2014 VGPC Australian Grand Prix

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23px-Flag of Australia.svg-1-.png 2014 VGPC Australian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 17 in the 2014 F1F Virtual Grand Prix Championship
Albert Lake Park Street Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.svg.png
Date 25 March 2014
Location Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne,
Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
5.303 km (3.295 mi)
Distance 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 mi)
Weather Wet start drying later
Pole position
Driver 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Adrien Simon Liverpool-Vauxhall
Time 1:35.465
Fastest lap
Driver 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Karl Beckenbauer Liverpool-Vauxhall
Time 1:33.291 on lap 44
Podium
First 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Karl Beckenbauer Liverpool-Vauxhall
Second 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Will Hoskins Franklin-Honda
Third 22px-Flag of Brazil.svg-1-.png Enrique Ruiz Franklin-Honda

The 2014 VGPC Australian Grand Prix was a Virtual Grand Prix Championship race that was held on 25 March 2014 in Melbourne. The race was contested over 58 laps and was the first round of the 2014 F1F Virtual Grand Prix Championship.

The race was won by German driver Karl Beckenbauer in his Liverpool Grand Prix team's first ever race. It was also Beckenbauer's first ever win in the series and only his second ever podium. Teammate Adrien Simon had been leading until he was blocked by, and then involved in an incident with, backmarker Gerard Alaniz. Will Hoskins finished in second place for Franklin F1 ahead of his teammate Enrique Ruiz.

Report

Practice

Nikolai Milkovich shocked on his race debut by going fastest in the practice session ahead of Enzo Domenicalli. Championship favourites Liverpool Grand Prix started strongly with fourth and seventh for Karl Beckenbauer and Adrien Simon respectively. Meanwhile defending champion Nathaniel Powers struggled down in twentieth place while the top two in last season's constructors championship also endured tough sessions. Franklin could only manage thirteenth and seventeenth while Team 23 - who also struggled in pre-season testing - could only manage sixteenth and nineteenth.

Qualifying

With a chance of rain during Qualifying every driver went straight out to set a lap. With all twenty four cars on track there was a considerable amount of potential for blocking, but there were no complaints during the entirety of the session. Puccio Giodano delivered on pre-season testing promise by going initially fastest but was soon usurped by the champion favourite duo of Adrien Simon and Karl Beckenbauer of Liverpool Grand Prix, who were never bettered and locked out the front row of the grid.

Will Hoskins managed to slot his Franklin into third ahead of Giodano after a poor practice session with teammate Enrique Ruiz securing sixth on the grid to confirm the reigning champions are still very much in the hunt. Last season's runners-up Team 23 didn't share the same success however with Jean Mattson and Elroy Wagner having to settle for twelfth and nineteenth respectively. Meanwhile defending driver's champion Nathaniel Powers had to settle for thirteenth in his new Downton car and was beaten by teammate Marcus Thunder, who qualified seventh.

Peugeot enjoyed a strong result having taken over Meteor Motorsport with fifth and eighth on the grid while Warrior Racing proved to be best of the new teams with a stunning sixteenth and eighteenth on the grid with rookie Michal Kubat beating more experienced teammate James Harding. Force Australia endured a difficult session in contrast however with only a last ditch effort by Felix Beyer keeping the team from locking out the back row.

Race

The race started in wet conditions following a heavy shower prior to the parade lap but initially everyone got away from the grid cleanly. Karl Beckenbauer dived down the inside of teammate and polesitter Adrien Simon at turn one, however Simon kept the lead. Further back in the pack Gerard Alaniz got a great start but ruined it by braking far too late for turn one and hitting Jonas Phipps, losing his front wing in the process. This resulted in Phipps spinning into the wall and also losing his front wing before spinning back onto the track and being hit by James Harding, Felix Beyer and Diego Campos, none of whom could avoid the Lucas Grand Prix car, and all also lost their front wings.

Just a few laps later the majority of driver's came into the pits - including both Liverpool cars - to change from full wets to intermediates. Regi Abott, Nikolai Milkovich and a number of others stayed out hoping the weather would worsen again but pitted when they started to lose time allowing Simon back through into the lead.

Not long after, the leaders encountered traffic, in the form of first lap casualties Phipps and Alaniz. While Phipps moved cleanly aside Alaniz spent an entire lap blocking Simon and eventually blocked him to the extent that Beckenbauer was able to close up enough on his teammate to make a move to take the lead. Later in the lap Alaniz moved over into Simon's path while the Frenchman was making a move and Simon hit the back of Alaniz's car, resulting in the loss of his front wing and the elimination of Alaniz from the race. Will Hoskins narrowly avoided hitting Simon's slow car but Puccio Giodano wasn't so lucky, hitting Simon in a slow corner and losing his own front wing.

