.686
2. Senna -- +14.984
3. Mansell -- +1 lap
4. Johansson -- +1 lap
5. Dagnall -- +2 laps
6. Fabi -- +2 laps
7. Cheever -- +2 laps
8. Palmer -- +4 laps
9. Alliot -- +5 laps
10. Ghinzani -- +5 laps
11. Nakajima -- +5 laps
12. Streiff -- +5 laps
13. Danner -- +5 laps

[thehemogoblin]

Wow! Nice work.

I really enjoy reading your accounts.

[Phoenix]

Good job, you've got your first pole. You know what's next...

[Aerond]

Good job, you've got your first pole. You know what's next...

Yeah, but not so fast! Read ahead...

ROUND 10 - AUSTRIA

Qualifying

Given the performance of the Benetton in Paul Ricard, Silverstone and Hockenheim I knew what to expect at the Osterreichring. Although i´ve always done bad here this time was far better, and I qualified 6th without much hassle.

1. Mansell -- 1.19.913
2. Piquet -- 1.20.191
3. Senna -- 1.20.629
4. Prost -- 1.21.225
5. Berger -- 1.21.267
6. Dagnall -- 1.21.317
7. Alboreto -- 1.21.632
8. Fabi -- 1.22.468

Race

As expected, I had a hard time at the start and at the end of the first lap I was 8th ahead of Fabi, then 7th in lap 2 and 6th in lap 7 when Senna spun. At that point I was running slower than Alboreto but faster than Cheever (who was 7th) but my race was far from being quiet: In lap 10 I suffered an electrical problem and I lost tons of time. Coming out I was 16th (ahead of Johansson, who had hit me while I was slowing in the way to the pits). I had now to climb unless something hapenned, and that "something" happened in lap 12. I was preparing to give way for Piquet to lap me but I lost control of the car at the exit of a corner, then Piquet chose to pass me on the inside, but that was the direction my car took and we both crashed and out of the race. A lost chance to score points...

1. Mansell -- 1h13m57.540
2. Senna -- +32.613
3. Warwick -- +1 lap
4. Nakajima -- +3 laps
5. Palmer -- +3 laps
6. Dalmas -- +4 laps
7. Danner -- +4 laps
8. Capelli -- +5 laps

ROUND 11 - ITALY

Qualifying

The car felt a little bit better than in Austria and I could get closer to the Williams this time. I was to score a time for 3rd or 2nd position in the gird on my last lap on Saturday, but I lost it at the entrance of Lesmo and that was it. It was a nice surprise to be ahead of both Ferrari in such a fast track

1. Mansell -- 1.21.887
2. Senna -- 1.22.081
3. Piquet -- 1.22.338
4. Dagnall -- 1.22.661
5. Alboreto -- 1.22.728
6. Berger -- 1.22.821
---
8. Fabi -- 1.23.717

Race

I didn´t a bad start, but I crashed to the back of Prost approaching the first chicane in a typical Monza incident! Then, ahead of me in the first lap was Nakajima on 5th position! I took a little bit of revenge from Brazil; I left him no space at the last chicane and he went off the track and stalled his engine, ruining his promising race. After pitting for a new front wing I was 24th, with just Prost behind. I started to quickly climb and by lap 8 I was 14th, and 8th by 13th (having retired Fabi and Berger).
In lap 16 I did my first pit stop and I was down to 13th, but the car felt incredibly good, enough to score the 2nd fastest lap of the race! My main concern was to pass both Arrows when they stopped and I accomplished it by quite a margin! On lap 24 I was running 7th and 6th in lap 27 just behind Prost (who hadn´t stopped at that point) when I suffered a puncture in the rear right wheel!! The bad thing was; It happened as I passed the pit entrance!! I did all my best to take the car to the pits but it was impossible to control it and I had to let it go at the first Lesmo. Senna almost assured his second championship after winning again thanks to his reliable Lotus.

1. Senna -- 1h14m58.852
2. Piquet -- +30.526
3. Mansell -- +1 lap
4. Prost -- +1 lap
5. Patrese -- +1 lap
6. De Cesaris -- +2 laps
7. Ghinzani -- +2 laps
8. Dalmas -- +4 laps

[RejectSteve]

I had now to climb unless something hapenned, and that "something" happened in lap 12. I was preparing to give way for Piquet to lap me but I lost control of the car at the exit of a corner, then Piquet chose to pass me on the inside, but that was the direction my car took and we both crashed and out of the race.

