San Marino GP Tifoso Race Report

San Marino Grand Prix, Autodromo Dino e Enzo Ferrari
April 23, 2006 Round 4, 2006 Formula 1 World Championship

Starting Grid:
M. Schumacher - 1st
F. Massa - 4th

Finally. A win.

After unleashing the 7-tenths beast in qualifying, Michael Schumacher had to fend off Fernando "Girly Man" Alonso for half of the race to get his first win this season. For some inexplicable reason, Michael came out of his first stop (after setting 10 consecutive fastest laps during his first stint) a full second below the girly man's pace. Some say BS were again BS, others say the team put too much fuel in the tank-- hence the extra weight that led BS to being BS (graining issues, once again). Anyway, Michael did well to defend throughout his second stint, never losing the lead even as Alonso was right up his diffuser.

The turning point came when Renault blinked and called in Alonso for his 2nd stop. This took the pressure off Michael, who also had a relatively clean track ahead of him. He proceeded to put in his customary blindingly quick inlaps, then promplty reported to the pits. He came out half a second ahead of Alonso.

I damn near had a coronary for the last 19 or so laps, but never lost faith in the Schumster. He dictated the pace brilliantly, taking Alonso to school at every corner. Each time Alonso closed in, Michael would brake earlier than usual for the upcoming corner, take the defensive line, and get on the throttle at different points each time. All this guess work apparenty got to Alonso. He got really ragged in the final 5 laps, even taking a few trips through the grass and losing valuable time. It was fantastic seeing Michael, fist raised, drive by the pitwall to salute the team as he crossed the finish line.

I've heard the opinion that Ferrari didn't win that race as much as Renault lost it by screwing the pooch with Alonso's second stop. I respect that opinion, but I still think it's full of shit.

Forza Ferrari!

4129

Atty. Cesar Santos Reyes

April 12, 1949 - January 1, 1994

There were no long lectures on equality, justice, humility, faith, discipline, responsibility, family, generosity, and love. All he did was live by these principles and hold my brothers and I up to them. I can only hope I learned everything he tried to teach me.

He would have been 57 years old today. No one can possibly miss anyone more than I miss my father.

Hitting Nickel

The problem is choice.

Always pushing the boundaries, here she is using her trademark pacifier-picking technique.

Did you say Ebm or Ebm7?

Australian GP Tifoso Race Report

Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne Park Circuit
April 02, 2006
Round 3 of the 2006 Formula 1 World Championship
Starting Grid:
M. Schumacher - f*cking 10th*
F. Massa - f*cking 15nd**

*Michael was fortunate to get into the top 10 by way of Jock Villnoo's 10-place penalty
**The boy lost it on a kerb in qualifying. Car no.6 ended up rear-ending the tire wall after a trip through the kitty-litter

!%#$%^#&^*(*@!

Qualifying: Felipe's accident sent the stewards scrambling for the yellows. This, plus the mild shower that hit the track prevented Michael from putting in another hot lap to get into the top 10.

Now, the race-- Felipe Massa gets tangled up with a bunch of cars in the first corner and, again, parks it in the gravel. DNF 1, Ferrari nil. During his first stint, Michael is scruffy at best (wrong tyre choice would be the announced culprit) and is even overtaken by Vitantonio Liuzzin a f*cking STR. But after he emerges from his stop, he puts in scorcher after scorcher, including the 3rd fastest lap of the race (lap 27).

It was good to see him pushing like mad, although the show was cut short when he understeered through the last turn, hit the outside kerb on the exit, did some landscaping, ran over a bump, then firmly planted car no. 6 into the wall. He managed to cut across the track to the pitwall for a shorter walk back to the garage. There was a light moment when Herr Schumi entered the Toyota garage. There is ongoing debate on why he did so.

DNF 2, Ferrari nil.

!%#$%^#&^*(*@!

It's a small consolation that Michael went out the way he did-- pushing hard. Felipe? He has 14 races left to convince me. On to Imola.