Round 4 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)

Qualifying

 1. Rob Buis            The Flying Dutchmen     1m 12.643s

 2. Rene Smit           Shark-Porsche           1m 13.476s
 3. Mark Wendt          Itchy & Scratchy        1m 14.408s
 4. Oliver Roberts      Team Analogistix        1m 14.489s
 5. Claudio Di Martino  DiMa Bros               1m 14.490s
 6. Daniele Di Martino  DiMa Bros               1m 15.105s
 7. Mathias Kegelmann   SpeedBird               1m 15.138s
 8. Axel Bruns          SpeedGroup              1m 15.254s
 9. Tero Turtiainen     TDPFP                   1m 15.998s
10. Lionel Vintenat     Team Analogistix        1m 16.113s
11. Anthony Holloway    Wreckage Inc.           1m 16.297s
12. David Shaw          Wreckage Inc.           1m 17.404s
13. Eric Moreau         Venturi                 1m 17.659s

Race - 78 Laps

 1. Rob Buis            The Flying Dutchmen     1h 44m 58.493s     20+1
 2. Mark Wendt          Itchy & Scratchy        1h 46m 11.276s     16
 3. Axel Bruns          SpeedGroup              1h 46m 12.947s     12
 4. Tero Turtiainen     TDPFP                   1h 47m 15.547s     10
 5. Mathias Kegelmann   SpeedBird               1h 47m 15.746s      8
 6. Oliver Roberts      Team Analogistix        1h 47m 22.860s      6
 7. Claudio Di Martino  DiMa Bros               1h 48m 36.795s      4
 8. Lionel Vintenat     Team Analogistix        1h 50m 13.475s      3
 9. David Shaw          Wreckage Inc.           1h 50m 49.508s      2
10. Eric Moreau         Venturi                 1h 52m 20.900s      1

11. Anthony Holloway    Wreckage Inc.             46 laps
12. Rene Smit           Shark-Porsche             19 laps
13. Daniele Di Martino  DiMa Bros                 11 laps
14. Devon Jones         Veritech Racing             DNS
Yet again Rob Buis has stepped out of his racing car at the end of the race a full 21 points richer. A sudden burst of form from Rene Smit in qualifying seemed to threaten the domination of the F1GP Hall of Fame leader, but after needing to change his front wing twice in the first three laps hopes of scoring his first championship points faded quickly. Then any hopes were dashed as a computer car rammed him from behind as he tried to enter the pits on lap 20. Eric Moreau also suffered from lots of front wing damage and the necessary pit stops.

Another competitor to suffer from wing damage was Mark Wendt. After a collision on lap 74 he was forced to limp round for the remaining 4 laps with a broken front wing. Losing maybe 5-10 seconds a lap at least, it seems that his earlier pace was enough to challenge the championship leader, but a slice of bad luck meant that Mark had to finish second behind RB for the third race in succession. Axel Bruns might also have been a challenger for first place honours, but a collision with Michael Schumacher lost him valuable time. It appears that Rob Buis' domination may be coming to an end (if everyone can keep out of the walls :-), but we shall see....