Were the fists and boots flying again?

[Aerond]

I had now to climb unless something hapenned, and that "something" happened in lap 12. I was preparing to give way for Piquet to lap me but I lost control of the car at the exit of a corner, then Piquet chose to pass me on the inside, but that was the direction my car took and we both crashed and out of the race.

Were the fists and boots flying again?

No, it was just an accident. Monza´86 was his fault, this time was mine. Everything´s fine :p

[Phoenix]

I had now to climb unless something hapenned, and that "something" happened in lap 12. I was preparing to give way for Piquet to lap me but I lost control of the car at the exit of a corner, then Piquet chose to pass me on the inside, but that was the direction my car took and we both crashed and out of the race.

Were the fists and boots flying again?

No, it was just an accident. Monza´86 was his fault, this time was mine. Everything´s fine :p

We're in 1987. Actually, I'd be more affraid for Mansell. Tell Chris Dagnall to watch his neck...

[WeirdKerr]

ive heard rumours that chris is off to lotus in '88 to replace senna

[Phoenix]

ive heard rumours that chris is off to lotus in '88 to replace senna

I thought he was driving for Coloni to replace Nicola Larini.

[thehemogoblin]

ive heard rumours that chris is off to lotus in '88 to replace senna

I hear rumors Senna is off to Benetton to replace Dagnall.

[Aerond]

1987 - ROUND 12 - PORTUGAL

Qualifying

The car felt really good, as previous years here. In first day I was able to put it second after Mansell (who seemed unbeatable), but an extra effort -and a little bit of madness- in last lap with the 3rd set got me the second pole of the season... by just 0.045!

1. Dagnall -- 1.18.611
2. Mansell -- 1.18.659
3. Berger -- 1.19.492
4. Piquet -- 1.19.693
5. Prost -- 1.19.897
6. Senna -- 1.19.935
----
8. Fabi -- 1.20.685

Race

Not uncexpectedly, I did a worse start than the other cars and I was passed by Mansell, Berger and Piquet. In lap 2 I passed Berger (who would spin at the end of the lap and retired) and in lap 10 I managed to pass Piquet at turn 3 when he was trying to lap another car. However, and not for the first time in the race, I lost downforce suddenly in the back straight when approaching one of the Tyrrell´s and spun! I was down to 4th and I had to recover. I passed Senna in L17 and I was 8.5 secs down to Piquet, then 2nd when Mansell stopped in L18 and first in L20 when Piquet pit. I pit in L26 and then I was down to 3rd. Piquet retired shortly after but I crashed to him awkwardly while he was trying to park his car and I lost my front wing. I was down to 3rd again and then to 4th in lap 37 when I had another spin when trying to lap a March, in the same place as the first time. I had to fight to get at least a 2nd instead of Senna (Mansell was too far away by then). I did my last pit in Lap 48 at the same time as Prost and I passed him in pits! After that I thought I could make it but I suffered a puncture in Lap 52 and I had to retire. Fabi got the 3rd place in the end (at one point I had lapped him!). It´s a real pity as I did the 2nd fastest lap of the race and I could have fought with Mansell without any mistakes.

1. Mansell -- 1h37m31.761
2. Senna -- +34.660
3. Fabi -- +2 laps
4. Arnoux -- +3 laps
5. De Cesaris -- +3 laps
6. Boutsen -- +4 laps
7. Ghinzani -- +4 laps
8. Streiff -- +4 laps
9. Palmer -- +4 laps
10. Prost -- +5 laps
11. Capelli -- +6 laps

ROUND 13 - SPAIN

Qualifying

This track is another great example of what a good car can do for the driver: last year I did terribly bad and this time I beat my team-mate once again And I don´t like Jerez: not a single bit. Is like Hungaroring, only even more boring.
Things didn´t go very well both days; I suffered an accident on Friday in my second fast lap, and one on saturday in the outing lap, so I had to stick with my Friday time, which apparently wasn´t too bad after all.

