Australian GP – Qualifying

April 1, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Air temp 19°C; track 26°C; humidity 50%; chance of rain?

JV’s had an engine change

First session:
VL 1:31.494
SS 1:30.426
VL 1:30.403
VL 1:30.208
YI runs wide, onto the grass; now he’s off through the gravel; oh, and now he’s spun coming out of a corner and he’s stuck on track – red flags are out.
Track re-opens and about half the cars head out; there’s ~7mins left of this session
JM 1:28.149
GF 1:27.765
JT 1:27.748
KR 1:27.193
JM 1:27.079
RB locks up on his last flying lap for this session; he didn’t put in a good time – he’s not going through to the next session
Bottom six grid positions: 17=RB, 18=CA, 19=SS, 20=TM, 21=TS, 22=YI.

Second session:
NH 1:26.561
JT 1:26.272
NH 1:26.438
JT 1:26.327
KR 1:26.161
FA 1:25.729
FM is off backwards across the gravel and tags the tyre wall, knocking off his rear wing; red flags out again
Track re-opens; looks like there’s some bodywork at the pit lane exit; at least a couple of cars just drove over it (MS+MW)
TSN report the debris was a cooling vent … and a marshall just returned it to to Ferrari, so it was of MS’s car
Was the rain on the camera lens?
Yes, it’s raining quite heavily but there’s less than a minute of this session left
Middle six grid positions: 11=MS, 12=DC, 13=VL, 14=CK, 15=NR, 16=FM … that’s both Ferraris

Third session:
Competing for the top 10 spots: FA, GF, KR, JM, MW, NH, RS, JT, JB, JV
Track opens; looks like everyone’s on dry tyres
FA runs a little wide; 1:28.942
NH pits for new tyres (after only one lap) – bit of a shambles as they try to find the new tyres … and they’re dry tyres again
FA 1:27.290
10 mins left – everyone’s still just touring around – what a pointless exercise
MW runs wide onto the grass but recovers OK
7mins left – still FA fastest with 1:27.290
5mins left – time to start putting in some proper lap times, boys!
JM 1:26.391
Why do the TSN commentators insist on talking over the pit-car radio? Aargh!
2mins left – only time for 2 laps, so expect some hot laps
JM spins – was his front-right suspension broken? It was just a fleeting glimpse – we need a replay
FA 1:25.778
JB 1:25.229
Replay of JM’s spin – no, his car looks OK
Session over; JB on provisional pole but there’s still some hot laps still under way
KR and JM both fail to beat JB’s time
JB takes a bow as he gets out the car

Pre-penalty grid: P1=JB, 2=GF, 3=FA, 4=KR, 5=JM, 6=RS, 7=MW, 8=NH, 9=JV, 10=JT; 11=MS, 12=DC, 13=VL, 14=CK, 15=NR, 16=FM; 17=RB, 18=CA, 19=SS, 20=TM, 21=TS, 22=YI.
JB also set overall fastest lap of all three sessions.