IRC - Antarctica Motor Racing

[JakeDorent]

The Weekend in Montreal was not...Ideal for the Brazilians, although they managed to secure a podium with Felipe, the Champion of the 1997 Season, Rubens, was unable to finish in the points.

Barrichello stopped his car in the correct location, getting off of it and shaking his head in a disappointed manner, making his way into the team's garage.

His Race Engineer, who was celebrating Felipe's podium with the rest of the team noticed Barrichello entering the Garage, walking over to check on the driver, who had taken off his racing balaclava and helmet, sitting and sighing in disappointment.

"Hey Champ, what's wrong?" The Engineer asked, Barrichello shaking his head. "I had a terrible race, I wasn't even able to finish in the points, this doesn't look good for the new sponsors.." "Pff!, Please, you were leading the race...much of the field is made up of newcomers so don't be so harsh on yourself...you still managed to go from last place all the way up to the middle of the field! It shows how skilled you really are, besides, it ain't the first time we start off the season with only 1 car on the podium" he chuckled. "Heh, but it doesn't look good for us to always have a bad start to our season." "Yes yes, well look, there's no use dwelling on it now, So how about we get ready for the trip? I'm sure we will improve our results in the next Grand Prix." Barrichello nodded, his engineer patting him on the back, the two would stand up to resume watching the Podium celebrations.

The Team would take the lessons learned from this race and work on the car, preparing for the next Grand Prix, the plan was to increase the Car's Maneuverability and Endurance to face the coming Circuit of the Americas and it's long straights and various turns.

Departing from Montreal, the team wished to arrive in Austin early to set up their garage and equipment before the start of Free Practice, where they could see the results of the changes to their cars.

Naio90

 

[JakeDorent]

If Montreal wasn't Ideal...Texas was an utter nightmare.

With one driver knocked out of the race entirely and another one lapped by the race leaders, it was the lowest point of the Brazilian Team.

Barrichello was visually frustrated by the crash, getting out of his Car and exchanging some...words with the Italian driver, some of the Race Stewards separating the two from each other, Barrichello angrily took off his helmet and balaclava, shaking his head as he walked away from the Italian, leaving him talking to himself.

Felipe's radio was dead silent as he parked his car in the Pits. sighing out of frustration.

Later while speaking to the press, the two drivers would give their opinions on the Race.

Rubens would speak first. "It was a shame that we crashed right in the second half of the race, I thought that maybe we could have entered into the points to record a decent result, but...yeah, I guess we can look forward to the next race in Rio, being our home race, we believe that we are capable of getting some good results."

Then Felipe. "Oh, this weekend was a complete nightmare...Our pace didn't feel too good, especially in the long straights, although the car felt great in the various turns, I think we really lost it whenever we entered the straights, I was hoping to at least make it into the points so the Team didn't end up empty-handed...I tried to take advantage of the Yellow flag to try and gain some places but...unfortunately wasn't able to, so yeah, it was pretty disappointing overall, Last year...we started the Year badly but eventually managed to turn around, I just hope this turn around comes sooner rather than later."

The Team would pack up after Post-Race activities were finished, prepared to travel home, the Engineer would gather all of the Data and information gathered from the Weekend to work on the car, attempting to Improve the Car as the South American GP approached, wishing to have a good result in one of their home circuits.

 

[JakeDorent]

Arriving early in Rio de Janeiro, the team quickly got to work to find the flaws in the car, as well as sign the autographs of the home crowd.

Throughout the Weekend's Practice sessions Antarctica could be seen lapping the track in a rush, the two drivers pushing their cars to the limit, sometimes even going wide in the turns, all of this was to bring in as much information on the car, as well as get through all of the programs the team had set up for the weekend.

In the end, after ample research from the stats and results of the Practice session, Antarctica would make subtle changes to the car's aerodynamics, allowing for an increase in Speed in the long straights of the Track.

This, coupled with the car's already good acceleration and manoeuvrability, made Antarctica confident of a good result in the South American Grand Prix.

