Viking Racing

Viking Racing is a Norwegian Formula One team active in the Formula One Rejects Microprose Grand Prix Series from the 2012 season onwards.

Formation
Right from the start of the series, the boss of F1RMGP, Sir Bernard Shekelslike, was looking for new teams to expand the grid for the 2012 season, ostensibly so that he could give them a public slating after their first qualifying session that they would be horribly unprepared for. In a terrifying development for Sir Bernard, Scuderia Ferrari, run by its deceased team principal and fielding two equally dead drivers, were recalled to the Motor Racing Afterlife at the end of the season, having fulfilled their promise to provide a credible opposition to the F1 Rejects in-house team. Help was at hand, though, as in the late spring of 2011, Sir Bernard had received a message from Odin, head honcho of the Norse afterlife, who intended to start a second other-worldly team to take on the Italian Afterlife at their own game. Sir Bernard accepted the proposition, and Odin appointed the Swedish F1 driver of the 1980s, Stefan Johansson, to act as Earthly Team Principal. The official headquarters would be in Valhalla, but at the behest of Odin, the Earth-bound team was to be based in Norway. Johansson argued that Sweden would be a better base, as it was rather less mountainous and it would be a lot easier to base the team at Anderstorp, but Odin insisted that the team must be seen to be as obviously Nordic as humanly possible. Despite the lack of a permanent home, Johansson ran an open test at Jyllands-Ringen in Denmark on the weekend of 23rd-24th July. Touring Car drivers Tommy Rustad, Robert Dahlgren and Rickard Rydell were all in contention for the lead drive, but in the end it was ex-Formula One driver (and certified reject) Jan Magnussen who prevailed. The others waited to see if they might be given the second seat, but Johansson was instructed (directly from the Great Hall) that it would be advantageous to find an Icelandic driver if possible. Thinking that this was attempting the impossible, he struck lucky while visiting the Rudskogen Motorsenter on 27th August, where he would meet a young and so far unknown Icelander, Þorvaldur Einarsson - supplementing the income from his day job as a snowmobile test driver by coaching the cream of Norway's pre-teen karting talent, then taking to the track himself and utterly destroying the lot of them. He was signed on the spot, and Rudskogen was chosen as the home of the new F1RMGP team. Securing Þorvaldur's services as a driver was enough to convince the Icelandic Vífilfell drinks company to offer title sponsorship of the new team with their Víking Gylltur beer brand. The team would be known as Viking Racing - highly appropriate given the origins of the team, and the inescapable fact that Odin sent an entire army of Vikings from Valhalla to build the new team headquarters. Despite being an institute of motor racing high technology, it was designed from the ground up to look like a very large Scandinavian log cabin - inside and out. Further sponsorship was secured from the Icelandic national dairy Mjólkursamsalan via their skyr.is brand, the Norwegian national oil company Statoil, Battery energy drink (which dominates the market because Red Bull is banned in Norway) and the ubiquitous IKEA (a deal with SHØP having fallen through at the last minute). Odin also demanded that every Viking Racing car must carry the image of a Mjølner. There was only one option for a Scandinavian engine, but it was a brilliant one; Koenigsegg built a 2.4-litre V8 engine to 2006 F1 regulations - then whacked a supercharger on each bank of cylinders. Building a car was hardly a problem as all the teams had been "helpfully" supplied with various blueprints of the 2008 Dallara GP2/08, alleged to have been stolen and distributed by Sir Bernard Shekelslike himself.

Pre-season shakedowns of the Viking MJØLNER-01, as it was called, were carried out at Rudskogen and Anderstorp; there was talk of an ultimate test at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, but the German health & safety wombles shrieked in terror at the thought of that car lapping the fearsome 14-mile circuit, especially with a rookie driver at the wheel. So a final test session was carried out at Zandvoort instead, before the cars were shipped out to the United States for their race debut...

