Downton FV team principal Bradley Downton has confirmed triple World Champion Nathaniel Powers ignored an order to let team mate Klaas van Snelheid back through after inheriting the lead thanks to an undercut.
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Klaas van Snelheid has taken a third consecutive pole position ahead of tomorrow's Bahrain V-Prix, while team mate Nathaniel Powers backed him up on the front row.
Klaas van Snelheid has continued his run of form since the summer break by topping practice ahead of the Bahrain V-Prix, with team mate Nathaniel Powers confirming the teams pace with second fastest.
Hello, and welcome back to the press room! It's been a while but we're excited to get back to hearing from the team owners before the race weekend. Today we're joined by Arthur Lapierre of Coca-Cola Porsche Team Mathershaw, Bradley Downton of Downton FV Team, Adam Blocker of FIRST Motorsport, Rai Miyamoto of Ocelot Japan Racing, and Lilly Westwood of Westwood Racing Technology.
Scott Parkin - FVTV: Let's kick things off with the championship leader, Bradley! Coming into this season, everyone expected Mathershaw Porsche to run away with this one. However, with six races to go, you lead the constructors championship by 31 points, and Powers leads the drivers championship by 2 points. Have you been surprised by how close your cars have been to the Mathershaw Porsches, and how much of this title challenge has arisen from the poor luck they've suffered? Bradley Downton: We've been incredibly surprised. Don't get me wrong, we knew that - once again - the boys and girls had built a brilliant car, but everything was telling us that Mathershaw - with the powerhouse that is Porsche behind it - were going to blitz this season. However, you raise a point I'd like to counter. Mathershaw have had a number of non-scoring finishes, either through bad luck or - how do I best word this, not quite optimal - strategy calls. Simon was real unlucky to be collected by Kinnumen after he spun at Silverstone while leading, and then the collision with a back marker in Spain that pitched him off into the barriers - again while leading, coupled with the two gearbox failures for Ruiz while in first and second respectively, have cost them nearly one hundred points. But we haven't had an issue free season either. The engine failure for Nathaniel on the final lap in Spain, and the tyre problems for Klaas at Indianapolis while leading, but somehow we've still picked up a handful of points on each occasion. However if you count just the pure technical bad luck, we've both lost one first and second respectively. I think we've just been more consistent, and that is what has put us in the fight. SP - FVTV: Wow, great in depth answer! You've certainly had your share of misfortune, that's for sure. Sticking with you, do you think you can carry this momentum moving into the final stages of the season, and how worried are you of a return to form from Mathershaw Porsche? BD: Mathershaw are a mega team, and the car hasn't got slow. It's still mighty fast and is taking a monumental effort for our side to keep up, but it does look as though we can challenge now. So in a way, yes - I do think we can carry this momentum forwards, but it's going to require a sublime effort from everyone involved. From our side, they're still very much the favourites. SP - FVTV: Interesting, thanks very much! Let's go to Adam next. Since your debut in 2016, we've seen a fairly steady rise to the front from FIRST Motorsport, and now this season you find yourself firmly in the top three, frequently mixing it up with the behemoths that are Downton and Mathershaw Porsche. Do you think you can keep pushing them to the end of the season, and are we seeing the FIRST team cement itself into the group of front runners for future years? Adam Blocker: I don't know if we can push them enough to beat them but I don't expect us to fall off very much. In terms of future performance we expect to be at the front for the foreseeable future, although with the new technical regulations next year concentrating on the correct development areas will be critical just as much as financial health. SP - FVTV: The new regulations absolutely look set to create a new challenge for the grid. A couple of questions for Rai now! You started the season reasonably well, scoring points in each of the first seven races, including a couple of double points finishes. However, with the threat of Westwood and Phoenix looming ever nearer, the team has failed to score in the last three. Is the car struggling with development or have we just been visiting circuits poorly suited to it? Rai Miyamoto: We are well aware of our drop in pace which has been a concern with how close Westwood and Phoenix both are, but we hope we can maybe get lucky and have something go our way. It's slightly been upsetting slowly dropping off the pace. SP - FVTV: That's completely understandable, it must be very frustrating. Developing on from that, the paddock has been rife with rumours and speculation over the now infamous tweet mentioning upcoming firing of staff. Will we be seeing further information on the restructuring of the team, and what kind of gains are you hoping for from these changes in both the short and long term? RM: Obviously its never nice for this sort of news to leak out or anything but it's something we need to try in hope of seeing if anything changes and results improve. We will need to see long term how things go before I can comment further. SP - FVTV: Well we all hope that these changes within the team are for the better! Let's move on over to Arthur Lapierre then. It's no secret of the fact that your team has suffered from poor luck this season. With Ruiz only scoring points in 60% of races this year, and Simon finding himself off the pace of the Brazilian, are you concerned with the reliability of the car, and do you think you can make up the ground to Downton? Arthur Lapierre: I think reliability has been a concern for sure, but the performances from the drivers have been great, and the sheer bad luck we have experienced is unfathomable. It must even out, and even if it doesn’t, look where we are. I definitely think we have the pace to close the gap and overtake Downton in the standings to take the championship titles. SP - FVTV: I think with the exception of yourself and Bradley we all hope you and Downton have a fight for the title that goes right down to the wire! Sticking with you, you've taken 60% of the pole positions this season, and pole typically seems to lend itself to a good result the day after for you. Is qualifying an area the car struggles in and perhaps more important than you anticipated, or is that just because of the strategies you chose on the occasions you qualified well? AL: I think the car is very good over one lap, but I think the days where we do qualify well have been accentuated by our good strategy - the days where we’ve taken risks, it’s cost us because of qualifying poorly, so I’d definitely agree it’s important. Overall, we’re hoping to push on. SP - FVTV: Thanks very much! Lilly Westwood: Who wrote that question? I don't think acheiving 60% of the season's