After the unveiling of Franklin's newest concept livery, it has left many in the paddock, and fans as well, whether Franklin will continue their partnership with Honda into next season. Franklin began their successful career with the Japanese car manufacturer, and since have won two Driver's Championships, as well as two Constructor's Championships, giving them a one hundred percent success rate across the board. However, despite having arguably the most dominant car that the team has produced since the series was founded back in 2013, Franklin stand at only 20 points ahead of their nearest rivals, Liverpool, and 26 points clear of third placed team Rossi.
The season began with Franklin looking to have a pace advantage of around a second a lap to their rivals, but due to engine troubles, predominantly on the side of Ruiz, the reigning Champions have not been able to capitalise on their phenomenal pace, some speculating to have lost around one hundred points in the process. Enrique Ruiz was able to claim his second victory of the season, another dominant performance from the Brazilian, finishing the race 25 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Whilst this could still prove a sufficient pace advantage to claim yet another title, at least in the hands of Ruiz, it will prove more difficult than the Championship winning outfit may have originally suspected. If Honda continues to trouble Franklin with yet more engine woes, it would not be unreasonable to suspect that Franklin could look elsewhere for a more reliable power unit. But who could the team possibly partner with? AUDI Having revealed their concept livery, many thought that it could be the beginning of a new era for the Franklin team, with hints on the car that Audi could be a new edition. Obviously this is just speculation, but with VW no longer with Lucas, it would make sense that the German manufacturer would be looking to get back into the series, and who better to partner with than the reigning Champions? DOWNTON The British outfit already supplies three teams in themselves, Liverpool and Ocelot, it wouldn't be ludicrous to think that they would also want to be chasing down another team in the series to cement themselves as the best engine manufacturer on the grid. Their car may not be able to compete for Championships at the moment, at least not this season, but I'm sure they'd be keen to supply the current Champions to give them a better chance of having the Downton name at the front of the grid come next season. FIAT Ferrari are already supplying a race winning team in Rossi, and given that no other team has run that engine thus far, we're unsure whether this is an exclusive deal with the Italian team, or whether they would be willing to supply more teams on the grid. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that one of their subsidiaries can't get involved. Ferrari may even supply a base engine before allowing Franklin to tinker with it their own way, similar to the Liverpool/Vauxhall/Downton deal, and then slapping a Fiat sticker on it. Only time will tell, but it's could be a possibility. RED BULL/FRANKLIN Let's not forget how many teams are currently building their own engines at the moment. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Franklin are considering building their own engines. It would of course be the more expensive option, but with the right resources and people involved, could prove the more successful option, and with Red Bull reportedly investing heavily in the team, they could cover the costs of the manufacturing process, and in return gain more publicity with a title sponsor role in the place of the engine. Franklin-Red Bull is not out of the question. OTHER With speculation growing over the relationship between Franklin and Honda, I wouldn't count anything out of the question at the moment, and I'm sure everyone who is anyone within the FV world have been in contact with the team to supply the Champions.
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