2012
Given the responsibility of carrying the sacred numbers 27 and 28 carried by Ferrari the previous season, Viking Racing made a slow but sure start; Jan Magnussen qualified third in Phoenix, despite being two seconds slower than pole-sitter Scott Speed, whereas Þorvaldur Einarsson could only manage 17th, but it was the Icelander who drove a fine debut race to finish seventh and score the team's first points. Magnussen sorted qualifying out very quickly, making the front row of the grid in Brazil and then scoring the team's first pole position in San Marino, translating those to fifth and third in the respective races. Þorvaldur would continue to be up and down the grid for the next few races; 23rd in Monaco was the low point of the season, but even such a poor grid slot would result in a points finish. Having taken fourth in Monaco, Magnussen struck the first hammerblow for the team - HWNSNBM took pole from the Dane, but was comprehensively thrashed in the race, as Magnussen won by 39 seconds for the first Viking victory since 1066. In Mexico, the Vikings lined up 1-2 on the grid, Magnussen in front, but Þorvaldur wanted a piece of the action, burned his team-mate off at the lights and was magnificent for the rest of the race, taking his first win, with Magnussen finishing fifth. The team were in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship after San Marino, but after these latest two results, were now second, only one point behind F1 Rejects. A slightly less successful race at Magny-Cours saw Magnussen finish second and Þorvaldur fifth, but with F1 Rejects only managing sixth and tenth, this put Viking Racing top of the Constructors' Championship. Chris Dagnall won at Silverstone and in doing so became the first driver to win two races in 2012; the two Vikings followed him home, Þorvaldur in front this time, to stretch their Constructors' Championship lead to 27 points, and with HWNSNBM not finishing at all, Jan Magnussen took the lead in the Drivers' Championship at the halfway point in the season.

An imperious all-round display from HWNSNBM at Hockenheim with Þorvaldur finishing second and Magnussen third (again) dented the Dane's championship lead, but in the Constructors', Viking were still well ahead. Hungary was a bizarre race in which the Vikings qualified well (Magnussen second, Þorvaldur fifth) but were mugged in the race by several teams supposedly behind them on pace, the race was eventually won by Pedro Diniz, of all people - but still, Jan Magnussen finished second to keep up the Viking pride on a day where his rookie team-mate could only manage 13th - but amazingly for someone with so little experience, this would be his only finish all year out of the points. HWNSNBM was very off-colour that day, Jean-Denis Délétraz failed to qualify, and both Magnussen and the Viking team increased their championship leads. At a rainy Spa, the Vikings resumed their position at the front, Magnussen taking pole and Þorvaldur third, but despite the continuing foul weather conditions that should surely have suited them, they conspired to finish only sixth and seventh respectively, with Chris Dagnall winning his third race of the season for Toleman. With Délétraz and HWNSNBM taking third and fourth, the Vikings' lead in both championships were reduced. Monza was a case of "if only the points were handed out on Friday afternoon", as a titanic battle for supremacy between the Vikings in qualifying saw Þorvaldur Einarsson take his first ever pole position in F1RMGP, with Magnussen not far behind. Race day belonged to Team America, recently humiliated at Spa with a DNQ for Michael Andretti and out for revenge on everyone - but still, fourth for Magnussen and an anonymous ninth for Þorvaldur was not the disaster it could have been, as F1 Rejects completely failed to score. With four rounds to go, Jan Magnussen led the Drivers' Championship from HWNSNBM by 21 points, and Viking Racing led F1 Rejects in the Constructors' Championship by 34 points.

Estoril saw Toleman lock out the front row of the grid, but the Vikings took the second row. This did not stop a dominant victory from Chris Dagnall, but Þorvaldur took the fight to him in the early stages of the race, eventually finishing third, with Magnussen only eighth. Again, F1 Rejects failed to capitalise, finishing fourth and sixth but with HWNSNBM in the lower position, hence making few inroads into the Vikings' lead in both championships. Magnussen took another pole in Barcelona, but somehow conspired to lose the plot and finish ninth; not to worry, Þorvaldur stormed through the field from a rotten start in 14th, and finished fourth. But, again, HWNSNBM only finished sixth, and with Viking 39 points ahead in the Constructors' Championship, they had one hand on the trophy. But F1 Rejects wouldn't take that lying down, and struck back to qualify second and third at Suzuka, with the Vikings only fifth and sixth. Furthermore, Chris Dagnall was on pole, determined to stay in the hunt for the Drivers' Championship after his four wins in the season. Jan Magnussen was a determined man, though, and he let nothing stand in his way on the path to victory. It may only have been his second win of the year, and HWNSNBM fought him all the way as he finished second, but that extended his Drivers' Championship lead to 18 points. Délétraz trailed in seventh; the combined 24 points that F1 Rejects scored, in the end, was not enough; Þorvaldur Einarsson finished eighth, scoring four points, and that pushed Viking Racing's lead in the Constructors' Championship to an unassailable 44 points. They were Constructors' Champions in their first season and had beaten the mighty F1 Rejects team to do it.

