Race Results - 1996/97 Mini Season

Race Date Venue Driver Qualifying
Position & Time		 Finishing
Position & Time		 Pts Total
Pts		 League Position
Driver* Team*
Amateur Class
27 Oct 96 Jerez
Spain		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 23.878 1st 53m 04.620 26 26 ? ?
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 23.752 1st 52m 32.857 26 26 ?
10 Nov 96 Adelaide
Australia		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 16.898 1st 55m 59.242 26 52 ? ?
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 15.352 8th 58m 59.072 12 38 ?
24 Nov 96 Interlagos
Brazil		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 17.389 3rd 50m 51.214 22 74 7th 20th
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 16.324 5th 51m 22.652 18 56 13th
Semi-Pro Class
8 Dec 96 T1 Circuit Aida
Japan		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 11.419 1st 1h 21m 53.268 26 81.5 19th 13th
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 11.152 2nd 1h 22m 21.434 24 66 31st
22 Dec 96 Monte-Carlo
Monaco		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 18.565 1st 1h 23m 53.966 26 107.5 10th 11th
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 18.684 2nd 1h 23m 56.525 24 90 25th
5 Jan 96 Gilles Villeneuve
Canada		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 21.335 2nd 1h 15m 20.617 24 131.5 5th 9th
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 21.826 1st 1h 15m 11.665 26 116 13th
19 Jan 97 Magny Cours
France		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 16.755 15th -2 laps 6 137.5 9th 8th
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 15.959 4th 1h 15m 37.105 20 136 11th
2 Feb 97 Silverstone
Great Britain		 Lars Arvidsson 3rd 1m 25.939 1st 1h 08m 05.879 26 163.5 6th 3rd
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 24.138 1st 1h 07m 24.609 26 162 7th
Pro Class
16 Feb 97 Hockenheim
Germany		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 42.637 DNF - 6 128 ? ?
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 41.321 DNF - 6 127 ?
2 Mar 97 Hungaroring
Hungary		 Lars Arvidsson 1st 1m 17.002 6th -1 lap 16 144 32nd 8th
Stefan Jonsson 1st 1m 16.731 1st 1h 48m 54.701 26 153 26th

* These two columns (except for the last three entrys) show the Unofficial League Standings taken from Silver Snail Racing's Home Page. The last three entrys show modified Official points adjusted to reflect the correct Supersonic results.


Race Reports - 1996/97 Mini Season

  1. Jerez, Spain(Amateur, 35 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    Lars started the series with a pole position and got off to a good start in the race. But lack of concentration lead to two heart stopping moments. The least serious one was an unprovoced spin at Curva Angel Nieto. The other one was potentially much more dangerous. During a high speed pass in the middle of the longest straight, Arvidsson misjudged his speed and turned out for the pass too late. This resulted in beeing airborne with a hard landing on the nose. But miraculously his front wing and front wheels remained intact! Very lucky escape indeed! These incidents lead to a close race for the win, with the Supersonic driver coming out on top. But only with a very small margin. 0.699 seconds to be exact.
    Stefan Jonsson
    This was a race with no incidents at all. Our driver started from pole and then pulled away constanly, leaving only second placed Damon Hill on the lead lap. No problems what so ever!

  2. Adelaide, Australia(Amateur, 41 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    An easy one. The only hickup was a slight spin at the corner leading on to Jones Straight. Arvidsson lapped everybody except for Jean Alesi who came in on second place.
    Stefan Jonsson
    Oh boy! This was a race our driver surely whishes to leave behind him as soon as possible. He was heading towards an easy victory when disaster struck. Not once, not twice, but three times! And it was disaster of the worst kind. Three spins resulting in three lost front wheels. And twice it happened at the fast "chicane" just after pit exit, which ment doing over two whole laps with a front wheel missing! A secure win was traded for a lousy 8th place, just staying on the lead lap.

  3. Interlagos, Brazil(Amateur, 36 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    He started from 1st position but lost out in the first corner falling back to second. It took him 6 laps to get into rythm and retake first position. This day was a black day for the Supersonic mechanics. Having spent more time in the local pub than in the garage they missed out completely on setting up a correct ride height for the track. Thus Arvidsson was penalized already on lap 14 when his plank had been in contact with the tarmac more than is healthy. On lap 18 is was time to pit. But before it was time for that, Arvidsson obviously felt it necesary to make a couple of spins, which took him down to 7th. In spite of having even a third spin, Arvidsson forced his way up to a well deserved podium finish, taking 3rd place.
    Stefan Jonsson
    Starting on pole he managed to take first corner in first place. After that everything went smoothly and he opened up a gap of over six seconds to second placed Michael Schumacher. It was on lap 12 when Jonsson came up on his first backmarker the problems begun. Two laps later in an over ambitious move at the very slow Bico Do Pato corner he tangled with another car and was spun around loosing two places. On lap 18 it was time for the one and only pit stop. On acceleration out of his pit - fighting to come out before 4th placed Alesi - the driver nearly lost it and almost hit another pit crew! And when charging out of the pit exit he very nearly collected another car scrubing its wheels! But two laps later his luck were to come to an end. At Laranji corner he once again were a bit over optimistic and tangled a second time resulting in yet another spin. When trying to get in the right direction again, Jonsson didn't look out for traffic and the result was obvious. Wham!! Schumacher clipped his front wing. When finally facing forward, the driver beeing angry with himself, over powered his car which could only lead to - yes you guessed it - a third spin... These events ment loosing another two places. Down to 5th. Now Stefan took the brave decision of trying to finish the race wihtout the front wing, which ment massive understeer and a loss of about 4 seconds per lap. But thanks to the very low downforce setup he was using, giving him high top speeds, he was able to keep the rest of the pack behind him - even though they were in hot persuit during the remainder of the race. Another setback was the poor judgement of his mechanics. He - like his fellow team mate - suffered from a drag penalty. This time at lap 24.

