Ecotricity DS Automobiles Team Phoenix have become the first team to announce their driver pairing for 2020 as the news was broken on the team’s official Twitter page earlier today. The news comes less than a week after Sergio Alvarez – who has driven for Phoenix since they joined Formula Virtual at the start of 2018 – scored his, and the team’s, joint best finish last time out in Spain. The Argentine has scored twelve points so far this season after a pair of seventh place finishes, and seems to have fairly easily had the measure of rookie teammate Thierry Xylander so far in 2019. Xylander, currently on loan from sister team DS Mathershaw, has signed a permanent contract with the British team where he has scored two points from his first seven races. The pair will once again be supported - in the reserve role - by the ever-present James Thompson, who will enter his fifth season with the team next year. The Brit, who began his Virtual Motorsport career in FV3 with Phoenix back in 2016, was visibly thrilled; “Signing the contract renewal was an incredibly easy decision for me, I’ve been here with these guys since 2016 and it just gets better and better, Phoenix is my home. I’ve built a great relationship with Sergio over the last eighteen months and with Thierry since he came in at the start of this season, the three of us really help each other to develop on and off the track and just want the best for the team, but of course I’m always pushing for a chance to get in the car.” Team principal Alex Easton, back at the team’s base in-between the Spanish and Canadian V-Prix, gave his thoughts; “It’s great to get it announced and sealed so early on in the season as it gives the guys the security that is sometimes necessary when you want the best out of a team. Sergio has, in all honesty, put the car in positions we didn’t think possible – both this year and last year – so naturally we wanted to keep him around. Thierry is still a teenager, just! So the potential is absolutely huge, the sky is the limit for him really. I think it shows how far we’ve come over the last few years for a young driver of his talent to sign a permanent contract with us. And then of course we have James staying on as reserve again - he’s a great lad who knows the team inside out, and helps enormously with the development of the car with his endless hours working in the simulator. Everyone in the team is - quite literally - buzzing to already know who'll be involved next year and it's fantastic to be able to plan for the near future in the way that we've been able to do." The team currently sit eighth in the standings, two points behind Ingram and two ahead of Lopez. The team head to Canada - where they finished eleventh and twelfth in 2018 - amidst rumours circling regarding their, as well as DS Mathershaw's, engine plans for next season.
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