Good morning FV fans and welcome to Spa, for the start of a very special Belgian V-Prix weekend, round fifteen of the 2018 Formula Virtual season. Joining us for today’s Thursday press conference; on the back row we have Will Ingram of Ingram Grand Prix, Bradley Downton of Downton FV Team, and between them; Nic Morley, CEO of Formula Virtual. On the front row are; Jamie Franklin from Franklin, Arthur Lapierre from DS Automobiles Team Mathershaw, and next to Arthur was supposed to be Kaz Armos of Meteor International FV Team, however Kaz can’t make it today unfortunately so anyone who wants is welcome to his orange juice. Welcome to the five of you. Reporter: The first question we have is for Arthur and Bradley. First of all Arthur, congratulations on the win last time out! Simon is now over a win ahead of Powers in the standings and – as Dylan Lopez pointed out after the race in Istanbul – Simon could finish second in every remaining race with Powers winning them all, and still win the title. What are your drivers’ mindsets like going into the final four races? Are they worried about Ocelot? Arthur Lapierre: Thanks! The margin is still very tight – one mechanical issue or some bad fortune still places us right back in trouble. However, we’re all confident – Adrien is driving better than he ever has, and we have worked extremely hard on ensuring reliability as well as pace. Allar is still right in there too, and is hoping to finish the season as strongly as possible. To be honest, neither driver is worried about Ocelot – Allar wants to get as high as he can, while Powers represents a far more pressing threat to Adrien. Bradley Downton: Nathaniel is a determined bugger. His mindset is firmly on retaining his title, but at the same time he isn’t delusional. He knows we’re not as quick and will require a tremendous amount of luck to do so. Having said that, we will keep fighting until it is mathematically impossible, I can assure you of that! In regards to Ocelot, same as Arthur really. Obviously they’re quick at the moment, but in terms of the Constructors it is quite a gap, and they only have four races. And regardless, they’re behind and we’re looking forwards. Only at the point that moving up becomes impossible, will we look to consolidate our position in second. Reporter: To make any ground up on DS Mathershaw, you surely need both drivers performing; what’s going on with Klaas at the moment? BD: I wish I could answer that! If we could figure out what had gone wrong we could look at putting it right. Ever since Spain really he’s not been settled in the car. He doesn’t feel comfortable and can’t find a rhythm. We’re working on it. Trying different things each week and seeing what helps. We will get to the bottom of it and Klaas will return to form, it’s only a matter of time! Reporter: Okay coming to you Jamie; Inman, who we’ll come to shortly, retired because of a crash with Alvarez during the race in Turkey. Would you say it was a rookie error from the Argentine that took them both out? Jamie Franklin: Looks that way. Reporter: Fair enough! In the last week it’s been announced that Nikolai Milkovich will replace Inman for the remaining four V-Prix of 2018. Do you think this was essential for your fight against Ocelot? Especially as they’ve snapped up Kinnumen for the rest of the season? JF: It’s hard to know whether or not it will be essential. Any number of things could happen in the last four races, including but not limited to Kinnumen sabotaging Ocelot. Obviously that would never happen… though I’ve now planted the seed, which will be fun to watch grow in Rai’s mind as he scrutinises the performance of a team that by all accounts shouldn’t need to be trying to catch us. I think it’s a good signing for us, and will help us maximise results for the remaining races. Reporter: Hopefully it’s soon, I think we all want to see Klaas back at his best! Will, coming to you now; Mattson failed to set a lap time at all before the race in Turkey, was this a similar problem to Germany? Will Ingram: Yes, frustratingly so. We hope that’s the last time that happens – Jean has been patient with us but it’s not good seeing our car fail to set a lap time. With pre-qualifying rumours swirling it could potentially be so important next year to ensure our car sets a lap time. Reporter: Absolutely. Last season you finished last with zero points, this season has been a huge turnaround! Do you believe the upward trajectory will continue into 2019? WI: Last season was our annus horribilis – stop laughing Harry – and we hope to never plunge to those depths again. 