  4. T1 Circuit Aida, Japan(Semi-Pro, 62 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    With a great start using a clutch device for the first time, Arvidsson got off to a great start being first into corner one. This was a race which saw a lot of things happening just infront of our driver - spins, crashes and cars being airborne, you name it. Four spins at the first half of the race leaving Arvidsson in 4th place, ment he had to push hard during the last laps, not being helped by his tires which very quickly got worn out or the drag penalty he got at lap 43. Despite all this he was able to climb up to second. With less than eight laps to go, Arvidsson was handed the victory when Villeneuve tested the Bennetton's off-road capabilities in the gravel trap at Hair Pin corner. They were poor. :)
    Stefan Jonsson
    At this race the Jonsson mechanics were very successful. They had left Stefan with an absolutely awesome low downforce setup, with great breaks and tires that never seemed to wear out. This however didn't stop Jonsson from f***ing up on his own. After 23 laps he had a convincing lead of almost 40 seconds when he got on the curbe at the Mike Knight corner (pit entry) and were throwed deep into the gravel trap loosing lot of time. The next mishap occured ten laps later when Jonsson misjudged an overtaking manouver in a big crowd (5 cars!) on the longest straight causing him to be pushed off the track with a speed of 300 km/h. Miraculously his car was undamaged. Then on lap 41, just as he was getting ready for his second pis stop, came the real loss of time. At Hobbs corner (the slowest part of the track) Jonsson was spun around by another car, then by another one clipping his front wing, putting him in a very dangerous position where he could not reverse back on to the track without risking being hit. He left his pit stop on 4th. And just as Jonsson was going to retake the lead from Schumacher with only ten laps remaining, he suffered from a failing engine! He luckily crawled back into the pits and had to settle for second place.

  5. Monte-Carlo, Monaco(Semi-Pro, 59 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    A very clean race without any serious incidents apart from one when Arvidsson was going to overtake two cars during braking into the Nouvelle Chicane right after the tunnel. He was braking way too late, causing a lot of pushing and shoving. He sustained no damage though. The only real threat came from Alesi, but a very well planned pit stop strategy ment he could race on his own for several laps getting rid of all the traffic jams. Arvidsson won with a five second margin. A good day's work.
    Stefan Jonsson
    Our second driver had a race in which he was haunted by bad luck. Or was it bad luck!? Supersonic's team of lawyers are not convinced and are at this moment working on a protest to be handed over to the RIA with the accuse of mass bullying. It seemed that anywhere our driver were on the track, just infront of him another car should "happen" to spin around, get a sudden engine failure or in any other mysterious way be blocking the track. And countless were the times they pulled out from the pits at just the "right" moment, causing our driver to hit the brakes in panic. Having survived at least a dozen of these "attacks" the inevitable was bound to happen. With only 14 laps to go, with Stefan in the lead beeing chased by second placed Damon Hill, he was surpised by a car (once again) beeing parked on the track in a precarious position. This encounter resulted in Hill sneaking past, a lost front wing and a third pit stop. For the second race in a row now, Stefan had watched a victory beeing snached away from him at the final stages of the race, and had to settle for 2nd.

  6. Gilles Villeneuve, Canada(Semi-Pro, 52 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    This was a rather tough one! Arvidsson was in pole position, but Jaques Villeneuve was the man to beat today. He took the lead from the start, and it should take Lars eleven laps to get into overtaking position. His try to overtake failed however. And this wasn't the only thing that failed. Five laps later, Lars suffered from his first mechanical failure of the season. Going into the Pits Hairpin the words "WATER LEAK" flashed up on his display! Luckily the pits wasn't far away, so he only had to make his first pit stop a few laps early and didn't loose too much time. This incident plus two minor gravel trap visits (braking too late) ment he could never catch up to Villeneuve. Lars came 2nd, loosing out by 8.5 seconds.
    Stefan Jonsson
    Today our driver had serious problems getting into the right pace. It took him half the race until he was relaxed enough to produce some decent lap times. And that was exactly what he needed! Because it was a really tough race against Jaques Villeneuve who was on a one stop strategy, while Stefan was going for two stops. But thanks to some very consistent driving, with not a single incident during the whole race, he could move up into first position with less than 10 laps remaining, claiming his second win of the season.