1. Piquet -- 1.19.628
2. Mansell -- 1.19.707
3. Berger -- 1.20.191
4. Senna -- 1.20.642
5. Prost -- 1.20.678
6. Dagnall -- 1.20.959
7. Alboreto -- 1.21.167
---
10. Fabi -- 1.21.954

Race

I managed to keep my position this time and, with both Williams flying, I was stick in an interesting group with Berger, Senna, Prost and Johansson. In lap 8 Prost managed to pass Senna and the group started to fall appart, with me and Johansson losing ground, but in lap 11 everything would change as Berger retired, taking Prost out in a similar fashion with the incident I had in Estoril with Piquet. Senna then spun in lap 15 and I was 3rd way behind the Williams. When I did my first pit-stop I was down to 6th (everybody going for 3 stops) and, after Alboreto retiring and passing Patrese I was 4th, then 3rd again when Senna stopped and being re-passed by him 2 laps later in Lap 28. With Johansson coming up from behind I went off track under pressure and felt to 5th and then I stopped in lap 36. I was set for a quiet second half of the race with the impossibility of challenging Johansson and Warwick almost 1 lap behind but Suspension failed in lap 51 and that was it!

1. Mansell -- 1h42m13.503
2. Senna -- +37.919
3. Johansson -- +1.18.757
4. Warwick -- +2 laps
5. Nakajima -- +3 laps
6. Nannini -- +3 laps
7. Brundle -- +4 laps
8. Palmer -- +4 laps
9. Streiff -- +4 laps
10. Ghinzani -- +4 laps
11. Dalmas -- +4 laps
12. Danner -- +6 laps

ROUND 14 - MEXICO

Qualifying

The car proved way better in the altitude of Mexico than in Spain and I ended qualifying with an excellent 3rd just behind both Williams.

1. Mansell -- 1.11.745
2. Piquet -- 1.11.821
3. Dagnall -- 1.12.082
4. Senna -- 1.12.125
5. Prost -- 1.12.318
6. Berger -- 1.12.734
7. Fabi -- 1.12.978

Race

I did a bad start (how surprising!) and I was down to 6th but with a good race ahead in prospect. It didn´t matter much because after passing Alboreto for 5th the Transmission failed. Senna made it 2nd for his second World Championship victory!!! The reliability of his Lotus helped a lot in the matter, he said, before announcing a move to Mclaren next year along with the Honda engines. I just wish I had that realiability with my Benetton!

1. Mansell -- 1h26m26.998
2. Senna -- +5.525
3. Johansson -- +1 lap
4. Prost -- +2 laps
5. Patrese -- +2 laps
6. Nakajima -- +2 laps
7. Cheever -- +4 laps
8. Alliot -- +4 laps
9. Palmer -- +4 laps
10. Danner -- +5 laps
11. Dalmas -- +7 laps

Now I´m off for the last two races in Japan and Australia!

[AndreaModa]

Good grief your reliability is horrific! Though considering the good qualifying performances you've put in, and what you've managed to make from the races, I imagine you'll move onto better things next season, especially considering how mch you've outperformed Fabi.

[Aerond]

Here we go with the report of the last two races!!

1987 - ROUND 15 - JAPAN

Qualifying

Being a new track, and a new one, I was very excited with racing at Suzuka, but things wouldn´t start very well. I couldn´t find anything near acceptable as a setup; If I decided for an agressive one, the esses were impossible to pass without going off track, and a slower one would see me struggling from the Spoon onwards, so I ended up Friday 17th. On saturday I found something better, but not that much, and I only made 11th. My worst qualifying since Detroit.

1. Mansell -- 1.35.918
2. Piquet -- 1.36.004
3. Senna -- 1.36.355
4. Prost -- 1.37.091
5. Berger -- 1.37.198
6. Fabi -- 1.37.409
----
10. Patrese -- 1.38.879
11. Dagnall -- 1.39.360
12. Warwick -- 1.39.360

