Good morning and welcome to Monza, Italy for the Team Representatives’ Press Conference ahead of this weekend’s Italian V-Prix – round ten of the 2023 Formula Virtual World Championship. Joining us today, from left to right, are; Stefano Gorgoglione of Scuderia Maserati, Shane O’Connell from Eni Lamborghini Squadra Corse, Rai Miyamoto of Ocelot Japan Racing, Harry Westwood from TotalEnergies Peugeot Team Westwood, and then finally Dylan Lopez from Lopez FV Team. Welcome to the five of you. Scott Parkin – FVTV: We’ll begin today with you, Rai. Congratulations on another excellent weekend, last time out in Spa. During the race, did you think you could challenge Downton at any point or was the target always third place? Rai Miyamoto: I think it’s pretty apparent how far ahead Downton are, it’s very hard to catch them or even try and stop them winning without some luck. Had this been earlier on in the season, we may have been more optimistic. However we are just focusing on ourselves. SP – FVTV: Good point, it seems like the team is in a great place though. Harry, yet another good strategy call from the team put Thierry in a great position last race, eventually finishing sixth. It does seem to have been a bit of a theme for Peugeot Westwood this season, making great decisions on strategies, who makes those decisions? Harry Westwood: Haha, thank you. We tried to re-think our approach to strategy this season, as we anticipated our increase in pace compared with 2021/22. I'd love to take the credit, but that has to go to our chief strategist Eloise Gibson - she's the one behind the calls! She's been with us since our return in 2020 and was actually responsible for a few of the calls for Puccio as his race engineer that season when our car came good. She's spent the last couple seasons in a differently involved role but we felt like she was the right woman for the job and since she stepped up, she's helped us out of some tight spots! SP – FVTV: Well then, all credit to Eloise! What a great story. Okay, coming to you now Dylan. Sergio was unfortunate in Spa to pick up damage which meant he was forced into an early pit stop. Without that misfortune, do you think he could’ve potentially challenged for points – on the soft tyres? Dylan Lopez: That was certainly part of the plan. We’re getting close enough to the points every other race that we can almost touch it at the moment. We were also pleasantly surprised nobody else utilised the softs because Sergio’s race pace came to the fore after he made his pit stop and ran in clean air. But in the end it’s an opportunity that’s gone begging to break our duck for the year, but at the same time I’m sure another opportunity will arise between now and season’s end. SP – FVTV: Fingers crossed, it was a real shame for Sergio in Belgium. Shane, coming to you now, Lamborghini’s first season in Formula Virtual has – in my opinion – been a relative success, certainly compared to where the team has come from during the Scuderia Meteor days. What’re the thoughts from inside the team? Is the management team pleased with how things are going so far? Shane O’Connell: Thank you for the kind words Scott. Yes, if you look at our results and pace across the season so far compared to the last three years, there is big progress. If you look to last season, we only appeared eventually on the grid because two teams disappeared to remove Pre-Qualifying, or probably we would have a full year with DNQ next to our name. The small team of engineers did such an amazing job to actually get two cars ready and we nailed the strategy for Mexico but otherwise it was another embarrassing year to follow on from 2020 and 2021. So much has changed in the team even in less than one year since Lamborghini purchased it. The management structure now has, of course, Automobili Lamborghini as the owner. Then Aldo De Lucia is the CEO with myself and Luca Gray as Team Principal and Deputy Team Principal. Andrea Belli has been the Technical Director since the Caliri family bought Meteor and Lamborghini kept Andrea at my request, he is a brilliant technical mind who was a shining light in very dark days from 2020 to 2022. All these people in the management team are happy with the direction we are moving in, we are very excited for the future of this team. SP – FVTV: That’s brilliant to hear, thank you for such a detailed answer! Okay, final question from me now. Stefano, unfortunately the team won’t be participating this weekend after missing the strategy deadline, was this due to a simple administrative error? Of course, it’s a shame that the team won’t be competing at all but, as a silver lining, is it a good opportunity to take a step back and reset for the Turkish V-Prix? Stefano Gorgoglione: We didn't expect to be in this position, here at Monza. Even though it can be considered as a possibility to reset, Monza is always a benchmark for the straight-line speed, which mainly represents our weak point. We have to add the 1,000,000 pounds we have to pay, which represents an obstacle for next years too. SP – FVTV: Of course, that’s a hit that the team really didn’t need. Okay, the Team Representatives will now take questions from the floor. Gianmario Angelino – Sportitalia: This weekend is the home race for two great Italian marques, Lamborghini and Maserati. This time, sadly, Scuderia Maserati will not compete but for the two of you, do you feel pride coming here in front of the tifosi as the home teams? Or extra pressure? SG: Ciao Gianmario! Every time an Italian team races here, the tifosi always bring extra power to the team, it isn't pressure, it's energy. SO: As Stefano says, it gives us extra power to see so many fans driving any Italian drivers and teams forwards. Scuderia Maserati are one of our close rivals but it is sad to see them not competing this weekend. We know where we are right now but we all hope that Lamborghini Squadra Corse and Scuderia Maserati will be fighting for points in this