Vector

I originally thought it was that as well, but from what I understand after reading through the FIA statement and the reports, it's a permanent (possibly indefinite?) ban from F1 that's put on suspsension for two years until it's dropped (or until Renault F1 cause a incident of similar severity within that time and cause the ban to take effect), rather than being a ban from F1 for two years.

Hmmm, looks like the FIA also took the time to make another press release today, this time a rule change/decision and the 2010 Calender. Source: http://fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2009/Pages/wmsc_210909a.aspx

Alright, the hearing took place earlier today, and a verdict has been made. Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8266090.stm http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2009/Pages/wmsc_210909.aspx So to put simply (and for those who for some reason don't want to read the whole article ): - Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban for their role in fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix until the end of the 2011 season, and the ban will only go into effect if "Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time". - Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA sanctioned events for an unlimited period, with the FIA also announcing it'll not grant/renew licenses to any team or driver associated (through a management contract or otherwise) with Flavio Briatore or anyone associated with him. - Renault's ex-engineering director Pat Symonds received a similar sentence (including not granting licenses to teams working with him), except he's only banned from FIA sanctioned events for five years. - The FIA will not be pursuing any action against Nelson Piquet Jr., due to him being offered immunity for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

Ok, I just came across this in another forum as it seems to have just been announced, and then checked the Renault F1 Team website to validate it. Picked up by Autosport, seemed to have gotten a mention on BBC (radio?) and likely more once it's picked up (EDIT: Now it's mentioned on the BBC website). Source: http://www.ing-renaultf1.com/en/_2009/team/index.php#/team/newsdesk/communiques/

@AdamDRFC: From checking the BMW Sauber site (after reading news about it online), it makes mention of BMW wishing "Qadbak and the Sauber Team every success for the 2010 season and beyond", so you never know, the Sauber name might remain. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what name the team will definitely go under. And I'm a bit mixed at the moment in regards to changing the points system, and I understand the reasoning for expanding it due to the grid increasing to 26/28, though I will agree that the winner should have more than a two point gain against a 2nd placed driver. I wouldn't be against the points system expanding to the top ten if need be, but I guess my only issue with changing it to accomodate the expanded grid is that I recall there was around a similar number of cars on the grid during the 80s and 90s, with no refuelling until '94 as well as points only for just the top 6 throughout it all. To those who watched Formula One during the 80s-90s, did the points system work out ok during that time, or was this not at all the case?

Since there's been no mention of it on here yet, here's what was announced earlier today, in regards to deciding who, out of three teams in consideration, would take the remaining spot on the grid, following BMW Sauber's withdrawal a few months ago. (Taken from BBC Formula 1 website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8256295.stm, Source - FIA.com ) I think it'll be interesting to see the Lotus name return to the grid (especially when I was hoping for it to be selected as one of the three new teams in the first place ), and we might see the Sauber team staying on for next year, depending on whether or not all existing teams give approval to allow the grid to be extended to 28 cars instead of 26.

Looks like despite the disagreement from the big F1 teams about it, the budget cap is still catching the interest of more teams looking to join F1 as deadlines draw near. Right now, Formula Three team Litespeed is now considering joining F1 and is collaborating with MGI Ltd, led by former Toyota and Force India technical director Mike Gascoyne. Also, Lola is set to submit/already submitted an application to join F1, so they might be a likely candidate to join the grid next year. Elsewhere, coming across this piece of news on the BBC Teletext, and also found here, talks between F1 teams and the FIA fell through earlier today with regards to the budget cap, with Max Mosley mentioning that there'd be no compromise on the buget cap, though agreed that a two-tier championship was not acceptable. It also mentioned that Ferrari has filed an injunction to block the proposed buget cap.

I did hear about it a few times during last month and the article explaining it in the FIA's budget cap report confirms it, so I think it could be good, would mean a bit more competition. Now in regards to who might join next season, the idea of a Team USA joining was brought up during the past month (though I've no idea if that's confirmed). But looking on the Official Formula 1 Website, you have former Benetton & BAR boss David Richards considering joining with his Prodrive team, and we could possibly see the return of Lola to Formula 1. Looking at the report again, we'll definitely find out during the next month and a half as to who's interested and who'll join next season.

Source: The Official Formula 1 Website (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9113.html)

I've now got a new private game up, still using the F1 2008 set as before. Just need a minimum of nine more to join, though a maximum of a further 12 can also join. Anyone interested in joining this game, including those new to BATracer, the address for it is http://batracer.com/-cj?&D&37945. Private password for it: Warfare. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Ok, so hopefully as long as no server issues come up, my private A1GP game will be finished around this Monday, so I'll definitely have a free slot available for another private game between us. I just want to know if anyone is still up for another private game (perhaps obvious choice F1 2008, F1 1986 or IndyCar 2008), or would we have to leave it for another time?