Race

I normally don´t use the warmup but I decided to do some laps before race, thinking about a better setup and I found something a bit better. On the start I felt to 15th and I went off at Degner and came out of it 25th (just in front of Nakajima). On lap 3 I was 18th but I commited an error at 130R going a bit wide and I damaged my front wing. After the pit-stop I was 26th. On lap 5 I was 1 sec behind Nakajima. I passed him and on Lap 7 I was 18th again, then 16th on lap 10 after passing Ghinzani. On lap 15 I stopped and I was 14th, then 12th after Ghinzani and Mansell retired. I was way faster than the cars ahead of me and I had a fun time chasing Nannini (passed him in lap 18) and Brundle (lap 20). I was 10th and the next was Boutsen, some 22 seconds ahead. I got Boutsen in just 6 laps and next was Cheever, who I passed in lap 28 when he did his pit-stop. On lap 34 I became 7th after the retirement of Berger and on lap 35 I did my second pit-stop. I came out 7th as Patrese retired and had 16 laps to gain a point. Most of my hopes vanished a lap later when a wheel became loose (probably due to a mistake by the mechanics in the pit-stop). I was able to reach the pits and keep 7th position, which became 6th when Senna retired, and 5th in lap 38 when Cheever said goodbye as well. All I had to do then was to keep Boutsen behind, as Fabi was more than 1 minute ahead. So I did and the final prize came in lap 43 when Alboreto retired, earning a 4th place which was final and a total surprise after my qualifying performance and first laps events!!

1. Piquet -- 1h25m40.378
2. Johansson -- +59.775
3. Fabi -- +1 lap
4. Dagnall -- +1 lap
5. Boutsen -- +3 laps
6. Nakajima -- +3 laps
7. Alliot -- +3 laps
8. Palmer -- +3 laps
9. Streiff -- +3 laps
10. Capelli -- +4 laps

ROUND 16 - AUSTRALIA

With the championship decided, the atmosphere at Adelaide was very relaxed, except for Williams and Lotus team bosses, fighting for the constructors championship, as Williams arrived with 110 points and Lotus with 107.

Qualifying

I decided to go for high downforce setup and it was pretty straight: I recorded my best time on saturday after having a little accident on my first outing in Friday. I also beat Fabi for the final time.

1. Mansell -- 1.15.303
2. Piquet -- 1.15.556
3. Senna -- 1.15.804
4. Prost -- 1.16.068
5. Dagnall -- 1.16.411
6. Berger -- 1.16.582
7. Fabi -- 1.16.616

Race

My target was points, so I wasn´t very agressive in the beggining, although I decided for a 3 stop strategy. On first lap Berger passed me and quickly became clear that he was quicker than me and I also was quicker than Johansson and Alboreto. On lap 12 I spun losing my place to Johansson but on lap 15 I was 5th after Mansell retiring and a move over Johansson at the end of Brabham straight. Johansson tried to regain the position at the last corner but he went wide, touched the grass and spun to the wall. On lap 19 Piquet retired as well (saying goodbye to the 3rd place of the championship) and on L20 I did my first pit, coming out 6th. Then I passed De Cesaris for 5th and I pursued Alboreto for 5 laps before passing him at East Terrace for 4th place. I spun on lap 37 without any consequences (it was impossible to catch Berger, anyway) but on lap 38 something went worng with the engine and it broke. With Alboreto retiring as he passed me with his transmission gone!!. Senna won easily over Prost, taking the Constructors championship to Lotus!

1. Senna -- 1h48m41.133
2. Prost -- +31.204
3. Nakajima -- +3 laps
4. Cheever -- +3 laps
5. Ghinzani -- +4 laps
6. Arnoux -- +4 laps
7. Dalmas -- +5 laps
8. Palmer -- +5 laps

Overall, it´s been a very good season. Even though I had reliability issues in 13 races!! (I had problems in every race I finished!). It took me a few races to adapt to a new car and a new team, but once I passed that period I became clearly faster than my way experienced team-mate and that confidence also allowed me to score my first pole-positions and my first fastest lap of the race I hope I can score my first victory very soon as well!!! It´s amazing to think that every race was won by a Honda engine, which remarks how big the advantage Honda-powered cars have. I have an offer from Benetton to renew for a second year with them so that´s the most likely option right now!

[Aerond]

1987 FINAL STANDINGS

DRIVERS

1. Senna -- 99pt.
2. Mansell -- 71
3. Johansson -- 42
4. Piquet -- 39
5. Prost -- 28
6. Nakajima -- 21
7. Dagnall -- 13
8. Fabi -- 12
9. De Cesaris -- 11
10. Patrese -- 9
11. Arnoux -- 8
12. Streiff -- 7
13. Warwick -- 7
14. Boutsen -- 7
15. Cheever -- 5
16. Danner -- 4
17. Ghinzani -- 2
18. Palmer -- 2
19. Alliot -- 2
20. Berger -- 2
21. Dalmas -- 1
22. Capelli -- 1
23. Nannini -- 1

