Welcome one and all to the first race of the 2013 season! After two exciting pre-season championships, this is the big one as the season-long championship begins this weekend. This will test the endurance of competitors to their limits, with dedication required all the way through to November if they want to take the crown from Roadrunner, our double world champion. Let's take a look at the entrants for this season: Lotus An unchanged line-up for Lotus, who will be looking to do one better than their 2nd place in the constructor's championship this time around, and beat Williams. If anyone has the wealth of driving talent to do so, surely it's Lotus? Returning champion Roadrunner will be as strong as ever, with the flyaway races at the start of the season likely to play into his hands. Alongside him, El_Bando returns. In pre-season there was talk that he'd become disillusioned with his number two status, with rumours he'd spoken to the defunct Minardi team about potentially leading a 2013 challenge, but in the end he decided that his chances were better with the Lotus outfit. Williams Another unchanged team, fresh from their constructors championship. Despite talk from both drivers about leaving, EternalMSC and Julius Caesar stay with the team for another year. EternalMSC will however run the risk of missing two early races, after deciding to finally fulfil his lifetime ambition of a pilgrimage to Casa del Schumacher. Will this harm their attempt to retain the constructors title? McLaren An all-new line-up at Mclaren, with season 1 challenger BrightLampShade returning to his home in the lead Mclaren. BLS spent last season with the notFIA, gaining an acute understanding of the intricacies of the championship, in the hope it will give him an advantage this year. SgtBhaji was a late transfer from the now defunct Sauber outfit. SgtBhaji is likely to be something of an unknown this season. Undoubtedly he has pace, but aspersions have been cast that his allegiances to Ferrari could present him with a dilemma. A lack of pre-season testing won't help him too. Mercedes The experienced Sportydan stays for another season, hoping his training in the art of F1 strategy through GPRO may begin to pay off. Joining him is di Fredsta!, who is likely to push his team-mate close, and hopes to be involved in a title challenge. Red Bull The bulls start this season in a state of disarray, with lead driver Stephen Lickorish only confirming his desire to drive in the eleventh hour. However, Stephen doubts he will mount a serious challenge this season, due to commitments elsewhere. Rumours that this commitment may involve the saucy brunette from ESPNotF1, are as yet unconfirmed. Alongside him Nazara is expected to return, but the team are yet to receive any assurances from the driver, whose whereabouts are currently a mystery. Red Bull may consider a last minute replacement, should he fail to materialise. Ferrari Another one with a detailed knowledge of this exciting championship is Paco Montoya, who joins the Ferrari team for 2013, with hopes of pushing for glory. Alongside him, it appears The Iceman is more keen to hunt for Ice-Cream than glory, with his participation yet to be confirmed. Force India The new kids on the block are Force India, a new team fielding a pair of rookies. Shogs has shown good, consistent pace since finding the race-track a few short weeks ago, whilst Jonnybaws the renowned notF1 artist is in the sister car. Reports that he demanded an easel in the cockpit for those long, dull Malaysian straights, are believed to be accurate, and the paddock waits with baited breath the delights he will bestow upon them. Force India are also believed to be selling his artwork in order to finance their 2013 car, so the quality of artwork is likely to correlate to car performance. Force India are therefore expected to finish strongly in Malaysia and China, but may struggle in Monaco. The race: With so many rookie's on this seasons grid, the notFIA have decided for a simple introduction to the 2013 season. The race will begin at some point over the race weekend, when the word "START" is posted by myself in an individual post on the "Malaysian Chat & Predictions" thread. To finish, post any variations of "finish" in this thread. Jump starts will be disqualified.
Finish. Wait, what? I didn't post this. I had a "Finish" waiting and ready, but I cancelled it, refreshed the page, and came back with this here. Makes no sense. Erm, any chance you could ignore this, due to my computer being a ******?
Oh God this is going to be a Stewards Enquiry isn't it? Seeing as Force Majeure (ie a computer fault) was removed from the F1 rules this season, I think RoadRunner needs better Computer-Posting-Management, and should therefore still be disqualified. Sorry.
If you don't start taking this seriously I will start sleeping with the team principal and blackmail him into kicking you out of this team. You got that?
Unfortunately I'd made the rule very clear before hand, and a 10 place drop would put him out of the points anyway.