  7. Magny Cours, France(Semi-Pro, 54 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    How many of you consider this an easy track? Well, apparently Lars did as he started on pole with the words "a walk in the park" popping out of his mouth. Boy, was he going to regret that!? It all went fairly well for the first half of the race with a safe 3rd place. But as you probably know, nothing is safe in the world of formula one. At the Golf Course Bend on lap 26 our driver got the shakes. During an overtake he had grass contact, spinning big time ending up in the wall one front wheel short. The trip back to the pits naturally wore out the plank . "I can still manage this!" Lars screamed when powering out of the pits on 12th place with the next mishap lurking only two laps away. This time a spin at the pit entry chicane took out the front wing. Back to the pits! By now Lars realised a seventh consecutive podium finish was not to be. Two spins and some 20 laps later he finished on 15th place.
    Stefan Jonsson
    Our driver started brillianty from pole and very soon found a nice pace which pulled him slowly but constantly away from the chasing pack. It continued like this until there were only 10 laps remaining. One second of lost concentration coming into the pit entry chicane resulted in a slight trip into the gravel, a lost front wing and an unscheduled pitstop. This took him down to 4th place, but he had Schumacher only twelve seconds infront of him, so he pushed all he had to close the gap. He produced some of his fastest laps of the race but as the tires went out because of the brutal treatment they received, he could not avoid a second spin. With four laps remaining he just eased off and settled for 4th.

  8. Silverstone, Great Britain(Semi-Pro, 45 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    Lars surprised us all with the team's first non pole for the season. Perhaps this was a result of beeing forced to use his team mate's spare car. He wrecked both his race car and spare car beyond repair in practice and didn't have time to set Stefan's spare car up to his personal preferences when it was time to get serious. Lars had some problems getting into it and had to push quite hard to take the lead after 12 laps. After his first pit stop he was down to 4th and had to fight his way up to the lead which he regained some 10 laps from the finish line.
    Stefan Jonsson
    This was quite a comfortable win. Stefan started from pole position and then just pulled away with a second or two per lap leaving only three drivers unlapped. When coming in for his second and final pitstop he had a lead of over 50 seconds to Villeneuve and so decided to ease off a bit and not take any risks. But taking it easy, more than often also means a loss of concentration. This was no exception. On lap 39 Stefan hit a car under braking when going into Clubs and was thrown into a spin. Nothing too serious though. No damage was sustained other than to his pride.

  9. Hockenheim, Germany(Pro, 45 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    Lars' first race in the Pro Class was quite an eventful one. It started out with a real battle for the lead between our driver and Damon Hill. They exchanged positions several times during the opening laps, but finally Lars was able to pull away. On lap 15 the first setback was a fact. Lars tried to brake past another car into the fast chicane and this resulted in a tangle and a lost front wing. After fixing that wing, it only took another lap until he suffered from electrical problems with the gears stuck in 5th. Back to the pits with Lars down to 13th place. The next two incidents both included the first corner and Gerhard Berger. On lap 29 Lars hit Berger under braking and lost his front wing again. After the required pit stop he was 30 seconds behind Berger in 4 place. But 12 laps later, on lap 41, he was all setup for an overtake of Berger - once again at the first corner. This time the tangle was fatal. Lars crashed into the wall and lost a rear wheel. The first DNF of the season was a fact.
    Stefan Jonsson
    This was the shortest race yet. It ended in tears after only 6 laps. Stefan started fine from pole and was some 6 seconds ahead of second placed Hill. He also took a gamble with only one pitstop, though he had never tested his car over a full race distance with that added weight and tire wear. But on the few laps he completed the car behaved just fine. The thing that ended it all was when Stefan turned just a fraction of a second too early into the fast 4th gear chicane. This throwed his car into the left barrier and smashed the front wing. Now Stefan took the fatal decision of trying to quickly reverse the car out back on the track. With a loud BANG second placed Damon Hill hit the back of Stefan's car. Goodbye rear wing, goodbye engine, game over...

  10. Hungaroring, Hungary(Pro, 77 laps)
    Lars Arvidsson
    The last race of the season didn't start very well for Lars: in the opening 11 laps he had spun once and tangled twice. This put him down to 20th place. The next 20 laps saw him move up several positions before it was time for a 7 lap disaster period which included one spin, two tangles and a lost front wing. The last half of the race was however free of incidents and Lars was able to drive himself up to a very well deserved 6th place.
    Stefan Jonsson
    This was the only 3 stop race for any Supersonic driver this season. And it was surely the right choise for this race, with a very twisty, bumpy and narrow track that eats tires for breakfast. Stefan took the start from pole and immediately built up a gap. After 13 laps he caught up with a train of backmarkers! 10 of them to be exact. After having dealt with almost all of those it was time for the first pit stop on lap 20, which of course ment having to once again cut through that intense traffic. At lap 26 Stefan was in first place again so he remained for the last 51 laps! This was by far the best race of the season for Stefan. He drove very clever and had a quick pace without taking any stupid risks. Well done!