CONSTRUCTORS

1. Lotus -- 120 pt.
2. Williams -- 110
3. McLaren -- 70
4. Benetton -- 25
5. Brabham -- 20
6. Arrows -- 12
7. Ligier -- 10
8. Tyrrell -- 9
9. Zakspeed -- 7
10. March -- 5
11. Lola -- 3
12. Ferrari -- 2
13. Minardi -- 1

[Aerond]

For the 1988 season:

I´m staying in Benetton (with Williams signing Patrese, Lotus signing Piquet and Mclaren signing Senna it was logical to keep my position in Benetton, I haven´t done enough to get a seat in a "top of the pops" team).
Nannini will be my team-mate
Boutsen will drive for Tyrrell instead of Bailey
Eurobrun will race in the slot of AGS
Rial will put a second car on track for Phillipe Streiff

[Phoenix]

For the 1988 season:

I´m staying in Benetton (with Williams signing Patrese, Lotus signing Piquet and Mclaren signing Senna it was logical to keep my position in Benetton, I haven´t done enough to get a seat in a "top of the pops" team).
Nannini will be my team-mate
Boutsen will drive for Tyrrell instead of Bailey
Eurobrun will race in the slot of AGS
Rial will put a second car on track for Phillipe Streiff

I hope atmospheric engines will help with the reliability.

[Aerond]

I hope atmospheric engines will help with the reliability.

Yeah! I hope that too! The bad thing about the atmospheric Ford is that it´s far slower than Honda´s, Ferrari and Megatron engines... The loss of power compared to 1987 turbo Ford is really big!!

[Phoenix]

I hope atmospheric engines will help with the reliability.

Yeah! I hope that too! The bad thing about the atmospheric Ford is that it´s far slower than Honda´s, Ferrari and Megatron engines... The loss of power compared to 1987 turbo Ford is really big!!

Well, the Megatron engine is completely dated by now, so you only have to worry about the McLarens, Lotuses and Ferraris. And since without Senna Lotus will be utter crap and Alboreto isn't at his best...

[Aerond]

Let´s go with the 1988 season!

1988 - ROUND 1 - BRAZIL

Before I start let me explain the "secret" as why so few drivers get to finish the races at Jacarepagua; Both existing versions of Jacarepagua have a terrible bug; when a CC car is going to enter the pits, it choses the outer line on the last corner before the pit entrance (which is very fast) and goes into the gravel trap and generally into retirement. As I said, both versions share the bug, so I can´t really help it. That produced the Zakspeed 1-2 in 1986, for example. It´s impossible to escape from it, but the player can, of course, skip the bug by simply turning the pit signal as you do that last corner and your car will safely go into pits.

Qualifying

From the very beggining it was clear that it would be totally impossible to match the Honda engines and the Ferrari in speed: They seem to produce 100 more bhp!!! In fact, the lack of power of the Ford engine (even if it the "premium" Benetton engine produces a bit more than the other Fords) means I´ve had to change the approach to setup the car, which is a situation that (I think) can cause trouble in some tracks later in the season. In Jacarepagua, however, things came to a nice ending in qualifying, despite being a fast track. I got a base setup pretty quickly and ended setting my best time on Friday, enough to get a 7th place just behind the McLarens, Ferraris and Lotuses.

1. Senna -- 1.26.182
2. Prost -- 1.26.782
3. Berger -- 1.27.014
4. Alboreto -- 1.27.585
5. Piquet -- 1.27.893
6. Nakajima -- 1.28.056
7. Dagnall -- 1.28.605
8. Nannini -- 1.28.891

Race

Both Arrows (with the turbo engines) passed me at the start but I could overtake Cheever in lap 3. Just after that disaster came: First I half-spun in last corner and the I completely spun in turn 2 in lap 4 and I was 25th and last. I started my comeback and in lap 6 I had passed both Lolas but in lap 7, just as I was passing the debutant Modena in the Eurobrun he just ran into me in turn 3 when I had the position and my front wing went off. I had to pit and I changed my strategy from two to one stop. At the same time Martini, Johansson and Patrese got tangled together in an spectacular manner and the three had to retire.
In lap 13 I passed the Lolas and Beger retired for 17th and then I passed Modena without much hassle in lap 17. The pit entrance mayhem (the accident of Patrese & company left oil there, making it very dangerous -yeah, at least I have a logical, real explanation for it this time!!!!-) started in lap 22 with Warwick and both Lotuses and in lap 27 I was 7th after passing Streiff and Gugelmin. By lap 32 there were only 4 cars left and I was 3rd and in lap 34 only 3: Prost, me and Dalmas. I was 1 lap down of Prost and 1 ahead Dalmas by then so I just had tot ake it really easy and that´s what I did (doing my pit-stop in lap 35). In lap 51, Prost did an idiotic mistake trying to lap Dalmas for the second time and the 1st position came in my hands!! With nothing else to do I just reduced my pace by 3 secs per lap and I had the easiest laps ever, to score my very first F1 victory!! Only me and Dalmas qualified so no more points were given!