2019 we are targeting consolidation – we need to stabilise the team in the midfield again, although we believe that will be harder next year. Reporter: Great stuff, we’ll do the fan questions now before we move onto this weekend. First one out of the box is for you Arthur; “Do you have any plans to make your car multi-lingual? At the moment there are a lot of complaints that the engine noise is only broadcast in one language.” AL: Je pense que c’est assez claire, non? Le moteur DS est bilingue - également anglais et français. Reporter: Ha, very good.. I assume! Next one here is for Will, ooh it’s a good one; “What would be your line up if you had complete choice?” WI: Tough one – there is a generally established top three. I’ll plump for Ruiz and Powers. Outside of those two and Simon – and my own drivers – I’d take Halvosen and Hoskins. Reporter: Good choices! Okay Bradley; “You guys have the chance to win the 100th V-Prix. What would it mean to you to win, firstly at Spa, and the 100th race of the series?” BD: In all honesty, it’s been a while since the last win – so it would just be nice to see one of our boys stood atop the podium again! To win here would be ace though. Spa is a great track and it always means something to conquer it, and to win the 100th race in the series history? Well, that really would be special. Reporter: I’m sure everyone agrees! Jamie, this one seems right up your street! “You are clearly the best team that’s ever existed, past, present and future. My question is – How do you deal with the pressure of being so incredibly amazing?” JF: Finally, a question we can really get on board with. You see, when you are as great as we are, then you learn to deal with that pressure. Under pressure, some things are crushed, others become diamonds. Take Meteor for example, one season mixing it up at the front, and now look where they are. Similarly, look at Ocelot this year. The sweet taste of victory has turned bitter in their mouths as they constantly put pressure on themselves to push further, to try to break into the top three, when arguably they should be there fighting for second at the very least. When you are constantly under pressure to fulfil your role as the greatest team, that becomes the new norm, you no longer strain under the tension, you welcome it. Reporter: Wow, some strong wording there! Next one here is for you Nic; “You’re here with four of the final five from the inaugural series. How many drivers can you name who have driven with the remaining 2013 teams over the journey?” Nic Morley: Powers, Simon, Kangur, Snelheid, Inman, Snelheid, Giodano, Wagner, Beckenbauer, Lesic, Parsons, Maxwell, Beyer… they are the ones off the top of my head right now but there is surely many others. Reporter: Decent effort! We now have a couple of extra ones, the first one is to all the teams with a Constructors Championship; “You’ve all become the de facto top teams of the sport. Do you think anyone is likely to join you in the upper echelon of Champions?” JF: No. In six years of the sport, no-one has done what we have achieved. Some have tried to break in, but all have diminished afterwards. Perhaps one day a team may finally break the code, but for now, I don’t see it. AL: I think Jamie’s right – we will have visitors to the top table, but in terms of an enduring success, nobody will have that to the same extent as us. BD: I’d just like to start by correcting Jamie; we broke in and didn’t diminish afterwards. But the fact you asked all three of us and he didn’t specifically exclude us from his response means quite a lot. Respect from Franklin for your achievements is respect well-earned. In fact, it’s pretty amazing just to be classed as a top team as it is, given we’ve really only been in this position for two years! As for an answer to your question; I think I agree with Jamie and Arthur. The amount of work and planning that has gone into this performance was ridiculous, and I think it will be hard to replicate. That’s not to say I don’t think another team couldn’t do it – I know every team in this paddock works incredibly hard – but I think if they were to do so, it would be a while yet. Reporter: It’d certainly be huge if a team could get up amongst you and stay there. Final fan question now to Arthur and Bradley as the top teams in your respective engine partnerships; “With Lucas returning to Formula Virtual, it was quickly announced they’ll be joining the Downton-DS stable. What do you think they can bring to the table and Arthur; will there be any more additions to the DS side? Meteor are still reportedly searching for a supplier?” AL: Well, Bradley has revealed that Lucas will be joining as a Downton-branded team which is extremely exciting for us too as partners, but because of the marketing and sporting consequences involved with running DS Automobiles power units, the business case must be made very well – Phoenix have fit the