Fgp 2013

:PRESS RELEASE - TEAM TRUSPEED F1:
2013 ends another disappointing year for the high standards expected from Team Truespeed F1.
Another 18th place finish marks 2 years in a row at that position after a 12th position in 2011 and a championship win in 2010.
"Obviously this is not the direction we like to be going, and like many others the tire change situation after the Silverstone debacle fundamentally caught us off guard this year"; says team principle and owner Truefan72.
"there is going to be some serious assessment going to happen back at the factory. We will right this ship. The new windtunnel is in place, we have hired away a few COD specialists, and some top positions within the organization are now firmly in place after losing a few key personnel in the past 2 years to some rivals."
Truefan72 was however slightly coy about his 2 drivers currently on the books and their retention for 2014. Stating only that they are looking at all their options and that an announcement will be made before the end of the year. If rumors are to be believed, a top driver might be in the works for 2014. This would herald a significant departure from their renowned philosophy of a balanced lineup approach previously employed to modest success by the team.
But with new title sponsor Canon on board, along with Google and Duracell joining the list. the team has the financial stability it needs to compete in 2014 and once again challenge for the title.

Last but not least we would be remissed if we did not thank commercials rights holder and FGP CEO Nick Jones for the hard work in maintaining this top league.

---further announcements pending---

You hired staff from COD?! Does he/she know about this?

Great reviews, guys! Now here's mine:

VAUXHALL ASTRA F1 TEAM SEASON REVIEW

2013 marked the debut of a new FGP team - the Vauxhall Astra F1 Team. Not for us were any 5 year plans for success. We decided that fortune favours the brave. We knew we would not succeed by playing it safe, so we went for a radical approach straight off. The bulk of our budget went on a McLaren chassis and their driver Sergio Perez. We gambled everything on McLaren stepping up again to have the best car - based on THAT Jerez testing time, and Button's declaration that this was the best-ever McLaren.

We also banked heavily on Sauber having an amazing season, based on comments allegedly made by Nico Hulkenberg, and also Sergio Perez declaring the team are ready to win races in 2013.

Well guess what? You would just know that both teams would have their worst seasons in living memory, though Sauber did at least improve - but that did absolutely nothing for us as we signed the wrong Sauber driver.

Mercedes engines were a good buy, but most of the grid plumped for this option too, so it didn't make much difference.

This was a season where little went right, and the cards fell badly for us.

We selected Monza for our bonus GP, believing that McLaren would sort their car out later in the season as they proved so good at in the past, and that Mercedes power would be a benefit.

From the first race in Melbourne it was an inauspicious start for our fledgling team; we banked just 38th place, followed by 37th and 36th in the next 2 races.

Bahrain was an improvement as Perez and McLaren scored a 6th place to put us 18th. We hoped this would be the start of better things, but it was back to 35th in Spain and 37th in Canada, though this was sandwiched by =21st at Monaco.

In fact, this was one of at least 5 occasions we equaled our rivals Aki Racing Team.

It was a long summer for us as we waited for the Italian GP, pinning our hopes of salvaging something with a strong result there. In the meantime, the 4 races from Silverstone to Spa netted 35th, 36th, 24th and 35th places.

So onto the highly anticipated Monza round - and wouldn't you know it - it turned out to be the single most uncompetitive race of the entire season for our combination. We literally could not have picked a worse race. Even Canada was better as Mercedes came 3rd. So that was that down the loo; though we did somehow grab a season high 13th place (don't ask me how - I still think this is a miscalculation :) ).

Our only hope for the season then was that McLaren would at least improve - but instead they promptly announced they were giving up on this year's car and shifting focus to 2014. Well that was just Dandy.

To make matters even worse, there was the ongoing scandal of the spreadsheets which had teams up in arms. Much of the season's results had been miscalculated. When this was finally corrected, guess what happened? Yes that's right - we were one of the teams that went down. By now we were wondering how much worse things would get as the season dragged on.

By now, our morale was finished and we knew it was just a case of just getting through to the end of the season. Our only targets now were to finish in the top 40 (of 46) and to get one up on the Aki Racing Team, who had mocked us several times throughout the year.

All we had left was the hope that Perez would improve by the end of the year and that Gutierrez would score points as the Sauber had moved forward.

Results of 33rd in Singapore, a season's worst 39th in South Korea and 34th in Japan were not what we were looking for.

India proved decisive for us as Perez came 5th and helped us bag a rare top 30 spot in 28th. Aki Racing Team meanwhile, suffered a disaster. This seemingly put us out of reach.

