Ingram-HondaDrivers: Jean Mattson, James Vasquez, Zander Brynildsen (Reserve) Standings: 8th Wins: 0 Poles: 0 Podiums: 0 Points: 30 Best Finish: 5th Ingram kept an unchanged line up for the 2019 season; veteran Frenchman Jean Mattson staying with the team for a fifth season, joined by James Vasquez after an impressive debut season at Ingram in 2018. 2019 started slowly for the British team, with misfortune aplenty in the opening races looking like it may leave the team having to compete in Q1 after Britain. However, a superb weekend from Vasquez at the team’s home V-Prix culminated in a seventh placed finish which proved easily enough to elevate them out of trouble before two races later – in Spain – Mattson managed his strategy perfectly and secured a fantastic fifth placed finish. Form improved towards the end of the season with six further points finishes – five of which in the final four races – and the team ultimately finished a comfortable eighth place, well clear of Lopez. Another very respectable midfield finish for the well-liked team from Cambridge was surely partly down to the consistency of the team – both in the driver department and with engine supply. However, after Honda pulled out of the sport following the departure of Franklin and Andromeda, Ingram’s hand was forced into a rare change and for 2020 they will be powered by Jaguar in a newly formed partnership with FV newcomers Arrow. Some things never change, though, Jean Mattson will remain with the team once again and Vasquez will have a third season in green. Team Principal William Ingram on Ingram’s 2019 and their winter break plans: “We eventually ended up where our car belonged, but the beginning of the year felt like a lifetime waiting for those points. We then had some good strategies that were rewarded and some bad ones that were punished. Our winter break has mainly consisted of debating Jaguar about the best shade of green!” Jean Mattson: "Strange season I believe. I drove well but the results didn't come and then the 5th place felt like a breakthrough but it didn't really lead to much. I hope for me next year" James Vasquez: "I had a really fun debut season and I had hoped to move forward but that's not quite how it works. I wouldn't say "second season syndrome" (¿Está bien?) but for sure I hope for more next season." DS PhoenixDrivers: Sergio Alvarez, Thierry Xylander, James Thompson (Reserve) Standings: 7th Wins: 0 Poles: 0 Podiums: 0 Points: 49 Best Finish: 6th x2 The newly branded DS Phoenix team started the season slowly – as expected after pre-season testing – with the first three races of the year yielding zero points, although Sergio Alvarez did retire from the points in Melbourne. In Malaysia though, one year on from the heartbreak in the 2018 race, Alvarez and Xylander managed to keep out of the chaos and bring home a double points finish for the British team with seventh and ninth and in doing so; beat Phoenix’s previous best finish. The following two races proved point-less before the team started their incredible points scoring run which started in Spain and lasted eight races; a run where the team beat their previous best finish twice; with sixth and tenth in Bahrain, then sixth and eighth in Italy. Late on in the season, Phoenix went into administration which put their future into serious doubt and clearly showed on track as their pace dropped off. However, new investment was found in the form of Lucas V-Prix owner and oil tycoon Lucas Wilson, securing the future of the team as they rounded off their second season in Formula Virtual with a fairly comfortable – if unremarkable - seventh placed finish in the Constructors’. Stunningly, 2018 VRWS Champion Xylander did manage to finish every race of the season; a feat only previously achieved by Carson Davenport and Will Hoskins. He, and Alvarez, will remain at the Mancunian minnows for another year in 2020. Team Principal Alex Easton on DS Phoenix’s 2019 and their winter break plans: “Well, expectations before Australia were incredibly low after a tough time in testing. We’d fallen well behind our planned development last winter due to one thing and another, which meant the PX2 was an absolute dog at the start of the season. Poor Sergio and Thierry dragged it through the first few races until we got things back on track and once we did, the results came. Eight consecutive points finishes from Spain until Italy – with Monza being our best ever result – was just an incredible achievement from the whole team from top to bottom and it ensured that 2019 will live long in the memory for us all! Seventh place in the championship for the second year in a row was well beyond any of our expectations, especially with the financial issues that hampered us, but after Lucas’ investment they’re in the past now thankfully. As for the winter break, there won’t be much of one. The team are all busy working on the PX3 to try to get it ready for testing and the start of 2020, I don’t think anyone will be having a day off! We need to try to avoid starting the season off on the back foot, but it’ll be tricky once again.” Sergio Alvarez: “My year was very good. 2018 was a big year for me but this one beat it even. I can improve and always I look to, my qualify for example were not good enough and for 2020 season, will do better. I