As Formula Virtual gears up for it’s tenth season, we look at five talking points ahead of the opening race. Powers to Lucas
Of course, the biggest story over the winter – and even one of the biggest stories in the history of Formula Virtual so far – is that of Nathaniel Powers moving from Downton to Lucas. The five-time World Champion has decided to search for a new challenge beyond the relative safety of driving for the winning machine that is Downton. Powers and his new team looked quick in pre-season testing, now all eyes will be on them to see if they can start the season in the best possible way. The four rookies This season, there are a total of four rookies making their debuts in Formula Virtual; Matteo Zetticci at Downton, Daniel Zientek at Highwind, Stefan Klien at FIRST, and Will Taylor at Phoenix. While Zetticci and Zientek have had the conventional path to FV, the latter two have had very much the opposite. Klien – still only 24 – began his single seater career in FV3 in 2016, where he finished fifth amongst the likes of Zander Brynildsen, Otso Toivonen, Maxi Thunstrom, Zhivko Dimitrov, Rafael Palou, and James Thompson. Three seasons in VWRS followed, finishing fifth, third, then finally second, picking up eight wins in three years. It was in 2018 that the Austrian first became FIRST’s reserve driver, a position which he held for four years before finally making the step up to Tier One with a drive at Highwind in eVirtual last season. After a win in eV, the departure of Will Hoskins from FIRST to Franklin opened the door for Klien to finally get his chance at FIRST in 2022. Taylor, meanwhile, has had an even longer wait for his FV debut. Will made his FV2 debut way back in 2013, joining mid-season with British Engineering. The Brit then spent three seasons in VWRS, where he was solid if slightly unspectacular, finishing fourteenth, ninth, then ninth again, before moving to Rodeo Racing in IndyVirtual for 2017. IndyVirtual seemed to suit Taylor as he picked up a win and a further two podiums on his way to sixth in the inaugural season of the series. Sticking with Rodeo for 2018, Taylor once again won a race and notched up another couple of podiums, finishing fourth in that season’s standings. Unfortunately, the series was discontinued for 2019 leaving many drivers without a drive until the new eVirtual series began in 2020. Now 28, Taylor knew he had to make the most of the new opportunity and signed for Jaguar, where he has spent the last two seasons. The partnership proved to be successful, with Taylor winning two races over the two seasons, with a further six podiums, finishing third then second in the World Championship. Following his successful spell in eVirtual, he was snapped up by Phoenix to finally claim his spot on the FV grid. Will is now 30 years old and will become one of Formula Virtual’s oldest rookies when he makes his debut in Japan. All four rookies have their own individual reasons to prove a point this season, and it’ll certainly be intriguing to see how they each fare in their debut season. Are Franklin and FIRST really on the back foot? Coming out of pre-season testing, all signs seem to point towards the fact that Franklin and FIRST, two of Formula Virtual’s typical frontrunning teams, appear to be on the back foot going into the new season. FIRST have spent the last three seasons establishing themselves amongst the top teams in the sport, with good progress made each year symbolising the ability of the American team to not only challenge the traditional ‘Big Three’, but to actually stay there consistently. It is well known that pre-season testing does not necessarily represent the final order – far from it in fact – but clearly FIRST have found themselves considerably worse off than in recent years. Have the huge financial pressures associated with competing at the top taken their toll on the team’s development for 2022? Were they heavily sandbagging, only to surprise us all in Japan? Over the next few days, we’ll find out. Meanwhile, Franklin had an even worse pre-season. The three time Constructors champions found themselves faster only than Highwind and Scuderia Meteor, slightly cut adrift from even the back of the tightly-packed midfield. Of course, as with FIRST, it could be a case of Franklin heavily sandbagging but, if not, there is a very real possibility of the team – now led by Felicia Quinn – dropping into Pre-Qualifying. The possible struggles of these two great teams highlights the ultra-competitive nature of Formula Virtual, especially in the modern era. The return of Peugeot The Westwood team surprised the paddock last month when they announced at their livery reveal that they have made the switch from Porsche to Peugeot power. Peugeot first entered Formula Virtual in 2014, after purchasing the Meteor team from Kazuki Armos to become a full works outfit. The short-lived venture lasted just one season as, mid-way through 2014, Peugeot sold the team back to Armos and full control was handed back to Meteor Motorsport. Meteor kept Peugeot as an engine supplier for the following season, with the French manufacturer extending its engine supply to British team Lucas. Unfortunately, it proved to be another ill-fated move as Lucas lasted just five races before withdrawing. Meteor had a reasonable season, finishing eighth, but made the decision to switch to Virgin for 2016; leaving Peugeot without a customer for their engines. Fast forward seven years and the French manufacturer are back. Westwood’s new title sponsorship deal with Red Bull shows that the Bolton-based team clearly have strong financial backing and a works engine supply from Peugeot could be just what the team needs to eventually claw its way back to the position it once proudly held as the best of the rest behind the top teams. Rule changes The Formula Virtual Association (FVA) have brought in a number of rule changes for the new season; the addition of street circuits to the calendar, changes to the Pre-Qualifying format, the reduction of tyre compounds, the abolishment of blue flags, and the lowering of ride height on the cars. Watching the teams negotiate tracks like Adelaide and Detroit, with the possibility of more in the future, will be absolutely intriguing. Until now, FV cars and drivers have never had to contend with the unique demands of street circuits, so expect some unusual results! Pre-Qualifying will now feature the bottom five teams, with ten drivers competing for six spaces on the final grid. This increases the potential for surprises if any of the ten cars experience issues in the Saturday morning session, which could prove to be very welcome for the likes of Highwind and Scuderia Meteor. The number of tyre compounds available to teams each race has been reduced from four to three, with the Super Soft tyre being removed. The effects of this remain to be seen, but the FVA believe it should create closer races and emphasise strategy even more. The riskiest and most controversial rule change is the removal of the blue flags. Blue flags act as an alert that a faster car is approaching from behind, so the driver must allow the faster car to pass in a safe manner. However, historically in Formula Virtual, backmarkers have relatively frequently caused incidents when adhering to the blue flags, which has led the FVA to make the decision to abolish them. This will mean that frontrunning cars will instead have to pass backmarkers as they would any other rival, which will add an extra challenge to any driver fighting for a win. Finally, the lowering of the ride height on the 2022 cars will be a popular change amongst spectators. The consequence of this change is that we will now see sparks produced from the underside of the cars in certain circumstances, adding to the spectacle. These changes are sure to make Formula Virtual a very different challenge in a number of different ways, on and off track. The 2022 Formula Virtual World Championship is sure to be one of the best seasons yet, so stay tuned!
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