Good evening, and welcome to the press conference for the Turkish V-Prix. Much like the race will be on Sunday, this is a surprise twilight event! Joining us today from left to right, we have Jamie Franklin of JFPT Franklin Honda, Nick Forrest of North Star Racing, William Ingram of Ingram V-Prix, Dylan Lopez of Lopez FV Team, and finally Lucas Wilson of Lucas V-Prix.
Scott Parkin - FVTV: Coming to you first then Jamie. Despite falling back into Q1 and suffering a blow in the form of Domenicalli's retirement at the USA V-Prix, Franklin have kept fighting and found themselves often the best of Q1, still regularly getting both cars onto the grid for race day. Is this down to the raw pace within the car, or the experience and perseverance of the guys in the garage and the factory? Jamie Franklin: I think it's a mixture of the two. There's still some pace in the car that we've yet to unlock, but there's no doubt the talent within the team, especially within high pressure situations, so I think we do hold an advantage in that sense. SP - FVTV: Speaking of Domenicalli, it's been great seeing him back after his injury, and he's been on fine form. How have your team been able to keep him racing fit, and is that helped by your experience with fitness and as a personal trainer? JF: Well I'm certainly no physio, and we spared no expense in ensuring he had the best treatment available. But yeah, after that, having that experience does help, especially if it causes him any issues throughout a race weekend. But I think, if you could get a word out of him, he'd attest to his fitness levels being higher since joining the team. SP - FVTV: He does do a lot of his talking on track! Let's move over to your rival, Lucas Wilson. In the last three races, Lucas have seen a noticeable upturn in form, with the car looking not just faster, but more consistent. Have you unlocked hidden pace in the car due to the data you've gathered, or do the layouts of the circuits we've recently visited just suit your strengths more? Lucas Wilson: I wish we knew ourselves! I think it really has been just unlocking the potential in the car. At the start of the year, the car was a bit of a diva. That is obviously not what we wanted. We pulled a lot of long nights back at the factory. We made a lot of minor changes, we did a bit of repackaging with the engine. So we have definitely made some improvements. SP - FVTV: Sounds like a lot of hard graft! Moving to you now Nick, with a stunning podium at Indy in the USA V-Prix courtesy of Halvosen, your team took fourth in the constructors. However, since that race, the car has looked off the pace and Halvosen has scored one point. Are we simply visiting circuits that don't suit your car, and if so when can we expect to see the North Star back where it's capable of? Nick Forrest: That could be one explanation, possibly, Johan definitely showed the car is still capable of fighting, climbing from 21st on the grid into the points back at Bahrain. The truth of the matter is that we are just as baffled as anyone else as to why our car has lost so much pace in such a short timespan. The last couple of rounds could well have been outliers, as you mentioned, it could be other teams around doing an exceptional job with developing their cars, it could be any number of factors, really. We know our car hasn't suddenly gotten any slower, I think it's just a case of different circumstances coalescing to mask that in the last couple of rounds, and we should be back toward the head of the midfield sooner rather than later. SP - FVTV: It's definitely a mystery we all hope can be solved. Sticking with you so I don't hop around too much; Robert Mathershaw spoke during the last race about how Garcia has more to offer than the grid give him credit for, despite you dropping him for next season. Do you agree, or is Gabriele's seat something of a deadweight for the team at the moment? NF: Well, dead weight is absolutely a harsh description. Gabriele is in the sport on merit, he's a champion in the junior categories, and while he's only a couple of tenths off Johan's pace, the midfield battle this season is so fantastically close that it often translates into half a dozen or so places on the grid. Unfortunately for Gabriele, the opportunity arose for us to sign Brock for next year, Ford helped broker that deal between ourselves and Downton, and suddenly there wasn't room for him at North Star in 2021. I'd certainly agree with Rob that Gabriele does have a lot to offer a number of teams in Formula Virtual, though, and I do hope that he does manage to find a solid place on the grid in the future. SP - FVTV: I hope we have yet to see the best of Gabriele! Okay, time for Will! After suffering some incredibly poor luck early in the season, Ingram have been on an excellent streak of results lately; scoring 20 points in the first 8 races, and thanks to a podium in the USA, scoring 34 in the last 3. Do you feel there's a fresh momentum behind the team after the break, and has the break enabled you to eliminate those small issues that were holding you back from your true pace? William Ingram: Fortune is fickle. We didn't get the luck early season, especially James who seemed to walked under a ladder every time he came to a racetrack! However, I think we have genuinely improved the car throughout the year, perhaps fortune is favouring our new found bravery? SP - FVTV: James definitely seemed borderline cursed earlier this year, it's good to see him acheiving the results he is capable of. Once again we're gonna switch targets, and this question is for Dylan. Your team scored its maiden victory this season thanks to strategy in Japan. By the same token, at the last race strategy really caught you out and saw Kangur struggling to make up any ground whatsoever. Has this changed your thinking on high risk strategies, or do you still place faith in these high risk high reward contra strategies? Dylan Lopez: I think it's safe to say that yes, we got horribly caught out in Bahrain. Unfortunately for Allar he and about 10 cars ahead