Good morning and welcome to Adelaide, Australia for the Team Representatives’ Thursday press conference ahead of this weekend’s Australian V-Prix – the opening round of the 2023 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Dylan Lopez of Lopez FV Team, Bradley Downton from Downton FV Team, Sven Schubert of Porsche FV Team, Adrian Arnello from Arnello Milner & Ronson Autosport, then finally Alex Tunnicliffe from Toyota Kōwhai Racing. Welcome gentlemen. Scott Parkin – FVTV: We’ll begin today with you, Sven. First of all, welcome to your first ever Press Conference and welcome to the world of running a Formula Virtual team. How has your previous experience up to this point prepared you for the challenges ahead? Sven Schubert: Thank you! Actually it’s my second press conference after I stepped in for Alex once last year. I know the important ingredients to win so I´ll try to mix everything together the right way and win. SP – FVTV: Of course, apologies, I should’ve said your first as Team Principal at Porsche! But, it certainly sounds as if you know what you’re doing, good luck to you and the team this weekend. Coming to you now, Alex. As I said to Sven, welcome to your actual first ever Formula Virtual Press Conference! However, contrastingly to Sven, you’ve been around for some time, haven’t you? Could you, for anyone who isn’t familiar with you, give a bit of a background on when your interest in FV first started? Also, how does it feel to finally have your team, Kōwhai, officially beginning a race weekend in the series? Alex Tunnicliffe: It feels amazing to see the Kōwhai name here in Australia, I keep having to pinch myself to remind myself that this is actually happening. For me personally it's been a nearly 10 year long dream, I've been a fan of Formula Virtual since I was a young engineer getting in everyone's way in the paddock, hopefully some of the more established team bosses don't remember that too much! Kōwhai Racing itself came into life back in 2020 and it's only grown since then, obviously I was very fortunate to work for Adrian last season where I learnt a lot about running a team and I hope I can bring some of that knowledge back with me this season. SP – FVTV: I remember bumping into you a few times back in those days. Again, best of luck to you and the team on your debut this weekend. Okay, coming to a more familiar face now with you Adrian; pre-season testing seemed to indicate a huge upturn in form for AMR. With the added bonus of – statistically – the greatest driver in Formula Virtual, Nathaniel Powers, joining your team for this season, surely the sky is the limit? Adrian Arnello: The sky is rather high! Yeah we're feeling pretty good about where we're at. We put a ton into this car, so when we saw the testing times we knew that work is paying off. Dmytro drove a great few seshes (sessions), and Nathaniel and Finn have done a ton of sim work to boot. Having a driver of this calibre is most definitely going to play a part this season, and we reckon Finn will keep him honest! SP – FVTV: I’m sure that’s what everyone wants to see, fingers crossed. Okay, Dylan, if Ken Heasman’s pre-season testing analysis is accurate, Lopez look to be in trouble again after a horrible season last year. How confident are you that you can surprise everyone this weekend? Dylan Lopez: We were quite hampered with Sergio missing out on getting a full day’s running on Day Two. I don’t think we’ll completely understand the makeup of the grid until after the race, so I’m always remaining optimistic for our chances! SP – FVTV: Last one from myself, to you Bradley. This is the first time in four years that you’ve not come into a season as the defending Champions. Has the winter felt any different to you and the team in general in terms of motivation for taking that top spot back? Bradley Downton: There was definitely a slight sense of disappointment that we were unable to take a title away from last season, but I think the entire team also appreciates that the run we'd had since 2017 always had to end at some point, and at the very least we were still in the fight, and only lost out to a departing team who were chucking every spare resource they had into the car. In terms of the motivation though, nothing is different. We have the same hunger every year to go out there and do the absolute best we can, and win as much as possible. Every year is a totally clean slate - whether you were the Champions in the previous season or struggling to make races. SP – FVTV: It’s that hunger and drive that helps to make Downton such a formidable team for anyone to go up against, excellent. Okay, the Team Representatives will now take questions from the floor. Danny Webber – ABC FV: Question to Adrian, Dylan and Alex. It’s the home race for AMR and Dylan, as well as being the closest thing Kōwhai have to a home race. How happy are you all to have Adelaide, in our great