race next season and maybe someday we will do battle for the win. Theo Parker – VM Magazine: A question for Rai and Harry. After the window for driver bidding opened after the Belgian V-Prix, we’ve heard rumours that your teams have been in advanced talks with certain drivers to retain their services for the future. Can any of you reveal details or if there’s any truth to the rumours? HW: Well, I don't know about any rumours involving ourselves - I know Rai has been vocal in the driver market about the likes of Zetticci! But I can confirm that we are very happy with our current line-up, all three drivers are performing at or above expectations. We need to get all the legal stuff squared away before any official confirmation is given, but Peugeot Westwood aren't looking elsewhere for the time being. RM: I think it’ll be interesting to see who makes what moves in the market. First will be strong players in the market this season. Matteo is a driver we are fond of. We don’t hide which drivers we are keen on. However Puccio and Felipe have been doing incredibly this season, the two have a lot of experience under their helmets, from FV to IndyVirtual and eVirtual. They’ll be announcements in due course. Kurt West – FOX: America’s newest revelation, Stew Alexander, has been promoted to the position of reserve driver for Lopez in 2024. Dylan, what are you expecting from him over the next few years and how soon are we going to see him in the car, maybe for practice? DL: Stew’s certainly lit it up so far in the junior series, and up to now he’s more than justified his signature to work closer with the team as our reserve driver next year. This does mean we’ll be saying goodbye to Viktor Östberg and Raj Sharma at season’s end. They have been excellent servants for the team, and a lot of the future successes that hopefully come our way can be traced back to our investment in the pair of them when they were academy drivers like Stewy. We’ll keep watching him closely and at the rate he’s progressing, the world is at his feet. Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: Question for everyone. Last weekend, we had the absolute bombshell news that Formula Virtual’s most successful driver of all time, Nathaniel Powers, will be returning to Downton for one final season in 2024 before retiring from the series at the end of the year. Of course, this doesn’t directly affect any of the five teams here today, but has the news surprised you all? Do you think it’s a shame that Nathaniel will be retiring a few years earlier than would’ve been expected, or is it good to see the older drivers making way for fresh, young talent? SG: Bwoah, actually not a surprise, he's the best champion Formula Virtual has ever had, and his focus is always there. If there's a team you can win in, that's Downton. HW: I'm not surprised Powers is going back to Downton. I understood his reasons for leaving but he's had a tough time since he left the fold. I'm very surprised at his retirement though, I know Schnyder has had the measure of him this year but I feel Nathaniel has a lot more to offer even at his age - especially when you consider Powers is in his third car in as many years while Schnyder has been embedded in AMR for about half a decade now. I know I don't just speak for myself when I say he will be missed greatly in the paddock; we are watching a large piece of our history in this sport walk away. RM: It’s obviously a shame whenever anyone retires, but this is the most successful driver in FV. It’ll be a shame for everyone to not see him in the paddock. However I do like the idea or some fresh new talent being given the chance to battle for titles and wins. DL: He’s too fast. Give the rest of the competition a chance! Seriously though, he’s left his mark on the sport and inspired so many people to follow their dreams and he will definitely be missed by many. SO: It is a surprise, for sure. Like the others say, Powers is the greatest of our sport and it is a shame for Formula V to lose him. But, it opens the opportunity for new talent to close in on his numbers. Drivers like Klaas will get there. SP – FVTV: Excellent questions and answers there, thank you everyone. We’ll now do the Fan Questions before Neil wraps things up. The first Fan Question here is for Dylan. “Rumours around the paddock suggest that Sergio and Max will be staying with the team for next season, have they done enough to keep their drives in your opinion?” DL: I won’t be commenting on the other drivers in my line-up for next season. But as things stand they are more than pulling their weight, consistently getting us out of Pre-Qualifying with a car that isn’t one of the best we’ve ever produced versus the rest of the competition and sitting on the fringes of points. You’ll hear an announcement on that at some point I’m sure! SP – FVTV: Great stuff. Okay, the next one here is for Rai. "The fight for secondnd place in the Constructors’ Championship is pretty close. With the season already half way finished, how do you manage to keep your foot in this battle and start development for next season?” RM: It can hard to budget things accordingly every season. But we make the most of what we can. Like we mentioned before, we take it one race at a time. Looking at the positives and the cons. Seize the day. SP – FVTV: Very good question there and good answer Rai! Alright, the next one here is for, actually, Rai again as well as Shane and Stefano. “It has been confirmed Zetticci will be leaving Downton. As the two Italian teams - and a team that has shown interest in him in the past - is he on the radar for any of you?" RM: As mentioned Matteo is a very young and talented driver. Who will no doubt be on the grid either this coming year or next. He knows we are keen admires. He almost signed for the junior academy way back then. We’ll see what happens. SG: Not today, but maybe, who knows, our door is always open winks. SO: It would be a lie to say we are not