The final race of the season at a very wet Adelaide saw the most controversial incident of a nail-bitingly thrilling season. Magnussen was 18 points ahead of HWNSNBM; if HWNSNBM won, Magnussen needed only eight points (i.e. sixth place) to be champion; if HWNSNBM finished second, he would need Magnussen not to score at all and would then win on countback. HWNSNBM took no prisoners in qualifying and took pole by 1.4 seconds; Magnussen was second, and favourite for the title. Magnussen wanted to take the title with a win to avoid the undeserved scorn heaped on the way Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button won their F1 titles, and though HWNSNBM refused to be dislodged from the lead, Magnussen chased him for all his life was worth. After 76 laps, the leading pair approached the Minardi of Pierluigi Martini to lap him. HWNSNBM managed it easily, but as Magnussen passed, Martini chopped across the track and collided with Magnussen, taking them both out. Martini ran away from the track, not wanting to face the wrath of the Viking Racing team; Magnussen could only sit and watch as HWNSNBM won the race by over a minute and the Drivers' Championship by seven points. Magnussen finished the season second but it could and should have been so much more. Þorvaldur Einarsson trundled home in the sixth place that his team-mate had needed to win the title - and in doing so, became the only driver in the entire field to see the chequered flag at all 16 races; everyone else had at least one retirement (Magnussen's being right at the death) and/or one DNQ on their record.

2013
Despite the eleventh-hour loss of the Drivers' title at the end of 2012, Viking Racing started the 2013 season in high spirits, replacing Ikea as one of their minor sponsors with Findus, suppliers of life-giving mayonnaise to the crew of Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time, now recruited as the team's official caterers. Through a hail of breadcrumbs, diced onions and minced beef being thrown around in the Viking motorhome's banqueting hall, Magnussen and Þorvaldur blitzed the competition in Phoenix, locking out the front row with the Dane on pole. Some slightly bizarre pit strategy saw Þorvaldur finish second... behind Luca Badoer, taking his first win and Forti's second, while Magnussen somehow sank to seventh. With a mild shake-up of the calendar, Þorvaldur then went on to prove that a visit to Mexico City earlier in the season than previously would not stop him romping to a second successive victory at the Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez; starting third, he repeated his lightning-bolt start and disappeared into the distance. Jan Magnussen, unusually subdued on the Friday, had to start from 18th on the grid and would carve his way through the traffic to third. Magnussen made amends for his qualifying mistake in Mexico by taking pole at Interlagos; Þorvaldur lined up third, but it would not be a vintage race for the Viking drivers; Chris Dagnall got the better of them in wet conditions and they slid to second and seventh respectively.

Into the European season the team progressed, Magnussen second on the grid and Þorvaldur sixth, both behind their respective opposite numbers at F1RM; the front two stayed line astern for much of the race, Magnussen finishing second behind Dagnall, but Þorvaldur hacked his way through the field to take the last podium slot. Amazingly, at Monaco, the Viking and F1RM drivers lined up almost the same way on the grid, only Délétraz and Þorvaldur were moved up one place each - but on race day, a day that saw the immense shock of Pedro Chaves winning his and SAC's first race, Magnussen's third successive second place was overshadowed in the Viking team by Þorvaldur's first ever retirement, his gearbox giving up after 36 laps. Magnussen and Viking were now leading both championships. Þorvaldur wasn't taking his team-mate's form lying down, though, and with a new gearbox, took his first pole of the season at the car-breaking Canadian circuit, with Magnussen third and the dangerous Dagnall between them. Dangerous indeed as, on a rainy race day, he took the first corner first and that was it - he won again, so dominantly that Magnussen in third place was the last man on the lead lap, with Þorvaldur fourth, (just) one lap behind. Fortunes were reversed at Magny-Cours; Magnussen led home the first Viking one-two, Þorvaldur having had to storm through the field from tenth on the grid to achieve it. Silverstone saw Þorvaldur's second pole position swiped from under the nose of Luca Badoer on the Friday, but this could not be translated into a fine race for him; a hefty whack from an errant Taki Inoue saw to his race, as he limped home in 17th after having a front wing and a shredded tyre changed. Magnussen, though, was imperious, taking his second win of the season, strengthening his championship lead which he had recently been swapping with Chris Dagnall. At the half-way point in the season, Magnussen was 15 points ahead of Dagnall in the Drivers' Championship, with Viking leading F1RM by a massive 89 points in the Constructors'.