pole positions means a car struggles on Saturdays! SP - FVTV: Haha, very true! Let's move to you for a question then Lilly. You’ve recently enjoyed point scoring finishes in the last few races and slightly close on in the teams ahead. How does this effect where you think you can end up in the championship now compared to the start of the year? LW: Thankyou! We've certainly seen a really sharp increase in pace lately, thanks to the work of the folks back home in Bolton. It's been a surprise as even being out of the sport for a year and a half, you lose your points of reference for what money puts you where, but we're optimistic of holding position and possibly catching Ocelot. That is cautious optimism however, Phoenix are right there with us so we definitely need to keep an eye on our mirrors for them. SP - FVTV: We've definitely seen an upturn in form for both Mancunian FV teams. Back to you Adam, you claimed your maiden victory with a 1-2 courtesy of Perez in Silverstone, and Hoskins claimed a fantastic win in your home race in Indianapolis recently. How does it feel to be part of the group of race winning teams in Formula Virtual, and how does that impact your approach and the team's morale? AB: It affects team morale for sure, just puts everyone in a good mental state to do their best work. It also makes everyone trust each other and work together that much better. Stuff like that is hard to put a value on really, it's really important. I don't see the wins significantly impacting our future approach, the main thing that would change our approach would be somehow beating Mathershaw Porsche or Downton in the constructors', that extra money would open up some nice options as extra money always does. And honestly the way our wins have come about made them very satisfying. We felt that we probably should have won earlier (2017 or 2019) but things never lined up well. When we finally got a win it was a 1-2, and our second one was a home win with both drivers each getting a win. That's a lot of boxes ticked between our first two wins! SP - FVTV: That is a lot of boxes! Congratulations to you and the whole team. Finally back to Lilly, both your drivers are set to move to different teams next year after some strong showings in your car this year. Do you regret this situation or do you have confidence in your drivers for next year, and when can we expect them to be announced? LW: Well Tumo is an excellent guy and a quick driver. Given our extensive work with him, we know exactly what he's capable of, and know he can deliver to the same level we've seen from Puccio and Karl. As for our other driver, I can't say any names but I can definitely say he's capable of performing to a high standard. I'm excited for our lineup next season - which we plan to reveal before Istanbul - but I'm also very excited to see how my current chaps perform at Ocelot and Cheema respectively. It's a very strong grid, I feel, and full of plenty of old school names. SP - FVTV: I think everybody in the paddock was thrilled to see Westwood and Kinnumen set to be reunited! Also, congratulations on your 100th V-Prix this weekend! I'm sure you're excited? LW: I certainly am, thankyou! I won't be taking any questions on the matter however, as we have a rather special, lengthy feature coming up in the next day or two for it; so stay tuned! SP - FVTV: We look forward to seeing it! Right, we didn't get any fan questions due to the fact this conference wasn't announced and has happened rather suddenly, so we'll get to the questions for all teams. Bahrain last year was an intriguing race. The mediums were clearly quicker, but it was a battle to make the tyres last, and those at the front found themselves caught up in unfortunate incidents. With warmer temperatures this year, do you expect the medium tyres to live up to last year's form, or will the safer bet on hard tyres be the way to go? BD: It's tricky to say. Obviously it doesn't matter too much what I give away here as our strategies are locked in, but I think teams towards the front will opt for harder tyres for the security. Mediums were tight on a 2 or 3 stop last year, and this year is a little warmer, plus we've seen those at the front not quite being able to keep their tyres in as long this season. Those further back may try something different, but up front I expect the top teams to go toe to toe on the same strategy. AB: I think it'll be another race similar to some recent races where both the medium and the hard are viable options and it'll be down to fine margins and specific race scenarios as to which ends up being better. Fine margins mainly referring to stint lengths and how many stops end up being required for both. AL: I think with the hotter temperatures, anyone on the softer rubber will be taking a big risk that I can’t see working to be honest - the potential for the extra stop is an issue, but also the overheating tyres are something I think that will cost those guys dearly. RM: I'd be hoping the medium tyre can last around here but we will need to see, Bahrain is a special place for us as you know, being a team who won under these lights was amazing. But here's hoping this track works for us again. LW: I find myself having to agree with Arthur here. With the warmer temps and the cooler air temp allowing us to turn the engines up somewhat, the tyres - particularly the rears - are going to be subject to some serious punishment. You're going to need a lot of clear air to make the mediums work, let alone anything softer. SP - FVTV: Really interesting views! Finally, we all know the question well, what are you aiming for this weekend, and where do you think you'll end up? AL: Aim: double podium with the potential for the win, and I think that’s achievable with some luck. AB: Primary goal is to get both cars in the top 5, that'll be solid constructors' points. We know we don't necessarily have the outright pace at every track to fight Mathershaw and Downton so we absolutely have to minimise mistakes and score solid points every round. But it would be nice to get another podium or win for sure if the opportunity presents itself. LW: We're definitely aiming for a second double points finish of the season. The circuit suits our car well and team morale has never been higher. However we have to be realistic; I think realistically I expect us to linger in the bottom end of the points, with the opportunity to pick up the pieces of any disasters in front of us. RM: Unsure what to expect, just hoping for a lucky results into some points really. BD: We have fond memories of Bahrain, having secured our maiden Constructors title here in 2017. I think the long straights will favour us after seeing the pace at Indianapolis and Montreal, but it's too close to call. I think we'll be right in the fight at the front with Mathershaw - FIRST snapping at our heels as they have all season - but I couldn't possibly call who will come out on top. Hopefully us! SP - FVTV: Right, that's all we've got time for today! Thankyou all for turning up at such short notice. I look forward to seeing you and all the fans during Free Practice tomorrow! |
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