Good morning FV fans, welcome to Istanbul, Turkey ahead of this weekend’s Turkish V-Prix, round fourteen of the 2018 Formula Virtual season. Joining us for today’s Thursday press conference; on the back row we have Dylan Lopez of Lopez FV Team and Adrian Arnello of Arnello Milner & Ronson Autosport. On the front row are; Alex Easton from Phoenix Motorsport, Arthur Lapierre and Robert Mathershaw; both from DS Automobiles Team Mathershaw, and Rai Miyamoto of Ocelot Japan Racing. Welcome gentlemen. Reporter: We’ll start off today with the winning team last time out, Ocelot. Rai; congratulations on that win! What was the reaction like in the garage when Puccio spun it on the.. technically second to last corner? And then when he crossed the line? Rai Miyamoto: It was absolutely crazy in the garage, for some reason when we are on the verge of winning we don’t make it easy. We had the flames in France now the spin in Bahrain, perhaps we could make it a trilogy no? But in all seriousness, it was insane the guys and gals in garage and on the pit wall did an amazing job and the after party was insane. But man we almost did have our dreams crushed near the end. Reporter: It was certainly tense! Now, following Bahrain, you dropped Ryota and Kinnumen will be in the car for the remainder of the season. What is the purpose of this and what message do you think this sends to Yoshida? RaiM: Now you see, this wasn’t something we wanted to do and Ryota is still around the paddock and the team. But due to some personal reasons we’d have to do this move, we are having our most successful season ever and Ryota has done well but at the same time we’ve lost vital points and really should of closed that gap last race. Reporter: Hopefully the switch pays off for everyone involved. We’ll come to you now Dylan. Ostberg did a solid job for you a couple of weeks ago, though he was unfortunate in the end. Does this increase his chances of a drive next year? Dylan Lopez: We were disappointed he couldn’t quite make the tyres last in the same way Elroy did in the race, but with that aside he had his first clean weekend in a long time. He has to keep working as hard as he has been and I’m sure it can all fall into place for him, especially if he is dragging his car with Elroy towards some of those vital points we now probably will need to score and keep seventh! Reporter: Speaking of which, you’re crucially still ahead of North Star in the Championship, do you think you can stay ahead? DL: Like I just said, we do probably need a handful of points to remain ahead of North Star and Phoenix. There’s five chances left for all of us to make our mark. We’ve seen Halvosen show his hand in the previous two races, and arguably the positions behind him could’ve gone anybody’s way between our drivers or Alex’s. Throw in the chance of rain we have this weekend, and the stakes are even higher for all of us to make the right calls, like Holmqvist did at Indy. Reporter: Alex, what’s your take on the standings now? Alex Easton: Yeah I agree with what Dylan’s already said; we’ve got five weekends left to really do something in this battle and, for Phoenix, I think we’re gonna need a lot of luck to get seventh place in the Championship now, but it’s absolutely still our aim – the prize money would be so crucial to us. It was a tough one to take in Bahrain... we’ve arguably had the edge over those guys and North Star for a good few races recently, but in those races the opportunity for points hasn’t been there, then the one race with a few high-profile retirements is the one where we finish behind both of them! We know what went wrong and will absolutely strive to improve in future, wherever possible! Reporter: We’ll stay with you actually Alex, but to Arthur too; with the beginning of DS Automobiles’ partnership with Phoenix looming, what is within the scope of the deal – what exactly is an “official DS Performance partner”? Arthur Lapierre: We’re extremely excited for the deal to begin properly – speaking as the Director of DS Performance in Formula Virtual, I can tell you exactly what that means – they’re a part of the DS family. Some brands have a works team and customers, but after discussing a deal with Alex and the team at Phoenix, we were highly impressed by what they do, so we wanted to have them on board as far more than customers. Essentially, DS Automobiles will give factory backing to both teams and they will both benefit from everything that goes with that. AE: We’re absolutely buzzing. To be absolutely honest with you, it’s debateable just how far Phoenix could’ve gone had we remained independent – running Judd engines. But having factory backing from DS in this deal is absolutely massive for the team, it’ll really change the future of the whole team and enable us to really reach our full potential in the long term, which is where we’re looking towards. There are plenty more announcements coming in the following weeks and months regarding the deal, which everyone involved with the partnership is thoroughly excited to reveal! Reporter: Arthur, as “Director of DS Performance”, will your role change within DS Mathershaw now you effectively have a second team under the DS umbrella? AL: Not at all. We wouldn’t have become partners with Phoenix if we weren’t 100% sure they know what they’re doing, so there’s no need for me to take on a more expansive role at the race track. In fact, my role within DS Performance will become smaller as of next season, but we aren’t quite at the stage of revealing how yet. Reporter: That sounds intriguing, we’ll have to keep an eye on news coming out of DS! Robert, with DS essentially taking on a second team within FV, are you at all concerned that you will lose out in terms of development and financial support? Robert Mathershaw: Far from it. We have a central talent pool developing and building the DS Automobiles FV10 engine, and having double the number of cars providing everyone back at Le Mans with data can only be a good thing. Both ourselves and Phoenix have that strong base to start from, and beyond that we have our own philosophies to follow. Beyond that, we have an excellent team of people here, and I have every faith they will build another stunning FV car next year, and I know Phoenix will do so too, and with what is coming, that is only going to benefit everyone involved. As for the financial side, Monsieur Lapierre is the man for that! AL: Commercially, Formula Virtual has to be viable otherwise DS Automobiles wouldn’t compete. We have technical partners that will be