Braselton, Georgia -- FIRST Motorsport have launched their 2018 racer at Road Atlanta in an event that was open to the public. The team’s car has been named the FIRST Kamen 18 and it will be powered by Ford’s new V8 engine for Formula Virtual, the Ford Wildebeest FV. The team had a presentation ceremony at a showroom in the infield of the track to reveal the car before letting drivers Felix Pérez and Oleksandr Zozulya each do some laps around Road Atlanta’s 2.54 mile road course layout. FIRST used Oleksandr Zozulya’s car in the presentation ceremony and Felix Pérez’s car for the on track running. Before unveiling the car, FIRST Motorsport Team Principal and Co-Founder Adam Blocker explained the chassis and engine names: “We have decided to name our third chassis the Kamen 18 as a tribute to FIRST founder Dean Kamen and his contributions to STEM education in the United States, as well as his success as an inventor. Last year’s car, the Transform 17, lived up to its name so hopefully the Kamen 18 does as well.” Blocker went on to explain why Ford have chosen the Ford Wildebeest FV name for the company’s first V8 Formula Virtual engine: “With Ford’s move from a V12 engine to a V8 engine, in line with FV’s recent relaxation on engine configuration rules, Ford have adopted a new name for their FV engine: the Wildebeest. Ford chose the Wildebeest name because the wildebeest is a strong animal that can also run really fast, with the ability to travel at speeds of over 50 mph. Ford hopes that these characteristics will be analogous to the torque delivery of the engine as well as the speeds it will allow the car to reach.” Blocker then thanked the team’s sponsors for the 2018 season: “Of course, none of this project would be possible without our sponsors and partners. The most important of these are FIRST and Ford, who have each been onboard since late 2015 when this FV project launched. Their support has remained in both good and bad times. I would like to thank many of our sponsors from last season for sticking around for this season. This includes 3M, iRacing, Goodyear, Shelby, SolidWorks, Sonoco, and Valvoline. All of these sponsors give us useful resources in addition to simple monetary support, and their contributions to our project are very much appreciated.” Shortly after, Blocker, Technical Director Seth McCormick, and race drivers Felix Pérez and Oleksandr Zozulya took the covers off of the Kamen 18. The Kamen retains the ‘grabber blue’ and black livery that FIRST have used since their FV2 days, but adapted to the new chassis and aero shapes present on the 2018-spec FV cars. The South Carolinian and American flags are also proudly displayed on the shark fin that the team has opted to run for the season. The FIRST logos have moved to the rear wing endplates, allowing for more visibility of both the FIRST and Ford logos. Technical Director Seth McCormick had the following to say about the Kamen 18: “FIRST and Ford both made tremendous strides in 2017 from where we were in 2016, and I hope that the performance of our 2018 car allows us to maintain our position in the pecking order. We know how tough it will be to replicate our performance from last year, but we feel that we have the ability to do it.” Felix Pérez and Oleksandr Zozulya also weighed in on the team’s new car and upcoming season before taking to the track to do a shakedown demonstration run. Asked what he looked forward to most in 2018, Pérez said “Establishing myself as a competitive Formula Virtual driver. FIRST has given me an outstanding opportunity by sponsoring my development as a youth driver and supporting my FV2 championship-winning campaign, now it is up to me to prove to them once again that I was worth it.” Zozulya, after being asked that same question, responded with “I am looking forward to driving the new formula of cars. They will be much faster in the corners and overall lap times will be a good bit shorter. In terms of my performance, I want to continue my form from the end of last season and continue to gain experience in Formula Virtual.” Zozulya and Pérez enjoyed themselves on the track at Road Atlanta, giving the FV fans in Georgia a glimpse at one of the fastest machines ever created and certainly the fastest machine to ever drive around Road Atlanta. Reaching average lap speed of over 140 mph and top speeds of over 200 mph, the Kamen 18 put on a show for the public.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|