Good morning and welcome to the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez in Buenos Aires for the Team Representatives’ Press Conference ahead of the Argentinian V-Prix – round fifteen of the 2023 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Bradley Downton from constructors and drivers title champions Dowtnon FV Team, Harry Westwood from Team Peugeot TotalEnergies Westwood, Dylan Lopez from Lopez FV Team, Sven Schubert from Porsche FV Team and Luca Gray of Eni Lamborghini Squadra Corse S.p.A.. Welcome to all five of you! Scott Parkin - FVTV: "Hello from my side! I am excited to say that this will be the first ever press conference here in Argentinia. We are awaiting the first practice session for this weekend, but for now we have some questions for our five principles today.
We will start with a question for all of you: This is the first ever race in Argentinia for FV. What is everyone of you expecting from this weekend? On and off the track?" Bradley Downton: "It's difficult to say really, because as you mention it's our first ever visit. Initial assumptions are that the track looks quite twisty and tight, so overtaking may prove a bit trickier than at some other circuits, which means we need to maximise qualifying and the race start. Off the track, the South Americans are always fairly welcoming, but I expect an awful lot of yellow in the grandstands, supporting Sergio." Harry Westwood: "Well on track I expect that we might endure a tough weekend. Its a track that isn't entirely well suited to our car, but we've got the experience and the adaptability to make the most of it, which is what I'll be expecting off track." Dylan Lopez: "We’ve been letting the drivers rake in laps on the simulator in order to try and get a bit of a feel for the track before visiting this weekend. Luckily, we have Sergio who’s raced here plenty in the past whose experience we can fall back on. He’s been eyeing off his home race ever since it was announced on the calendar. And hopefully his home race can produce both more opportunities for us, and more action for everybody." Sven Schubert: "I expect a big party on and off the track. Argentinans are crazy!" Luca Gray: "Well we don't really know that much about the track itself, but we are hoping to have both cars in the race again. As for the off track, it's great to the support from the fans and the love for the sport in this country." SP - FVTV: "Thanks for all the answers, im sure that this weekend will be awesome in terms of fan support. The next one is for Bradley. This weekend could be the decider for the drivers championsship. Its the battle between your drivers, both of them could be crowned for the first time, both of them with the same machinery. One decisive factor could be the strategy, anything you can tell us about how you want to get this battle as fair as possible in terms of the race strategy?" BD: "It's quite simple how we're going to make this fair, both drivers will be on the same tyre compound - as we've done for the last few races. We give both drivers an absolutely equal chance, but past tyres there is little we can control - the rest is up to the drivers themselves!" SP - FVTV: "Sounds promising! Good to see that both get a fair chance of being crowned champion. Okay, my next answer is for Harry Westwood. Last race was a decent performance for Peugeot Westwood. Both cars in the points, 4th position in the team standings is very likely. One thing that could be likely is Thierry on the podium in the drivers standings. A reachable target for the remaining two races?" HW: "Thank you! We were pleased with how the cars performed over the course of the race, and we got a fairly optimal result. I think it might take a small miracle to get Thierry into 3rd from here! Ocelot and Poochy are in great form, and we'd have to be scoring serious points for that. We're happy focusing on getting the last two races done cleanly to take us into the winter with high spirits." SP - FVTV: "We will see how Thierry will perform here, but regardless of the result here, Peugeots performance this year is promising for the coming years. Next question is for Dylan. Mid-season your team was on a great run of close-points finishes and a P9 finish in Canada. Mexico and the United States V-Prix were quite a "back to reality" - kind of races. With the Argentinian V-Prix, Lopez is the only team to run a argentinian driver. The fans deserve a good result for the long wait for their V-Prix. How does this feel for Sergio dealing with the pressure and keeping the head cool for the race?" DL: "Sergio’s almost been losing sleep waiting for this event to come around. He is so pumped to be here, as are we all. If the crowd is anything like what we saw 12 months ago at the FIFA World Cup, it’ll be loud, passionate, and hopefully give him an extra weapon in his arsenal to be able to sneak a points finish. As for the last 2 races, we just haven’t been able to crack the race pace that this car has, which was brilliantly utilised by Max in Canada. He also has plenty of support here in Buenos Aires so both of our drivers are that much more excited to put on a show for the sometimes crazy fans here, and we cannot wait to let them run rampant on track." SP - FVTV: "Thanks Dylan. Now its time for the questions from the journalists. First one is from Rebecca