country, as the season opening race again? DL: I have to admit I got a speeding ticket last year in the Adelaide hills, therefore Melbourne’s better. No bias! In all seriousness though it’s great to be back at the track after the long winter timeout. And it’s even better alongside being around to be able to catch up with old friends from yesteryear in the build-up to the event. Many other places we visit across the year that can be tricky so it gets the team in a great headspace leading into a new season. AA: G'day Danny mate! It's wonderful to be back home where the beer is cold and the cars are loud. Adelaide is a fantastic circuit for such an occasion! Dylan, let us welcome our Kiwi brethren to these streets too, and see how we all go. AT: I'm a bit sad to not be in Melbourne, Adelaide doesn't have quite the same Kiwi contingent so we might be relying on the Aussies to help us out with some support this weekend! It's great to be here though, Australia is a great place to open the season and I'm looking forward to it. Freddie Starr – Manchester Evening News: Bradley, as the world of Formula Virtual has changed around you coming into this season – old foes disappearing, new challengers to the throne potentially emerging, some teams undergoing huge transformations – Downton remains stable and domineering. Have you already identified your biggest threats, not only for this season but for the mid to long term as well? BD: As per my previous answer, it's difficult to say because the order here changes quite a bit year on year. I think we have an idea of who might be able to be consistent challengers this season and in the mid-term, but there's always going to be a team who could spring a surprise - pop up out of nowhere for a season and do well and then slide down to the back again the year after, and identifying who those might be is considerably more difficult. Klaus Ammermuller – RTV: Greetings, Sven. Here you are, you have stepped into the top job at one of the biggest manufacturers in Formula Virtual, the defending World Champions Porsche, who have undergone a huge transformation since last season with Team Mathershaw leaving the team solely to Porsche. As all the eyes of Germany are now on you, with the pressure of being a German Team Principal in the proud German team, how do you plan to begin this new role? Have you already made some changes in the team? Where do you plan for the team to be in three seasons? SS: It’s probably the biggest task in FV history to this day to take over one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula Virtual, thankfully Robert is still available for any kind of help if needed but I don’t feel pressure to fail. Pressure gets the best out of myself and the team so we are ready. We haven’t made too many visible changes which you can see, in the background it’s a completely different story. Our aerodynamics department in Weissach got a complete overhaul which will come to fruition if we are lucky next season or 2025. Our plan in three seasons is to be at the same spot that Arthur and Robert left the team. First in Drivers’ and Constructors’. Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: A question for you all. This season is being dubbed as the biggest shake-up in the Formula Virtual grid in the history of the sport; with three new teams – SRT, Kowhai and Maserati – and three teams – Porsche, Lamborghini and Peugeot – going through huge changes. My question is; do you think it is crucial for every single team to establish themselves this year in whichever position fits their ambition, as it will set the order for the foreseeable future, or is that absolute nonsense? AA: It's an exciting time for FV! I'll echo what Dylan said here, I don't think the new teams will upset what is already upset from season to season. We've all had ups and downs across the years and that'll keep going, so it's eventual that the newbies catch the oldies. For us, we're just gonna keep up the work we're already keeping up on and see where we land! DL: Plenty of teams over the past have been up and down and up and down in the pecking order, including us and AMR. Almost every team bar Mathershaw Porsche, and Downton in the last 5 seasons have been yo-yoing around the grid across seasons. I don’t expect that to change even with new teams entering the sport. AT: I think we will have to work hard throughout the year for our position, while we do want to get off to a good start Formula Virtual is such a competitive series and as Dylan and Adrian have said there really is no guarantee that anyone can keep their place. SS: I agree with what has been said. I don’t think a lot will change for the new teams. 2024 we will see a bigger shakeup I believe. BD: I don't really have much to add to what the others have said to be honest. This series is so fluid, there's absolutely no guarantee for anyone. SP – FVTV: Excellent, it’s certainly interesting to hear what you all think about the everchanging landscape of Formula Virtual. Okay, we’ll quickly do some Fan Questions before we finish up. The first one here is for Bradley. “After a weird first day in testing, Downton looked unstoppable. Is this going to be 2017 all over again?” BD: We'd all be very happy in the team if it was, but I definitely don't think so. I firmly believe AMR are considerably closer than anyone appreciates, and both Nathaniel and Finn are top drawer drivers and will do wonders with that car - so I think we're in for a tough fight. We also can't rule out Porsche and Ruiz - they've purchased an incredibly competent team with some exceptional people - so they're always going to be a threat. SP – FVTV: The next one is for you, Adrian. "Pre-season testing was very promising for AMR, do you think Powers and Schnyder are able to fight for podiums, wins or even for the championship?" AA: It was bloody good wasn't it? Dmytro did a fantastic job of pumping out decent lap times, and we reckon we've got a few tenths still to go. But nah we're gonna stay realistic too, we've had a lot of years towards the back so we're not smashing into the kegs yet, but that first podium would be very sweet! If it's a few, even better. If it's a win, I'll need a cowbell around my neck so the team knows where I stumbled off to. And for a championship? I don't reckon there's a pub in this country that'd be ready for us! SP – FVTV: I think there’d certainly be a fair few taps running dry! Okay, the next one is for you Dylan. “Both Sergio and Max had tough seasons last year, obviously not helped by the car. Are they both under the same amount of pressure to perform this season or is Max favoured by the team having come through the academy?” DL: No driver is getting preferential treatment. Sergio has been all class and professional since arriving last season. He and Max have build great relationships amongst themselves and the team. I trust that they’ll rise to the occasion when their moment arrives. SP – FVTV: I’m not sure why anyone would think Lopez don’t treat their drivers equally, how odd. On the subject of Sergio, by the way, everyone at FVTV and I’m sure everyone around the paddock wishes him a happy 30th birthday today – although he might not thank me for reminding him… sorry Sergio! Anyway, the next Fan Question is for Alex. "Best team of the newcomers: Do you think your team can stay at this position for the whole season and do you think your team is able to get out of pre-qualification?" AT: I think it's going to be a tough and competitive season, we would love to stay ahead of SRT and Maserati and we will be giving our all to make sure that happens but it will be neck and neck to get the bragging rights. I'm ambitious about our hopes for getting out of pre-quali, I reckon we can certainly compete for it and it would be really great to see us lining up on the grid come Saturday. SP – FVTV: The battle of the new teams really should be enthralling this season. Alright, the final Fan Question is for you, Sven. "How much time are you willing to give Alexander to get to know the team and the car? And do you think he has the talent and speed to be a future champion?" SS: All the time that he needs. He's got the perfect mentor in Enrique to be his successor. SP – FVTV: There aren’t many better, that’s for sure! Okay, final question now, to you all; which team do you predict will be the team to beat this weekend, and what is your team’s personal goal for the opening race weekend of the season? AA: We reckon it'll be Downton, with Klaas taking the spoils. But we've got this awesome feeling we'll be right up there! The target is the third row, and solid points to open the season up with. DL: I wish it were us! Downton and Porsche were right up there as they so often are, but any dog on their day could spring a surprise this weekend I reckon! AT: I'm gonna join in with my colleagues and predict Downton, it's hard to look past them. Would love for someone to spring a surprise though! The target for us is definitely a race start, we want to get the Kōwhai name out there and show that we mean business, we can't do that if we are packing up on Friday evening. SS: Downton und ourselves. BD: It'd be silly for me to sit here and pretend we didn't have a chance, because we are very much hoping to be in contention for the victory at the very least. It certainly seems that we already have a target on our backs, so I suppose I have to say we're the team to beat - but don't rule out either AMR or Porsche! SP – FVTV: Lots of expectations on Downton this weekend then, I have to say I agree. Anyway, thank you to our five Team Representatives for kindly coming in to answer the questions today and thank you to everyone for submitting Fan Questions. We’ll see you tomorrow for Practice and Qualifying ahead of the Australian V-Prix!
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