Hockenheim saw the Vikings qualifying third and fifth behind the two F1RM cars, but their third and fourth place finish, with Magnussen ahead, was behind the surprise package of the day - Forti, with Andrea Montermini winning his first race ahead of Luca Badoer. This result stretched Magnussen's and Viking's lead in both championships even further with Dagnall scoring only one point. But the Scouser was back on form in Hungary, taking pole ahead of - this time - Þorvaldur, with Magnussen only seventh; the Icelander would finish in second, Magnussen dropping down to eighth, but again this was no disaster as Dagnall did not score at all; Yuji Ide took the win. Spa saw Þorvaldur take a third pole position of the season ahead of Luca Badoer, with Magnussen fifth; Þorvaldur left the others for dead in the Ardennes forest, winning by almost a minute ahead of Dagnall and Délétraz. A bad day for Magnussen saw him take only 12th, and now the Dane led his team-mate in the Drivers' Championship by ten points, with Dagnall five further back. Viking were now 106 points ahead in the Constructors' and were turning it into a cake walk. The season then took a series of strange turns, as the Vikings bringing their ceremonial axes into the paddock was questioned by Super Aguri, the team that would soon end up at the centre of Meat-pie-gate...

Undeterred by the axe controversy, Monza saw another pole for Þorvaldur, with Magnussen third and their title rival between them. Magnussen took the lead at the start, with the three title rivals slugging it out for supremacy all race, before Þorvaldur's fuel delivery system burst after 50 laps, sprayed fuel all over the engine and turned the car into a moving version of Muspelheim all the way from Parabolica to the start line. Magnussen triumphed, with Dagnall second, and again the top two places in the title race were between those two. Portugal saw Þorvaldur, unscathed by his Monza toasting, line up second on the grid behind home hero Pedro Chaves; Magnussen stayed in touch in fifth, but was taken out early in the race by some large chunks of debris from Perry McCarthy's and Claudio Langes' on-track argument, ripping his front suspension and sending him careering into the wall. Þorvaldur had supercharger problems and could only manage seventh, a lap down; that Dagnall finished second, amazingly behind his team-mate who would go on to record a hat-trick of victories despite the precarious title situation, spiced things up nicely but not as much as could have happened. Barcelona saw another Þorvaldur masterclass to take his fifth pole of the season, with Magnussen only 12th... and in the race, both front-running teams refused to play the team orders card, as Délétraz led Dagnall home for the win, and Viking's attempted photo-finish, similar to Ferrari's blunder at Indianapolis in 2002, backfired in a way as Þorvaldur beat Magnussen for third by a thousandth of a second. Three points lost for Magnussen, maybe, but Dagnall had lost 14 points over the last two races from F1RM's refusal to issue team orders. For the first of the two flyaway races at the end of the season at Suzuka, the home team of Super Aguri were on form, Marco Apicella taking pole; Magnussen fourth and Þorvaldur 13th was not a great return for the Vikings in qualifying, with Dagnall ahead of both of them. The race was just as indifferent for all three of the top drivers; Magnussen could only manage ninth, and Þorvaldur seventh. Dagnall could have wrapped up the championship but didn't, finishing only sixth - but that was enough to take Þorvaldur out of contention at the final race in Australia. Dagnall led Magnussen in the championship by eight points, with the Vikings 35 points clear in the Constructors' - all but home and dry, although they had been 114 points in the lead after Hungary, and 113 points ahead after Monza, before F1RM took two successive one-two finishes.