bill perfectly already, so they are the standard we would hold any future potential partners to. BD: The deal with Lucas all happened so quickly, but we’re so glad it did. We got on fantastically in the paddock last time they were around, so to have them back – and within our family now – really is pretty great. Lucas is a fantastic guy and he has his head screwed on, which can only be a bonus to the DS-Downton stable. Also, parties. Really bloody fantastic parties. He’s already said he’s going to throw one at the end of the year, that will beyond brilliant! Reporter: Ah, the parties, I hope to see everyone there! Okay that’s that for the fan questions today, we’ll now continue on with the questions. Arthur, we’re now getting close to the end of the season, do you almost feel comfortable to switch focus to development for 2019? AL: This is a difficult question – there have been two or three occasions we have started to divert resources to next season, only to need to bring them back once more for this year. As a result, we are in a very unusual position for us in terms of development. We won’t be fully focusing on 2019 until the title is secured either way. Reporter: Hopefully that won’t hinder you too much next season. Now, Nic, in the last week or so the three new teams for 2019 have been announced; Lucas V-Prix who return to the sport for the first time since 2015, Cheema FV Racing and Andromeda ABR who are both new to the series. Could you enlighten us a little on how these three were chosen and what you envisage they’ll bring to the sport over the next few years? NM: I’ve been in touch with Lucas and he was a no brainer choice. I asked him if he wanted to return and he was completely up for it. So it’s great to have a team actually return to the sport. Cheema was an easy decision, as Ahmed already brings so much passion to the paddock. Hector is quite a new face around the paddock, but from the discussions I’ve had with him it was clear to me he had a huge passion for the sport. All teams will bring a lot to the series in their own ways, and I’m certain FV will be the better for it. Reporter: I won’t ask about pre-qualifying as I believe it was fully covered in the news article on Tuesday. You started this series five years ago and now we’re about to race for the hundredth time. Did you ever imagine it lasting as long as it has, and going from strength to strength? NM: When the series begun I never believed we would have lasted three seasons, let alone six, and seven next year. When it started it was exciting, I had never envisioned it being what it is today. This is due to the raw passion from everyone in the paddock and all the fans, it’s really incredible how a group of people can create something so big. It’s only continuing to get better too. Look back to 2013 – look how antique that is compared to today. The series has always gone from strength to strength to improve it in as many areas as can be. Reporter: It really is amazing how Formula Virtual continues to grow and reach new heights, long may it continue! Okay question to everyone; with this being the hundredth race in FV history, I’d like to get everyone’s favourite series moments right through the years, and also their teams’ own personal highlight? JF: 2013 will always stand out to me as one of my highlights, because that’s where it all started. Likewise, the successes of Ingram in 2014 following our technical partnership. As for our own successes, there are probably too many to state to be honest. But rest assured, our best moments are yet to come. WI: You are too kind Jamie – that might be my favourite moment of the series! I think this season has been the most exciting, 2013 has special memories as the first year, despite our performances, but 2014 stands out thanks to our two victories that year. Winning in Indy twelve months after our shock first points was a special day indeed. We’ve showcased our personal team highlights on our special livery. AL: 2013 was a special year with the birth of the series, with our first victory being so special. The maiden title success for Adrien and the team was something we will also never forget, along with Olen Inman and Allar Kangur’s first wins in FV after progressing through our youth academy. There’s plenty more yet to be seen though, trust me. BD: Ooh, you really ask the tricky questions. There have been so many amazing moments in this series; from 2013 and the start of it all as Jamie and Arthur have mentioned, to the three Championships in a row for Franklin, their defeats at the hands of Mathershaw in 2016, and our stunning season last year after such a difficult start to our career. Every year has been unbelievable. As for our own best moment; it would be easy to say our first