Hello everyone, and a warm welcome to the Spanish V-Prix here in Jerez! Today, from left to right we'll be hearing from Adrian Arnello of AMR, and Adam Blocker from FIRST on the back row. Making up the front row we have last race winner Rai Miyamoto and Jamie Franklin of Franklin! Reporter: So let's start with Rai. After three years you've finally taken a win! Congratulations, Puccio had a storming drive. Your team have struggled in the past, especially last year, but now you're seemingly towards the top. Now that you have passed Ingram, do you think Ocelot can challenge for the top three? Or are you content with fourth?
Rai Miyamoto: It's been a crazy week or so around the office and back in Tokyo, the news kept showing the win and it's great that the fans are ever more behind us now. The guys and girls at home have been working so damn hard and it's great to see the hard work pay off after 3 struggling years. Now I'd absolutely love to be bale to catch the top 3 and give them a little run for their money, that would be fantastic but it's going to be hard since we are the 5th fastest team, and we still need to try and create a gap between ourselves and Ingram, but fingers crossed we can take it to the big boys this season, would love an underdog story. Reporter: Keeping to the topic of the last race, Yoshida was involved in another incident last time out, hitting Ruiz and spinning both around. You have been very critical of him in the past and this probably hasn't done much good, is his seat still under threat? RM: Yes Yoshida is young and is prone to mistakes even the best can have them sometimes too. Now I wouldn't say he would be out of the team per say even if he was replaced but yes, he's seat is under threat as we strongly need the second car to pick up points, and if we had some luck go our way in France, he could of got 3rd. But as much as we love Yoshida, he knows where things are at and what the reality of the situation is. Also even if he was replaced he could always come back depending on how well his replacement actually does too. So at the moment Ryo, just needs to knuckle down and change his approach a little. Reporter: I think we all want Yoshida to perform, we'll come back to you! Coming to Jamie, recently you signed Tumo Kinnumen from Holmqvist and it seems very likely he will be in your second seat. He's arguably you're best driver apart from Enrique Ruiz since Elroy Wagner. Will this help you for next season, especially with Olen Inman struggling right now? And do you think Tumo will be a good fit alongside Ruiz? Jamie Franklin: **Sigh** Will he help us for next season? Will having a widely rated faster driver for next season help us? Why don't you tell me. Will he be a good fit? If he can do the job, he will fit in. Reporter: Speaking of Ruiz, he has been involved in a few incidents so far this year and has been criticised for them. However, last race he was hit by Yoshida, which cost him a potential podium. Do all of these bring down his confidence, or is he still at his best? And are the team having to put extra support behind him at this moment? JF: He's arguably the best driver on the grid at the moment, and he's a grown ass man. He won't suffer a loss of confidence from a few minor setbacks. He's not that fragile. Reporter: Great to hear, he certainly has come far! Now, Adam, Felix Pérez had a rather nasty crash last time out with Viktor Östberg, hitting the wall and breaking his suspension at a relatively high speed. Does he have any injuries that could impact his performance or has he shaken off the crash and put it behind him? Adam Blocker: Pérez was evaluated at the care centre at the track and he checked out without any problems. Obviously he was disappointed in the result and the collision but no injuries or anything like that. It shouldn’t influence his performance in Spain. Reporter: Recently it's been announced that the USA V-Prix for next year will be held at either Detroit or Indianapolis. Being the only American team on the grid, what circuit would you prefer the race to be held on? AB: I think we need at least two American races because of how big this country is and because of how many fantastic circuits we have. Indianapolis has produced some great FV races and has all of the prestige and history around it, Detroit is an incredibly challenging street circuit that has a lot of character, by which I mean it is very bumpy. However I don’t think you could have both of those because of how close they are geographically. But the US has so many other great circuits capable of hosting a good FV race: Road Atlanta, Sebring, Laguna Seca, Mid Ohio, Road America, Watkins Glen, Barber, COTA, Long Beach and Daytona. Personally, out of those I’d like to see either Road Atlanta or Watkins Glen. Road Atlanta because it is my home track and we did a demo run there for our car launch this year and our drivers thought it was incredible. Watkins Glen because it is a classic American circuit: no pavement runoff, high speeds, and great fan support. Reporter: I'm sure the FVA will be listening with interest! So now last but not least, Adrian, Finn Schnyder made his debut for the team last race after you signed him. He replaced Emma Wilson, meaning Felix Beyer hasn't returned yet. He's been highly rated by the paddock, but has struggled over the last two years. Will he return for a racing seat or will he sit out the rest of the season? Adrian Arnello: We wanted to put out some press stuff over the last two weeks but believe it or not, we lost our PR lady! Well, not lost, but not able to return from a holiday yet due to family stuff. Felix wanted to take a breather or three and actually offered to opt out for three races or so. It's not my place to say what he's thinking or what he's planning, but he's gonna be back behind the wheel again after this weekend. Reporter: It feels like we've asked this question a few times by now, but Kovalenko