The race at Adelaide could not have gone even more down to the wire if it had tried. The Vikings did not do a spectacular job in qualifying, Magnussen taking fifth and Þorvaldur eighth, with title almost-favourite Dagnall on pole. Magnussen hacked his way through the traffic ahead and lunged past Dagnall for the lead on lap 19; that would not give him the title, unless Dagnall could be relegated by one more place. Slightly further back, Délétraz and Þorvaldur were also battling, with the Icelander finally prevailing over ever blocking tactic Délétraz could throw at him on lap 56. Dispatching Pedro Chaves on the same lap, Þorvaldur set about chasing down the minute-wide gap between him and Dagnall, which he did with relish - hacking great chunks of time out of Dagnall's lead every lap. While the chase may have looked to be futile, the idea was to frighten Dagnall off the road; passing him was always likely to be a step too far. But Dagnall refused to be intimidated by a charging, bloodlust-ridden Viking, and as Magnussen crossed the line to take victory and 25 points, Dagnall took the second place and 18 points that he needed to take the Drivers' Championship... by one point!

Magnussen was, again, magnanimous in defeat afterwards, having lost at the death to the man who was hand-picked as HWNSNBM's replacement at The Firm. If there was a hefty consolation to be had, it was that neither he nor Þorvaldur had never given up the charge until the last finishing line had been crossed, in true Viking style - and the team had taken their second Constructors' Championship in as many years, with the gap finally reaching 47 points to F1RM in second place.

2014


Viking Racing started 2014 in the unique position of being the only team not to change anything over the winter – drivers, team bosses, engine or sponsors – and the consistency paid off in pre-season testing in Valencia. Jan Magnussen recorded the fastest time of the three test days, Þorvaldur Einarsson had the fastest average time over the six sessions – and with Chris Dagnall well up in the mix as well, 2014 looked to be a repeat of the previous year's title battle. All that was blown well and truly into the weeds when the teams arrived in Brazil – Þorvaldur took pole and converted it into a win, with Magnussen only ninth. Come the next round in Mexico – Þorvaldur's favourite track – he preformed a similar hatchet job on the field, again winning from pole; Magnussen improved to fifth, but was still far off the required pace. The Icelander couldn't quite keep up the winning streak in Montreal, having to give second best to Yuji Ide, both in qualifying and the race, but second place meant he returned from the jaunt round the Americas with 68 points out of a potential 75, and a commanding lead in the Drivers' Championship. Magnussen improved to third for this race, trailing his team-mate by sixteen seconds, and the podium promoted him from eighth in the Championship to fourth, with 27 points. Back in Europe, at Imola, Magnussen took his first pole of the season, but Þorvaldur wasn't far behind, taking second; however, Magnussen's commanding race would be ruined as Allan McNish in an ailing Toleman carelessly chopped off Magnussen's nosecone, costing him certain victory – inherited by, guess who? Þorvaldur Einarsson. Three wins for him and a second in the first four now saw him lead the way with 93 points out of a possible 100, more than twice that of Magnussen in third, with 45; Yuji Ide was just ahead on 47. Meanwhile, the challenge of Chris Dagnall and F1RM had floundered due to the less than spectacular performance of the new PURE engine, which had drawn sharp criticism from a variety of journalists. Dagnall was mired on only 8 points.

