Good morning and welcome to Silverstone, Britain for the team principal’s Thursday press conference ahead of this weekend’s British V-Prix – round five of the 2019 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Lucas Wilson of Lucas V-Prix, Nick Forest from North Star Racing, Bradley Downton of Downton FV Team, Jamie Franklin from Franklin and William Ingram of Ingram V-Prix. Welcome to you all. Reporter: Let’s start with you Bradley. You’ve taken your second win in a row in Malaysia, with van Snelheid taking his second consecutive win as well. However, Powers looked on course to win until he hit a loose tyre on track. How disappointed was he with that, especially since it has been a year since he last won a race?
Bradley Downton: Naturally, he was very disappointed as it likely cost him a decent shot at the win. Nonetheless these things are sent to try us, so we'll reset together with him and go again here. We're just glad no-one was seriously injured in any part of that incident, especially once a wheel had found its way onto the racetrack. Reporter: Apart from that it was a great weekend for you – front row lock-out and a 1-3 finish. You now lead the constructor’s championship for the first time and van Snelheid also leads the driver’s championship. Is this what you expected pre-season? BD: In short, yes. We knew we'd be quick, we planned to be quick, we've been quick. As good as expected, not quite, but we're where we feel we should be in terms of position, so that'll do for the time being. We just have to solidify our position now. Reporter: Thanks Bradley, we’ll move on. Jamie, on the flip side you had a horrible race with a double DNF for you. Ruiz ran in the podium positions in the opening stages of the race, do you think he could have been in the top three had he not retired? Jamie Franklin: Probably, yeah. Reporter: The main incident of the Malaysian race was when Wagner and Milkovich collided in the pit-lane. Both Ruiz and Garcia hit Wagner’s stationary car and Garcia has a ten-place grid penalty. To both Jamie and Nick, did you make your drivers aware of the crash and should they have avoided contact? And do you agree with Garcia’s penalty Nick? JF: No, we like to give our drivers as little information as possible to make things more difficult. That makes sense. Nick Forrest: Well no, I don't think Gabriele's penalty is fair at all. Firstly, we did warn him of a car stopped in the pit entry, but both Ruiz and Simon had thrown all kinds of debris across the pit lane by the time he arrived, so if it was a choice between relatively light contact with a Formula Virtual car designed to the highest safety standards, or potentially punting a loose tyre into a garage and injuring personnel, I think he made the right call. Plus, as we explained to Nic, last season saw pretty much exactly the same incident with a North Star where Wagner was this time around, and we were given a ten-place grid drop then, so I'm completely baffled as to how we can be at fault for both incidents. It doesn't make any amount of sense to me, and I do not agree with the decision, but it's the decision that's been made, and we just need to see what we can salvage for Gabriele this weekend. Reporter: Sticking with you Nick, on a more positive note, Halvosen had a great race, getting amongst the front runners at times and eventually finished sixth. Was that your target coming into the race weekend? NF: No, is the short answer! With what testing suggested about the order, and our pace over the first couple of rounds, there definitely seemed to be a bit of a gap between ourselves and the frontrunners in terms of outright speed. It still does seem to be that way, though, I think it was mainly our choice to go for the Hard tyres that allowed us to mix it up with the Downtons and the Franklins during the pit stop phases. It was always going to be a challenge to hold them back, but Johan did a very solid job, and I think sixth place was well deserved for him. Reporter: It’s already been said many times but Halvosen has been doing great this year. Will… things didn’t go your way on Sunday unfortunately with a double retirement while other teams had great weekends, which means you could be in Q1 after this weekend. How much did that race hurt you? William Ingram: Emotionally it was very damaging, we've done a lot of soul searching as a team since Malaysia but we believe we can bounce back and claw it back. Reporter: Mattson was running on the extra softs, which didn’t really pay off for him given he did about 7 or 8 pit stops. Given the temperatures were so high, what was the thinking of going with those tyres? WI: We got it wrong in Malaysia, clearly. We've apologised to Jean and we are moving on. Reporter: Thank you Will, we’ll come back to you. Finally, Lucas, Hutchinson got through to the race in Malaysia, but he didn’t reach the end after his crash with Kinnumen. You were dissatisfied with the collision after the race and seemed to blame Kinnumen. Was he at fault in your eyes and if so why did you not ask for a steward’s investigation? Lucas Wilson: Oh, he was completely at fault. The move was stupid and unnecessary. No comment on a potential steward inquiry. Reporter: With that and other teams’ good results you’ve fallen to 14th in the constructor’s championship. Is this where you expected to be before the season started or are you surprised to be so far down? LW: We expected to be here. FV is a very competitive sport and frankly I don't see us moving up the grid anytime soon. Reporter: It’s still been a pretty solid start for your team after their return to the sport. Let’s get started on the fan questions, for you Lucas; “Who is your favourite FV team apart from your own and why?” LW: It would be unfair to single out a single team. Everyone at the paddock performs at a very high level. Personally, as I'm sure the media is aware, I get along very with some or the team principals and owners but I'm too focused