1. Dagnall -- 1h41m18.810
2. Dalmas -- +1 lap

[DemocalypseNow]

From the very beggining it was clear that it would be totally impossible to match the Honda engines and the Ferrari in speed: They seem to produce 100 more bhp!!! In fact, the lack of power of the Ford engine (even if it the "premium" Benetton engine produces a bit more than the other Fords) means I´ve had to change the approach to setup the car, which is a situation that (I think) can cause trouble in some tracks later in the season. In Jacarepagua, however, things came to a nice ending in qualifying, Both Arrows (with the turbo engines) passed me at the start but I could overtake Cheever in lap 3. Just after that disaster came: First I half-spun in last corner and the I completely spun in turn 2 in lap 4 and I was 25th and last. I started my comeback and in lap 6 I had passed both Lolas but in lap 7, just as I was passing the debutant Modena in the Eurobrun he just ran into me in turn 3 when I had the position and my front wing went off. I had to pit and I changed my strategy from two to one stop. At the same time Martini, Johansson and Patrese got tangled together in an spectacular manner and the three had to retire.
In lap 13 I passed the Lolas and Beger retired for 17th and then I passed Modena without much hassle in lap 17. The pit entrance mayhem (the accident of Patrese & company left oil there, making it very dangerous -yeah, at least I have a logical, real explanation for it this time!!!!-) started in lap 22 with Warwick and both Lotuses and in lap 27 I was 7th after passing Streiff and Gugelmin. By lap 32 there were only 4 cars left and I was 3rd and in lap 34 only 3: Prost, me and Dalmas. I was 1 lap down of Prost and 1 ahead Dalmas by then so I just had tot ake it really easy and that´s what I did (doing my pit-stop in lap 35). In lap 51, Prost did an idiotic mistake trying to lap Dalmas for the second time and the 1st position came in my hands!! With nothing else to do I just reduced my pace by 3 secs per lap and I had the easiest laps ever, to score my very first F1 victory!! Only me and Dalmas qualified so no more points were given!

1. Dagnall -- 1h41m18.810
2. Dalmas -- +1 lap

Epic. Last to first via absolute catastrophes up and down the grid. It's like a backmarker's fairytale. Had you been driving the Coloni (which I presume is still in the field?) I may have actually cried reading that.

[Aerond]

1. Dagnall -- 1h41m18.810
2. Dalmas -- +1 lap

Epic. Last to first via absolute catastrophes up and down the grid. It's like a backmarker's fairytale. Had you been driving the Coloni (which I presume is still in the field?) I may have actually cried reading that.

There´s no Coloni as Gp2 can only hold 14 team entries, so I leave the weakest out -giving preference for those running 2 cars-, that means for the 1988 season I had to leave Dallara, Coloni, Osella and AGS out. As AGS was the strongest team -along with Dallara- of the ones I left out, I placed Streiff along with De Cesaris in a second Rial. Anyway, somebody should write a Gp2 patch allowing 18 teams in game if wanted!!

[Aerond]

1988 - ROUND 2 - SAN MARINO

Qualifying

Tu put it simple: It was a nightmare. I wasn´t able to find a good balance on Friday and, despite trying a lot of different things, on Saturday I was so unhappy with the car that I suffered an accident in my first fast lap. Result: 24th in the grid and got away with less than half a second over the 27th!