The thrash round the streets of Monaco saw Magnussen lead Þorvaldur again in qualifying, locking out the front row as ever, and at last, Magnussen was able to take his first win of the season, despite being hounded by Pedro Chaves who absolutely loves the place. Þorvaldur was not so lucky this time; his suspension shattered near the end of the race, and was the first Viking retirement of the season. The race in Barcelona, now run as the Andorran Grand Prix, saw both Vikings qualify lower than they'd expect, Þorvaldur sixth and Magnussen eighth, with Luca Badoer taking pole and Chris Dagnall reviving his team's fortunes; Dagnall converted this into a morale-boosting win, while Þorvaldur retired for the second race in succession, this time with a first-ever supercharger failure on the Koenigsegg engine, while Magnussen failed to take advantage, limping only to eighth. Magnussen was at least second in the title race with 74 points to Þorvaldur's 93, with the two separated by less than a win. Þorvaldur hit back at Magny-Cours, taking pole, but suffered a similar fate to Magnussen's at Imola; he was bashed out of the lead by a careless Kazuki Nakajima as the Japanese in the painfully slow Stefan, and recovered eventually to sixth; despite this, he still beat Magnussen, who trailed in tenth and lapped. Chris Dagnall took a second win that the media had doubted was possible. Silverstone, the last race before the mid-season break, was a bit of a shocker for the Vikings; Ide, Badoer, Dagnall and Bruno Giacomelli in the Leyton House all had the measure of them. Þorvaldur lined up ninth and Magnussen 13th, and things went from bad to worse for the Dane in the race, retiring after 22 laps with transmission failure, while Þorvaldur made a foully slow start and ended up with his car bashed constantly throughout the race by some very aggressive driving from the three Japanese teams, eventually coming in sixth. Even so, Þorvaldur continued to lead the Drivers' Championship with 109 points at the halfway mark, as he had done for the whole season so far; Giacomelli won the Silverstone race and was now the main challenger on 81 points, Ide was third with 77 and Magnussen fourth with 75.

Magnussen's day of redemption came in the inaugural Grand Reversal the next day, a non-championship race where the teams swap drivers with those at the opposite end of the grid. So the Viking garage was occupied by the very rejectful David Price Racing drivers, Plamen Kralev and Christophe Hurni, and the mechanics prepared to have nothing to do in the race. They were wrong, as Kralev actually qualified for the race, in 21st, and the mechanics' nerves were shredded during the race as he constantly attempted not to crash – he almost finished, but for electrical gremlins that saw him classified 21st, six laps down. Hurni had obligingly recorded the slowest time of qualifying in the fastest car in the field, and the mechanics on Þorvaldur's side of the garage were only too pleased to see the team's first-ever DNQ, downing tools for the afternoon to cheer on their regular drivers in the hideous (and hideously slow) DPR. Þorvaldur struggled to sixteenth in the backmarker machinery, but Magnussen was a revelation – qualifying sixth in a car that had only made the grid once that season (and would never do so again), then dragging it to a sensational fourth, ahead of all manner of faster cars.

Þorvaldur spent some of the mid-season break back at Rudskogen training future Norwegian karting stars, and the renewed sharpness shone through at Hockenheim as, for the third time in the season, he won from pole. Magnussen, having taken third on the grid, completely lost the plot, making a hideous start then attempting to use Luca Badoer as a brake, as the two battled for position. The resultant crash on lap 12 saw him become the first Viking driver ever to take Reject Of The Race after two whole seasons. Still, Magnussen made up for his error when the teams arrived at Spa, immediately taking pole at everyone's favourite circuit; Þorvaldur, taking things rather easier after the Hockenheim thrash, recorded only the eighth fastest time. His caution continued in the race, ending up a creditable fourth, but Magnussen was peerless in the Ardennes forest and won commandingly to record 100 points for the season. Þorvaldur, though, was still in the lead with 146. Then came Hungary, which always makes for bizarre races, and this one was no different – Magnussen took pole, Þorvaldur third, nothing odd there – and after 26 laps, the race was a Viking benefit gig. That was, until Magnussen's engine blew on lap 52, leaving Þorvaldur in the lead, yet again – only for him to eventually suffer the same fate, with six laps remaining. Both drivers let their frustrations boil over rather publicly; meanwhile the race was won by the utterly unfancied Marko Asmer in the Simtek. It would not be recorded as the team's first-ever double retirement, as Þorvaldur had gone far enough to be classified 16th. Magnussen's misery continued at Monza, recording 15th in qualifying, although Þorvaldur could "only" manage fourth, behind Ide on pole and the two Fortis, who were having a strong weekend. Come race day, Ide spun off early and Hideki Noda was on course to take his first victory for Leyton House, but a sudden loss of power on the last lap robbed him... and Þorvaldur was there to pick up the pieces, for his fifth win of the season. Magnussen hauled himself up to a fine fifth, but lost even more ground in the title race. Spurred on by that charge through the field, though, Magnussen took pole at Estoril, Þorvaldur was third, and Chris Dagnall revisited the front of the grid again, splitting the two. 61 points in the lead and with four races to go, Þorvaldur could have wrapped up the title here, and it looked to be heading inexorably his way, having overtaken Magnussen at the end of the first lap, and the Dane spinning on lap 17 further hindered his cause. However, in a worrying flashback to Magny-Cours, Þorvaldur came up to lap the ATS Rial of Volker Weidler, the German failed to notice and they both ended up in the gravel trap with carbon fibre shards everywhere. Magnussen spun again but then charged clinically through the field to fourth and keep himself in the title race – even if he was 49 points down and everyone else was further behind.

