Franklin Chief Designer William Vancouver is set to be replaced ahead of the 2019 Formula Virtual season, as the 67 year old announces his retirement during the 100th V-Prix in Belgium. Wednesday evening, Franklin eluded to making an announcement of their own “evolution” and scheduled their own press conference to begin shortly after the traditional Thursday team’s press conference. As William Vancouver announced his retirement through his own personal social media, it became clear that Jamie Franklin was holding this conference to shed light on the future of the Franklin outfit.
“William has been with us for a long time, going back as far as 2012, even before Formula Virtual had really begun. Obviously Franklin was still in its infancy then in terms of this sport, but at that time, Nic was putting feelers out for potential teams. Over the last six years, Will has done a great job in leading our design department, and I feel we’ve always had one of the, if not the strongest aero department in Formula Virtual, and whilst we have many talented people in the team, Will was an integral part in bringing that together.” William Vancouver claimed that it has been an honour to serve the team through the last six years. “Honestly, at 61, I thought my career was all but over, and I was getting ready to slow things down and head into retirement, but when Jamie came to me with this offer, I just had to take it. I know Franklin gets a bad rep for many different reasons, but honestly, working here has been the highlight of my career.” With Vancouver’s retirement announced, all that was left was for Franklin to reveal who would be replacing the Formula Virtual legend. “Now, I don’t pay enough attention to lesser teams to know whether this is a first for Formula Virtual or not, I’m sure someone else can inform us otherwise, but as of 2019, Felicia Quinn, will be heading up our design department as the Chief Designer. Felicia, like Will has been a part of the team since the beginning, and at the age of 24, she was one of the youngest and certainly brightest talents we had. Now turning 30, not that age has anything to do with it, I know that Felicia has been able to learn from some incredibly experienced individuals, not only to enhance her existing talents, but also to help her in perfecting new skills in management. She’s clearly the best woman for the job, by far, and we look forward to seeing her work.” “Honestly, I’m so excited for the next stage in my career.” The 29 year old from Ireland began. “Franklin has become such a legendary team in the last six years, and to be a part of that has been fantastic. To now be heading my own department within that outfit is a dream come true. But all the hard work to get here is only the beginning. Whilst William has taken the reigns of the 2018 car, I have been heading my own smaller team to be looking at 2019, which will be the first ever Felicia Quinn design. That car will be my first test as Chief Designer, and I aim to hit the ground running.” Comments are closed.
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