Women's GT Junior Cup 2014/2015 - Season over!

[Turbogirl]

Team: Riccetti Competition Mercedes-Benz-AMG Jr. Iron Ladies
Team Principal: Mark Riccetti Jr. (Wallio)
Technical Director: Adrian Reynard
Car #30: Hillary Will
Car #31: Leah Pruett
Race Engineer Car #30: Ossi Oikarinen
Race Engineer Car #31: Martin Marx

Thanks! Nice having you on board again!

[Wallio]

Great to be back. Love this series.

[dr-baker]

In the preseason test(s), could Lotus also test Leilani Munter alongside our race drivers please? Thank you!

[Turbogirl]

Entries closed

We have reached the deadline for valid entries to this series, which means, Honda will not field a Junior Team this season, since tristan1117 has not reacted to my shoutout. Oh well, let's begin the pre-season preparations...


James Key Contract

Three teams want to hire race engineer James Key for this season: Ferrari, Toyota and Bugatti. Let's throw the D20 and see, which contract Key signs.

1 - 8 Ferrari
9 - 14 Toyota
15 - 20 Bugatti

The random D20 result is: 6

James Key signs the contract with Ferrari. Which means, Toyota and Bugatti need to bid for a new second race engineer.

Edit: Please post the name(s) of the race engineer(s) you want to hire until Saturday the 29th, 3 pm (CET), which is the deadline for all decisions concerning the pre-season tests.


Driver Contracts

Because some teams want to test some more drivers during the pre-season test session, the driver contracts will officially be signed after that.

Ferrari: Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (X /MOD), Marguerite Laffite (X / MOD), Veronica Valverde (X / MOD)
Dodge: Madalena Antas (X / MOD), Hayley Swanson (X / MOD), Tiffany Chittenden (X / MOD), Alison MacLeod (X / MOD)
Lotus: Natalia Kowalska (X / MOD), Sara Williams (X / MOD), Leilani Münter (X / MOD)
Toyota: Ramona Kiss (X / MOD), Amber Anderson (X / MOD), Manuela Vasquez Blandon (X / MOD), Christina Surer (X / MOD)

The pre-season tests will be up on Sunday the 30th (CET), so if any other team should want to test more drivers during these tests too, please post their names until Saturday the 29th, 3 pm (CET).

Don't forget: You can only test 4 drivers in total, the two you have already optioned for plus two more!

[Wallio]

I don't think she was on the list but could Merc test Alexis DeJoria?

[Turbogirl]

I don't think she was on the list but could Merc test Alexis DeJoria?

Unfortunately not, because she's not on the list.

D.) Choose your drivers
Please pick only from this list. You may suggest other drivers, but they are not allowed to partake in this season, because a strict evaluation process will be in need to determine, if they are eligible for a FIA Standard licence or rather a WDA World Championship licence. You need two drivers.

But I will have a look into her stats and see, if she can be eligible for either the World Championship or the Junior Cup from next season onwards.

[Wallio]

Fair. Figured I'd try.

[V8fan12]

Turbogirl, something to bring to your attention - you will have to run a RNG for Leah Pruett as both Ferrari and Mercedes want her.

[Turbogirl]

Turbogirl, something to bring to your attention - you will have to run a RNG for Leah Pruett as both Ferrari and Mercedes want her.

I know. That's why I'm waiting with driver contracts until after the pre-season tests. It's possible, that one of those two teams goes for a different driver line-up afterwards, and if not, I can still run the RNG as usual.

[Hermann95]

Race engineer: random please

at the tests i would like to run:
car#1: Manuela Vasquez Blandon
car#2: Leah Pruett

[Turbogirl]

Race engineer: random please

at the tests i would like to run:
car#1: Manuela Vasquez Blandon
car#2: Leah Pruett

I ran a RNG for all the available race engineers and your new employee is: Francesco Nenci.

Toyota wanting to test Leah Pruett too, on the other hand, puts me in somewhat of a fix, to be honest. The pre-season tests are two whole days at Catalunya, but Pruett is booked to test for Ferrari on one day and for Mercedes-Benz on the other day. Because she can't test for one of those two teams in the morning and for Toyota as a third team in the afternoon (albeit possible in a game like this, not so in real life), I'm forced to run a RNG now instead of later, because right now the poor gal is torn between three teams at once.

1 - 8: Ferrari
9 - 14: Mercedes-Benz
15 - 20: Toyota

And the random D20 result is: 11

Leah Pruett respectfully turns down Ferrari's and Toyota's offers and decides to test solely for Mercedes-Benz at Catalunya.

Important: Leah's decision does not mean, she will also sign a driver contract with Mercedes-Benz for this season. Since Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz have both optioned for her in the first place, she will decide which contract she signs right after the tests (in case neither Ferrari nor Mercedes-Benz should want to change their line-up last minute, that is).

[FMecha]

Bugatti will go for any available engineer for Ms. Asmasoebrata

[Turbogirl]

Bugatti will go for any available engineer for Ms. Asmasoebrata

Alright then, I've run a RNG on all the still available race engineers, and your new employee is: Axel Randolph.

