Good morning and welcome to Kyalami, South Africa for the Team Representatives’ Thursday press conference ahead of this weekend’s South African V-Prix – round four of the 2022 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Ahmed Cheema of Highwind FV Racing, Alex Easton from Royal Phoenix Motorsport, William Ingram from Ingram V-Prix, and Dylan Lopez from Lopez FV Team. Welcome gentlemen. Scott Parkin – FVTV: We’ll start off today with you, Will. What an absolutely stunning victory in Malaysia last time out, congratulations! Can you give us some idea of how it feels having won your first race for eight years? You and the entire team must be on cloud nine? William Ingram: Thanks Scott, it really was a great weekend last time out. Personally I'm still a little in shock that we pulled it off! I don't know if I can put it into words, we've actually had some very strong years since our last win but it's nice to finally return to the top step. I'm delighted, still! Obviously we don't expect to win every race but I'm dreading the commentary of "well that's brought the Ingram team back down to earth", let's see what more we can do and not leave it 8 years this time... SP – FVTV: We’ll come back to that one in 2030. Another outstanding weekend from young Thierry, who has had an almost unbelievable start to the season. Ahmed, sixth place in Malaysia is the team’s best ever result and one that feels thoroughly deserved. Where does that race rank alongside the other outstanding results in your team’s relatively short history? Ahmed Cheema: It's crazy, I still haven't gotten over it... oh man, oh man, sixth! We barely finished eighth three years ago and never came close to that! It was insane, it was brilliant, just... ahhh. Our other best results were amazing but this was like a fairy-tale. It was simply the best, made me fall in love with the team all over again. SP – FVTV: It’s incredible to see how much joy that result gives you and the entire team! Alex, congratulations on Phoenix’s first podium in Formula Virtual. It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it? Do you think you can now push on to challenge the top teams on a regular basis? Alex Easton: Thank you so much Scott. It really has been a long time coming, four-and-a-bit years into our Formula Virtual stay! It’s been a hell of a long time since our last podium as a team, back in 2017 in Sweden for our final FV3 race. It was Theo [Blackman] and Jake [Oakley] both on the podium for us then in second and third, I forget which way round they were. But yeah, that feels like an absolute lifetime ago now. Can we push on to challenge the top teams? I’d love to say yeah but, unfortunately, the answer is; probably not. Will’s podium in Malaysia came about because of a very exceptional set of circumstances which opened the door for us. Otherwise, on a regular day, we’re looking at fighting for the places around ninth and tenth. But, as always, we’ll keep pushing and see where we end up. We’ve brought upgrades with us here this weekend and we’ve got our bigger upgrade package coming in France, for the European season. SP – FVTV: That’ll be something to look out for then. Okay, Dylan, you mentioned in the paddock after Malaysia that it just wasn’t quite your day, did the car struggle more than others in the changeable conditions, do you think? Dylan Lopez: Yeah, unfortunately Max and Sergio both reported the same issues in the debrief in switching on the wet tyres during both periods of rain last time out. We took on a setup path which we thought could deliver us solid pace in both wet and dry conditions but it didn’t bear any fruits for us on Sunday unfortunately. SP – FVTV: Okay, the Team Representatives will now take questions from the floor. Theo Parker – VM Magazine: Will, we saw some great strategy calls on Vasquez’s way to the win in Malaysia, was it primarily James or the team making those decisions? WI: It was a mixture but ultimately it came down to James. We gave all the information we had but the driver on track had the feel, I have to admit I thought he was being too brave but they were wonderful decisions, by both James and our strategy team. Ken Heasman – FV Post: A question for Ahmed: Malaysia saw Highwind score an amazing sixth place finish with Thierry Xylander, and though he had driven well in the two rounds prior, he was still finishing well outside the points, and Zientek is yet to qualify for a race at all. Against that backdrop, how do you foresee the rest of your season going? Was that sixth place simply a flash in the pan, or can you challenge for points on a more consistent basis in the upcoming rounds? AC: Right look, I'm not going to sit here and say we are, what, 7th? Ish? In the standings on pure pace because that would be bs, but Thierry has been fighting in the midfield all season, he's dragging the pace out of the car and we're far from slow. We're solid, Thierry is flattering us with his performances but we have a good base and upgrades are coming every race. Give us a few races and I believe Thierry will be putting us in the points on merit. Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: We’re here in South Africa for Max’s first home race driving for Lopez. How do you rate his chances this weekend, can he get in the mix for points with the home crowd cheering him on? DL: Max has been absolutely buzzing for this weekend since we left Malaysia. He was born and raised something like 20 minutes away from the track, and last time I heard he requested somewhere in the vicinity of 130 tickets for friends, family and colleagues that have all played a major role in getting him to where he is today. Hopefully all the Braai we’ve been treated to as well as the home support for Mister Max can get him into the top ten for a few reasons. One, it’ll send Jo-burg into delirium and two, it’ll hopefully give us some job security when it comes to avoiding Q1 appearances. Peter Duggan – FutureFV.com: It’s a great time for Phoenix with your second place in Malaysia as well as your young drivers going well in the junior series. Eskola currently leads the standings in VWRS with King in sixth, then you have Barney Hoskins sitting second in VERS. So, with all these young drivers doing so well, where does that leave your line up situation for 2023? AE: You’re absolutely right Peter, The Hive Academy is really doing brilliantly at the moment and starting to bear fruits. Ott [Eskola] is going to give us a real headache if he keeps up his current for throughout the season, he’s been absolutely insatiable so far with his results in VWRS and is making a real case for himself being in a race seat at Phoenix next season. Chloe [King] is looking seriously impressive, too, so far in her rookie year. Barney [Hoskins] too, as you say, looks strong in VERS, I’m sure all three have bright futures ahead of them. We cannot forget Dan [Zientek] though, he’s had a tough start to this season at Highwind, especially in contrast to Thierry, but he’s certainly still in with a chance of driving for Phoenix in 2023. Klaus Ammermuller – RTV: My question is for you all. As we are, here, now, you are four Team Principals who have all witnessed great differences in success and experiences for your teams. Some with wins, some with podiums, some with nothing, but all of course with a clear high point somewhere. So my question is; what is the high point that you yourself see as a standout moment for your individual teams? DL: Max Meyer winning the 2022 South African V-Prix. Haha, of course that’d be a dream. To date of course we have 2 great highs, in Wagner’s first podium with the team last season in France, which he thoroughly deserved after all the commitment he put into the team for 5 seasons. It has to be no secret though that the 2 years with Kangur at the wheel were special. He won our first ever V-Prix with what I think was one of the greatest individual drives FV has ever seen, and he also delivered another 5 podiums throughout last season. Alex over here has himself a pretty decent driver. AE: Nodding in agreement Yeah, Allar is undoubtedly a top, top talent. There’ve been some really great on-track moments for Phoenix down the years and the last race is definitely right up there. However, for me and most of the team, a moment that really stands out in our history is when we were saved by Lucas Wilson. That was an absolutely pivotal time period where we either would’ve ended up where we are now or, well, Phoenix would have ceased to exist. So, for me, anything that comes after that would’ve never happened if it wasn’t for Lucas’ investment. WI: Well it's hard to look past last week! Our first points, our first win, Nikolai's win, Jean's podium! It may be recency bias, but I hope James' win is really the start of a new age for Ingram. AC: Huh, hmm, I wonder, what could it be? Hmmmmm.... yeah look, our points in 2019 was amazing, not least with Niko and Diego at the helm, but Malaysia this year means so much. We were so anonymous last year and it hurt, yes it was on us but it still hurt. After all that, for Thierry to hold off Ruiz on merit in the rain, to lead briefly, to chase down Halvosen for points and then end up sixth... its a stupid comparison but this was like a championship for us, and it's going to be a day we remember for a long time. Oh okay it's Diego's win in the US! SP – FVTV: It just had to be Diego’s legendary win, didn’t it? I think that tops most of our favourite FV moments! Okay, we’ll move onto the Fan Questions now, the first one here is for you Dylan. “How concerned are you about the results picked up by other teams in Malaysia, leaving you currently in the danger zone when Pre-Qualifying changes in a couple of races?” DL: There’s still a long way to go and we’re always ready to take the fight to the teams around us. But with the way the opening races have panned out, points are going to be king more than ever to get out of Q1. In the past when we were battling for P7, 8, 9 and so on, we were fighting for the back of the top ten and generally steering clear of the teams below us. Today however anybody is capable of collecting those points and swinging the pendulum every which way, so hopefully in the next couple of races we’re able to take the opportunities as they come to climb out of the bottom five. SP – FVTV: It’s going to be one heck of a battle. Okay, next one here for you Ahmed. “Thierry Xylander has been a revelation for Highwind, shocking everyone by even qualifying let alone scoring points. I'd like to know how this has affected your other driver, Daniel Zientek, who has failed to even qualify yet. Has he been demotivated by his lack of success? Are you debating giving either Bergkvist or McLaughlin a run? Mr Easton can answer this too about his young driver if he'd like.” AC: Look, context matters, always. Dan is a rookie, a young one at that, against a guy who's clearly among the best on the grid at the moment. Obviously he's not over the moon with the DNQs but he - and we - know that for him, it's a learning process. Right now his biggest problem is confidence, he has struggled with the power of these FV cars. But we are working with him to get through that, and I'm confident that once he makes the race, he'll improve tenfold. AE: I mean, of course, I can’t exactly comment on the atmosphere in the Highwind team around Dan, how he’s conducting himself or his motivation levels. But, I do know him well and I’m sure these early struggles will