1. Senna -- 1.16.672
2. Prost -- 1.17.105
3. Berger -- 1.17.712
4. Piquet -- 1.18.222
5. Alboreto -- 1.18.308
6. Nannini -- 1.18.503
----
23. Martini -- 1.20.860
24. Dagnall -- 1.20.887
25. Johansson -- 1.21.079

Race

I spent a lot of time in the warm up session trying to come up with something and in the end I decided for a conservative solution: A little bit faster in straights and slower in the middle section -as I was slow anyway, I decided I should go for the advantage of overtaking, at least in the first few laps-
It paid off, as in the start I placed 19th and in lap 2 I passed Alliot for 18th. However, I wasn´t quick and it took me 7 laps to pass Sala for 17th. I started to chase Arnoux and it took me 11 laps to reduce 3 seconds!! I was 14th by then thanks to some retirements and my objective was just to pass Ghinzani before the end of the race, as the rest were way too fast to really try something. I did my pitstop in lap 31 and I lost my place to Arnoux but fortunately he and Ghinzani retired at some point before lap 40 so the last 20 laps were about keeping the car on track. The car was so slow I only managed to score the 22nd fastest lap!!! I was hoping for some retirements towards the end to snap a point but it didn´t happen and the 9th place was fair enough (I suppose).

1. Senna -- 1h23m42.975
2. Prost -- +15.385
3. Berger -- +48.767
4. Piquet -- +1.03.434
5. Alboreto -- +1.19.335
6. Nannini -- +1 lap
7. Nakajima -- +1 lap
8. Gugelmin -- +2 laps
9. Dagnall -- +2 laps
10. Sala -- +3 laps
11. Boutsen -- +3 laps
12. Dalmas -- +3 laps
13. Alliot -- +3 laps
14. Palmer -- +5 laps

[Phoenix]

Fantastic development! You're already a F1 winner! Shame what happened in San Marino though...

[RAK]

Anybody else noticed Dalmas's unrejectifying during the Brazilian race?

[Klon]

Let´s go with the 1988 season!

1988 - ROUND 1 - BRAZIL

Before I start let me explain the "secret" as why so few drivers get to finish the races at Jacarepagua; Both existing versions of Jacarepagua have a terrible bug; when a CC car is going to enter the pits, it choses the outer line on the last corner before the pit entrance (which is very fast) and goes into the gravel trap and generally into retirement. As I said, both versions share the bug, so I can´t really help it.

Did you actually put Jacarepagua as the first race. Because this type of bug tends to appear mostly in some given track slots...

[Aerond]

ROUND 3 - MONACO

Qualifying

Although the car was better in Monaco, I couldn´t take anything from it (even though slower tracks are supposed to be better for the Benetton!!). I was 18th in first qualifying and couldn´t beat my time on second, so a disappointing 19th place is all I got. I had higher hopes than in San Marino, as the car proved easier to handle! Nannini didn´t get much as well... -I can´t explain either the incredible times cars got this year; they´re supposed to be SLOWER!

1. Berger -- 1.11.247
2. Prost -- 1.11.581
3. Senna -- 1.11.663
4. Alboreto -- 1.11.971
5. Mansell -- 1.12.200
6. Piquet -- 1.12.450
---
12. Nannini -- 1.13.383
---
18. Arnoux -- 1.13.853
19. Dagnall -- 1.13.962
20. Modena -- 1.14.090

Race

I did a great start ann climbed to 14th, then 13th when I passed Boutsen at the swimming pool. Then I started to fight in an interesting group and I passed Nannini in lap 4, Gugelmin in 5 and Warwick in 6 for 10th. Capelli was quicker so I began to make an effort to catch him but I went a little bit wide exiting the swimming pool and hit the wall: End of the race! Frankly: Quite disappointing. Jonathan Palmer won the race after everybody ran out of fuel towards the end!!!!

1. Palmer -- 1h43m50.072
2. Prost -- +1 lap
3. Senna -- +1 lap
4. Alboreto -- +1 lap
5. Nakajima -- +1 lap
6. Capelli -- +1 lap
7. Gugelmin -- +1 lap
8. Nannini -- +1 lap
9. Schneider -- +1 lap
10. Alliot -- +3 laps
11. Mansell -- +4 laps
12. Dalmas -- +7 laps

ROUND 4 - MEXICO

Qualifying: Two words: Very surprising. The Benetton flought here; despite losing top speed in the fast part the car moved perfectly in the middle, slower section and I found a perfect setup for this track! I was heading for a 6th position but a last-minute flying lap with worn tyres got me in the second row! A real achievement given the loss of power.