[Hermann95]

Ok, in that case please assign us a driver for the test by RNG. Maybe she is really good and gets a seat or she is just awful

[Turbogirl]

Ok, in that case please assign us a driver for the test by RNG. Maybe she is really good and gets a seat or she is just awful

Sure. RNG suggests Christina Surer (current wife of DTM driver Martin Tomczyk) to be a good choice. Let's see how well she does.


Alright, we've reached the deadline! I'm starting to calculate the pre-season test days right after I've posted this message. Just as a reminder, here is the complete list of teams that wanted to test some more drivers (all other teams will test with their established line-up):

Ferrari: Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (X /MOD), Marguerite Laffite (X / MOD), Veronica Valverde (X / MOD)
Dodge: Madalena Antas (X / MOD), Hayley Swanson (X / MOD), Tiffany Chittenden (X / MOD), Alison MacLeod (X / MOD)
Lotus: Natalia Kowalska (X / MOD), Sara Williams (X / MOD), Leilani Münter (X / MOD)
Toyota: Ramona Kiss (X / MOD), Amber Anderson (X / MOD), Manuela Vasquez Blandon (X / MOD), Christina Surer (X / MOD)

Pre-season tests will be up tomorrow (Sunday 30th (CET)), so stay tuned!

[dr-baker]

Looking forward to this already! (Will have to check it out after returning from watching the BTCC at Brands Hatch!)

[Turbogirl]

Pre-season tests of the Women's GT Junior Cup

Circuit de Catalunya, Spain

4,655 km (2,89 mi)


Test Day 1, Saturday

Weather: Cold, dry, overcast

Mercedes-Benz already proved a good sense for picking Straight Line drivers with potential for the World Championship, but this time around they clearly outdid themselves. Leah Pruett, the most wanted woman since the beginning of this season, headed the timesheets after Day 1. Despite all cars being equalized as good as possible by BoP, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is the force to be reckoned with, it seems.
The Audi R8 LMS, albeit not as fast on the straights as the SLS GT3, is unbeatable when it comes to breaking, cornering and downforce, which aided Italian lady Alessandra Neri in grabbing second place from Hillary Will in the second Mercedes. Famous AMA Pro Racing and MotoGP driver Elena Myers had a little trouble adapting to four wheels, but could still be found in the top ten on her first GT showing ever, which in itself is remarkable.
The Ferrari duo of Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Marguerite Laffite, daughter of famous Jacques Laffite, came in fourth and fifth, followed by Natalia Kowalska in the first Lotus Evora GTE. To say that it's a tight bunch up there in the top ten, may be the understatement of this season. In fact, we have twenty cars well within one second of the pole-position time set by Leah Pruett!
None of the competing teams will have to fear the 105 % mark in the future, since even the currently slowest car in the field, the Toyota Supra GT500, is able to record a 1:47 time with ease. Hungarian actress / model and occasional racing driver Ramona Kiss managed to record a lap time as good as the one from her teammate, Australian GT racer (and lawyer) Amber Anderson.
Carmen Jorda showed a somewhat disappointing performance for the Scuderia Maserati, though, in fact she drove very conservative the whole weekend. Experts tipped her to be at least on par with her teammate Dela Merced, who took 12th place on Saturday. It is unknown, if this was team strategy or if Jorda encountered trouble with her car.

Code: Select all

01    Leah Pruett                 (Mercedes-Benz)        1:46.685
02    Alessandra Neri             (Audi)                 1:46.858
03    Hillary Will                (Mercedes-Benz)        1:46.949
04    Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky   (Ferrari)              1:47.053
05    Marguerite Laffite          (Ferrari)              1:47.199
06    Natalia Kowalska            (Lotus)                1:47.311
07    Collete Davis               (McLaren)              1:47.334
08    Shannon McIntosh            (McLaren)              1:47.390
09    Alexandra Asmasoebrata      (Bugatti)              1:47.392
10    Elena Myers                 (Audi)                 1:47.400

Code: Select all

11    Kazumi Mikami               (Bugatti)              1:47.412
12    Gaby Dela Merced            (Maserati)             1:47.426
13    Courtney Force              (Jaguar)               1:47.482
14    Hiromi Kajikuma             (Jaguar)               1:47.485
15    Gwendolyn Hertzberger       (Morgan)               1:47.515
16    Sara Williams               (Lotus)                1:47.516
17    Mishael Abbott              (Morgan)               1:47.591
18    Madalena Antas              (Dodge)                1:47.621
19    Vicky Piria                 (Nissan)               1:47.649
20    Sarah McCune                (Nissan)               1:47.655

Code: Select all

21    Hayley Swanson              (Dodge)                1:47.693
22    Elena Lana                  (BMW)                  1:47.733
23    Molly Taylor                (BMW)                  1:47.736
24    Marika Diana                (Chevrolet)            1:47.751
25    Emilee Tominovich           (Chevrolet)            1:47.752
26    Carmen Jorda                (Maserati)             1:47.783
27    Amber Anderson              (Toyota)               1:47.870
28    Ramona Kiss                 (Toyota)               1:47.871

