Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardRenes
I still have the idea that something else was going on in season 3 with team Malaysia.
I can't simply believe that a team that was very competative in season 2 suddenly lost it in season 3, while a team that struggled in season 2 suddenly started to become competative in season 3, up to even winning a race.
Therefore I have the feeling some chassis were swapped somewhere  , probably without the knowledge of the teams. |
If my memory serves me correctly, Ireland replaced their chassis(tub) in early season 2 while Malaysia replaced theirs in time for Brands that same season. Both complained the loss of stiffness.
It's not a problem that would go unnoticed as teams can compare data with 'sister' teams and spot the problem right away. There was a lot of speculation in season 3 on team Malaysia with regards to this but the team prinicipal himself ruled that out. They did check and the tub stiffness was within limits.
There were no major changes within the malaysian team in seasons 1 through 3 except for change of race engineers mid season, though in season 3 they had Greg Wheeler do the whole season. Many unlucky factors conributed to the poor performance in season 3 but the heart of it was the Wheeler-Yoong combo no working out.
Right from Donington this season it was clear that the Mugglestone-Fauzy combo was very good. Fauzy also matured as a driver in the last 1-2 years beating Bruno Senna in the wet in GP2 Asia at Sentul, podium finish at Monaco at WSbR plus a few other highlights. Mugglestone never engineered an A1GP car before but his track record is impressive.