After race one in Fuji, the former world champions have announced changes to come for the 2020 season. No, this has nothing to do with Ellington being dropped by Meteor. The change comes in the form of Ivan Soto, a legend in Franklin's past, the man responsible for being able to turn Franklin's season around and within a year go from a lowly midfield outfit to Championship contenders.
The change comes as a result of Franklin's torrid first race of the 2020 season after deciding to continue their tenure in the sport. The former world champions finished in a lowly 23rd and 24th place. "When faced with this many challenges ahead, against a grid that is as competitive as this, you have to get the right people in the right places," Says Franklin. "We don't have the same resources we once had, we've had to downsize in so many areas just to keep afloat now that we are funding ourselves, but thankfully we do have friends to turn to. Ivan was able to help us out years ago, and he's the man we need now. Not that I don't have faith in Felicia, I think her talent speaks for itself after last year, but this is a very different challenge, and bringing in Ivan is the right call. He's been in this position with us before, and together with Felicia, I think they are capable of pushing us back towards the forefront," The Russian engineer has been retired for three years, after leaving Franklin nearly two years into his contract with them to explore other Motorsport opportunities. In 2017 he retired after a stint in endurance racing. "I have quite enjoyed my retirement, spending time with family, but Motorsport has a certain itch that needs to be scratched from time to time. I still have passion for sport and have kept in contact with Jamie for number of years. This will be very good challenge for me professionally and hopefully we can repeat past successes," Soto has a history of being able to turn teams around, and famously did so for Franklin nearly a decade ago. Will the Russian be able to rekindle that magic in Formula Virtual, or will his retirement have slowed him down? Only time will tell.
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