Hello and welcome to the grid for the 2019 Canadian V-Prix from Montreal. My name is Neil Allenby and I'll be conducting the grid walk again for today's race. The sun is out and it is hot, so anyone who's brought their umbrellas will be pretty disappointed. It's the one and only Enrique Ruiz on pole for what is the third time in a row but feels like the millionth time in a row following yesterday session. Then we have the orange cars of Nathaniel Powers and Klaas van Snelheid before Tumo Kinnumen round out the top 4. So onto the track at the very top of the grid, let's see what everyone is thinking as we head towards the race. Just passing the winners trophy, I'm sure Mathershaw know what it looks like having won it four times. Back to topic though, Ruiz is free so who better to start with then our polesitter.
Enrique, Neil Allenby, FVTV, just want to get your thoughts before the race. Third pole in a row but you haven't converted any of them to victory, can you hold off the Downton cars and win or are they faster? For sure, I think we have a good chance to do so. The car was quick in quali, we've had a few reliability issues, but I think if that holds out then we have a good shot at taking another victory. You have a Honda V12 donkey in the back of your car, not literally, while most of your rivals have the V10. Will that extra top speed help you keep your lead down these long straights we have on this circuit? Yeah the V12 for sure will help on the straights and maybe make it more difficult to overtake for the other teams, so hopefully that plays in our favour. Thanks Enrique, good luck for the race. Passing by the Downtons, there's the series CEO Nic Morley chatting with Harry Westwood. In case you haven't heard Westwood are returning for next year and Karl Beckenbauer will be driving for them, though we haven't heard anything in the engine side. Meanwhile, I've spotted the only Mexican on the grid. Felix, you're free now? Not exactly the best race for you last time out in Spain, have you learnt much from that weekend and are you more confident for today's V-Prix? I've had a rough stretch of races with a couple of incidents hurting my ability to get results and the rain screwing my strategy in Silverstone. For today in Montreal, however, I am confident that we can make the Soft tire strategy work to threaten for a podium. The car has felt good in race trim all weekend, really looking forward to it. Zozulya is back in as your teammate after Hoskins' one off race in Jerez, did you learn much new from him or are both drivers mostly the same as teammates? Will provided some interesting feedback in terms of how the car drives that encouraged us to try a couple different things setup-wise, but besides that I was primarily focusing on my own weekend. It is nice to be back with Oleksandr this weekend, he and I get on well off the track and work pretty well together. Great, we will leave you alone now Perez. So now after our discussion with Perez we have passed the Meteors, Mathershaws and Holmqvists, all busy with different tasks. Interestingly we have Beyer and Halvosen starting next to each other after their podiums last race. Then there's the two Phoenix cars, and I'll tell you what, Alvarez has just finished talking to him engineer. Sergio, can we ask some quick question? Somewhat of a mixed qualifying for you, up starting in 15th but behind your teammates Xylander. What are your thoughts and could you have done better? I was pleased with the pace in the car today and I think I.. set great lap, but then seeing Thierry ahead of me I had to accept he did a better effort, good lap from him. Overtaking was really scarce last year, you can probably tell from just your own race. Do you think it'll be easier this year or will track position be key? I don’t think we’ll pass cars any easier this year.. the straight up to final corner is our best chance, we have to hope the DS engine can... compete with Honda. We wish you well for the race. Now we're passing past some of the new guys, Hoskins and Davenport. There's Puccio Giodano for Ocelot, there has been a lot of talk about where he will be next year and reportedly there are multiple teams chasing his signature. Coming closer to the back of the grid, I can see the two Ingram cars just behind a sea of mechanics, but I also see Elroy Wagner, who was talking to his team boss a moment ago. Elroy, pretty poor performance for Lopez in qualifying, your teammate even qualified last. You do start on the side of the track with more grip though, can you make up some positions at the start? That's the plan! We gained a few places with penalties but there's still work to be done! Since Australia really when you had a fantastic race it hasn't been great for your team? Do you know where your pace has gone? I think qualifying is our, oh... Achillesferse. Sorry I don't know English word. But it is currently very weak. Races we are better though. Viktor also scored points in Spain from the back. So we'll see how we go today. Thanks Elroy, we will see you later. We only have a minute or so left, I'm heading back up the grid now towards the top. Most people are busy, many of the drivers have gone to the front of the grid. But I do see two familier faces, or more like voices. Bradley, Nick, quick word before we run out of time? Nick there's a large split between mediums and softs across the field on strategy, which do you think is the correct choice and which of your drivers are you more confident in? Well, I think the question kind of answers itself, it's pretty apparent that nobody seems to know what the fastest tyre will be for certain. That should at least make for an intriguing race, though! I don't know if we can be any more confident in one driver than the other, given the tyre situation. Johan's starting a little bit further up the grid, but I think they've both got a decent chance of making some moves and getting up into the points. Just a case of how the tyre deg plays out. And Bradley, Powers and van Snelheid again up there in second and third, they are both in a championship battle and they are on different strategies. Are they allowed to race today? Always! But first and foremost the aim is to race Ruiz. Hopefully they'll work together to get past him first, then duke it out for the win. Thanks guys, the time is up, now it is time for the national anthem.
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