While Beckenbauer extended his lead up front, further down the field Hugh Dwyer half spun Michal Kubat in a poorly judged overtake causing the latter to lose two places. Meanwhile defending Champion Nathaniel Powers suffered a disastrous race littered with mistakes that culminated in a retirement after Romano Agostino's suspension failed in front of him and the Italian stopped in the middle of the track. Powers was unable to avoid the stricken Fun car and was also hit from behind by Simon, who couldn't see Agostino had stopped, damaging the rear of Powers' car beyond repair and costing Simon another trip to the pits for another front wing.

As the race wound to a close and the final round of pitstops commenced, Peugeot driver Regi Abott ran out of fuel while running in fourth position. This left teammate Lewis Ellington and Downton driver Marcus Thunder to fight for the position and the battle came to a head on the final lap when Thunder dived down the inside of Ellington at turn three and just tagged the rear of the Peugeot. No position change occurred however and both drivers were lucky to continue with no damage.

At the very front Beckenbauer claimed his and Liverpool's first ever win in the teams first race, with Hoskins and teammate Enrique Ruiz completing the podium. Ellington held fourth ahead of Thunder with Jean Mattson salvaging sixth for Team 23 after a poor pre-season testing. Tumo Kinnumen was seventh ahead of Enzo Domenicalli for Scuderia Rossi, who had a poor race following their impressive testing performance, with Carson Davenport finishing ninth and Nikolai Milkovich taking the final point in his debut race.

Post race

Following the blocking and collision with Adrien Simon, as well as for his involvement in the first-corner incident, Gerard Alaniz was called to the stewards to explain his actions. He was later issued with a ten-place grid penalty for the Malaysian Grand Prix for his part in the first corner incident and a further 40-second time penalty to be added to his race time, also in the Malaysian Grand Prix, for blocking and causing a collision with Simon.

Classification

Practice

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time
1 38 23px-Flag of Russia.svg-1-.png Nikolai Milkovich Ingram-Honda 1:34.460
2 8 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Enzo Domenicalli Rossi-Ferrari 1:34.487
3 69 23px-Flag of Finland.svg-1-.png Tumo Kinnumen Westwood 1:34.542
4 21 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Karl Beckenbauer Liverpool-Vauxhall 1:34.611
5 5 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Lewis Ellington Peugeot 1:34.690
6 70 23px-Flag of the United States.svg-1-.png Keith Boston Westwood 1:34.700
7 22 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Adrien Simon Liverpool-Vauxhall 1:34.742
8 15 23px-Flag of Portugal.svg-1-.png Carson Davenport Lucas-Volkswagen 1:34.812
9 2 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Marcus Thunder Downton 1:34.904
10 4 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Romano Agostino Fun-Yamaha 1:34.987
11 7 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Puccio Giodano Rossi-Ferrari 1:35.095
12 6 23px-Flag of Belgium (civil).svg-1-.png Regi Abott Peugeot 1:35.152
13 12 22px-Flag of Brazil.svg-1-.png Enrique Ruiz Franklin-Honda 1:35.238
14 26 23px-Flag of the Czech Republic.svg-1-.png Michal Kubat Warrior-Mercedes 1:35.312
15 3 23px-Flag of Canada.svg-1-.png Hugh Dwyer Fun-Yamaha 1:35.408
16 20 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Elroy Wagner Team 23-Downton 1:35.491
17 11 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Will Hoskins Franklin-Honda 1:35.567
18 37 23px-Flag of Spain.svg-1-.png Diego Campos Ingram-Honda 1:35.644
19 19 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Jean Mattson Team 23-Downton 1:35.722
20 1 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Nathaniel Powers Downton 1:35.895
21 16 23px-Flag of Argentina.svg-1-.png Jonas Phipps Lucas-Volkswagen 1:35.909
22 91 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Gerard Alaniz Force Australia-BMW 1:35.912
23 92 23px-Flag of the Netherlands.svg-1-.png Felix Beyer Force Australia-BMW 1:36.087
24 25 23px-Flag of Australia.svg-1-.png James Harding Warrior-Mercedes 1:36.415

Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Grid
1 22 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Adrien Simon Liverpool-Vauxhall 1:35.465 1
2 21 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Karl Beckenbauer Liverpool-Vauxhall 1:35.485 2
3 11 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Will Hoskins Franklin-Honda 1:35.555 3
4 7 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Puccio Giodano Rossi-Ferrari 1:35.688 4
5 5 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Lewis Ellington Peugeot 1:35.770 5
6 12 22px-Flag of Brazil.svg-1-.png Enrique Ruiz Franklin-Honda 1:35.847 6
7 2 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Marcus Thunder Downton 1:35.914 7
8 6 23px-Flag of Belgium (civil).svg-1-.png Regi Abott Peugeot 1:36.076 8
9 15 23px-Flag of Portugal.svg-1-.png Carson Davenport Lucas-Volkswagen 1:36.150 9
10 8 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Enzo Domenicalli Rossi-Ferrari 1:36.162 10
11 69 23px-Flag of Finland.svg-1-.png Tumo Kinnumen Westwood 1:36.185 11
12 19 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Jean Mattson Team 23-Downton 1:36.310 12
13 1 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Nathaniel Powers Downton 1:36.519 13
14 38 23px-Flag of Russia.svg-1-.png Nikolai Milkovich Ingram-Honda 1:36.654 14
15 16 23px-Flag of Argentina.svg-1-.png Jonas Phipps Lucas-Volkswagen 1:36.665 15
16 26 23px-Flag of the Czech Republic.svg-1-.png Michal Kubat Warrior-Mercedes 1:36.734 16
17 4 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Romano Agostino Fun-Yamaha 1:36.735 17
18 25 23px-Flag of Australia.svg-1-.png James Harding Warrior-Mercedes 1:36.840 18
19 20 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Elroy Wagner Team 23-Downton 1:37.099 19
20 70 23px-Flag of the United States.svg-1-.png Keith Boston Westwood 1:37.275 20
21 3 23px-Flag of Canada.svg-1-.png Hugh Dwyer Fun-Yamaha 1:37.334 21
22 92 23px-Flag of the Netherlands.svg-1-.png Felix Beyer Force Australia-BMW 1:37.340 22
23 37 23px-Flag of Spain.svg-1-.png Diego Campos Ingram-Honda 1:37.394 23
24 91 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Gerard Alaniz Force Australia-BMW 1:37.422 24

Race

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 21 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Karl Beckenbauer Liverpool-Vauxhall 58 1:33:52.176 2 25
2 11 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Will Hoskins Franklin-Honda 58 +9.277 3 18
3 12 22px-Flag of Brazil.svg-1-.png Enrique Ruiz Franklin-Honda 58 +19.633 6 15
4 5 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Lewis Ellington Peugeot 58 +38.788 5 12
5 2 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Marcus Thunder Downton 58 +39.564 7 10
6 19 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Jean Mattson Team 23-Downton 58 +40.967 12 8
7 69 23px-Flag of Finland.svg-1-.png Tumo Kinnumen Westwood 58 +41.801 11 6
8 8 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Enzo Domenicalli Rossi-Ferrari 58 +42.551 10 4
9 15 23px-Flag of Portugal.svg-1-.png Carson Davenport Lucas-Volkswagen 58 +47.152 9 2
10 38 23px-Flag of Russia.svg-1-.png Nikolai Milkovich Ingram-Honda 58 +49.654 14 1
11 3 23px-Flag of Canada.svg-1-.png Hugh Dwyer Fun-Yamaha 58 +49.814 21
12 70 23px-Flag of the United States.svg-1-.png Keith Boston Westwood 58 +1:06.008 20
13 20 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Elroy Wagner Team 23-Downton 58 +1:26.055 19
14 7 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Puccio Giodano Rossi-Ferrari 58 +1:28.456 4
15 26 23px-Flag of the Czech Republic.svg-1-.png Michal Kubat Warrior-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 16
16 92 23px-Flag of the Netherlands.svg-1-.png Felix Beyer Force Australia-BMW 57 +1 Lap 22
17 22 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Adrien Simon Liverpool-Vauxhall 57 +1 Lap 1
18 16 23px-Flag of Argentina.svg-1-.png Jonas Phipps Lucas-Volkswagen 57 +1 Lap 15
19 25 23px-Flag of Australia.svg-1-.png James Harding Warrior-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 18
20 37 23px-Flag of Spain.svg-1-.png Diego Campos Ingram-Honda 57 +1 Lap 23
Ret 6 23px-Flag of Belgium (civil).svg-1-.png Regi Abott Peugeot Out of Fuel 8
Ret 1 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Nathaniel Powers Downton Collision 13
Ret 4 23px-Flag of Italy.svg-1-.png Romano Agostino Fun-Yamaha Suspension 17
Ret 91 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Gerard Alaniz Force Australia-BMW Collision 24

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 23px-Flag of Germany.svg-1-.png Karl Beckenbauer 25
2 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Will Hoskins 18
3 22px-Flag of Brazil.svg-1-.png Enrique Ruiz 15
4 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Lewis Ellington 12
5 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Marcus Thunder 10
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Franklin-Honda 33
2 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Liverpool-Vauxhall 25
3 23px-Flag of France.svg-1-.png Peugeot 12
4 23px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg-1-.png Downton 10
5 23px-Flag of the Netherlands.svg-1-.png Team 23-Downton 8
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

Previous race:
2013 Mexican Grand Prix
F1F Virtual Grand Prix
Championship
2014 season
Next race:
2014 Malaysian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2013 Australian Grand Prix
Australian Grand Prix Next race:
2015 Australian V-Prix