win, or the Championship last season, but no. Two stand out for me. 2014, as the year we really first signalled our intent with third in the Championship that really took us all by surprise, and then China last year, Nathaniel’s first win with the team. Back when we signed him at the end of 2013 it was almost ridiculed, and so was he. Why was he joining a back-marker team, what were we playing at, how on earth had we got him on board? But we had a plan, he knew the plan, and he was willing to stick by it and wait with us and see it through. We had some great moments – 2014 with his trio of podiums – but we had some really tough times too, like 2016, but through it all he kept a brave face and was looking forwards. He’d always say to the team “our time will come, let’s just keep working” and it did. We’d absolutely hoped his first win with us was going to come sooner – USA 2014 was an especially difficult one to stomach – but when it finally did in China last year, when everything we’d worked and fought for together with him through all of these seasons finally paid off, that was special. But like both Jamie and Arthur have said, that won’t be it. We’ll have other special moments and we’ll add to these. There is far more to come from us; we’re only just getting started, and in terms of wins and Championships with these two over here, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do! NM: I think this year’s title battle is the highlight for me. Over the last six years it’s been dominated by Franklin, Mathershaw, or Downton but in separate years. In 2018 it’s the same teams, but this time there is no dominant advantage, it’s a true head to head battle for these original 2013 teams after all these years and lovely as we arrive to our hundredth race. Of course the first ever race was very special to me, and even though it looks antique to what we have today, a lot of passion and work went into that. It was a lovely time. Reporter: Fantastic, thank you to all of you for those amazing memories. And now, as usual, what are everyone’s hopes for the weekend and to everyone except Arthur; drivers title prediction? JF: Our hopes are for victory this weekend. It’s a special race, and one I’m sure everyone wants to win more than the rest. Whether that’s possible, I don’t know, it will certainly be incredibly tough given the four teams fighting at the front. If we weren’t to win, then as long as either DS, Downton, or Ingram win in the hands of Jean Mattson, then I’d be content, as long as we also finished on the podium. AL: This weekend I hope for a celebration of Formula Virtual and the runaway success of the first hundred races. I echo Jamie’s sentiments – if one of the FV originals could win, that’d be incredible. It’s also a race we’ve never won in the five years of previous running, so I think that’d be a nice story too, don’t you agree? BD: It’s the hundredth race, we want to win with a one-two! Of course given the strength of the competition that’s going to be incredibly difficult however, but we’ll fight until the end. I think the crowning moment would be to see Nathaniel, Adrien and Enrique on the podium together. Of the ninety-nine races we’ve had so far, they’ve won forty-two between them and really been the mainstay of this Championship, so what better way to celebrate the hundredth race than with those three on the podium, representing the three Championship teams? More-so though, I want to witness a bloody great race. As for the title? Nathaniel – I have to back my own man don’t I? If we remove him from being one of my options however, I don’t think I could give you an answer. Adrien has performed well but has made more errors than I’d expect in races. Allar had a stunning run of form but his misfortune has just been awful. And Puccio really seems to be coming into his own and could start closing quickly. It’s too tight to call, so yeah – Nathaniel. WI: If the first ninety-nine are anything to go by then there’s always hope for a shock! Jean won the opening race and I’d love for him to end his podium drought this weekend. More realistically I echo the sentiments of my fellow team principals in hoping for a classic driver in a classic team. Most likely will be Simon in a Mathershaw. I also believe he will win the Championship. NM: Simon is the safest bet at the moment. However with the remaining tracks we’ve got, and the fantastic form Giodano and Ocelot find themselves in – I reckon the Italian driver will sneak it. Reporter: Excellent stuff everyone, thank you to the five of you for attending today. That’s all for today’s press conference, make sure you tune in tomorrow as the weekend’s action begins with Friday practice! Comments are closed.
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