Hello everyone, welcome to Kuala Lumpur ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian V-Prix, round four of the 2018 season. Unfortunately, Jamie Franklin couldn’t join us here today, so we’re down to four from the usual five. So, joining us for today’s Thursday press conference on the back row are Harry Westwood of Westwood Renault Sport and Bradley Downton of Downton FV Team. On the front row we have Nick Forrest from North Star Racing and Adrian Arnello of Arnello Milner & Ronson Autosport. Welcome guys! Reporter: We’ll come to you first, Bradley. Klaas had a pretty terrible weekend in Melbourne, but I think it’s fair to say he’s been on fire since, and very exciting to watch. Was it purely a blip in Australia and what, if anything, did he do to turn it around?
Bradley Downton: I’ve been expecting a question along these lines. The honest answer; he took himself away privately and shut off from social media, from us, from the entire world for a few days – and spoke to his brother, family – and Nathaniel! Klaas is an incredibly emotive person, he really wears his heart on his sleeve, and Melbourne really hurt him. He’d just come off the back of a fantastic season and had another great car with another opportunity for success, but everything just seemed to go wrong. It was clearly a blip, but he admitted to us afterwards he wasn’t in the right head space, and arrived in Australia almost too arrogant shall we say, for want of a better word. He expected to be right up there but as the problems kept on coming he kept trying harder and harder to rectify them until it was just too much, he was pushing too hard. But as I say, he took himself away afterwards and Nathaniel was of a great help to him – along with his family. Our drivers get on very well, and Nathaniel is the perfect blend of experience to Klaas’ youthful exuberance, and he really helps with the mental aspect of it all. Reporter: Excellent. Now, I’m so sorry to bring it up, but Malaysia 2017 wasn’t the best result for your guys, was it? Would you say there’s actually more motivation than ever to have a good weekend? Or has everyone tried to blank last year out of their minds? BD: Just had to mention it didn’t you? Last year was heart-breaking. If it had been later in the season, or we’d won in Australia it would have been more bearable, but it was the fact that we had our shot of a first race win on pace and merit stolen from our grasp, not just once but twice – in the same race! The remainder of the season obviously helped to eradicate the memory, but we’re back for revenge this season. Reporter: Great, thanks Bradley. Last time out, in China, Halvosen drove a brilliant race to get North Star off the mark for the season! So Nick, did it really lift the team after a tough opening two rounds? Nick Forrest: Yeah, it’s definitely given us all a boost, knowing that we can still both fight for points and score points. The pace in Japan really wasn’t where we’d wanted to be, and it was looking like we’d be in for a really tough year after pre-season testing and the first couple of rounds. But everything came together in China, the tyres worked well, Johan drove superbly, and we’re very pleased to be on the board now! We’re still not one hundred percent on top of the new regs, unfortunately, which kind of shows on the track, North Star sliding a little compared to last year, but if the conditions are right and there’s an opportunity for a solid result, we’ll definitely be up there fighting for it. Even if I have to force my way onto commentary again for it to come about! Reporter: I’m not sure how you view it, but the current fastest five teams have only had one retirement between all of their ten cars in the first three races! Surely, points scoring is going to be incredibly difficult for everyone from yourselves and Westwood down, unless you have plans to really push on this year and catch up to those top few teams? NF: That’s…I think a bit of a tricky one to nail down, personally. It’s definitely the case that the top teams have had great mechanical reliability in the early going, but that’s not to say they haven’t been caught up in a few incidents along the way. Klaas and Ruiz in Melbourne, the two Ocelots in China, Hoskins as well, along with the plethora of wheel bangers on the back straight, it seemed everyone was getting caught up in one incident or another! I imagine that’s something to be expected with the field as close as it is, though, really tight and competitive racing, so as long as we can keep our noses clean. I think we’re in with a decent shot when the front runners get a bit…collide-y. Reporter: It feels like I’m saying this every week, but Judson was once again unlucky and had a poor race through no fault of his own! Are you having to really put an arm around him at the moment or would you say he’s well aware that it’s just one of those things in racing sometimes? NF: Yeah, speaking of collide-y! Judson really hasn’t been getting the rub of the green in the early going this season, with two incidents in the last two races. Alvarez could be forgiven, but I’d have expected better from someone of Wagner’s calibre. Sometimes you do just get a bad run of it, though, if we think back to Ruiz at the start of 2015 as an example, but it certainly doesn’t last forever. The team is fully behind Judson, as we have been from the start, and we know he can deliver. He just needs a trouble-free race, and he should be able to pull through. Reporter: This is actually the first time we’ve had you in a press conference for a while, Harry! So, although it’s old news now, how has Karl settled into the team since joining for this season? Harry Westwood: Yeah, I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me! But it’s good to be here, thanks for the invite. Karl’s been settling in great, he’s gelled with the engineers and mechanics exceptionally quickly, and he gets along well with Finn, always giving him tips and advice. Reporter: This year you now have a closer relationship with Renault, the team even branded ‘Westwood Renault Sport’. How much does this help you in fitting the chassis and engine together? HW: It’s been wonderful, the car is better balanced, we’ve got a better power output than last season due to the cooling components working much more efficiently. They’ve been great to work with. Reporter: Adrian, I’m not sure you’ll agree, but a couple of people have suggested that Felix hasn’t quite looked himself as of late. Do you think he’s the sort of driver who really excels in a quick car, but struggles to motivate himself in a car that’s not challenging for points as of late? Adrian Arnello: It’s not easy for Felix because we’re putting a driver of his pedigree into a car that, frankly, isn’t up to