interested. Matteo is a great young driver who still has a chance to win the World Championship this year. Currently we don’t have any contracts in place for next season but all three of our current drivers know the situation and at this moment we are all happy. We will see how the next months come and go. SP – FVTV: Very interesting, it sounds like Matteo might have multiple options for next season – which is no surprise! Okay, the next Fan Question is for Harry. “Out of Westwood’s entire history in Formula Virtual, which two drivers, at their peak, would you most like to have driving for you now? Not including Tumo and Thierry.” HW: Man, that's a fun question - thanks to whoever submitted it! I'm going to give a couple answers because nobody can stop me! Basing it purely on performance, I'd have to say a line-up of Poochy boy and Finn would be sublime. Both quick drivers, very professional and gelled instantly with the Westwood team. But if it were down to two personalities I wish I could have back, I loved having Douglas Bacon and Keith Boston together. Both guys enjoyed a laugh and started me on the path to getting into more American motorsports!! And they both helped lay the foundations of what we are now, especially Doug. Thank you again for letting me relive some older days! SP – FVTV: Another great submission there and a wonderful answer Harry, you’ve brought back some great memories for us all there. The next one is for you again, Rai. "Do you think we will see a Puccio or Felipe win this year?" RM: I think it would be amazing to see the team get a win, however Downton are just too far ahead in terms development, personnel and resources. We’ll do what we can to keep at them as much as we can. SP – FVTV: The team certainly seem to be going in the right direction, it’d be great to see Ocelot pick up that elusive third win. Alright, this one’s for you, Stefano. "It seems like SRT and Maserati are the backmarkers in 2023. Do you think that there is any chance of progress with upgrades for this season or is your focus already on 2024?” SG: At the beginning of the year we knew we would have been the backmarkers, and we are still surprised we can fight every weekend to be in quali, but our focus is to win, not to fight for the last spots. The prize is not changing for the last positions, so it's not worth spending too much to fight without having a prize. SP – FVTV: A very competitive spirit there. Right, the final Fan Question is for you, Shane. “Lamborghini delayed the new chassis until a few races into the season, racing the old Scuderia Meteor chassis until that point. Have you seen the expected progress with the Lambo 223?” SO: Oh, finally we got rid of that dog! That old SM221 chassis haunted my dreams! The thing was useless the very first year we brought it, that was 2021. Then we had to use it as the SM221B last season and again as the SM221C for the start of this year! It would be nice to say that we sold that junk to CO.FER.M which is our local scrap metal dealer near Ancona, but no… one chassis has been kept for the museum that Lamborghini will create. What happened to the other car? That cannot be said. Anyway, to answer your question, of course. The Lambo 223 is not a rocket ship but it feels as if we are working with a professionally built car for the first time. Everything does what is expected and improvements are being made all the time. SP – FVTV: I feel as though there may be some sort of story behind the whereabouts of that second chassis, maybe we’ll go into that some other time! But, that’s the end of the Fan Questions so I’ll hand you over to Neil for one final question to wrap up the Press Conference. Neil Allenby – FVTV: This weekend Formula Virtual is at the Temple of Speed – the Autodromo Nazionale Monza – where teams typically like to run with as little drag as is allowed for maximum speed. With the new regulations for next season, how much will tracks like Monza affect your decisions to use a certain variation of front and rear wings for your 2024 cars? SG: Italian teams always want to get good results at home, but you don't win championships like that. Every time you design a car, it has to be competitive among all the races, it has to be efficient, with high downforce and a powerful engine. We have to consider that in Monza top speed is what everybody aims, but if you haven't got an efficient car, you can lose everything in the second sector. Back to the question, we don't design our cars to be good just at one track, so Monza doesn't represent a real issue for 2024. HW: Great question. For us, not that much. It's just as Stefano said, you have to be good everywhere if you want to win. But, for a team toward the back end of the grid? I wouldn't be surprised to see somebody take a gamble. If you don't expect to score points anyway, why not design your car around one or two specific tracks and try to pull off a worldie of a result there? SO: Stefano says it perfectly. We won’t make a car to be good at just one or two circuits for the whole year because then we will be nowhere in a place like Kyalami. But if you are a team who anticipates a very hard year with a very bad car, then why not go in that direction for a standout result like Harry said. DL: Heh. Just going to tell the boys to thrash the throttle and shut your eyes. The speeds reached here at Monza are mind-boggling. Looking at the aero packages for 2024 they’re something all teams are assessing at every race weekend in order to come out with a setup that’s as viable here as Monza, as it is at.. say Kyalami or Adelaide. RM: We can’t say much for 2024, are team are looking at the regulations. Discussions are taking place in terms of approach. SP – FVTV: Excellent. Thank you to everyone who submitted a Fan Question and thank you to the Team Representatives for attending today. We’ll see you tomorrow for Practice and Qualifying ahead of the Italian V-Prix!
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