105 % = 1:54.019


Test Day 2, Sunday

Weather: Warm, dry, sunny

Sunday was much warmer than the previous day, so naturally the lap times went up a notch. At least two tenths of a second for most drivers, to be exact.
Leah Pruett still headed the timesheets after the second day, but the biggest improvement could be seen at Dodge SRT Racing, where the "second wave" of hopeful young lady drivers had taken over the steering wheel from Madalena Antas and Hayley Swanson. British karter and GT expert Tiffany Chittenden was even close to grabbing P1 on Sunday, hadn't Leah Pruett recorded an even faster lap time on her final attempt.
Leilani Münter replaced Briton Sara Williams in the Lotus Evora GTE on the second day of the pre-season tests and snatched sixth place from an equally fast Alison MacLeod in the second Dodge Viper.
Dutch Gwendolyn Hertzberger, a former Formula Renault and current kart driver, almost drove her Morgan into the top ten, coming from 15th position on Saturday. Carmen Jorda was still underperforming for some reason, although she managed to keep both Toyotas and both Chevrolets at bay. But most remarkable is the fact, that positions 10 to 19 are all within the same tenth of a second! This Championship is going to be a tight one, that's for sure.

Code: Select all

01    Leah Pruett                 (Mercedes-Benz)        1:46.439
02    Tiffany Chittenden          (Dodge)                1:46.466
03    Hillary Will                (Mercedes-Benz)        1:46.539
04    Alessandra Neri             (Audi)                 1:46.654
05    Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky   (Ferrari)              1:46.708
06    Leilani Münter              (Lotus)                1:46.722
07    Alison MacLeod              (Dodge)                1:46.766
08    Veronica Valverde           (Ferrari)              1:46.860
09    Natalia Kowalska            (Lotus)                1:46.950
10    Gaby Dela Merced            (Maserati)             1:47.009

Code: Select all

11    Gwendolyn Hertzberger       (Morgan)               1.47.018
12    Courtney Force              (Jaguar)               1:47.020
13    Hiromi Kajikuma             (Jaguar)               1:47.022
14    Collete Davis               (McLaren)              1:47.028
15    Shannon McIntosh            (McLaren)              1:47.030
16    Elena Myers                 (Audi)                 1:47.054
17    Mishael Abbott              (Morgan)               1:47.095
18    Alexandra Asmasoebrata      (Bugatti)              1:47.096
19    Kazumi Mikami               (Bugatti)              1:47.099
20    Vicky Piria                 (Nissan)               1:47.194

Code: Select all

21    Sarah McCune                (Nissan)               1:47.217
22    Molly Taylor                (BMW)                  1:47.280
23    Elena Lana                  (BMW)                  1:47.284
24    Carmen Jorda                (Maserati)             1:47.309
25    Emilee Tominovich           (Chevrolet)            1:47.323
26    Marika Diana                (Chevrolet)            1:47.326
27    Christina Surer             (Toyota)               1:47.487
28    Manuela Vasquez Blandon     (Toyota)               1:47.499

105 % = 1:53.760


Driver Contracts

To make this one a bit easier for all of us: If you want to keep the line-up you've already established, you don't have to post at all.

If you wish to change your current driver line-up, please post the changes until Tuesday the 1st, 3 pm (CET).

Should more than one team want to hire a certain driver, I will run a RNG / D20 on Tuesday, right after the deadline is due.


Next: Round 01 - Portugal up on Wednesday the 2nd (CET)!

[go_Rubens]

Well, the F1 race was a dud, so seeing my drivers here do well was my next step to happiness.

I am very much in a fickle. Ahlin-Kottulinsky is staying, period, that's the end of that. But I am puzzled between Valverde and Laffite. In fact, in a fickle big enough that the more accurate way to determine my driver for the second car I reckon is by RNG. They just seem so even, if I take into account the temperature change.

[AustralianStig]

Well, the F1 race was a dud, so seeing my drivers here do well was my next step to happiness.

I am very much in a fickle. Ahlin-Kottulinsky is staying, period, that's the end of that. But I am puzzled between Valverde and Laffite. In fact, in a fickle big enough that the more accurate way to determine my driver for the second car I reckon is by RNG. They just seem so even, if I take into account the temperature change.

Erm, a pickle, perhaps?

[Turbogirl]

Well, the F1 race was a dud, so seeing my drivers here do well was my next step to happiness.

I am very much in a fickle. Ahlin-Kottulinsky is staying, period, that's the end of that. But I am puzzled between Valverde and Laffite. In fact, in a fickle big enough that the more accurate way to determine my driver for the second car I reckon is by RNG. They just seem so even, if I take into account the temperature change.

Maybe this will help you.

First and foremost: Valverde is a young gal and has plenty of time left to gather even more experience. Although, giving her a chance now instead of later could give her a huge moral boost, because she would then be driving for the Junior Team of the current Women's GT World Championship leader. What better way to patronage a talented young driver? Laffite is currently 34 years old and didn't get her big chance to shine yet. She hasn't much time left to lose, if she ever wants to get a shot at the World Championship.

But let me run a RNG for you, just to give an "unbiased opinion":

Sign Valverde: 1 - 10
Sign Laffite: 11 - 20

And the random D20 result is: 12

If you ask me, both are on par with each other, so it's basically a preference-based decision. Still, the decision is all yours.

[go_Rubens]

Well, the F1 race was a dud, so seeing my drivers here do well was my next step to happiness.

I am very much in a fickle. Ahlin-Kottulinsky is staying, period, that's the end of that. But I am puzzled between Valverde and Laffite. In fact, in a fickle big enough that the more accurate way to determine my driver for the second car I reckon is by RNG. They just seem so even, if I take into account the temperature change.