his expectations. I think last year took a toll on all of us in terms of a toxic environment to work in. I’m sure his best is still there, and still to come. It’s just not a car he can excel in at this stage. Reporter: So far; Lopez, Phoenix, yourselves, Meteor, and FIRST are the teams yet to score. Do you personally think any of the five are likely to score? AA: We’d love to take the honours but we’d sooner reach Christmas! It’s too close to call, really, as all the other guys are right up there in midfield pace. I think it’s been like a second covering the top fifteen at some places if I remember right? All it takes is one crazy ass race to make the magic happen for one of them! Reporter: AMR are one of just two teams, along with Downton, who make their own engines. With the new rules coming in for 2019 which promote having engine partnerships, are you looking for customers right now or is that something you are putting aside for later in the year? AA: We’re simply not in a position to do it yet. That said, we do plan to run customer engines in the future. Our first new engine since the split is currently being worked on and Jan’s onto a couple of development prototypes. We plan to shift manufacture and eventually team base to somewhere in the Eurozone by the end of next year, and that includes plans to have a base of operations in Europe so we can eventually do engine supply – but we’re two years at least from that! Reporter: Sticking with the topic of engines; I’ve personally spoken to.. at least two team principals who are already unsure if their choice of engine was correct for this season. Are you all happy with the choice you made so far? Who wants to start off.. Bradley! BD: We’re more than happy. From the moment it was announced both ourselves and DS Mathershaw had the same line of thought – let’s go straight down the middle – and it seems to be working absolutely brilliantly. Lopez seem happy enough with the engine too, or at least we’ve not had any complaints! HW: I didn’t realise that! The engine we chose with Renault has been a great power unit, the driveability is astounding, and it’s still got enough grunt on the straights to keep us competitive. The only reason we’re struggling is because other aspects of the car need some work. AA: We didn’t have a choice! What we had was a half-developed 2018 engine, half a team that didn’t want to finish it, and half a dollar away from shutting up shop! We made the right call and got ourselves back in there while we sort out the other bits. Once we’ve got next year’s engine in the back of the car, then we can say whether we made the right call, or should’ve just gone with something else. Maybe a German one for Jan’s sake! NF: From the looks of things, the problems seem to be more with the car itself than the engine we’ve put in it, so yes, we are quite happy with what BMW have been able to deliver. We weren’t too happy with the reg changes coming so late last season, we already had the design for this season’s engine well underway, so we stuck with the V12, and it seems to be going quite well for us. Scoring the odd point, nothing’s exploded, hopefully things stay that way! Reporter: Bradley, Downton powered cars have won twenty out of the last twenty-two V-Prix. Is it important to have DS Mathershaw equally as competitive as yourselves to maximise results for Downton engines? Rather than supplying a backmarker team? BD: Wow really, twenty from twenty-two? That is impressive! I think having DS Mathershaw together with us at the front is a massive boost. Obviously we work really closely together, but the rivalry pushes us both on too – in terms of car development and the engine as well. Having four cars there to capitalise on results for the DS Automobiles and Downton engine partnership is of course crucial too, as we’re constantly showing the brands off to the world and it all results in sponsorship and finances, which is what we all need to survive and push on. Reporter: Back to you, Harry; I hate to bring it up, but after the heartache of missing out on that top three finish in the constructors last season, are you about where you expected to be in the pecking order this year? HW: You had to go there! laughs Yeah, we were heavily focused on last year and we knew we’d underdeveloped on this year’s car, we didn’t adapt well to the rule change. But we’ve got a history of rising up the grid throughout the season and that’s exactly what we intend to do! Reporter: Great! We’ll finish up now with the usual one guys; what are your hopes for the weekend, and which team has surprised you the most so far this season? BD: We want to win, simple as that. We have one already, and want to push on and close that gap to DS Mathershaw. As for the biggest surprise, I’d imagine all of us will either answer Ocelot or Phoenix. I was almost wondering if Ocelot would ever get away from the tail of the field, while Phoenix have utterly stunned in their first season so far – to be ahead of three established teams so early on, it’s very impressive form. HW: Our aim is going to be to grab a point or two, we know we’re not that competitive right now so any higher than that is probably unrealistic. The team that’s surprised me the most this season has actually been Phoenix, they’re not planted to the back of the grid and they’re doing really well for themselves at the moment! AA: I’m honestly wanting a monster of a rain storm – something to separate the men from the boys if you will! Rain always brings surprise results. I think the biggest surprise for us is Ocelot. We sorta saw it coming, as the capital’s definitely there, but it’s great to watch a team who works as hard as they do finally come round and score some great results. Just off of Bradley and Harry’s response too, Phoenix have absolutely nailed their freshman year so far! NF: Hopefully grab another couple of points or so, I think, same as Harry. There has been a lot of talk that we could have some rain this weekend, and Johan’s normally quite strong in those conditions, so hopefully we could move ahead of Westwood in the standings here if things go our way. As for surprises, it pains me to say it as another of the 2016 newcomers, but FIRST. When you consider they were competing for podiums on the regular last season, and now they’re…pretty much nowhere. I’m sure Adam knows what he’s doing, but the surprise for me is how they could lose that much performance over the winter. Reporter: Excellent stuff guys! So that wraps up the press conference for this weekend, I wish you all the best of luck on track – as Nick mentioned there, you may need your armbands if the Malaysian weather decides it wants to play a lead role here! Comments are closed.
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