on my own team to pick a favourite. Reporter: Thanks Lucas, Will this one is for you; “Brynildsen is in his last year in junior series, what does he have to do to earn a chance in FV?” WI: Zander needs to mount a serious challenge to the title. The series will be at its strongest ever but his experience should help him fight for the title. We hope Urmo also has a strong year but the pressure is on Zander. Reporter: Given your current line-up it may be hard for a spot to open up for Brynildsen. Nick, here’s a strange one; “Are you aware there’s a hotel chain called North Star?” NF: I wasn't, no, are they any good? What's their breakfast like? Reporter: I can’t say I have heard of it either. Jamie, this one’s for you; “Which team principal do you hang around with the most in the paddock?” JF: Is this a sport or a social event? I'm here to compete, not to have play dates with anyone else. Reporter: Not very surprising. Bradley, I think we’ve got one here… oh dear, erm; “Take your pick; Hirvonen, Wilson, Phipps or Harding?” BD: For what? Personality? Race craft? To take on a date? Water-skiing ability? Reporter: I assume it refers to driver ability? BD: Well damn, I was going to say James (Harding) is a pretty damn good water-skier! In terms of driving ability though, probably Harding too, but frankly none of them have ever been on our radar. Reporter: Can’t blame you. That atrocious question finishes off the FQs, thanks again to all the fans who sent them. So, all the teams here are from and based in Britain. Given that we are racing probably not far away from where all of you are based, is Britain easier logistically then other race? And since it is everyone’s home race, how is it different emotionally, and how important is Silverstone as circuit on the FV calendar? LW: FV is an international sport. We live in an international world. Silverstone is a nice refreshment as obviously it is closer to home for us than the other races. The drivers may have other thoughts, but Silverstone is just another race in my eyes. With regards to it being on the calendar, if it provides good racing then yes it should stay - just like any other circuit on the calendar. If there is another circuit in the UK that Nic and the FV guys think is better, then I have no issue moving there. WI: The British V-Prix is our favourite race of the year. Waking up in your own house and driving to the circuit is a really surreal experience each year! NF: Logistically, it's harder than you'd think, being the next round after Malaysia off in the Far East. The flyaway races are always going to be more of a challenge to get the scheduling and suchlike settled in and out. Silverstone itself is one of those tracks with a phenomenal amount of history and prestige surrounding it, and everyone wants to perform well here, especially those who can call it home, both the teams and the drivers. There’re not a great many circuits that you can say a top-level series like Formula Virtual absolutely can't do without, but I think Silverstone is definitely one of them. JF: Logistically...well, it's obviously easier to get there. As if you need me to tell you that. Emotionally...eh, we have fans all across the world, from all different nationalities, why should winning at Silverstone in front of British people be any more special than winning any other race in that fan's home country? BD: We're so much closer to base, it means we can get as many of the team here as possible. Obviously, we need certain people back at the factory to carry on doing their jobs, but everyone from the team who can be is here, either working or as a guest just enjoying the weekend. Emotionally, it's huge. This is my home country, our home country, and it means a lot to race and win in front of home fans. Seeing the grandstands flooded with orange - primarily for us and Nathaniel - is very special. I think, given a vast number of teams are based in the UK, a British V-Prix is vital. It's also like the centre of global motorsport, so it would be crazy to not have a race here. Reporter: Certainly, Britain is one of the main races of the calendar. Thank you all for your answers, now for the final question, what is everyone’s expectations for the weekend and who will be the five teams in Q1 after this race? BD: We want a third straight win in front of the home fans. Ideally a 1-2 but outscoring our rivals will be plenty. As for Q1, it's tricky, but I think the five there currently will remain there. Unfortunately, I think it unlikely Cheema, Lucas or AMR will score points, and both Ingram and Andromeda need to score here to get themselves safe, which I think will be a tall order if we have a steady normal race. JF: To win. Other than that, don't really care to be honest. NF: I think Johan should be able to continue his run of points finishes if everything goes smoothly, at least, Gabriele's likely to have a very tough Sunday with that penalty, we're probably going to need rain for him to reach the top ten. As for Q1, I think we might already have them coming into this weekend, it's tough to see any of them having the pace to score, unless we get a similarly mad race as we did in Malaysia. WI: I hope we successfully navigate Q1 and then put in a strong showing, get a bit of luck and come away with some points. Ultimately though it will take something very special to change things so the team are prepared for a few races in Q1. LW: Qualifying for us - it's tough here at the back of the grid so even managing to get into the race, which we've done every time this year, is a huge achievement for us. I also hope that our latest concert, which we are performing in the infield after the race is a success. As for teams in the bottom five, I know we'll be one of them. Reporter: Nice, thanks to the five of you for being here today. Thank you to everyone else as well and we will see you tomorrow for practice. Until then, goodbye!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|