Hello and welcome to Mexico City, Mexico for the Team Principal’s Thursday press conference ahead of this weekend’s Mexican V-Prix – the sixteenth and penultimate round of the 2019 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Nick Forrest of North Star Racing, Adam Blocker of FIRST Motorsport, Bradley Downton from Downton FV Team, William Ingram of Ingram V-Prix, and Alex Easton from Ecotricity DS Automobiles Team Phoenix. Welcome gentlemen. Scott Parkin - FVTV: We’ll start off with you Bradley, we must begin by talking about the multiple incidents in Belgium which left Nathaniel twenty points behind Ruiz in the Drivers’ standings and heaped the pressure on both of your drivers. You called their performance “unacceptable” and “a disgrace”, does this change anything in the team and how did both drivers react afterwards? Bradley Downton: As I said yesterday; I was angry, the team was angry, and the drivers were angry with themselves too. But it changes nothing. Everyone makes mistakes. We've let the drivers down before, and in Belgium they let us down. They know that, they apologised to the team, and we move on. At the end of the day, it's likely they've only cost themselves. We have a great shot of the Constructors Championship still, it has only really significantly affected them in the Drivers Championship. SP – FVTV: Indeed, we'll have to see how both title races pan out this weekend. Nick, the team were very unfortunate in Spa with Gabriele’s race being ruined by his incident with Mattson and then Johan retiring from a probable points position. This, coupled with Meteor’s strong race, means you’ve dropped behind them in the battle for fifth in the Constructors’ standings. Were you expecting to lose out to them eventually? Nick Forrest: I think given the pace they've unlocked in their car over the second half of the season, and the obvious push they've made for it in the last few rounds or so, it was going to be extremely difficult for us to hold them back. Especially now that we seem to find other teams in the midfield have developed ahead of us, and scoring points is becoming more and more of a challenge this year. It was extremely unfortunate for us when Johan's engine let go in one of the stronger positions we've found ourselves in for a while, but I think finishing in the points there would have only postponed Meteor moving ahead rather than outright preventing it. As I've said, North Star have been focusing on 2020 for some time now, and that is the risk you run. SP – FVTV: Sounds like we can expect a highly competitive North Star in 2020! Okay, the team principals will now take questions from the assembled media. Layton Smith - Thegrid.net: Adam, looking back on the season, do you feel you lost a lot of points through your drivers making silly mistakes and some bad luck or did you maximise what you could have done? Adam Blocker: We definitely have lost more points through mistakes and misfortune than what I think is acceptable, but I also don't think that the lost points have impacted our final constructors' championship position. So ultimately we have maximised our seasonal result even if our individual results haven't been maximised. Rebecca Parnell - XtremeV: Felix, who is at his home V-Prix this weekend, has been incredibly consistent recently and is the joint fifth best points scorer over the last four V-Prix. How do you assess his second season in the top tier of Virtual Motorsport? AB: Felix has progressed quite a bit in terms of consistency and making fewer mistakes this season. We are optimistic about how he will compare with Hoskins next season and what he can do with what will hopefully be a stronger car. Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: And to Nick; have you been happy with how Garcia has done against Halvosen in his first full season? There have been rumours recently suggesting contract discussions have taken place, so has Gabriele done enough to keep his seat for 2020? NF: It's been overall pretty positive, in our view. He's had a couple of incidents here and there, but then this is his first full season. He's rarely been very far from Johan in terms of outright pace, and I'm sure his racecraft will continue to improve with the experience that he gains in the sport, alongside a driver of Johan's talent. We are currently discussing our options for next year with Gabriele, but we can't make public any of the details right now, I'm afraid. Theo Parker - VM Magazine: William; Jean and James have had a very equal year, both scoring fourteen points so far this season. With Jean now approaching the twilight years of his FV career, at what point does a replacement start crossing your mind? William Ingram: We're very happy with our drivers and I think they are happy here! You never know what the future holds, we have a strong youth system who will pushing for drives. Of course we have an eye on the drivers market but if both drivers keep delivering we see no reason to change. Hugues Antoinette - Canal+: William, you say you think your drivers are happy in the team, but as Jean enters his final years does he not look for podiums, wins, to race at the very top once more? Can you promise him this future? WI: Jean est un pilot formidable and nous espérons qu'il continue avec nous! Merci pour ton question. We are also realistic. We are not the biggest team or backed by the richest sponsors and if say, Porsche, wanted