Maybe this will help you.

First and foremost: Valverde is a young gal and has plenty of time left to gather even more experience. Although, giving her a chance now instead of later could give her a huge moral boost, because she would then be driving for the Junior Team of the current Women's GT World Championship leader. What better way to patronage a talented young driver? Laffite is currently 34 years old and didn't get her big chance to shine yet. She hasn't much time left to lose, if she ever wants to get a shot at the World Championship.

But let me run a RNG for you, just to give an "unbiased opinion":

Sign Valverde: 1 - 10
Sign Laffite: 11 - 20

And the random D20 result is: 12

If you ask me, both are on par with each other, so it's basically a preference-based decision. Still, the decision is all yours.

You know, I was wondering if we could sign test or reserve drivers. If I knew what the take is on that, maybe I would not be so hardpressed to make a decision when I don't know if I can, unless I spend a long time thinking.

[Turbogirl]

Well, the F1 race was a dud, so seeing my drivers here do well was my next step to happiness.

I am very much in a fickle. Ahlin-Kottulinsky is staying, period, that's the end of that. But I am puzzled between Valverde and Laffite. In fact, in a fickle big enough that the more accurate way to determine my driver for the second car I reckon is by RNG. They just seem so even, if I take into account the temperature change.

Maybe this will help you.

First and foremost: Valverde is a young gal and has plenty of time left to gather even more experience. Although, giving her a chance now instead of later could give her a huge moral boost, because she would then be driving for the Junior Team of the current Women's GT World Championship leader. What better way to patronage a talented young driver? Laffite is currently 34 years old and didn't get her big chance to shine yet. She hasn't much time left to lose, if she ever wants to get a shot at the World Championship.

But let me run a RNG for you, just to give an "unbiased opinion":

Sign Valverde: 1 - 10
Sign Laffite: 11 - 20

And the random D20 result is: 12

If you ask me, both are on par with each other, so it's basically a preference-based decision. Still, the decision is all yours.

You know, I was wondering if we could sign test or reserve drivers. If I knew what the take is on that, maybe I would not be so hardpressed to make a decision when I don't know if I can, unless I spend a long time thinking.

Since I'm introducing upgrades into the Women's GT World Championship from next season onwards, test drivers will be a must in that series. But the Junior Cup has no upgrade system, so having test drivers here doesn't make much sense. And one driver having such a huge crash, that a reserve driver would be in need is not all that common in GT serieses either.

I'm deeply sorry, but there is not much I could do to help you out of that fix.

[go_Rubens]

You know, I was wondering if we could sign test or reserve drivers. If I knew what the take is on that, maybe I would not be so hardpressed to make a decision when I don't know if I can, unless I spend a long time thinking.

Since I'm introducing upgrades into the Women's GT World Championship from next season onwards, test drivers will be a must in that series. But the Junior Cup has no upgrade system, so having test drivers here doesn't make much sense. And one driver having such a huge crash, that a reserve driver would be in need is not all that common in GT serieses either.

I'm deeply sorry, but there is not much I could do to help you out of that fix.

Don't feel bad. In the end, we have decided that, Veronica is a bit more suitable to our needs than Laffite going by age, so we will sign Valverde alongside us. We wish Laffite good luck in the future in her racing career.

[Nessafox]

Yes, Jorda is just as hopeless as i expected Obviously the tactic is 'getting in the way of other drivers while being lapped'

[Turbogirl]

Yes, Jorda is just as hopeless as i expected Obviously the tactic is 'getting in the way of other drivers while being lapped'

But you do know, that having her on DEF the whole time will always end up in her performing this way and will prevent her from scoring Championship points, right?

[V8fan12]

Well, based on those test results Dodge will definitely be changing their initial lineup!

This will be the new lineup:
#16 Tiffany Chittenden (X / MOD)
#17 Alison MacLeod (X / MOD)

Thanks

[Onxy Wrecked]

Yes, Jorda is just as hopeless as i expected Obviously the tactic is 'getting in the way of other drivers while being lapped'

And worse yet, Jorda doesn't have the underpowered Chevrolet or Toyota as her stead. It's comedically bad.

[Nessafox]

Yes, Jorda is just as hopeless as i expected Obviously the tactic is 'getting in the way of other drivers while being lapped'

But you do know, that having her on DEF the whole time will always end up in her performing this way and will prevent her from scoring Championship points, right?

True, that was more a case of realism. I guess that MOD would be better, in her case. But at least now, i kind of now where the car and engineers are in terms of performance. If the car would be a world beater, having her on DEF wouldn't be much of a problem.

[mike robers]

AGG on both drivers please.

[dr-baker]

Lotus will want to confirm their drivers from test day 2 to drive for the team during the season please.

[Hermann95]

As our car is awfully slow we will set both drivers to AGG.

[Onxy Wrecked]

As our car is awfully slow we will set both drivers to AGG.

I won't go to that extreme, but setting Marika to AGG will do for me.

[Turbogirl]

Alright then, we've reached the deadline for driver changes. Everything you've posted is already registered on the entry list (page 1) and I'm off the calculate the first race in Portugal, which will be up tomorrow!