only drive him on in his ambition to get to grips with the car and eventually get to the level that Thierry is currently at. Highwind is a great team who look after their drivers which was the main reason for us sending Dan there for his Formula Virtual debut, I know they’ll do everything in their power to grow him as a driver. SP – FVTV: We’ll stay with you, Alex, for this next one. “Has new Deputy Team Principal Sven Schubert already an impact on the team?” AE: Maybe it was Sven’s influence that brought us our first podium! But no, Sven has been brilliant already in the short time he’s been at Phoenix. He’s a guy with a huge amount of knowledge and he’s really driven to be successful. It’s quite unusual to see someone join a team and immediately command respect from everyone, but that’s just what he’s done. Sven certainly brings a huge amount of professionalism to our management team and I think we’ll reap the rewards from that. SP – FVTV: Deputy Team Principals seem to be the way forward for certain teams now, for sure. Okay, Will; “Your driver James Vasquez is emerging as a superstar in the sport. Do you worry he leave you for better opportunities or will Ingram be a championship contender next year?” WI: James has driven brilliantly, and I hope he'll continue to drive his Ingram brilliantly for many years to come. SP – FVTV: He does have a great home at Ingram. Okay, final question now, to all of you. Being here in Kyalami poses plenty of unique challenges, one of which being how cramped the place feels with fifteen teams setting up shop for the weekend. There were rumours from series CEO Nic Morley, earlier this year, that we may once again see a sixteenth team entry slot opened up for 2023. What are your opinions on this? AE: I think you’re right in what you say, Scott, it is incredibly cramped at some tracks as we all try to funnel in on small access roads, but luckily Phoenix’s truck is only a tiny thing so we don’t have as much trouble as the likes of Downton or Porsche Mathershaw with their gigantic vehicles! But, in all seriousness, it’s the same for everyone and we’ve had sixteen teams before – admittedly briefly – so it’s easily possible. I think it’ll be great if the grid expands to sixteen teams again. As long as the new entrant understands the sport and brings excitement and enthusiasm, then I’m all for it. It’s good for business to have fresh faces with new ideas to prevent the sport from stagnating, as well as being excellent to have more people enjoying this great series! We welcome extra competition in this sport! Something I’d like to say, though, I’m not sure what the others guys here will think but if we’re having a new team come in – either to replace an outgoing team or as a sixteenth team – I think it’s important that they should be allowed to enter the driver market as early as possible to allow them to attempt to get the line-up they want. DL: People like Shaquille O’Neal would need a garage to themselves here. The pit facilities here along with Interlagos are bloody small and tight for the 15 of us. 16 would mean we could be storing our tools in a rival team’s garage next door! As for expanding the grid for 16 teams, I’m a little bit on the fence. I don’t think it’s worth it unless you expand the grid. Adding the extra 16th team to what would then become a 6 team fight in Pre-Qualifying for 6 racing seats to me is not as appealing. All the teams who have entered FV since AMR and my team in 2014 have all started at rock bottom, and sitting on the sidelines for the majority of the debut season sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. However, upping the grid to 28 or 30 immediately gives the teams fighting in Pre-Qualifying more reason to feel optimistic about their chances on race day. The opportunity arises to finish high enough to get out of Q1 on a countback of 12th places, all the way up to crucial points paying positions. If something like this were to be the place going forward then I’d be all for it if I were somebody looking to step foot into the wonderful world that is Formula Virtual. AC: More teams means more people who could poach our drivers, ugh... no I kid. This is news to me so can't comment a huge amount but if the space is available on the tracks and the infrastructure can be put in place, I don't see why not, if the interest is there. I don't fully agree with Alex though - I mean, you raise a fair point but I also think the choice of new teams shouldn't be rushed. And I do disagree with Dylan, personally I'd much rather have a team in Q1 than not have a team at all. Meteor rarely feature and I still see Shane in the paddock every race passionate as ever - maybe too passionate based off his last interview... WI: It's really interesting listening to my fellow Team Principals talk about this. I think overall I mostly agree with Dylan. While I'm sure there are many teams who would add personality to the grid, it would seem harsh to increase the size of the overall grid without increasing the number of cars in the race. I realise there may be logistical problems if we had a larger start grid so I suppose ultimately I trust in Nic! I am also generally in favour of giving the new teams as much access to the driver market as possible, as Alex said. Again this can be difficult as teams may only decide to pull out at the end of the season. SP – FVTV: It’s certainly a very interesting subject, hopefully we hear more from the FVA on the matter soon. Thank you to the four of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here today and thank you to everyone at home tuning in. Make sure you join us tomorrow for Friday Practice ahead of the South African V-Prix!
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