Good morning and welcome to Brno, Czech Republic for the Team Representatives’ Thursday press conference ahead of this weekend’s Czech V-Prix – round eight of the 2022 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Ben Farrell of Arrow Mechanics, Arthur Lapierre from Coca-Cola Porsche Team Mathershaw, Rai Miyamoto from Ocelot Japan Racing, and Guido Caliri from BMPS Scuderia Meteor. Welcome to the four of you. Scott Parkin – FVTV: Well, after a huge news week I think it’s fairly obvious where we have to start today. Arthur, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t saddened when I learned that Mathershaw Technology will be leaving the series at the end of this season, after all these years it’s been a huge shock to a lot of people. We’ve heard plenty about what will be happening with Robert, Mathershaw Technology and Porsche, but what about yourself? What lies ahead for you? Arthur Lapierre: Thank you for your kind words Scott, it’s certainly a strange feeling! For the short term, I will be very excited to finish the season, then after that, it’s time for me to slow down a little! I will still be at Mathershaw Technology in some way as we continue in motorsport, and of course I’ll keep a keen eye on Lapierre in the junior championships, which I handed the reins to my eldest son Jean-Christophe a couple of years ago. But my main excitement is experiencing things I haven’t had a chance for years and years. My wife Céline has been very understanding of me disappearing to different racetracks all these years, so I’m going to take her to all the places she’s always wanted to go, and we’ve actually bought a vineyard just outside Bordeaux, which I couldn’t be more excited about! I will also probably do some more amateur racing, but it’s going to be nice to see something other than the inside of a racing paddock too! SP – FVTV: Well, that all sounds fantastic Arthur, I’m sure we’ll see you in here plenty more times before the end of the season. Coming to you now Ben; a fantastic drive from Yakumi last race gave the team their best ever result, can you describe to us the feeling of finally achieving such a strong finish? Ben Farrell: Last race was really one to remember, a "home" drive result like that just completely changes our season, it also shows us how we're underachieving, we have to look for more of these finishes and try and get Nick up to speed with the car in a more flexible way. SP – FVTV: A more flexible way, that sounds intriguing! Ocelot just missed out on points in Germany, finishing eleventh and twelfth, failing to score for the first time this season. Rai, you were reportedly not pleased with how the race went, where do you think it went wrong? Rai Miyamoto: I think sometimes things just don’t workout, I don’t really think anything went wrong in terms of our planning. We just need a bit of luck to swing our way if we are even going to close the gap to those in front. But for now, we focus on ourselves. SP – FVTV: Those top five teams do seem to be pulling away a fair bit now, to be fair. Well, Guido, I’d like to first of all welcome you to the press conference as it’s the first time we’ve ever had you in one. Unfortunately, though, I have to immediately throw this at you. Despite the departure of Franklin from the sport and Lopez missing the strategy deadline, we are yet to see a single qualification from Scuderia Meteor. What steps are the team taking to ensure you can compete as soon as possible? Guido Caliri: To be clear it is not the concern right now. Now we have two proper drivers in the car who will focus on the performance and not moaning about the situation. Enzo made a stupid decision but he will regret it, not us. SP – FVTV: Honestly, I’m not sure he will! Anyway, we’ll do the Fan Questions first today as we’ve still got a couple of latecomers making their way into the media centre. The first Fan Question here is for you, Ben. “With Formula Virtual experiencing it’s biggest shake up for years next season, is this the perfect opportunity for a team like Arrow to rise to the top and become an established front runner?” BF: With the way the regulations are shaping out, we're quietly optimistic, still a few things we have to get sorted after our parent companies banded together to help fund the Honda factories for the rest of the season, whether we stay as a manufacturer in the sport or look for something different is still to be seen, I expect a quiet season next year where we get ourselves embedded as a solid midfield team again and move from there. SP – FVTV: Interesting, good question that. Okay, the next one here is for Guido. “Does the circuit fit your car or do you think it will be another disappointing weekend?” GC: I think not of the car, we now have proper drivers in the car who can get the best of it. We will be in the race for Sunday. SP – FVTV: Well, that’s ambitious