[Turbogirl]

The Women's GT Junior Cup 2014 / 2015

All the teams, all the drivers, all the action (Part 1)




Ron Dennis made it abundantly clear during the last couple of months: If this team enters the Junior Cup, it's destined to win the Championship. And although this sounds more like a curse, the potential is there. The McLaren MP4/12C GT3 is a powerful and versatile machine with a more than decent statistic to its name.
Dr. Antonia Terzi had been working with Audi in the Women's GT World Championship and has gathered a lot of experience through this employment. She will need it, too. Shannon McIntosh and Collete Davis have driven single seaters until now and might need some time to get accustomed to the GT3 cars. They fared pretty well in the pre-season tests though, so Ron Dennis' claim might not be too far-fetched.





You want to build a successful GT team, in which technical knowledge and the will to win is already implanted? Look no further. Vitaphone Racing and Michael Bartels are the literal synonyms for success, especially for brands like Maserati and BMW.
The only big questionmark in this equation is driver Elena Lana, a karter with little experience in single seaters or GT cars. Teammate Molly Taylor might not only be forced to use all her skills to get the Z4 GT3 up to speed in general, but she might also have to be the "big sister" for Lana, when it comes to set-ups and track performance. A pretty high challenge for both drivers and the entire team.





The biggest surprise was the nomination of Belgian GT driver Vanina Ickx as the Technical Director of the Audi Junior Team. That was, until Audi Team Principal Steffi Schmidt announced former MotoGP driver Elena Myers as part of this season's line-up. After seeing Mercedes-Benz signing NHRA drivers, Audi is now trying bikers?
Well, its safe to say that the pre-season tests proved us all wrong. Myers was not far behind her teammate Alessandra Neri and might even adapt to GT racing faster than we all might expect. But will it be soon enough? Audi might be competing for the Championship title this season, judging from Neri's showings during the pre-season tests at least. If they want to snatch the Constructor's title as well, they will need both drivers scoring points on a regular basis.





A mix of nostalgia and modern technology. You won't find a more fitting description for the Morgan Aero GT3. Judging from the pre-season tests, drivers Gwendolyn Hertzberger and Mishael Abbott might be constant contenders for top ten placings throughout this season and even good for a few surprises here or there.
But the team will need more time for development, and Technical Director Nick Wirth is still a fan of computer simulations, even if reality has proven him wrong several times before. With Ciaron Pilbeam and Humphrey Corbett, Morgan has the most experienced line-up of race engineers compared to other teams. This might be their biggest plus this season.





The current Women's GT World Championship Team had trouble finding the best possible driver line-up at the dawn of this season. With Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, Marguerite Laffite and Veronica Valverde, the team had obviously too many talented drivers to choose from. The final line-up is a potential Championship contender, if the rivals play along.
Hiring former Minardi F1 employee Aldo Costa as the Technical Director was a very good decision. He brings a lot of experience to the team and is able to develop a good car even with the smallest of budgets.
The internal battle between Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Valverde will play an important role in the overall team performance. Both are young and talented, and both want a chance to drive for the World Championship Team next season, even if it's just a testing role. We might get to see some surprises from these two ladies.





The Maserati GranTurismo MC GT3 is an unknown entity amongst the other GT3 models competing in this series. It had very little showings up until now and could either be this season's top or flop.
It's a good thing, Scuderia Maserati has decided to play it safe with their driver line-up. Gaby Dela Merced was announced alongside Carmen Jorda, and both are eager to prove what they are capable of in this car. Add Technical Director Loic Bigois and race engineer Tony Ross to the mix, and you get a pretty neat package for constant top ten results.
The competition is strong this season, as the pre-season tests in Spain have shown. Maserati will be facing the McLarens, the Bugattis and the Jaguars, fighting for positions and valuable Championship points. They might even score a race win or two, if the Championship contenders should have a really really bad day.





The Corvette C6 Z06 GT2 was astonishingly slow during the pre-season tests. But that's only half the truth. Fact is, there were ten cars within one tenth of a second on Sunday, something so rare of an occasion, you should probably mark this day in your calendar.
Chevrolet has a decent package and driver line-up. Technical Director Rinland as well as both race engineers have a huge amount of racing experience. The only problem is: This season, decent doesn't seem to be enough to fight for Championship points. Put the same team with the same car and the same personnel in any other GT series, maybe even in the DTM, and you'll have a team capable of fighting for the title. In the Women's GT Junior Cup however, being just a thousandth of a second slower than someone else might drop you to the back of the grid.

[Turbogirl]

All the teams, all the drivers, all the action (Part 2)




Tiffany Chittenden and Alison MacLeod had an early Christmas this year, when they suddenly found their names on the official entry list of the Dodge SRT Racing Team, because they hadn't been Craig Harris' first choice. But then came the pre-season tests, and the whole world got turned upside-down.
The Dodge Junior Team is not as experienced as other teams, and the Viper GTS-R hasn't been a constant winner before, but this might change from now on. Tiffany Chittenden was fighting on even ground with the Mercedes-Benz, the Audi and the Ferrari on the second day of testing. We might get to see the occasional race win, and maybe even more. But will it be enough to compete for the title?





