Statement from FIRST Team Principal Adam Blocker:
“It is with great pleasure from all of us at FIRST Motorsport that we’d like to announce the signing of three time Formula Virtual Champion Enrique Ruiz to drive the number 73 FIRST Motorsport entry in the 2024 Formula Virtual season. Enrique is arguably the best Formula Virtual driver in history, and we are extremely honored to have him joining our team. His many years of experience in the series combined with his ability will be incredibly valuable to us. His signing is a motivation for everyone at the team for multiple reasons. For one, we know that if we give him a car that is competitive he will deliver results. On the other side, we know that if performance is lacking it will not be because of Enrique. Enrique signing with us shows that we are a team with potential, as drivers like Enrique do not go to race for teams that cannot be competitive. On the other side, it puts a lot of positive pressure on the team to deliver a car that can be competitive. We are looking forward to a strong 2024 and are excited to have Enrique onboard. We know that after a tough 2023 season we have a lot of work to do to recover performance next season and it might be a multi-season journey to get back to where we expect to be, but we believe that we can do it. We will announce Enrique’s teammate at a later date.” With the announcement that Enrique Ruiz will be driving the number 73 car, doubt has been placed on the future of long time FIRST driver Felix Perez staying with the team in 2024. FIRST Motorsport typically has let continuing drivers keep their same car number from season to season and has previously stated that there is no hierarchy between the 73 and 74 teams, they are equal status within the team. Perez’s young teammate Stefan Klien also faces an uncertain future with the team after a season being overshadowed by Perez. Klien has only scored one point in Malaysia so far in the 2024 season, while Perez has scored 6 points and has routinely outperformed Klien in both qualifying and race results. The FIRST team has had a weak 2023, but looks to rebound in 2024 with new engineering developments. While the team internally is optimistic about their 2024 car and Ford engine, they were optimistic for 2023 and that didn't go as planned - so only time will tell how the team fairs in 2024.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|