Parnell - XtremeV. Your question please." Rebecca Parnell - XtremeV: "Thank you Scott. My Question is for Sven Schubert. Hi Sven, now with 2 races left, i guess i can speak for all that a rookie from New Zealand is beating the current Drivers champion is a big surprise. The kiwi took the only podium for Porsche this year and is 20 points ahead of Enrique. What do you think is the reason behind this? Even in races where both had no collision and a clean race, Alex was in front; as we saw in Mexico and in the United States." SS: "He just silenced the doubters with his performance this year. Enrique is one of the biggest challenges for a teammate in FV that you can have and he was brave and focussed from day 1 also he is a really hard working driver on and off the track." RP - XtremeV: "Thanks Sven. I have another question for Luca. Luca, at the same time last season, Lamborghini had a bad run of consecutive DNQs. Now we looking at a great development from last to this year. Being part of the race is now more of a daily business than a real challenge. How do you think about the development? Had the new team entries a decisive role in it?" LG: "I can't really answer that question to be honest. I only joined the team at the start of this year, so I'm not sure what it was like before Lamborghini arrived, but I can say that we've all been hard at work developing this car to be able to get in to races consistently and it's great that we've had lots of support from Lamborghini to ensure consistent race results." RP - XtremeV: "Thanks Luca. That's it Scott." SP - FVTV: "Okay, the next Questions are from Neill Allenby - FVTV. Your questions please." Neill Allenby - FVTV: "Thanks you Scott. My first question is for Bradley. Bradley, We know now for quite a few weeks now that Matteo is leaving Downton. As it stands, we know nothing about a possible seat for Matteo for next year. How does this influence his fight for the drivers title? How does it feel for you Bradley, knowing that Matteo will not be a part of the grid in '24?" BD: "It's no secret we want to have the number one on our car next season, and if Matteo were to win, that wouldn't be the case. However, he's been an integral part of Downton since 2018, and is being given every bit an equal chance as Klaas is to fight for this title. In terms of how it feels for me that he doesn't currently have a contract for 2024, well - we don't know for certain! He may well already have something lined up, but there'd be no reason for him to let us know early. We need to take into account that only six drivers have been announced for next season so far, so there's still plenty of seats up for grabs!" NA - FVTV: "Thank you Bradley. I have another one for Harry. Hi Harry, we talked a lot about your development from a backmarker last year to a regular point scorer this year. Whats to come for the next step? Is there anything to change for next year to keep that performance?" HW: "Yes it's been a huge leap forward for the team this year. The next step is to solidify - we need to be able to do this regularly. Only then can we push on toward our long term objectives. There's a lot to change with changes financially and to the ruleset - the best teams are always learning and swapping out parts of the process that don't work and we're exactly the same here at Peugeot Westwood." NA - FVTV: "Great, thanks Harry." SP - FVTV: "Thank you Neill for your questions, i will finish with a few questions to Sven, Dylan and Luca. I will start with Sven. Rebecca has asked you earlier about Alex performance. Speaking of Alex, he has overachieved the expectation if we keep the current position of Porsche in mind. Give us a review of his first fulltime season in FV, how he developed as a driver in that time and what you expect in the future?" SS: "Of course I was as surprised as everyone in the paddock that he was faster then Enrique from day 1 but I knew he will get better every year so the sky is the limit for him but the real test will come next season when there are certain expectations but I doubt it will effect him in any way he is too focussed and mentally stable for that" SP - FVTV: "Thanks Sven, the next is for Dylan. Dylan, after your departure from Porsche as a customer, you've joined Jaguar and hoped for an upwards trend. In reality, Jaguars powertrain is struggling quite a lot as it seems. What do you think about the current situation and could we see the second powertrain switch in 2 years?" DL: "Our partnership with Jaguar is a program which we believe is in Lopez’s best interests going forward. We’re not considering any other options next season." SP - FVTV: "Okay, simple and clear answer, thanks Dylan. The last question for this press conference is for Luca. Lets take a sneak peak into '24: Lamborghini remains silent for their line-up in 2024. Whats the reason behind this? Dont you think its a good time to at least make some deals behind closed doors?" LG: "We don't feel the need to make a big announcement right now, we've got our options and are happy with where we are." SP - FVTV: "Okay, thank you all. Unfortunately we dont have anymore time for the press conference. We will see us all for practice here in Buenos Aires. Thanks for reading! See you for the last press conference this year in Brazil!"
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