FR RocknRoll Qual

[racingdick]

qualifying underway
HAmilton setting the pace at the mo

[racingdick]

there is no appearance of lloyd yet i wonder

[racingdick]

ah here we go... up to forth

[pb btcc]

Hamilton is on pole.

Is that his first pole since the first round at Snetterton??

[racingdick]

Pole
Lewis HAMILTON.........James ROSSITER
.
Tom SISLEY.............Alex LLOYD
.
Sergio JIMENEZ.........Mike SPENCER
.
Paul DI RESTA..........Susie STODDART
.
Matteo MENGHELLO.......Stefan SODERBERG


not bad from our local lad Lloyd who only got 3 laps in out of the possible 12....

[racingdick]

i correct myself scorching lap when he only got out 10sec before the flag, due to technical probs....

[Kicking-back]

Good job from Susie Stoddard - she seems to have improved a hell of a lot

[racingdick]

nice to the motorworld guys are gonna have an easy time, 3 of there cars together in a row

[bella]

it's one of those circuits where if you're a bit daft and make silly mistakes it really shows because your car falls apart.

[Mr Jinxx]

Difficult to comment by virtue of my situation, but I will!

I was hugely impressed by Alex Lloyd on that showing. For the 2nd qualifying in a row, his car broke before he'd even done a lap, and he had to sit in the pit lane and watch the seconds tick away, eroding a championship lead. All credit to the Motaworld team for replacing the clutch cable in such time, and getting Alex out 10 secs before the chequered flag. I'll bet he wasn't as calm as he looked. He got one lap only, on cold tyres, cold brakes, cold everything and stuck it 4th. Bearing in mind that Lewis's quickest pole time was set on his last lap, only 29/100ths quicker, I was very impressed. It would have been so easy to bin it on the outlap, knowing that you had to beat the chequered flag.

Trouble is for Lloyd, who knows how the car will behave tomorrow! Problems yesterday then one lap today. And it has rained overnight. Could be interesting. I have to say that my money is still on Hamilton. Whatever may be unknown, one thing is sure - Manor have it sweet here.

[bella]

everyone at manor except coulthard though, tee hee.

[Mr Jinxx]

Difficult to tell what happened to Mike Conway. Once again Rossiter up in front. I keep saying I rate Conway as being a quick driver, but I'm not sure about Rossiter. I don't know him at all. I guess I'm going to have to admit he's quick now - he seems to have got his tail up at the moment.

Good effort by Sisley too. Didn't expect to see him there, in truth, based on past Rockingham times.

[bella]

i don't have anything else to say about qualifying so i'll say nothing and nod knowledgably. it will be interesting to see who bins it at the first hairpin come tomorrow.

"....."

[Mr Jinxx]

Knowledgeably

[DavidStHubbins]

If Lloyd can put it up the front after all that I am putting my money on him. Thats good stuff!

[Mr Jinxx]

1. Hamilton
2. Rossiter
3. Lloyd
4. Sisley
5. Spencer
6. Soderberg
7. Stoddart
8. Conway
9. Hollins
10.Coulthard


You all owe me 50p each! I'm not happy to have to collect it, but I am so infuriatingly right Hamilton strolls away with the win. Leads the race from the start and powers away from everyone else by a minimum of 5/10ths per lap. Fastest lap too - a new outright circuit record. Lloyd gets 2nd fastest lap (nowhere near Hamilton) and Rossiter 3rd quickest.

Whatever Hamilton has found since Hockenheim had better be duplicated very quickly by the others (starting with Lloyd and then by everyone else approx 10 minutes before the end of the last race of the Championship), otherwise it'll be boring from now on!

Aside from that, what is intriguing is what happened to Mike Conway all weekend, both in qualifying and in the race. There just wasn't any speed there. I did wonder if he would be able to handle Rossiter going quicker, but I think this is a problem.

[Paul Rayner]

Jinxx, I think that you're wide of the mark with that claim about Conway's lack of pace being because he's been beaten by Rossiter. I think this because he was on the pace in testing, splitting the two Manor cars, but he just couldn't get the pace in qualifying. He seemed pretty mystified by it. Maybe the set-up he had just didn't suit the track when it warmed up and had some rubber down/oil down, whatever. Maybe it was just him. I do think he'll bounce back though.

I hope that all the top 5 drivers can keep their heads up and keep charging to the end of the season. It's a real shame when drivers fall when they start to get beaten, and in my opinion it's one of the things that makes the difference between a great and a good.

[bella]

if he's mystified by it then surely it implies that it's something not within his control such as a mental issue? which is what jinxx suggested.
i do think something's up. he shouldn't have had a problem picking off those in front of him. and he did.

[Mr Jinxx]

Paul, I didn't come over totally clearly, on re-reading what I put. I do still have questions as to whether Mike can handle Rossiter being quicker, and whether he (Mike) can keep his head down and keep working at it. But I'm not sure that was the issue this weekend. I think there was something wrong with the car not Mike, although it took him until lap 15 to get past Charles Hollins, which is strange. As bella said, he should have been able to get past a lot sooner than that.

Snetterton test should be interesting, as Conway was very quick there in the last race (winning one) and so should be full of confidence. Mind you, he was quick in Friday testing here at Rockingham, so who knows?

Rossiter was very consistent in his lap times. So was Lloyd (after he had shaken off Spencer and got past Sisley) and so was Sisley. Hamilton was rather erratic, but his times were so much quicker in both sectors than anyone else's, that it didn't really matter.

[bella]

to be fair to charlie here according to all the data he was indeed fast enough to be in 9th in terms of speed, lap times etc. mike was a bit faster but hey, he didn't actually get that much further ahead once he'd got past and he *is* in a fortec. if that on it's own didn't make him that little bit faster then he shouldn't be paying any more than anyone else for his drive. but anyway.

he seemed to sink quickly when the rain started at silverstone, and hasn't really got back, has he?

3 weeks is far too long to go without cars. i'll be watching the m1 by friday.

[Mr Jinxx]

Charlie Chalk was going well wasn't he - I'm pleased. I saw the lap times breakdown.

But you're right - the fact that Conway's Fortec was only marginally quicker was indicative of a problem, and I don't think that is a mental one. Although he can't be happy having led the championship from the off, has now sunk back to 4th, and the new leader is the new Fortec wonder boy?

[ukracing]

Mr Jinx, are you not getting worried about the "reliability problems" Alex seems to be getting at the moment? Just think what he could have achieved this weekend had he not had them?!?!?!

[Mr Jinxx]

Yes, it is disappointing to have them, but I think Motaworld did really well in both the last qualifying sessions to effect repairs so quickly. I am also a fan of having to face many types of adversity and treat all those imposters just the same, with professionalism and dignity. I believe it will repay you in the future.

But yes, after all that! I hope they stop. He is losing too much testing time

[Dr Venom]

My paddock spies have informed me that Rossiter's rear dampers have been removed/sealed for tests and the result of the race is provisional.
Can anyone throw a bit of light on this!

[Mr Jinxx]

I noticed that the results were deemed "provisional until the conclusion of any judicial and technical matters" and just assumed that it was either standard speak, or that it would obviously be Hamilton's car/engine that would have excited attention. But I didn't know that any actions had been taken in respect of anybody. I'll be interested to hear.