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Currently too busy worki...
Check out my new website if you are into online games: www.ogreview.org
Currently too busy working on my online game to write much I'm afraid, the website is at http://pit-stop.34sp.com
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Member since:08.06.2000
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The FIA 2002 World Championship kicks off shortly at the Albert Park circuit in downtown Melbourne, Australia. I decided to kill some time while I wait for the battle to commence by writing some hopefully interesting information for other fans of the sport.
The track is located in a large park in the city centre and has hosted Grand Prix six times since 1996, when McLaren were dominant.
I'll describe a lap of the track to you, for the hardened F1 fans really, other people who think F1 is simply a load of cars driving around in circles can skip this bit if they like!
After the short-ish start/finish straight the drivers brake hard from 180mph to the slow, 70mph right hander, Jones and then they accellerate immediately through the left hander Brabham which eases onto a flat out section of track. Of course you will know Jones (Alan) and Brabham (Jack) are well known Aussie F1 world champions of the past.
The next straight is quite short but the drivers get up to almost top speed for the track, around 185mph before the heavy braking required for another tight right hander, Sports Centre - you have to love those Australians.
This corner is rapidly followed by a left, Hellas as the drivers again pick up speed through the quick Albert Road flick and once more drop down to about 60mph for another right at Clark.
After this the fastest section of the track, it's not sraight but a gentle curve which when wet catches out a lot of drivers as it is not flat out under these conditions. Then there is a quick chicane, Waite and Golf course the left and right handers before two final right handers, both 90 degree turns called Ascari and Stewart.
Finally a very slow left hander, before the final right hander, Prost onto the start finish straight.
The track is very smooth as it is hardly ever used but overall it is quite a dull track with very few challenges for the drivers, most corners are very slow.
The lack of any long straights and a gernerally narrow track mean it is very hard to overtake, this is a feature of races over the past few years.
The weather can be very unpredictable here which can often liven things up, also the track can often be hard on the cars and drivers meaning plenty of retirements. Add to this the fact that this is the first race of the year and it is conceivable that only about 10 cars will finish the race.
My money is on Michael Schumacher to win the race this year, the Ferrari should be reliable and in any weather condition Michael will be very strong, Rubens Barrichello will be ordered to let him past if the team feel the need.
Watch out for Kimi Raikkonen making his McLaren debut and Juan Pablo Montoya who will be determined to improve his sixth on the grid in his Williams. New boy Fellipe Massa will also be one to watch, although I doubt he will finish the race.
Toyota are debuting here in their first F1 race, the first new team in the sport for a few years. I wish them all the best, a top ten finish may be possible but their reliability must be questionable. Despite a lot of testing the real gremlins will no doubt appear under the stresses of a real race.
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Great op. But I disagree it's hard to pass. The road surface is quite rough because it's a normal road the rest of the year, and it is still quite a quick track although not as quick as Sepang which is up next. Solex/Ollie
MRSCANADA 04.03.2002 22:02
I'd give Melbourne a ***** rating as it was my favorite City
in Oz. I don't rate on if I agree with someone...I rate on how well a review was written so you get ***** from me...LL
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Advantages: The first Gp is always one of the best and the 2001 race was no exception Disadvantages: The death of a marshall which should have been prevented after Monza 2000
Advantages: The atmosphere, sound, sight and smell of Formula One racing Disadvantages: In this particular race - the qualifying was the only disappointment
Mar 2nd, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