Jean to race for them it would be hard for him to say no or for us to refuse him a step up. Theo Parker - VM Magazine: Question to Bradley; three years ago, you were a team right at the back. Now you're on the brink of your second Constructors’ title. How proud are you of your achievements since 2016, and do you believe it is still possible for a team to do what Downton did? BD: Not quite right at the back thank you Theo. It's quite remarkable though isn't it? We're extremely proud, not just for getting here but for staying here. I know how hard all of the guys and girls have worked to get us here, and how much they continue to do to keep us here. Is it possible for a team to replicate us? I don't see why not. They just need to have the right plan and work ethic. Edgardo Agretha - Play Virtual: My question is to Alex. How do you rate Thierry Xylander's debut season? In points terms Alvarez is ahead, but we know Thierry is faster if we compare their year together in FV2. Will Thierry be ahead once he's settled, or will you continue to favour Alvarez? Alex Easton: Good to see you again Edgardo! Thierry’s season… well, initially he was clearly struggling with the car and I’m sure he’d be the first to admit that, but for the opening few races the PX2 was an absolute handful for both drivers and I think it’s absolutely to be expected that a rookie will take some time to bed in. It says a lot about his talent that from Spain onwards – that’s nine races – he’s not finished below eleventh place, which is truly a great achievement from him. The US V-Prix was probably a standout race for him where he drove brilliantly and we’ll be looking for him to really bring that level of performance to most races in his second season. As for what you said at the end there, we categorically do not favour either driver; never have, never will. I think the fact that Sergio came in last season as a rookie and beat someone with an extraordinary amount of experience like Carson, and then stepped it up even more this season against one of the most exciting young drivers in FV right now, goes to show the levels that he can achieve consistently, however I must reiterate that Phoenix will never favour one driver over another. Freddie Starr - Manchester Evening News: Ay up lad, how you doing? We love following your progress back home - how proud were you to see Jimmy [Thompson, Phoenix’s test and reserve driver] turning on the Middleton Christmas lights with only minor hiccups when his jacket got caught on the podium, knocking a couple of local councillors over in the process? AE: How’s it going Freddie, y’alright? Ha, it was typical JT really, wasn’t it? But no, I was immensely proud to see him up there representing Phoenix in our home town. He wasn’t a Mancunian at birth – being born in Burton – but he came here at a young age and of course has spent a heck of a long time with us now so he I think he classes himself as a bit of a Manc really which made him so honoured to be asked to do it. He’s a top lad, our Jimmy. FS - Manchester Evening News: As Greater Manchester’s biggest racing team, will you come and do a demo run in town at the end of the season? AE: That would be absolutely fantastic! To be honest, in the last few months we’ve barely been able to think about anything other than survival as you’re aware but now that the wolves have been warded off from the door, we can finally start thinking about things like that again. I’ll have to get Tezza [McCarroll, Head of Sponsorship and PR] on that. SP – FVTV: Some great questions and answers there, it’s now time for the fan questions section. The first one is for you Nick; “P5 in the constructors has been hit by a Meteor, can you salvage it in the final rounds?” NF: Well, referring to the earlier question, the pace disparity between Meteor and ourselves would make that somewhat unlikely, but until it's mathematically impossible, there's still a chance we could. It's probably going to take some crazy luck in our favour, but it's Formula Virtual, and pretty much anything can happen. We'll just have to see how the last two races unfold, and where the cards fall. SP – FVTV: Next one is for Adam; “In Belgium, you surpassed your previous best points tally from 2017. But how does this season compare to 2017 emotionally, baring in mind you achieved a lot of first’s in 2017?” AB: This season feels less impressive than 2017 to me, as we have been in contention for podiums less often. We had 5 podiums in 2017 and only have 2 this season, and some of the 2017 podiums were on raw pace. But this season we have been far more consistent and that is reflected by the increased points total. The points total we have means that we are going to score our best constructors' result, 4th, pretty comfortably so that is a huge step over 2017. SP – FVTV: Will, one here for you; “How are the team coming along after news that Andromeda are pulling out. Is your engines for next year finalised?” WI: The Andromeda news was a blow to our plans for 2020. I don't wish to talk about Honda's plans moving forward but we can say that they are one of the best engine manufacturers in the sport and plan on keeping that reputation. 