By this point, we had risen to 37th and stayed there for some time; and though things were very tight we were looking good to stay in the top 40, which was all we really wanted. All we had to do was hold on to season's end.

An uncompetitive 34th in Abu Dhabi only served to make the showdown tantalisingly tight - we were still 37th but just 1pt ahead of 40th - still, there was a gap after that, providing us with a decent cushion.

So onto the US, where a combination of a poor 38th, plus failing to take into account a team some way below us had their bonus GP here and leapfrogged us, meant we were holding on by the skin of our teeth - equal 40th - going into the final round.

23rd in Brazil looked good on paper, but to our dismay we had been leapfrogged by another team below us on their bonus GP - at the final hurdle, we fell short by 3pts in 41st... This is a surprise when you consider we actually finished inside the top 39 at every one of the 19 races this season.

All in all, it was a weak season, ruined from the first day when it turned out the McLaren chassis was a donkey.

However, this whole FGP season was hugely enjoyable, much more so than I could have anticipated. We have enjoyed the close battles, even if they took place near the back. And unlike the actual Formula One season, everything was open for us and only decided at the final race.

All the staff at the Vauxhall Astra F1 Team would like to join our competitors in extending thanks to the efforts of N.Jones as well as to the winners Force Yorkshire, who were absolutely out of our league (sigh). We are looking forward to entering next year (surely it can't go worse than this) and will certainly enter if we can be around.



2014 NEWS
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We are delighted to announce a new and exciting sponsorship deal with a well known and popular brand - Snickers. The deal will also see all staff fuelled with free bars to enable them to recover energy and go for longer. It's also full of nuts. We therefore took umbrage to murmurings in the paddock that this tagline describes our team perfectly. :mad:

#like

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N. Jones

You hired staff from COD?! Does he/she know about this?

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lol meant to say CFD

:laugh:

POSF1 will not be submitting a year end review due to the fact that nothing good can be said when you stink up the table.

Today we at motorsport forums FGP magazine caught up with Aki Racing Team's boss steveaki 13 for an interview after he touched down home from Brazil. We asked him a few questions about his teams season and what their plans are for 2014.

Motorsport Forum Journalist: So steveaki13 thanks very much for your time.

Steveaki 13: No worries.

MFJ: So 2013 was a poor season and I assume you have had about enough now?

SA13: Yes after a positive debut in 2012 it was so disappointing to have such a poor car. Our lack of sponsorship this season was the problem.

MFJ: Still you had some great battles with Astra F1, finishing level with them 5 odd times.

SA13: Yer, it was fun but I am sure both teams would rather be focusing on racing in the top 10. rj's a nice guy and we had a few parties after races.

MFJ: So what about your drivers this season?

SA13: Well we have two great guys and both were hampered by their cars this season. Bottas had a tug of a car, while Jenson raced hard but made no progress.

MFJ: And Chassis and Engines?

SA13: The engine was powerful all year and we doff our caps to Mercedes. The chassis Flexed from day one and meant we couldn't push.

MFJ: So moving onto 2014. You have signed a major sponsorship deal starting soon I believe.

SA13: Yes. In order to try and jump ahead in 2014, Hedgehog Gutter Brush will begin sponsoring us on Dec 1st.

MFJ: Anything else you can tell us for 2014?

SA13: Yes I can confirm we will not be using the Sauber chassis for 2014. We are looking to move on and feel after this season we want to part company.

MFJ: Any clues on who you are signing in their place?

SA13: We have 3 options, but we are waiting to judge costs.

MFJ: What about Engines?

SA13: Mercedes have served us well and we are talking about extending the contract, but its early days.

MFJ: And of course drivers.

SA13: Well I can confirm Bottas will leave for 2014 and we also have let Jenson go after 2 seasons. He has worked hard for us but its time for a clean break.

MFJ: Can you let us know who you are talking to? Rumours running round that you were interested in Bianchi.

SA13: Jules drove brilliantly this year, but we had hoped he may sign for a better team in 2014 and we may have taken him on, but its looking tough now. I can say we are talking to a young star and a more experienced driver.

MFJ: Well thanks for your time today, we hope your planning for 2014 continues well. When do you change name for 2014 by the way?

SA13: Dec 1st we change name from Aki Racing Team to Aki's Hedgehog Racing Team ready for 2014.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N. Jones

You hired staff from COD?! Does he/she know about this?

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lol meant to say CFD

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Our team has received several hostile attempts to hire our qualified staff, but our competitive salaries and friendly working environment has prevented key members from switching teams. Some less qualified workers we have releast for rivals :laugh:

:laugh: