Good morning and welcome to Hockenheim, Germany for the Team Representatives’ Press Conference ahead of this weekend’s German V-Prix – round eight of the 2023 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Roy Seifert of Bitburger Seifert Racing Team, Sven Schubert from Porsche FV Team, Adrian Arnello of Arnello Milner & Ronson Autosport, and then finally Rai Miyamoto from Ocelot Japan Racing. Welcome gentlemen. Scott Parkin – FVTV: We’ll begin today with you, Adrian. It’s probably fair to say that the last race, in Silverstone, was Finn’s low point of the season so far; he spun out then was involved in multiple incidents with Phoenix’s Ott Eskola. Finn now finds himself slightly adrift of Zetticci and Klaas van Snelheid as we approach the midpoint of the season, do you think – in some ways – he now has less pressure on him after falling behind slightly? Adrian Arnello: Yeah nah, wasn't our finest day there! We checked the cars out after the race, and those lads were lucky to even continue. Both had suspension rod damage, just slight, but enough to upset the balance. Finn copped it hard with another impact, and then it's damage limitation from there. I don't think a couple of races changes his mindset much to be honest! He's still hungry and still in this fight. The pressure is there, but he's managing it quite well. I don't think he'll settle for third! SP – FVTV: Wow, it sounds like the damage was much worse than anyone was aware of. Okay, coming to you now Rai. After four seasons without a podium, you’ve now had two in three races thanks to Puccio. How good has it felt to see an Ocelot driver back up on the podium again and do you think this is just the start of a great run for your team? Rai Miyamoto: It’s been fantastic to see both our drivers battling it out for third in the constructors and we hope there are more podiums to come! It’s been a while since we were there and now we are. Maybe just maybe with a bit of luck we can be on the top step for that rightful third win. That we lost out on due to a wild tyre all those years ago. SP – FVTV: That’s a throwback, a great quiz question for any big FV fans out there would be: whose car did that tyre come from? Get in touch with your answers! Okay, Sven, it’s been a strange season so far for Porsche with bad luck hindering good races and a missed deadline earlier in the season ruining your weekend when the car looked to have decent pace. However, Silverstone saw the team come away with your biggest points haul since the opening race of the season as you slowly begin to reel in Phoenix for fifth. Is that the aim or do you have your sights set higher? Sven Schubert: It has been strange indeed! We had not a lot of luck this year this is true, in Silverstone our two drivers battled more with themselves which cost us an even better team result so our best result could’ve been even better. Our car gets better every race and if you see how close it is in the fight of P3, if we can reel in Phoenix we can reel in Westwood and Ocelot as well. SP – FVTV: Fighting talk there, excellent! Okay, my final question before we move onto the Fan Questions is for you, Roy. Unfortunately, Silverstone was the second race in a row where both SRTs failed to make the grid after a double DNQ in Pre-Qualifying. This means that the team has had just one classified finish all season with two retirements and eleven DNQs. Realistically, is this about what you expected before the season started, being such a small independent team with little time to prepare in advance for your first season in Formula Virtual? Roy Seifert: Well, it does not sound very good that’s true. I've expected that it will be hard considering that our development for this year’s car gone in the wrong direction as you can see. It’s true that we don’t have the financial backing of Downton and Porsche - just to name the big names - but it's the first season in FV, nobody expected much. We wanted to be on top of the three new teams, I can say that we failed that goal with the 11th place finish from Kōwhai. SP – FVFV: Well, for now that’s certainly true but anything can happen in Formula Virtual! Right, we’ll do the Fan Questions now. The first one here is for you, Rai. “You already have two podiums this year. Is this season a success in your eyes and what you expect for Ocelot in the next two years?” RM: It’s hard to say really as the new rules have thrown a gauntlet on everything. So we will need evaluate and relearn a few things. Seems to me we just about getting things right and then the rules change. Happens this year, happened in 2019 after our amazing season. SP – FVTV: The next one here is for Sven, ooh err… it simply says “Sven I want a child from you.” SS: I know you do. Come to my hotel room at 10PM for 25 seconds of disappointment. No I´m kidding. SP – FVTV: Let’s try to keep it PG with these questions in the future please! Moving swiftly on, the next one is for you, Adrian. “Your team has lost ground in the championship in the last couple of races despite the car still being fast. Is this because a lack of experience being at the front of the field and has Powers performances been below your expectations?” AA: I think it comes down to a few different things: inexperience plays a part, sure, but don't forget who's in the 91! Nathaniel is still getting used to what is proving to be a tricky ride, so bit more time needed we think, yeah. It's a bit of this, bit of that. Needing to temper expectations is one I think - not going for the big moves when cars are about to pit anyway, not burning up the tyres either, which we feel is a big one with the car this year. Also just a package thing - our newest updates won't come till Belgium and we think the others are getting more parts out than we can just yet. See what comes mate! SP – FVTV: Great. Okay and finally, one for you Roy. “So far this year, Jean has struggled to get through the notoriously difficult Pre-Qualifying session. Do you think Karl deserves a chance to show what he can do?” RS: We've spoken a lot with Jean about what we can do to get him up to speed. As it stands now, there is nothing we can do. As hard as it might sound, it’s all on his skills to get the most out of the car - I know the car is bad - but Danilo got through pre-qualifying three times this season. There is no excuses, he was hired to be the team leader, to give Danilo advice so Danilo could learn some things from Jean, right now it’s the other way around. Jean is under pressure, we know what Karl can do, as it stands for Germany, Danilo and Jean are the drivers to fill the seats. SP – FVTV: Intriguing, sounds like there’s some pressure mounting on Jean. The Team Representatives will now take questions from the floor. Theo Parker – VM Magazine: Roy, as we approach the halfway point in SRT’s first season competing in Formula Virtual, what is your vision for the future of the team? Are you already building for next year? How will you approach the huge regulation changes for 2024? RS: What we can say is that we stopped developing this year’s car in France. The car is so far away from better results, that I decided to start working on next year’s car early on this season. The concept is ready, now we just need to invest in the right spots. The future of the team is to get points in the first place. If that will be next year, in 3 years or in 5 years, I cannot tell you. In terms of drivers, I’m not sure. Danilo signed a 2-year contract so he is fixed for next year. As we all know, Jean wants to retire at the end of the season so we have an open spot. We are looking in all directions, whether it will be eVirtual, VWRS or free agents. For 2024, like I said before, we have not started yet, but I promise, next year will be a better year for us. Danny Webber – ABC FV: Adrian, seeing AMR going toe to toe with Downton this season has been an absolute dream for so many Aussie FV fans. How can you ensure this season won’t be a flash in the pan? AA: It's been good yeah? Unreal to see after many years floating around the back end. We knew one day this would happen and we're relishing it for sure. We are already investing heavily into 2024 to make sure we keep the momentum going, yeah. Not sure if we'll take our foot off the throttle this year though - it's mega close! Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: Question for Adrian, Rai & Sven. Last week, I asked Bradley about the difference between racing the likes of Mathershaw and Franklin to this new crop of challengers, such as AMR, Ocelot, Porsche and Peugeot. My question to the three of you, following the departure of Franklin and Mathershaw leaving the Porsche operation, are you all seeing this as the chance for your teams to become the new regulars as the biggest teams in Formula Virtual? SS: I took over one of the all-time top teams in FV. We’re now called Porsche but in our hearts we’re still a bit Mathershaw. So I still see us as one of the biggest teams. AA: Regulars, mate! I don't think we've had a compliment like that for a while! I think we can do it yeah, but it needs to be a continuous improvement from our side to ensure next year's car (and the year after) keeps that momentum going. It's next year that will tell the tale for sure. We're gonna keep giving it everything we've got this year to keep the fight up, but next is anyone's guess at the moment! RM: The aim is always to continue to develop, learn, educate and deliver, constantly on repeat. We of course would love to be involved with the big teams; we’ll do our best with the budget we have. It is a goal of ours to be able to finally join the big teams and it’s a well-known secret. Hitoshi Ouchi – FansOfOcelot.jp: Rai, this season so far we are seeing Ocelot – the pride of Japan – at its best since the magnificent 2018. Do you think it will be difficult to keep Puccio and Felipe at the team as the driver finances change for 2024? RM: We are very happy with our pairing of drivers and they both know they have full support of the team. We will see what next season brings but things will develop as they will next year. Klaus Ammermuller – RTV: Hi Sven and Roy. We come to your home race here this weekend although SRT’s true home is the Nürburgring. Is the feeling for you different to come to race in Germany compared to other countries? Would you like to see the Nürburgring added to the Formula Virtual calendar? And if Formula Virtual could race at the full Nürburgring circuit, or at a rebuilt full Hockenheim circuit, which would you prefer? SS: It feels like coming home especially for us when we have less than an hour from our factory to Hockenheim. That’s why we will see a lot of Porsche flags in the stands! No, not for me at least I’m not a big fan of the Nürburgring. That’s actually difficult, I think the Nordschleife would be too long so the old forest Hockenheim it is for me. RS: First of all, the trip to Hockenheim is not the longest, that’s good. The Home V-Prix is something special, especially if it’s the first ever home V-Prix. There is some kind of pressure, the pressure to deliver and get a decent result on home soil. Nobody wants to disappoint at home. For your second question, don't listen to Sven, he’s lying. He just does not know that he likes the Nürburgring. Nah jokes aside, I would love a race at the Nürburgring, it’s Germany’s most legendary circuit, it’s our circuit. If there is one thing I could wish for the next season - apart from a competitive car - it’s a race weekend at the Nürburgring. Peter Duggan – FutureFV.com: Sven, in the history of the team in its Mathershaw days it was always famed for producing unbelievable young talent. So far, Porsche has Timo Ziegler as a youth academy driver but are there plans to increase the amount of Porsche Young Driver Academy drivers? SS: Probably next season. We try to concentrate all of our focus on Timo for this year and we will see how he develops. Neil Allenby – FVTV: My question is for everyone. Looking ahead to this weekend, what are each of your personal goals for your team here at Hockenheim? SS: Give our home fans a good show! RM: Hoping everyone has a safe and fun time while here. Maximising our battle for third is key. It’s very close. RS: Simple, to get out of pre-qualifying. It’s our biggest obstacle at the moment. If you saw the last Pre-Qualifying, I’m not very optimistic, but I will take a surprise result. AA: We think back to Felix's front row start here, and feel he deserves to see an AMR up front again! So we're going for gold in quali, and if we can turn that into the win we never got, that would be stellar! Mainly, however, we need to keep out of trouble this round. SP – FVTV: Okay, we’re just about out of time here so we’ll wrap it up now. Thank you to everyone for the great questions and answers, make sure you join us tomorrow for Practice and Qualifying ahead of the German V-Prix!
1 Comment
BurningBlaze05
18/8/2023 09:46:51 pm
Sven, I want a child with you.
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