to say the least! We’ve got another good one here for you, Arthur. “After all these years in Formula Virtual, which season was the toughest for the team? Was there ever a point where you thought the team might genuinely fall from the top and never return?” AL: Honestly, each year is tough for different reasons, the quality of the field is so high. It’s a great feeling to compete towards the top, but it’s very hard work. However, we have the finest team in the sport, and I don’t think Robert or I ever had any doubt that they would continue to perform at the very highest level. SP – FVTV: I think the team at Mathershaw Technology will receive plenty more praise throughout the second half of this season and rightly so. Alright, the final Fan Question is for you, Rai. Oh boy. “Is the team already in negotiations with KvS and what are your promises you give him to get the deal done?” RM: There are many drivers we are interested in and have kept a very close eye on. It’s no secret who some of these names are and Klaas is a very talented driver who should things line up we’d be happy to offer a place for him should things ever fall that way. SP – FVTV: I was expecting a very diplomatic answer there, I should’ve known better given how well I know you, Rai! Great Fan Questions there anyway, thank you to everyone for submitting them once again. Okay, the Team Representatives will now take questions from the assembled media. Klaus Ammermuller – RTV: Good morning gentlemen. This last seven days, we have had the extraordinary news that three teams will be leaving Formula Virtual. We have the Mathershaw team who have won races every season of the sport and it cannot be doubted will forever be remembered as pioneers of this great first decade. Franklin who until recently were the most successful team in Formula Virtual history and will always be remembered for dominating in the first years. Then also Highwind, the small Irish team who are young but will leave after just four seasons, but they have charmed all of our hearts. So, please, could I ask you all to give your thoughts on each team leaving and what their lasting impression on you will be? RM: Mathershaw are a talented team and it will be very sad to see Robert leave the paddock especially with the challenges he bought on against Downton and Franklin over the years. A incredibly run machine and team without a single hitch in the cog. It’s going to be sad to see them leave and we’ll miss their press releases. Franklin is a team we have very much looked up to with their early successes in the sport and championships. Jamie has been a great character in the sport, often with his controversies but we very much enjoyed it and felt he brought fire and passion. Highwind, our partner. No Brother in this sport. A team which we have loved seeing grow from their humble start. Ahmed is incredibly valued at Ocelot and we loved his passion for the sport. We’ve even started work on a statue for him at our factory. A true historian and a great friend. You leaving has really impacted a lot of us here at Ocelot. AL: I think Franklin and Highwind epitomise everything that FV encompasses from opposite ends of the spectrum. Jamie’s team were the essence of performance in the early years, and though their performance definitely dipped in later years as rule changes and the pace of the sport increased, not having them on the grid certainly represents a big loss. As for Highwind, they’ve always done a phenomenal job with their resources, while bringing a warmth and energy to the grid like nobody else. They entered the series at a very difficult and competitive time, so their results stand for themselves in terms of achievement. As for my time at Mathershaw? It’s been the highest of honours, and I’m thankful for the whole experience. But I’m sure you’ll hear plenty from us over the next few months before we depart, so I think it’s only appropriate for me to concentrate on our friends at Franklin and Highwind! BF: Three teams leaving FV is really something none of us have experienced before, and as us currently being the newest team to enter FV, it means we now hold a wealth of experience over the new teams that wish to enter the sport, All of us at the factory have fond memories of the Franklin staff, the team as well, having inherited one of their drivers to our own roster this season, Mathershaw were always a great presence in the paddock, and we'll miss respectively the professionalism and controversial nature of both of them greatly. And with Highwind, who initially opened us up to the idea of entering Formula Virtual, we cannot thank you all enough, the sport will always be good but never the same without you. GC: I don’t really care for the business of other teams, the focus is on BMPS Scuderia Meteor. But there is no doubt that these teams who will leave have been fantastic for the series and I think everyone will remember their great moments forever. Hugues Antoinette – Canal+: Felicitations, Arthur! Four wins now in the last four races so you are two points behind Downton. For the first half of the season, how happy are you with the way the year is going? AL: I think we have to be very pleased overall - we’ve had a phenomenal run so far, and our momentum is only heading in the right direction. Of course, our aims are probably a little different to everyone else now, so I would love to end not only our year, but also our participation in the championship on the very highest of notes! Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: Yakumi really has been excellent so far this season and still remains the only driver to ever score points for Arrow. We’ve been seeing reports of pressure mounting on Nick, is there any truth in that? BF: I won't answer on Nick's behalf on this matter, he's been finding it hard with the car and some setup tweaks over the next few races should establish his presence within the team as a former race winner and all-around great driver. All teams look at drivers in the mid-season, it’s only natural for there to be a bit of false silly-season flying around. Hitoshi Ouchi – FansOfOcelot.jp: With Honda’s main team Franklin leaving FV for next season, is there an opening for the dream combination of Ocelot-Honda? For the Japanese fans, is it something we might see? RM: We’ve previously ran Honda before and we are happy with the time spent together but for now we are with our Italian partners. We are pleased with the way things are but who knows what will happen in the future. After all with so many teams now leaving, Alfa might be open to a partnership should someone reach out to them. But no one at the moment Is sure where things will move. Let’s see what happens. Layton Smith – Thegrid.net: With Enzo refusing to race for your team now and Shane O’Connell being removed from the management team, how on earth do you expect to improve or ever make it into an actual race? From the outside, it seems as though you’ve ran out of money, time, and you never really had a clue. What is the plan to fix this colossal disaster of a once great team which you have ruined? GC: Clearly you know nothing of the team. I refuse to talk with journalists such as yourself looking for a story. I know the person you are. Go to the next question. LS – Thegrid.net: Hang on, let’s be straight here. It's obvious that the owners of Scuderia Meteor have been totally inept from the moment you purchased the team from Kazuki Armos. You're an embarrassment to Formula Virtual and should quit before things get worse. GC: F*** you, f*** this. I don’t need to sit here listening to this bull**. Caliri rips off the attached microphone and storms away from the desk towards the door, menacingly pointing at various media personnel before kicking open the door, knocking over a water dispenser along the way. SP – FVTV: Right, well, that was unnecessary. I do apologise for Mr Caliri’s antics there ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be sure to make certain that he never returns to a press conference again. I’ll hand over to Neil now for one final question before we wrap things up. Neil Allenby – FVTV: Neil Allenby – FVTV: As this weekend is the final race of the first half of the season, how do each of you rate your team’s performances over the first half of the year? And what are your goals for the second half of the season? RM: I think we are roughly where we expected to be but a bit more would be wonderful and we just have to hope a crazy race will allow us somewhere to pick a podium or something along those lines. AL: I’ll give us an A-. There have been some performances that didn’t quite hit the heights we are capable of, but four wins in a row cannot be anything other than satisfactory. As for the rest of the year, the hope is to end on the sweetest of notes - it won’t be easy, but we can certainly do it! BF: Ah yes, the mid-season questions, knew those were coming, as a team we wouldn't want to rate our own performances, we know we've done well to be where we are compared to past years, but we need to stay focused, we have an extremely important and crucial driver in Yakumi experiencing the prime years of his career, all it needs is the right race and a bit of chaos to bag even more points than we have now. For the second half we obviously want to score more points, but, given our developmental priorities, our realistic goal will be to stay with the likes of North Star and maintain our lead over Highwind till the end. SP – FVTV: Excellent. Thank you very much to all the adults in the room today for attending and for everyone at home tuning in. That’s all for today but make sure you join us tomorrow for Friday Practice ahead of the Czech V-Prix!
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