Toyota brought up the rear in Spain, but again, that's only half the truth. Both driver pairings were only a tenth of a second behind the BMWs or the Chevrolets. That is way too close to write Toyota off at this point. They will struggle hard to keep up the pace of their immediate rivals, but they will definitely not be last in each and every race.
The whole tragedy might have started earlier this year. Toyota was under new management in the Women's GT World Championship and made enormous progress. But then Ron Dennis called, and suddenly Sarah Fisher transferred all her personnel to Woking, leaving the Toyota World Championship Team with nothing more than the premises and the cars.
Now the Japanese brand tries a new start in the Junior Cup, but the Supra GT500 lost all its advantages when it got the usual BoP treatment. We will see the Toyotas fighting against the BMWs and the Corvettes, but Championship points won't come so easy.





The Nissan World Championship Team was the big surprise during this year's Women's GT World Championship, with Rahel Frey leading the Driver's Standings most of the time, although the Swiss Miss only won two races out of twenty.
Judging from the pre-season tests, Nissan might not be able to pull something like this off for a second time, at least not in the Junior Cup. From the looks of things, Vicky Piria and teammate Sarah McCune might be scoring a lot of Championship points, but a race win is definitely not in range. Fighting for top ten positions is going to be hard enough for both of them.
And then we have Mike Gascoyne as Nissan's Technical Director. No one really knows for sure, what this man is really capable of. After building one good F1 car in one year, he built a not-so-good one the following. His Toyota F1 and Caterham F1 designs were also not the best ones, but he might surprise us all when it comes to GT racing. Who knows?





One of the oldest and most traditional brands made it's comeback. Bugatti was already battling with Alfa Romeo and Maserati way back in the thirties, when Grand Prix Racing hadn't been renamed Formula 1 yet. The current Bugatti factory team is based in Asia as well as in Europe and has a Japanese driver alongside an Indonesian one. Some experts had expected a French Equipe, when the name Bugatti dropped for the first time. But DAMS was obviously not able to run the operation alone, so in came Asuka Kuwashima and Techcraft.
The driver line-up is an interesting one as well. Alexandra Asmasoebrata is THE rising star in Indonesia, climbing up the ranks of karting, Formula Renault and Formula 3 fairly quick. She is partnered with Japanese endurance driver Kazumi Mikami, who finally made her way into professional GT racing after various showings in different racing serieses.
The Bugatti EB110 GT is a fast car. It might even be winning one or two races, but only if the "real" Championship contenders are dropping like flies. Championship points on the other hand should be coming a lot easier, if both drivers do their job.





Team Lotus had started as an underdog in the Women's GT World Championship and became more and more competitive as the inaugural season progressed. In the Junior Cup however, they will be at the front end of the grid right from the beginning.
Former ARCA Racing driver Leilani Münter replaced rising British rallye star Sara Williams at the last minute and is listed alongside Polish single seater driver Natalia Kowalska, who had some abysmal showings in the ill-fated Formula 2. But even Natacha Gachnang didn't fare that much better, and just take a look at her results in the Women's GT World Championship.
The Lotus Evora GTE is the same model, that was used in the World Championship before, and Claire Williams is again at the helm of this operation. Signing long-standing Williams F1 employee Sam Michael as the team's Technical Director was a smart move. The Lotus Junior Team will certainly fight for podiums regularly and the occasional race win might also be along the way, but in order to fight for the Championship title, Lotus will need all the luck it can gather.





We have a lot of NHRA drivers in the Junior Cup this season, and Jaguar has signed one of them. Courtney Force, younger sister of Ashley Force, is the driver with the best chances of scoring more than one podium for the Lamb Jaguar Racing Team this season. Teammate Kajikuma is a decent GT racer, but didn't really belong to the professional league until now. She might be overshadowed by Force as the season progresses.
Technical Director Alan Jenkins had been working for the Honda World Championship Team and brings a lot of F1 experience with him, too. He is definitely the right man for Jaguar in the Junior Cup.
Jaguar will be fighting for Championship points against the McLarens, the Bugattis and the Maseratis. Hard to predict, which of these teams will have the upper hand at the end of this season. It's going to be a very tough call, that's for sure.





Someone at Mercedes-Benz must simply love the NHRA. After signing Erica Enders alongside Melanie Troxel for the World Championship Team, the "Silver Arrows" are at it again. Leah Pruett and Hillary Will might even be the force to reckon with this season. The SLS AMG GT3 is a solid contender for race wins, not dominant in any way, but overall a perfect package.
Technical Director Adrian Reynard could be the trump card in Riccetti's hand. All cars built by Reynard won at least one race in each and every racing series they attended, right in the very first season of their participation (Formula 1 excluded, sadly). After Reynard's company had to face bankruptcy in 2001, he now wants to redeem himself and prove the world, that he is still a guarantee for winning races in the very first season.
Leah Pruett heading the timesheets on both pre-season test days might be the best indicator, that the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team most probably is the highest ranked Championship contender this season.

[AustralianStig]

Wow, brilliant presentation Turbo, I love it!