2020 will be a relative step into the unknown. On a personal level I am disappointed at both Jamie's and Hector's departures from the sport as both colleagues and friends. SP – FVTV: Alex, this is an interesting one… “Did Rich Energy contact you about buying you out when you were in administration?” AE: At one point things were looking so bleak we might’ve accepted! No but it’s strange you should say that, as in the last few days we have agreed a deal with an energy drinks company, which will actually be announced imminently. Scott, who sent that in? I think they’ve got hold of some private information there! SP – FVTV: It’s anonymous I’m afraid! Bradley, final fan question before we begin to wrap things up; “Your new reserve driver Zetticci looks a very exciting prospect, how soon next season can we expect to see him in a Downton FV car?” BD: Matteo is indeed incredibly exciting! We're all really looking forward to seeing how he does. We can't say yet when he will first be in the car as we haven't been given the calendar for 2020, but he will do at least four practice sessions, of which one will be Italy if it remains on the schedule. Neil Allenby – FVTV: Question to you all. For the third year in a row, and for the sixth season in seven, we will be getting new teams for 2020; one of which we have known for some time now – the returning Westwood team – and we have heard plenty about potential entrants in the last week; most recently Arrow. Do you see fresh teams coming into the sport on a regular basis as good, or is it bad that there is a high rate of departures from the sport? AE: Am I okay to start things off? Yeah, I’d say both really. It’s a real shame that – this year for example – we’re losing Excelsior and Andromeda after just one season, Holmqvist after an extremely respectable tenure in FV, and Franklin who are still regarded as the most successful team in the sport’s history. However, for one reason or another, they all have their individual reasons preventing them from continuing so I think the fact that there are probably double that number of entries hoping to get their chance just shows how FV is growing and continues to do so. AB: The high rate of turnover is a bit worrying, but I suppose it isn't a huge problem as long as there are always people to replace those that are outgoing. The main reasons for people leaving seem to be outside of Formula Virtual's control so I don't know if anything can be done about it. NF: I think Alex has actually hit the nail on the head with that one, Franklin's departure is probably the most significant in the sport's history, at least since Team 23 wound up. It does go to show the challenge that teams face to continue operating in Formula Virtual, even those at the very front of the field. As has been said, though, there's still a huge amount of interest from teams that want to join the grid, so I think, all things considered, the sport's in pretty good shape for the future. WI: I can't disagree with what's been said, new teams always add interest to the sport but it obviously comes at a cost. BD: I have to echo everything that has been said already. I don't think I can add more but to say, there always seems to be interest, which is a really promising position for Formula Virtual as a series. SP – FVTV: Some interesting thoughts there guys, thank you. Final question to everyone, slightly different to usual; with two races to go, how have all of your seasons compared to your expectations from the start of the year? AB: It's no secret that we were hoping to be a bit closer to the front runners this season, but we are still in a good position to run near the front for at least the next couple years so this season has been a success overall. NF: Similar boat to Adam for us, with the noises DS Mathershaw were making in particular, we had expected them to be a bit further back than they turned out to be. In terms of pace to the frontrunners, I think we started the season roughly where we had expected, then the top teams developed further ahead. We do, like FIRST, feel we're well set to take another step forward next year, though, so we'll have to wait and see how that shakes out come pre-season testing. WI: We were quite off where we wanted to be at the start of the year, our luck changed and we are about were we should be. A lot of teams seem well prepared for next season so it's difficult to have any serious predictions for next season. AE: A real overachievement I’d say. At the very start of the year we knew we had a batter car than last year, but the rest of the grid seemed much stronger too so it looked like being a real tough year for us. Gradually, we clawed our way up to being regularly on the fringes of the points and we should hold seventh in the Constructors’ which seemed absolutely impossible back in the first few races! Probably even more important is that we’re gonna be on the grid in 2020, thanks to our new investor. So, all in all, everyone at Phoenix is buzzing with how things have panned out! BD: We went into this season aiming to take the Constructors title back, and retain the Drivers for the third year running. We're on the verge of the first target - and the aim is very much to wrap that up here. As for the second, well... let's see what happens. We were aiming for the top and have more or less done it. Let's see how this weekend and Brazil go. SP – FVTV: Excellent answers from all of you, thank you to you all for attending today. That’s all we have time for from today’s Thursday press conference, make sure you tune in for Friday practice for the Mexican V-Prix.
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