The Spanish Grand Prix was now held at Jerez, and far from trying to sew everything up, the Vikings were again a bit off-colour – Badoer and Giacomelli were the cars to beat, Þorvaldur taking sixth on the grid and Magnussen eighth. Magnussen knew he had to finish ahead – a 50-point lead for Þorvaldur with two races to go would seal him the title. And, with Þorvaldur only fifth on a day that wasn't exactly his... every trick in Magnussen's book couldn't get him past. Magnussen was sixth, and could see his team-mate and title rival less than three seconds ahead of him at the finish, and if only he could have closed up and passed, there would be a glimmer of hope. Þorvaldur brutally extinguished that hope and swiped the Drivers' Championship himself, being invited onto the podium at the end of the race to receive the Carel Godin de Beaufort trophy from... a hologrammatic Carel Godin de Beaufort. The team's celebrations lasted until the next morning... Magnussen was conspicuously absent. Incredibly, Viking still hadn't quite won the Constructors' Championship, but that was all put right at a very wet Suzuka. Magnussen partially avenged his long, drawn-out title defeat with pole position, but as ever, Þorvaldur was right behind. They finished in that same order, giving the team the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Leyton House who were third and fourth in the race, and also giving Magnussen his third win of the season. And as Willi Kauhsen presented the cup that bears his name to the team, Magnussen finally allowed himself a smile. The season closer in Australia was slightly less wet, but still wet enough to see great swathes of the field plagued by electrical problems. Þorvaldur was one of those, having his effortless drive to a podium cut short its tracks to finish sixth, but Magnussen took the inter-team glory, getting that third place on a day which Hideki Noda was determined to win, and Philippe Alliot produced a superb drive in the diesel SPAM to take second.

The team stayed in Australia afterwards, watching the weather clear up, to participate in the inaugural 24 Hour V8 Bathurst Enduro, with their two regular drivers joined by Midgard Team Boss, Stefan Johansson. Driving a Holden VE Commodore, the Viking Holden took fourth on the grid, beaten by resurgent rivals F1RM in a Ford FG Falcon with Dagnall and Délétraz rejoined by the legendary HWNSNBM, the Holden Racing Team led by a hologrammatic Peter Brock, and on pole was a 33-year-old DeLorean DMC-12 entered by former F1RWRS team, West Cliff Racing – beating everyone else by an astounding two seconds. A subsiduary female team, known as Valkyrie Racing, was also entered, providing a Holden for WEC driver Emma Kimiläinen, former BTCC driver Nettan Lindgren, and rally driver Ramona Karlsson. Karlsson's qualifying time was enough to get her team in fifth place on the grid, just behind the boys' squad. In the race, unfortunately, the Valkyries ran into immediate trouble, as the suspension on their Holden broke on Kimiläinen's first stint, and they lost so many laps in the pist getting it repaired they would be trundling round at the back for almost the entire race. The Vikings' fortunes were far better, and they were leading after six hours, scrapping with West Cliff, whose qualifying pace was no fluke, as well as F1RM and a hybrid Scuderia Alitalia Andrea Coloni team; Team James Davies had also been very highly competitive in the early stages before suffering critical gearbox trouble. The Vikings traded the lead with West Cliff, regaining it just before midnight as the DeLorean's fan belt snapped and needed urgent replacement. F1RM overtook soon after, and the Viking challenge was finally ended just before 4 am, with Jan Magnussen coming to the end of his stint... he spun the car, unprovoked, on the Conrod Straight and splattered it into the wall. Their race was run; Magnussen stepped out of the car unharmed, but instead of returning to the garage, he walked off into the night...

...and has not been seen by the team since.

Complete F1RMGP results
Bold indicates pole position. F1RMGP does not keep a record of fastest laps.