of him were all slip-streaming each other. In the heat however, it just ruined his tyres and the strategy didnt therefore bear any fruit for us. I did say at the time though that finishing 24th is more or less the same for us as finishing 11th, because neither offer any points. We still learnt a lot despite the poor result, which although we found out the way, will help us to make smarter decisions in the future. SP - FVTV: It definitely looked like he'd have been better off with chewing gum for rubber! On the subject of the opening round, at Fuji your fastest car acheived a laptime that was 100.47% of the pole lap. However, at the latest race, that percentage has now increased to 101.36%. However, despite a mere 1% increase, qualifying has become progressively more difficult for you. Is this an indicator of how close the midfield battle really is, and how challenging does that make your approach to each race weekend? DL: Qualifying is a real mystery behind the top 3 teams the deeper we get into the season. You've got the Top 3 teams doing their thing at the front, while the rest of the grid is more or less thrown into a blender. Even though Kangur pulled off a masterclass in Japan, I believe that's the only race of the season we've had both cars in the Top 10 on Saturday, and maybe Malaysia? But anyway, it's a real scramble in the midfield every round, which is why Kangur was willing to give the soft tyres a go last round to see if he could get some overtaking done. We all saw how it played out unfortunately, but on another day that sort of call might turn out to be a stroke of genius like Japan. SP - FVTV: Quick, someone get Ahmed or Alex in here to tell us the stat! Okay, back with you now Lucas. With Cheema scoring a 9th place, you need a 9th place or two 10th places to pass them for 10th in the constructors, while Franklin are an ever looming threat. Are you looking forwards to the small Irish team or nervously checking over your shoulder for the former world champions of Franklin? LW: I think we need to constantly be looking forward. I think Cheema had a very fortunate 9th place. Looking at their performance over the season. I don't think their package is as strong as ours. That can change obviously. Like you say however, we only need one good result and that can change everything and promote us to that 9th place. SP - FVTV: It really does all hang in the balance at the back of the pack. Back to Ingram. This is your first season since 2013 without Honda engines, and Jaguar are brand new to FV. However, your pace has stayed fairly consistent and the Jaguar power unit has proven to be more than effective. How has you experience of the sport and your approach been affected by going from being a customer team to being the main/works team? WI: I have to give huge credit to the team and to the engineers at Jaguar for making this transition as smooth as it has been. We had a great time working with Honda and Franklin, but their departure gave us an opportunity to stretch ourselves. Perhaps we were a little too comfortable with the arrangement but I think the team has risen to the challenge admirably. SP - FVTV: It's definitely been a formiddable display. Okay, we'll do some questions to everyone and then we have plenty of fan questions to get through! We're coming up to a fairly lengthy run of well known power tracks on the calendar, arguably with Istanbul as the exception. Do you prefer watching races at the circuits where the engine can really stretch its legs, or do you feel more at home and alive when the circuit features tight twists and turns such as Jerez? JF: To be honest, I don't think we have any particular preference. I wouldn't say we are particularly strong in one over the other as you see with some teams. I think we just prefer a circuit that allows for different strategies to really get us thinking. Although I can't say I'm a fan of Jerez given our luck there. To be honest, I don't think we have any particular preference. I wouldn't say we are particularly strong in one over the other as you see with some teams. I think we just prefer a circuit that allows for different strategies to really get us thinking. Although I can't say I'm a fan of Jerez given our luck there. LW: As long as the racing is good, I don't care where we race! I think providing a good show for the fans. That is something that the sport needs to take seriously. So, as long as the sport is healthy we can race anywhere. I'll be honest with you, I'm more focused on reams of data on my pitwall than watching the race. So for me, a good result means more for me. DL: We've got a fantastic Porsche engine in the back of our car, so we're looking forward to letting in sing at Spa, Monza and the like. The issues we had at the start of year are well understood now, and I'm sure the works team in Mathershaw will enjoy it while they're chasing Downton, as well as our friends at Westwood as the climb the midfield table - but not past us!! As for tracks like Jerez or Melbourne, it can be nail biting at times with ol' mate's father's brother holding 15 cars behind them. Dunno bout you, but I prefer watching the cars scrapping for positon at 200 miles an hour. NF: It's very much a case of what kind of racing you're after, I feel. Bahrain had some fantastic slipstreaming battles into the first corner and then up into Turn 4 and the subsequent section. Jerez, on the other hand, it's much more of a challenge, so it does feel special when a driver's able to make an overtake stick. Johan, for example, heading around the outside of...Hoskins? I think it was? Do correct me if I'm wrong, at Turn 5, I don't think anyone was expecting to see something like that, least of all myself! In terms of watching them, I'm of the opinion that as long as the cars can race one another and we can have battles right through the order, I'm happy whichever circuit we head to. WI: I like variety and it's nice to see different teams and different strengths come to the fore depending on the track. We're confident in our car at all circuits. SP - FVTV: Okay and now we'll reverse grid this question that I'm contractually obliged to ask! But where do you expect to finish, and what would you regard as a successful weekend? Fan question for all: Who in your opinion is the worst driver on the grid and why? WI: More points please! NF: Expectations are still that we should be scoring points, if we can get both cars up into the top 10, then all the better, but we need less misfortune on the Saturday to realistically aim for that. At the same time, thought, if we're not outscoring our rivals, then that's only making the fight for fourth harder. Right now Ingram seem to be the biggest threat, so if we're ninth and tenth in the race, for example, but they're finishing fifth, that's not a good result for us. We really need to be coming home as close to the top three as possible. DL: If we can do either of outscore North Star or Ingram, then we'll be satisfied. It's that simple at this time of the year. We need at least a car in the points. That's easier said than done, but we're ready for the fight. LW: We hope to be fighting the Franklin's this weekend. Points would be a good result for us. JF: It's difficult to tell. With the announcement of some of our rivals missing the strategy deadline, it gives us an opportunity to start both cars up a little further, so realistically there is potential there to at least start off on the right foot. But we still need everything else to go right for us to get a decent result out of it. SP - FVTV: Okay, thanks very much folks! Now it's time for the eagerly anticipated return of fan questions, and I'm told you at home have sent some crackers this week! Let's get into it. First question is headed your way Jamie! You've won multiple championships since the inception of Formula Virtual, the difficulties heading into this season have been well documented, but seeing Downton and Mathershaw fighting for victories without Franklin right there to challenge them just somehow seems...wrong. It's been a big fall for the team this year, but how soon do you think we can expect to see Franklin back at the front of the grid, challenging for race wins and championships once again? JF: How long is a piece of string? It'd be foolish to say that we're going to be back on top next year, because we'd just be setting ourselves up for ridicule, especially with Danilo coming into his first year. But I'd like to think it'd be sooner rather than later. SP - FVTV: A tough question right out of the gate! Next question is to both Ingram and Lucas. Neither of you have made any announcements regarding your driver lineups - are you looking at retaining your current drivers or looking elsewhere? LW: We are hoping to clarify our driver line up soon. That's all I can say at this point. WI: I think the fans know what to expect from us now drivers-wise. James is getting better and better and Jean is welcome to stay as long as he wants to remain the sport. Although I think our team lawyer would like to stress that nothing is confirmed for next year. SP - FVTV: Ooh, one with cards on the table and the other with them close to his chest! Okay, next question is to Jamie again. Courtesy of a rather rude, anonymous Italian journo; Jamie, this year has been a failure for your team. Is is true your team is no longer a force and why is that? JF: In terms of comparing them with previous results, yes this year is a failure. But as we said at the beginning of the year, we have no sponsors, we had 2 days to prepare a car for this year, when most others had an entire year. Despite that, we've enticed two great drivers into the team. We've scored a point in the first half of the season, which no-one expected. If you think we're not a force, then you feel free to believe that, but we know what we are capable of, and what we are building towards. SP - FVTV: The fans definitely not disappointing with some spicy questions this week. This next one certainly is... Another for Jamie, and they asked me to read their twitter handle aloud so... Fan question for Jamie from FranklinMyDearIDontGiveADamn69: Why you so fine? JF: *laughs* I'd love to have a funny answer for this, but I'm just going to take the compliment! *laughs again* SP - FVTV: Right, moving on... Last question, and it's for the lot of you! Ooh and it's a toughie... Who in your opinion is the worst driver on the grid and why? Don't all rush to answer that one! JF: For the sake of argument, I'll say Garcia. I'm not saying he's worse than Kovalenko or Ledesma, but they're not often on the grid...so ... But it's pretty clear that he's no match for Halvosen. LW: Our Thunder is definitely the worst on the grid at playing beer pong. He won't mind me saying that... NF: Not a fan of that question, pardon the pun, I think every driver in Formula Virtual has earned their place. One driver I am aware gets a little flak might be Kovalenko, but then he's never really had a car that's allowed him to show what he's capable of. Hopefully AMR do manage to make strides forward and he can rectify that, but I wouldn't necessarily say there's any drivers on the grid that don't deserve to be here right now. DL: Hehe.. How to make a young man upset.. I'll say Nikolai Milkovich. His kid's gonna enter the juniors series sometime soon isn't he? Hmm I dunno, but the guys at Cheema just might wanna double check his expiry date. WI: I think the drivers in FV are all here on merit. Besides, the team principals are quite a brutal bunch in general so the weaker ones aren't in their seats for long! I would also like to mention to Dylan that Nikolai has actually outscored his team for the last three races..! I know he's only joking anyway! DL: *laughing* At least I dont have to worry about being a Toonie supporter! SP - FVTV: Whew, I think it's good we're calling it there! As ever thank you all for your time, thankyou for tuning in and thankyou for an incredible set of fan questions! Make sure to keep them coming each week. We look forward to seeing you tune in for practice tomorrow!
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