[Turbogirl]

1st Round of the Women's GT Junior Cup

Circuito da Boavista, Portugal

52 laps / 7,407 km (4,6 mi)


Qualifying

Weather: Cold, dry, overcast

The inaugural season of the Women's GT Junior Cup has finally begun. Twelve exciting races all over Europe lie ahead of us, and the tension was already in the air at Portugal. 52 laps on the same tyres and without refueling. Not an easy task for the ladies, but these are the rules. Teams may only change tyres, when the weather changes or the current set appears to be unsafe from the start.
Refueling is allowed right before the race, so none of the drivers had to go into qualifying with full tanks. Leah Pruett grabbed her first pole-position, with Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Alessandra Neri hot in her tracks. The winner of this round will most certainly come from one of these three ladies, if nothing unexpected happens.
The Circuito da Boavista is one of the very few circuits, that was already used in the sixties and hasn't changed much since then. It's a lot more challenging than Monaco, but certainly not as famous. Alison MacLeod and Veronica Valverde found the track extremely hard to master, which shows in their qualifying performance.
All drivers were well within 105 % of the pole-position time set by Leah Pruett, and that means, we'll get to see a full grid on Sunday.

Code: Select all

01    Leah Pruett                 (Mercedes-Benz)        1:58.208
02    Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky   (Ferrari)              1:58.276
03    Alessandra Neri             (Audi)                 1:58.281
04    Collete Davis               (McLaren)              1:58.457
05    Hillary Will                (Mercedes-Benz)        1:58.472
06    Tiffany Chittenden          (Dodge)                1:58.939
07    Natalia Kowalska            (Lotus)                1:59.044
08    Shannon McIntosh            (McLaren)              1:59.223
09    Alexandra Asmasoebrata      (Bugatti)              1:59.224
10    Leilani Münter              (Lotus)                1:59.358

Code: Select all

11    Elena Myers                 (Audi)                 1:59.531
12    Veronica Valverde           (Ferrari)              1:59.632
13    Kazumi Mikami               (Bugatti)              1:59.721
14    Courtney Force              (Jaguar)               1:59.791
15    Hiromi Kajikuma             (Jaguar)               1:59.792
16    Gaby Dela Merced            (Maserati)             1:59.833
17    Gwendolyn Hertzberger       (Morgan)               1:59.919
18    Marika Diana                (Chevrolet)            1:59.952
19    Vicky Piria                 (Nissan)               2:00.011
20    Sarah McCune                (Nissan)               2:00.217

Code: Select all

21    Ramona Kiss                 (Toyota)               2:00.229
22    Mishael Abbott              (Morgan)               2:00.327
23    Amber Anderson              (Toyota)               2:00.403
24    Carmen Jorda                (Maserati)             2:00.815
25    Alison MacLeod              (Dodge)                2:01.031
26    Molly Taylor                (BMW)                  2:01.101
27    Emilee Tominovich           (Chevrolet)            2:01.216
28    Elena Lana                  (BMW)                  2:01.501

105 % = 2:06.118


Race

Weather: Cold, dry, sunny

At the start, Leah Pruett and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky took off into the lead, the Mercedes SLS getting ahead in Turn 1. After the two cars ran together for a while, Pruett began to pull away from lap 5 onwards. From this point on, Ahlin-Kottulinsky came under increasing threat by Alessandra Neri in third. The Audi R8 LMS was not the best car for topspeed, but the narrow corners of the Boavista Circuit are the perfect environment for this car. Good cornering abilities and a lot of downforce allowed Alessandra Neri to stay close behind the Ferrari 458 GT3, waiting for the ideal opportunity to attack.
Leah Pruett stayed in the lead and controlled the race with ease, until the 28th lap. Alison MacLeod, who had had a very good start and had already taken 18th place from Marika Diana, was forced to retire on said lap with a blown engine. A quite unusual sight, given the fact, that GT engines nowadays are built to last at least thirty hours in race trim.
Natalia Kowalska crashed her Lotus on the same lap, while trying to pass Tiffany Chittenden for sixth place at Turn 4. These two retirements led to a first safety car phase, which slowed the remaining field down, until both cars could be removed from the track.
This also allowed Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Alessandra Neri to close in on the leading Mercedes SLS once again. The restart was scheduled for lap 31, and as soon as the safety car had left the track, Leah Pruett was in deep trouble. Ahlin-Kottulinsky nearly managed to outdrag her, but Pruett jumped inside the first corner right on time to shut the door on the Ferrari. Both car touched, but without further damage.
Collete Davis regained fourth place (she had lost this position at the start) and quickly caught up with the leading trio. But on lap 36, she seriously damaged her McLaren in the barriers at Turn 3 and was unable to carry on. This led to another short safety car phase, which was resolved on lap 38.
This time around Leah Pruett took control of the race immediately, but Alessandra Neri finally got the drop on Ahlin-Kottulinsky and took second place by squeezing her car through an almost nonexistent gap in Turn 2, which could have easily led to both drivers retiring. From this moment on, Neri used all the cornering and braking advantages of her R8 to keep Ahlin-Kottulinsky at bay until the end of the race.
Lap 40 brought the end for Ramona Kiss in the second Toyota, turning this weekend into a complete desaster for Loyer's Junior Team. It was a tragic end too, because Kiss was defending 18th position against both BMWs, Tominovich's Corvette and Jorda's faster Maserati, but went off at Turn 3 and parked her Toyota there, after damaging the rear suspension by hitting the barriers.
Still twelve laps to go, but while most drivers had to slow down in order to save their tyres, neither Vicky Piria nor Sarah McCune had trouble with the tyre wear at all. Somehow the Goodyear compound worked best on the Nissan Nismo GTR GT3 for some reason, which in turn aided both Piria and McCune to climb up the ranks fairly quick during the last quarter of this race.
There was a shocking moment on lap 50 though, when Piria tried to take seventh place from Asmasoebrata in the Bugatti. Piria made her move down the Avenida da Boavista, heading for Turn 3. Asmasoebrata realized, the Nissan was directly in her slipstream and changed her line earlier than before. What she didn't realize though, was that Piria was already beside her, when she pulled to the left. The two collided in Turn 3 and spun, but neither of them hit the barriers, although it was too close for comfort in Asmasoebrata's case. Both managed to carry on without losing a position, but because of this incident they had also lost contact with Tiffany Chittenden in sixth place.
The battle for second continued right to the line, with Neri fending off Ahlin-Kottulinsky. The Swedish Ferrari pilot tried everything, but Neri held her off all the way to the chequered flag. No matter what Ahlin-Kottulinsky tried, Neri could match it. I guess it's safe to say, that we'll get to witness a lot more of those great duels as the season progresses.
Leah Pruett controlled the race from start to finish, despite that crucial moment on lap 31. Although she was never pulling too far away, she had the undisputed advantage, that Neri and Ahlin-Kottulinsky were fighting for second place instead of chasing after the SLS in front. Adrian Reynard really proved to be a guarantee for race wins, like he always was, even though he didn't design or build the SLS AMG GT3 himself.
After this first Round, Mercedes-Benz was already leading Audi by 31 points in the Constructor's Standings.