has shown some promise so far this season, keeping pace with Beyer and outperforming both Wilson and Schnyder in the last two races. He also did well in testing on day 2. Have you been impressed by him so far this year? AA: We have, yeah! Dmytro has done an immense job for us, given the car he's got. He held his own against Finn as well. We knew he was good, so it's nice to see it stack up. We're looking at giving him a well-earned break for a couple of rounds while Felix and Finn duke it out. Reporter: I’m sure it will be an interesting battle between Beyer and Schnyder! Now, keeping to the new trend, we've got some new fan questions for everyone again! So, going in the same order... For Rai, this says: Right now, Giodano is having a very good season, and taken two podiums for you. He hasn't got a contract for next year however. Are you planning on keeping him, or could you be looking at another driver to replace him for next season? RM: Puccio has done impressively for us, he's been fantastic and we have been so impressed. It's really changed our plans for the next coming seasons putting us in a tough situation, however brand is also key to our team. Every team needs a driver who can represent them and be the face. Franklin have Ruiz, Downton have Powers and Mathershaw has Simon. Now all of these drivers are faces of their franchises and top of it, are also amazingly skilled and talented. I'd like to think Puccio could be a key name for us, we just have to make sure the chips are placed right. So right now, we have every means to keep Puccio around. Reporter: Brilliant, great news for some, especially Giodano! Next one is directed to Jamie, Inman wasn't very close to Ruiz again in France. He has struggled quite a bit this year, bar a few occasions. Is there a chance we may not even see him finish the season, since Ocelot are now on the rise? JF: Firstly, there's no way I'm going to share my strategy for the rest of the season with you. That's ridiculous. Secondly, where is the evidence that Ocelot are on the rise? One race where the track suited their car? Brilliant. Show me a consistent run of results from them and then maybe we will take them seriously. Reporter: This says Adam Blocker on it. So far FIRST have struggled this season, but you picked up quite a few points in Malaysia. Since its been easier now to develop cars mid season, are you hoping to keep ahead of North Star and Phoenix in the standings, and maybe start to challenge Lopez? AB: We are hoping to, but I’m not very optimistic. I think we will need some luck to beat Phoenix and North Star in the standings. Reporter: Could be a close battle yet! Adrian, final fan question. You have been passed by Meteor in the championship, even though you probably have the faster car. Are you hopeful of re-passing them in the championship, or are you dropping focus in this season? AA: To be completely honest, when you're not fighting over the sharp end of the stick, there's not a great deal to lose on the other side. We're talking something like a million or two on prize money tops. We have secured some more cash flow behind the scenes so where we end up this season is not a huge concern anymore. We're pretty much focused solely on 2019 at this point, but we do have a couple of aero upgrades to roll out later this year. Reporter: Interesting answer! Great, so that’s all the fan questions, thanks to everyone who sent them in. Now, something that’s has came up recently in the news: tyres. Next year there will be three manufacturers and three tyre compounds. It’s a big change over the current regulations. What are your thoughts? RM: I think it’s a welcome change and will open up the competition a lot more, since certain tyres will give advantages and have disadvantages. JF: I think it will give us a chance to tailor the tyres to suit our car more, as long as whomever we pick gets on board with making sure we are their main priority. Because let's face it, if Franklin, Mathershaw and Downton all have different suppliers, then we can make sure that their brand appears to be the superior tyre. AB: They will definitely add another element of variance to the series. With different aero configurations, different engine geometries and now different tire suppliers the running order could vary significantly from track to track and I think that’s good for the series. Just because a team dominates one week doesn’t mean that they will have the best car the next week. AA: It's always good to have a variety and choice. They'll also keep each other busy while they secure teams and contracts, and that competition is often much-needed, as it drives tech and innovation. We'll muse the options towards the end of the season and see where we end up. Goodyear have been great for us, and Michelin in the past as well. Reporter: General opinion seems to welcome the change! So now final question for everyone, what are your expectations for Jerez, who do you think will win and who will be the biggest surprise? Starting with you Rai! RM: I'd love a 2nd victory here, but jokes aside I'd expect one of the big 3 to sweep here in a 1-2. I'd expect a strong performance from Ingram around here, perhaps Jean on the podium. JF: Expectations are to try and close the gap in the Constructors. Other than that, I couldn't care less about which teams might surprise the paddock with an above average result compared to their usual mediocrity. AB: This race might be a good chance for us to get a top 15 if we get the strategy right and survive the likely incidents. AA: It's shaking up to be a good season isn't it? I think Ocelot have found their feet again and will get another podium. Reporter: Great answers from everyone! That's the end of the press conference, thank you so much to all the team principals here! Don't forget about free practice tomorrow, until then, goodbye! Comments are closed.
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