set myself the goal for the next season to be better again and get maximum out of the car for the team.” Thierry Xylander: “It was an amazing debut season for me, coming into FV with DS Phoenix as a DS Automobiles Academy graduate was an honour for me and the support that I received from everyone at DS and Mathershaw will never be forgotten, even though things will be changing now. As for my results, I was so pleased to finish all of the races this season and be so consistent but it wasn’t a surprise to me as this is something I have always been strong on. My ambitions for 2020? To continue with my qualifying performances and to be much closer to Sergio on race pace. He is a great teammate and I know that together we can help Phoenix push on, hopefully we can be in touch with the back of the midfield next year.” North Star-FordDrivers: Johan Halvosen, Gabriele Garcia, Niklaus Holzberg (Reserve) Standings: 6th Wins: 0 Poles: 0 Podiums: 1 Points: 75 Best Finish: 3rd North Star’s 2019 line up was a familiar one for fans, Johan Halvosen staying on for a second season and Gabriele Garcia continuing where he left off in 2018 – albeit for his first full season in Formula Virtual. The biggest change at the team was the switch from BMW to Ford power, linking up with FIRST and AMR under the American engine manufacturer’s umbrella – a slight surprise given North Star’s previous rivalry with the FIRST team. To say North Star's season was a disappointment would be unfair - yes, they fell off pace quite a lot over the course of the season but they held on to a respectable sixth in the standings, equalling their best result. After pre-season testing it looked like North Star were ahead of the midfield and behind the frontrunners, and that proved to be true. Over the first eight starts, their drivers scored in seven, with Halvosen taking twenty-four points, an impressive haul. The highlight of the season came a few races later however, when a strategy call in Spain gave Halvosen his first podium in nearly three years. However, for one reason or another, they started to fall back into the midfield pack. After the half way point of the season, the team scored only four times. Halvosen continued to impress at times, while Garcia had his moments, but was a pushover for the Dane. Their loss of pace, along with the resurgent Meteor, meant that North Star finished sixth in the standings. Nevertheless, it was a good season overall and could provide a good base for their shot at the top three in 2020, which seems to be their aim. Halvosen will remain at the team from Perth for a third season, joined once again by Brazilian Gabriele Garcia. Meteor-InfinitiDrivers: Jules Simon, Mario Juan Lopez, Lewis Ellington, Andrey Kerzhakov (Reserve) Standings: 5th Wins: 0 Poles: 0 Podiums: 2 Points: 125 Best Finish: 2nd x2 Jules Simon was retained by Meteor after the team’s incredibly disappointing 2018 campaign and was joined by Lopez loanee… Lopez. The team initially looked to have made a step forwards from the year before but inconsistency and mistakes cost them. After just fourteen points from the first nine races; team founder Kazuki Armos sold the American team to Italian Piercarlo Caliri – who apparently makes his money from windows – who tasked Irishman Shane O’Connell and Caliri’s son Guido with the task of turning their season around. Brit Lewis Ellington was drafted in and the team scored 111 points in the final eight races, including two second place finishes for Ellington, who didn’t finish below sixth. Surely, the prize for ‘Most improved team’ through 2019 must go to Meteor. Ultimately, they rejuvenated team finished fifth after having a season very much of two halves and Ellington’s performances led to him being retained by the Italian owners for 2020. He will be joined on driving duties by Felix Beyer after Holmqvist’s departure from the sport. Team Principal Shane O’Connell on Meteor’s 2019 and their winter break plans: “Of course we came in halfway in the year so expectations were different. After already seeing what Meteor had done in the first half of the season with MJ and Jules you can see how it could be improved. Lewis did what we hoped he would, and MJ even got better as the year went on.
During the break will be a long family holiday for myself. Guido will be in charge of everything in Ancona in preparation for the start of the season.” Lewis Ellington: “The start of the season was a write off obviously. My motivation only got stronger though and when Mr Caliri gave me the chance to return to Meteor I knew it was my chance to show the world my talent. Two second places and my utter domination of my teammate speaks for itself. My ambitions for next season? To do the same again, I must beat Felix. He is a much better driver so it excites me, as long as the car is where it needs to be.” Mario Juan Lopez: “It was nice for me in 2019 to have my debut season in Formula V but it is a strange feeling to score points in the last five races and then see there is no drive for next season. Fifth place two times was a big step for me especially being surrounded by the negativity the team showed me and the car setup was neglected on my side for Ellington. I will not want to say too much but these guys are not good people.”
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