1. Senna -- 1.16.159
2. Prost -- 1.16.862
3. Berger -- 1.17.279
4. Dagnall -- 1.17.696
5. Alboreto -- 1.17.788
6. Piquet -- 1.17.862
---
9. Nannini -- 1.18.703

Race

This one was a short story -for the 3rd year in Mexico- Not unexpectedly, the lotuses and Arrows passed me in the first lap and I was down to 9th before I could even realise! (the difference was about 20kph in top-speed!). In lap 2 I passed Cheever and Nakajima in the infield and exiting the last corner I suddenly lost all grip and I spun. I managed to control it but when I was coming back to the asphalt Cheever couldn´t help hitting me and we both retired instantly. A real shame because I could have achieved something big.

1. Senna -- 1h31m53.009
2. Prost -- +35.695
3. Alboreto -- +1 lap
4. Nakajima -- +1 lap
5. Nannini -- +2 laps
6. Boutsen -- +3 laps
7. Patrese -- +3 laps
8. Dalmas -- +4 laps
9. Streiff -- +4 laps
10. Sala -- +4 laps

[Aerond]

Did you actually put Jacarepagua as the first race. Because this type of bug tends to appear mostly in some given track slots...

The recommended slot in number 1; anyway, I´ve tried it in different slots and it happens as well.

[Ferrim]

Aerond, I've got to tell you that I absolutely love reading your career. In fact it makes me want to play GP2 (I have never played it), but reading how hard is to install it I guess I'll skip that...

[Aerond]

Aerond, I've got to tell you that I absolutely love reading your career. In fact it makes me want to play GP2 (I have never played it), but reading how hard is to install it I guess I'll skip that...

Is not that hard! It just is it doesn´t run on moden OS, so you have to find the alternative. If you don´t want to install any add-ons, you just need DosBox, which is a MS-DOS emulator. If you want to install new tracks, carsets, etc, then you´ll need to emulate Win 95 or 98 through Microsoft Virtual PC. The tricky part comes if you never installed add-ons on Gp2 before, but I can help

[Aerond]

1988 - ROUND 5 - CANADA

Montreal has improved a lot with the new pits location from 1986! It also lacks those killer kerbs, although they still are a bit high!

Q

I couldn´t find anything close to a good pace on first qualifying, but little corrections on the setup made me improve a whole second! I finished quite happy with the car overall, although I knew it would be tough to pass the faster cars

1. Senna -- 1.12.210
2. Prost -- 1.12.771
3. Berger -- 1.13.334
4. Alboreto -- 1.13.406
5. Piquet -- 1.13.565
6. Nakajima -- 1.13.656
---
8. Warwick -- 1.13.971
9. Dagnall -- 1.14.215
10. Nannini -- 1.14.643

Race

Although I´m doing better starts this season, this time was worse and I was passed by Nannini and Mansell (who I thouched wheels with in the hairpin). Nannini didn´t last the first lap ahead of me and I showed him who is the number one in Benetton!
In lap 8 I could catch Mansell and a bit later Senna´s engine expired and Cheever and Nakajima were out as well so I was 6th by lap 21, but I couldn´t reduce the advantage Piquet had over me. I did my first pit in lap 23 and spent some time behind Schneider and then I got to Capelli in lap 27. The fact that I don´t tell much about the race is because it was my most solid race in ages! That was until lap 32, when I spun and not happy with that I repeated in the same place three laps later, so I was 7th and 11.1 secs to Capelli. In lap 38 I suffered a straw when a wheel became loose! I was lucky enough to reach the pits without losing a lot and I decided to make my second pit-stop. I came back 8th, 10 secs behind Nannini but by lap 45 I passed him in the last chicane (I had to repeat the move in lap 46 as I ran a bit wide in the hairpin!), I was some 9 secs behind Capelli then but with newer tyres it was fairly easy to catch him and I made the pass in lap 50, taking a quiet run home for 6th and a point after the disappointment of Monaco and Mexico.

1. Prost -- 1h29m22.855
2. Berger -- +49.239
3. Alboreto -- +1.04.784
4. Piquet -- +1.12.045
5. Warwick -- +1.14.301
6. Dagnall -- +2 laps
7. Capelli -- +2 laps
8. Dalmas -- +3 laps
9. Modena -- +3 laps
10. Martini -- +3 laps
11. De Cesaris -- +4 laps
12. Alliot -- +4 laps

[Phoenix]

This is getting more and more interested. I was thinking about forming a Chris Dagnall Fan Club. Where can we find merchandise of him?