Code: Select all

01    Leah Pruett                 (Mercedes-Benz)        52 Laps
02    Alessandra Neri             (Audi)                 +  3.880
03    Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky   (Ferrari)              +  5.376
04    Hillary Will                (Mercedes-Benz)        +  6.648
05    Leilani Münter              (Lotus)                +  7.239
06    Tiffany Chittenden          (Dodge)                +  8.584
07    Alexandra Asmasoebrata      (Bugatti)              + 19.119
08    Vicky Piria                 (Nissan)               + 19.599
09    Hiromi Kajikuma             (Jaguar)               + 27.923
10    Elena Myers                 (Audi)                 + 28.397

Code: Select all

11    Veronica Valverde           (Ferrari)              + 28.705
12    Sarah McCune                (Nissan)               + 29.719
13    Courtney Force              (Jaguar)               + 30.111
14    Kazumi Mikami               (Bugatti)              + 34.800
15    Marika Diana                (Chevrolet)            + 36.364
16    Mishael Abbott              (Morgan)               + 36.692
17    Gwendolyn Hertzberger       (Morgan)               + 38.118
18    Molly Taylor                (BMW)                  + 40.953
19    Elena Lana                  (BMW)                  + 42.501
20    Emilee Tominovich           (Chevrolet)            + 42.066

Code: Select all

21    Carmen Jorda                (Maserati)             + 43.299
DNF   Gaby Dela Merced            (Maserati)             41 Laps      Accident
DNF   Ramona Kiss                 (Toyota)               40 Laps      Accident
DNF   Collete Davis               (McLaren)              36 Laps      Accident
DNF   Shannon McIntosh            (McLaren)              33 Laps      Accident
DNF   Natalia Kowalska            (Lotus)                28 Laps      Accident
DNF   Alison MacLeod              (Dodge)                28 Laps      Engine
DNF   Amber Anderson              (Toyota)               16 Laps      Accident

Driver's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Leah Pruett                (Mercedes-Benz)         50 Points
02    Alessandra Neri            (Audi)                  40 Points
03    Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky  (Ferrari)               35 Points
04    Hillary Will               (Mercedes-Benz)         30 Points
05    Leilani Münter             (Lotus)                 26 Points
06    Tiffany Chittenden         (Dodge)                 22 Points
07    Alexandra Asmasoebrata     (Bugatti)               18 Points
08    Vicky Piria                (Nissan)                15 Points
09    Hiromi Kajikuma            (Jaguar)                12 Points
10    Elena Myers                (Audi)                   9 Points

Code: Select all

11    Veronica Valverde          (Ferrari)                7 Points
12    Sarah McCune               (Nissan)                 5 Points
13    Courtney Force             (Jaguar)                 3 Points
14    Kazumi Mikami              (Bugatti)                1 Point

Constructor's Championship

Code: Select all

01    Mercedes-Benz         80 Points
02    Audi                  49 Points
03    Ferrari               42 Points
04    Lotus                 26 Points
05    Dodge                 22 Points
06    Nissan                20 Points
07    Bugatti               19 Points
08    Jaguar                15 Points

Reject of the Race: Carmen Jorda. Although she wasn't told to play it safe this time (unlike the pre-season tests), she was still nowhere to be found, although she should have fought for Championship points.


Next: Round 02 - Spain up on Friday the 4th (CET)!

[dr-baker]

A fifth-placed finish for our slower qualifier? I'll accept that. Damn that retirement...

[Wallio]

And here I thought the more experienced Will would lead and mentor. Oh how wrong I was.

[KL-racer]

At least both of my cars finished in the points. I also pleasantly shocked by Kajikuma finishing ahead of Force. Given that it's only 12 rounds in this season, we are hoping to score consistent points at every single race. But then again, we need to get a couple podium finishes as well.