Grand Prix of Germany

Qualifying order:

Finishing order:

Play-by-play:

After a phenomenal qualifying lap put him well ahead in the chase for the pole, Schumacher stalls his Ferrari on the start! From second, Max Crash leaps into the lead, and Mika Hakkinen from fourth gets into second place. By Turn 2, Hakkinen is in the lead and Schumacher is languishing in 10^th place. Hakkinen, Crash, and Unser have broken way from the pack.

By Turn 3, Hakkinen was starting to pull away. Schumacher was pushing hard, up to 5^th place, but as he broke hade for Bemskurve, Coulthard bumped him from behind, and Schumacher’s Ferrari slid into the barriers. The champ walked away unhurt, shaking his head in disgust… yelling through the dust “Deny A.J. Points!”

There are three fighting for first place now in Turn 4 although the McLaren’s highly wound gearbox makes Hakkinen good for Agip Kurve alone. Max Crash and Unser fight it out for second just behind him.

Coulthard punches it out of Turn 3, flooring it he makes turn 4 in his next breath, stealing third place on the outside from Max Crash. Foyt, Jazz, and Eileen jockey for fifth with Plunger and Stewart pulling up in the far rear.

LAP 1:

Mika punches it past pit row, opening it up to 6^th gear and making Bremskurve 1 to open up a huge lead. Coulthard follows him out of the pits in second place, but the low gear works against him. First Unser, then Crash blow by him in higher gears. Dover pushes 6^th gear as well and makes Turn 2 in time to fight for third place with Unser. Many drivers are skipping the pit to move up early today, but how will it affect them later on?

The camera runs the leaders: Mika Hakkinen way out in front, then Jackie Stewart two turns back in second, then a heated fight for third one turn back. Unser Jr. is neck-and-neck with Crash, with Dover crawling up their tailpipes. As the group moves into Turn 3, Coulthard and Foyt move up to join the battle.

Pulling ahead of the chase group, Foyt catches his teammate Stewart. Working together, they work together to leave the pack behind and take solid hold of second and third places…. But then out of nowhere PowerBran driver Max Crash flies past them deep into Turn 5 to take second place away from Williams.

LAP 2:

Mika is trying to run away with it, but Foyt is coming on strong, only one turn back as the leaders finish Lap 2. Coulthard punches it into Turn 1 to pass Crash and Stewart to battle for 3^rd place.

Oh no! In the back, Plunger, who’d been pushing his Mediocrity to its limits and still maintaining his position in the back of the pack, cuts to the inside and catches some debris under his nose. It wraps under his tire and forces him to skid into the gravel, calling it a day. A bad day.

Mika pulls into Turn 3 comfortably maintaining his lead over the surging A.J. Foyt. Coulthard and Crash are jockeying for third with sights on Foyt. Stewart is alone in fifth. The last point is being contested by Dover and Jazz, Dover currently behind.

In a brash move Unser pushes hard to the outside around Dover… Oh my god! He loses it in the turn, spinning it into the barrier. His Ferrari is rolling! Falling to pieces, it hits the second bandstand! What a tragedy! Ambulances are scrambled to help the spectators and Unser appears to be unconscious. We’ll come back and check on him in a moment.

Pushing the McLaren and proving an obvious improvement in their mechanics, Coulthard pulls into Turn 3 right behind Foyt, in good position to overtake for second. Passing Foyt, it’s now McLaren first and second. Surging again, Coulthard steals first! What a move! Will team orders come into play? Foyt’s been left training now fight for third with Max Crash.

“NO TEAM ORDERS” comes over the radio from the McLaren pit. Mika responds by zooming to the inside to edge Coulthard for first. Two turns to go!

A.J. looks like he owns third place but Crash is coming on strong, the podium still in question late in this race.

Back in Turn 1, Unser Jr. has been pulled form his car and rushed to the hospital. The word we’re getting is that he’s in stable condition. As for the crowd, we see a medical crew on site; we’ll get back with more detail as we hear it.

Returning to the front, Mika pulls to the inside again getting the best line through. Coulthard eases up short of Sachs Kurve, that could put second place in question as Foyt is coming on strong, the podium now determined.

Hakkinen takes first comfortably, but it’s going to be a photo finish in the hot battle for second. Foyt’s BMW appears to have just a few more horses than Coulthard’s Mercedes. Two hundredths of a second apart, Foyt takes second, Coulthard third in an incredible flat-out finish past pit row.

Coming up in fourth is Eileen Dover. She pushed it all lap long, pulling up from last place to once again earn points as a substitute driver and become the most productive driver Mediocrity has fielded this season.

Crash alone comes in fifth, earning two points for PowerBran. Too bad, it looked like he had the potential to make the podium for the green team but it just wasn’t in the cards.

Jackie and Jazz are neck and neck, duking it out for the last spot in the points. Jackie cuts Jazz off at the last second to take sixth, Jazz finishing seventh. It’s been a real up and down day for Stewart, moving from third to first, back to last, back up to second, and now back to the back of the pack at the finish.