New Stats:
■ Acceleration [ 4 ]
■ Braking [ 3 ]
■ Speed [ 4 ]
■ Manoeuvrability [ 4 ]
■ Endurance [ 3 ]​

Naio90

 

[JakeDorent]

With two good results under their belt, the Antarctica Team would be looking to remain with this consistency for the coming rounds, and even, snapping some victories here and there, if such consistency could be achieved, the Championship could still be won.

With the next round in Monza coming, Antarctica would head to Italy and use the practice sessions to Improve the car with lessons taken from both the Previous German GP and the South American GP, Being a very fast circuit, the Brazilians were hoping that their cars' formidable acceleration and Speed would be key in the race.

Naio90

 

[JakeDorent]

Finally, It seemed like Antarctica could celebrate, with 3 podium finishes in a row, with one of them being a victory.

With Rubens crossing the line to record his first victory in the 1998 IRC Championship, the team would celebrate cheerfully, as if it was their first victory.

​

"WOOO! YEEES BOYS! FINALLY, AFTER SO LONG! THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS STILL IN OUR REACH!!" Barrichello celebrated through his radio as he crossed the line of the Monza circuit.

The team was hoping to continue the streak of good results heading into the next round in Norway, like always, using the data collected throughout the weekend to better improve the car. Using the Practice sessions around the track to gain a better understanding of the track and form a good strategy for the race to come.

Naio90

 

[JakeDorent]

The Norwegian Grand Prix was a decent result in the eyes of the Brazilian Team, with Felipe in the podium and Rubens in the Top 10.

The team was showing a strong conscistency throughout the season. Excluding the United States GP, Antarctica would finish with one of their drivers on one of the
steps of the podium.

The Situation on both Championships was also favorable, with Antarctica being one of the only teams with both drivers in the top 5 of the drivers championship, in the constructors championship, The team was in second and still in the race for the Championship with only 5 points behind rival and championship leader Sparrow Racing.

With the IRC Circus heading off to the East, Antarctica prepared themselves for the next races in Korea, India and Australia.

With Korea and India being both racetracks with long straights and many turns and corners, the team hoped that the A98's speed, manuverability and acceleration would lead them to victory.

Packing up early, the team departed to the 7th Round of the season in Korea, using the practice sessions of Friday and Saturday to push the car through the limits of the track, going through all of the development programs of the weekend with success.

now, it was all a matter of having a good qualification run and prepare for the race.

Naio90

 

[JakeDorent]

Felipe was ecstatic, for the first time in his entire career, he led the Drivers Championship, and for the first time in the year, Antarctica was back on top of the Constructors Championship, but, they couldn't afford to rest easy just yet.

The Korean GP was a good result, however, Rubens' Lack of pace would prevent the Brazilians from gaining more points and gaining a bigger lead in the Championship.

Either way, the Brazilians, after enough partying in the Hotel, headed off to the next Grand Prix in India, arriving in the Buddh International Circuit for the Week.

The team hoped to use the data gathered from Korea to develop the car and prepare it for the weekend in India, where they'd push the car to the limit during the three practice sessions.

The Brazilians hoped that the data from Korea would work in their favor, considering the similar aspects of the track to its Korean counterpart, in the end...only time will tell.

Naio90

 

[JakeDorent]

Although the Race in India wasn't ideal...It still wasn't completely lost.

Somehow, Antarctica, for the first time in the season since last year, was leading both the Driver's and Constructors, with Felipe and Rubens both having the same amount of points, and the team having a 14 points lead over Sparrow Racing heading into the next round in Australia.

In a press conference, when asked about the equal amount of points, both drivers shared their feelings on the good position that the team finally found itself in, but promised to keep the fight for the Driver's Championship, if it comes down to both of them, alive and fierce but respectful.

"Felipe has manage to improve massively on his race pace since the last season" commented the Team boss Alex Ribeiro, "He has been sticking very close to Rubens when it comes to lap times, I think both of them have the potential to being champions this season."

Heading into Melbourne Park, the Team would do the usual, testing the limits of the car on the track and using the data taken from the Indian GP, heading into the Qualification session...the Brazilian Team was hopeful for good results in the upcoming race.

Naio90