Hell if I know most of these, but this one stood out from Reily's: Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name

...My goodness is this game fun. Granted, it can be difficult at points and the player is a bit slippery to control (probably intentional). At the same time, however, I found it to be simple yet challenging and it has good variation so you're not playing the same sort of level over and over again. But yeah, to put it simply, just damn fun.

Any chance would you be willing to wait for just a few more weeks? Currently involved in an A1GP private game, and it won't finish until sometime during the 1st week of March. And that's hoping there aren't any further server issues/downtime/whatever to delay it, like it has already done previously.

Bah! I was gonna wait until a new owner was appointed for our team and take it from there. But if that's the case, looks like I'm gonna have to advertise my HB as well. Docpepper (or anyone else running/part of a team for that matter), would the owner be interested in either of these two players? Level 20 HB - http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=807827 - EDIT: Got him instantly into another team soon after being released. Level 13 QB - http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=975895

If anyone's interested in the meantime, you could join a new public academy game I'm involved in, also F1 2008, which still needs more drivers. You can join it here. (EDIT: game now filled up and started.) Now in regards to a new EWB game, unless anyone has any objections, what we could do is take a short break and I'll start a new game during next month. No idea what carset we'd be using (then again, haven't checked yet what's available for private games), but it'd most likely be F1 based. Hope that's ok by everyone.

Guess it's safe to say now that the EWB Season 2008 game is now over. Congratulations once again to Zaz on winning the Drivers' Championship, as well as carrying his team to also win the Constructors' Championship. Let's see now how we fare in the public games. I have to say having joined BATracer last month solely for our EWB game, this is quite a good game. From determining the car's setup and sharing data/talking with teammates, to choosing how you drive and even competing for points and wins while relying on strategy and some luck, it makes it quite a challenge, but at the same time all the more enjoyable. Pretty obvious to say that I'm now a fan of it. Out of curiosity, what's the situation with regards to a new EWB game, now that this one's done? Short break before making a new one, or would we wait to see if there's enough interest in doing another one?

Don't forget Slogger retiring during the race to give you that spot. And just for Slogger, here's one with an Integra-style 'R' in it. Better? Worse? I'll leave that up to you.

Do you mean for the 'R', or have the logo similar to the style of the Integra logo?

That was my thinking as well. Unfortunately I have no graphical skill whatsoever sooooooooooooooooooo somebody else Size has to be exact sadly or the BATracer site won't accept it. Thought I give it a try with the board's EWB logo, even though I don't have much graphical skill either. Perhaps something simple like this, Trips? Anyways, didn't expect the Singapore race to get quite tense in the closing moments like in Monza, cutting the time gap between me and leader Zaz 3/4 into it and snatching his spot right before the last lap to win it. Also, with only three races to go, things are looking interesting at the top of the table, with only a few points separating the top three between each other.

Into the EWB game? I think Dan asked as well and we couldn't be able to invite anyone in once the private game started. But we might get another one up once this is finished sometime next week, though we'll see when it draws near. A minor suggestion and you could probably convert it from a gif, but how about perhaps the EWB logo at the top left of the board and adding an 'R' onto it? You could even crop it since it's only slightly larger than what's required.

I actually thought the clan was already active, since I notice our clan ranked 2nd in the public game me and Zaz are competing in. How many more do you need? Speaking of the public game, part of me finds it kinda...ironic (if that's the word I'm looking for) that me crashing during the the Spa GP last night made some influence on the race, making some contribution to help my teammate, who started at 20th, climb up and get his first win in that public game. In which case, I ain't complaining.

To think I wasn't gonna have another instance of me retiring right on the first lap, this time with me causing it. At least Slogger wasn't badly affected by it. Not a bad race at Monza, especially the last quarter of it, with both Zaz and Trips being neck and neck with other right to the very end.

Hey, can't help it that I want a big piece of the action and the glory. It's all good Vector, Good to know I have someone that can back me up, Whats your stamina at? I don't think my player is used to so much game time, I'm hitting the mid 30's by the end of the game, May need to train that up alittle. Do you mean stamina stat-wise or energy-wise? If you mean energy-wise, it's at 50 after that last game. I don't quite understand how you got lower stamina/energy than me after the game, especially when I was going all-out and possibly playing roughly the same amount of game time as you. Both, I'm at 41 stat wise and like I said before im at mid 30's after the game. Also, Nice block LL, There was a fair chance of him running that one deep. Stat-wise, my stamina is at 29. 28 excluding the equipment.

Hey, can't help it that I want a big piece of the action and the glory. It's all good Vector, Good to know I have someone that can back me up, Whats your stamina at? I don't think my player is used to so much game time, I'm hitting the mid 30's by the end of the game, May need to train that up alittle. Do you mean stamina stat-wise or energy-wise? If you mean energy-wise, it's at 50 after that last game. I don't quite understand how you got lower stamina/energy than me after the game, especially when I was going all-out and possibly playing roughly the same amount of game time as you.