common between both teams due to their involvement with us as a manufacturer, while at DS Mathershaw we have already signed a title sponsor in addition to the support from DS. Both teams will certainly receive equal treatment, and investment will be proportional to the results they obtain, exactly how the FV prize money structure intends it. Reporter: Excellent, sounds great. Adrian, it’s now been confirmed that you’ll will be running Ford engines in 2019 after weeks of speculation, do you feel this is a big step for AMR? Adrian Arnello: It’s a step in the right direction, yeah. In confidence and not faith. We’ve seen what’s on the horizon from Ford and we like it a lot. So much we’ve stuck it in our car and got rid of ours. Reporter: Schnyder has been announced to be staying with the team, and it’s rumoured that Dmytro will be staying on too. Do you feel that they both fit perfectly into the team, and may be around for the long run? AA: Long run – hopefully! We’re pretty flexible with drivers, but Finn and Dmytro do their thing and do it well. We just want the team to enjoy what we do. I think next year will be a big step up for both of them. Finn might be missing that Renault by then. Reporter: Okay guys we’ll move onto the fan questions! First one up is to Dylan.. oh dear; “Did you relocate to Switzerland just to avoid taxes? Have you not considered the morality and ethical impacts of your decision? Have you not thought of the series that you’re cheating?” DL: We still pay taxes there big fella. Every team can set up camp wherever in the world they want. Go ahead and find where in the rule book it states that we can’t do that. And be quick cos I got a function straight after we finish. Reporter: I think we’ll take your word for it Dylan! Alright, Rai; “Is there any credence to the rumours that Ryota Yoshida is going to be starring in a movie alongside Zack Galfinaskis and Gary Oldman?” RaiM: Yes it’s true, one of the major reasons for Kinn coming in is that Yoshida got contacted by Sony to star in the movie with Oldman and Zack. It’s quite amazing but of course I understand if Yoshida prefers Hollywood’s glamour. So hopefully he can bring the Oscar home for us. Reporter: Okay an interesting one for you here Alex; “What are kinds of birds of prey that you like?” AE: Damn it, who’s been spying on me in the down time between races? Well I like Kestrels, Falcons, and Ospreys, coincidentally sharing their names with some of the Ingram cars, I’m sure Will will enjoy hearing that! I tend to primarily have an interest in smaller birds to be honest with you, but you can’t beat a bigger bird every now and then. Reporter: This is why these fan questions are good for finding out about you lot away from the track! Adrian; “Who’s the better team principal, you or Ryan Petersen?” AA: It will always be Ryan. All he wanted was to come race and have fun. Even during the research spat he held it together and got the people going. Just get on the track and enjoy every second of it, in case that’s the last one. Reporter: Absolutely, a great personality. Okay last one for today for the DS Mathershaw guys; “Will you ever bring the Liverpool name back to Formula Virtual?” AL: No. RobM: What he said. Reporter: Understood! Right then, question to everyone now. With all of the speculation surrounding the tyre compounds to be used for 2019, what approach are you taking to prepare? RobM: We’re in a tough position because of the uncertainty – we’re trying to design a chassis and suspension to suit tyres we have no idea about. However, we’ve recently received assurances that the thermal degradation profile will be similar if slightly scaled in it’s response, so we’re definitely not totally in the dark. Also, it’s the same for everyone, and we’ve got a lot of experience in helping to develop tyres, so we can use that to make the car as flexible as possible in all conditions. RaiM: We are going to be taking a on the books approach in regards to tyres next season, that’s all I can say. AA: Oh that’s a ‘Jan’ question, that one. He’ll probably say something cool about aero but then lose you five seconds in. But it’s covered. DL: I think the idea of two new compounds is a really good idea! Given how softs and medium compounds have more or less dominated the last two or three years. My only drama is naming the tyres S1 to S6. A school kid could come up with that to be quite frank, and FV is a more complex environment than a classroom. AE: I can’t really expand much more on what these guys have said, especially Rob. We’re not totally in the dark as he mentioned but for sure there’s definitely gonna be a period of time before we’re really comfortable with the changes. Either way, whether we benefit or lose out at all, I think it’s great for the sport and the guys making the decisions know what they’re on about a damn site more than I do! Reporter: It’ll definitely be intriguing. Right we’ll wrap things up now, as usual with everyone’s hopes and expectations for the weekend, and also your drivers title prediction with five races to go? RaiM: Oh I don’t know Puccio has been fantastic so hopefully the form continues, I’ve been so impressed with our performance this year and who knows what will happen in the next five races but imagine the scenes if someone won the title in an Ocelot. DL: We need points. It is as simple as that. We need to get ahead and stay ahead of the North Stars and the Phoenix cars, albeit to a lesser extent. Both teams need to score to get ahead of us ‘cos of Wagner’s sixth at Sepang, but we’re ready for the challenge. AA: Just to get out there and enjoy it. I think we’re gonna see Downton resurge. Maybe the other guy this time. AE: As I said before, taking seventh is gonna be a right job now, but we’re gonna give it everything we’ve got and just see what happens – either way this season has been fantastic for us. As for the title prediction, it’s probably the slightly boring answer but I think Adrien will become the second double World Champion. AL: Hopefully we can get a one-two, but a double podium is the minimum we’ll be happy with. RobM: I agree, but I’ll take just outscoring everyone to be honest. AL: Okay Rob, on three, who’s winning the title? One.. two.. three.. Simultaneously RobM: Allar. AL: Adrien. Reporter: Ha, fantastic stuff everyone! Well, that’s the end of today’s press conference, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Make sure you join us tomorrow for Friday practice here in Turkey. Comments are closed.
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