Hello everyone, and a warm welcome to the Austrian V-Prix here in Spielberg! Today, from left to right we'll be hearing from Alex Easton of Phoenix, and Dylan Lopez from Lopez on the back row. Making up the front row we have Ingrams’s William Ingram, last race winner Robert Mathershaw and Bradley Downton of Downton!
Reporter: So, let’s start with you, Robert. Congratulations on the 1-2 last time out! I think it came as a bit of a surprise to paddock, especially after your struggles in qualifying. Was anyone in the team expecting this type of result after qualifying, and even half way into the race, especially with Kangur not even getting into the top ten? And is this result important for the team after France? Robert Mathershaw: After what can only be described as heartbreak in France, the entire team wanted to pick ourselves up and show what we are capable of. Practice showed our potential, but for one reason or another, qualifying was less than impressive. After the session, we knew there was potential for a podium for Adrien and a strong score for Allar, but I’d certainly be lying if thoughts of a 1-2 crossed my mind. Reporter: Speaking of Allar, its fair to say he’s been having a tough season until last time out, bad luck and collision have held him back. However, he put that behind him to get the victory. We're starting to reach the half way point of the season, is this a good time for him to get that break when you need to close the gap to Downton in the points? RM: Allar’s season has until now very much been a case of what might have been. His potential and pace have always been apparent, but things just didn’t come together. We have to be honest about the fact there was a hint of good fortune in Allar winning in Spain, but it’s no less than he and the team deserved after the start of the season we’ve had. I have a lot of faith in everyone in this team, whether that be Adrien and Allar driving, my guys at the track or everyone back at the factory, and we are going to shoot down that gap to Downton as well as we can. Reporter: Exactly what we want to hear! Coming over to you Bradley, Powers was doing quite well, keeping Inman behind him when he looked faster, and was possibly in the battle for victory until Vocquelin drove into him. What was his reaction after the race, and does this add pressure on him to try and make up the lost points? Bradley Downton: As we were, Nathaniel was fuming. That kind of incident should absolutely not be happening on a race circuit. No if’s, no but’s. He’s not going to be playing it any differently to how he has been so far, and it’s been working to date. We’re not even halfway into this Championship yet so there’s a long way to go, but of course lost points are never good. Reporter: Moving to your other driver, it wasn’t the best of weekends for Klaas, not really being in the battle for the win. He did fall behind Simon due to a slower pit-stop, which could have cost him a podium finish. Will the team be looking into why he fell behind or is it something you have to accept or move on? BD: There was a slight issue with one of the guns but in all in all we still had a pretty decent stop, the DS Mathershaw guys and girls were just fantastic. Kudos to them all, we need to work harder and make sure we’re not bested next time around. Reporter: Great, we'll be coming back to you! Moving on to you, Will, it was another good race for you last time out, Mattson scoring points again. The team have made a step up from last year, points are starting to become regular when last year you didn’t get any. Mattson has been in great form also; would you say he has improved from last year because of the increase of pace or has he been in a different mindset this season? William Ingram: Jean is a consummate professional - but we all know it's easier to motivate yourself when there are potentially big rewards. Beating FUN to finish 17th wasn't motivating - challenging for points regularly is. While I didn't doubt his commitment at all last season, he has picked himself up a little Reporter: On the other hand, Vasquez has now had two DNFs in a row, both due to engine failures. Has there been any problem with the Honda engines and if so, have you got down to the bottom of it? Or is it just dumb luck? WI: Honda have provided us with a brilliant engine this year and we are just a little unfortunate that we've been afflicted by this two races in a row. A couple more and I'll begin to ask more questions, but currently I remain extremely happy with our partnership with Honda. It's all good experience for James as well, after the highs of his podium he's experiencing the other side to the sport and I have no doubts he'll be stronger for it Reporter: Couldn’t agree with you more! Now Dylan, so far it has been a decent season for you, your cars have been around the midfield or just behind the points. In recent races, Ostberg broke into the top 10 and last time out Wagner was just outside the top 10. Do you feel the team have made progress since the start of the season? Dylan Lopez: I feel since the departure of Westwood we’ve been given a better opportunity to score points thus far, so it’s a little bit difficult to judge. The stats do say that we’ve scored in multiple races though, despite our worst fears being no points at all! We’ve been on top of the moon when finishing in the 10, especially when Viktor showed his potential with that P9 at Paul Ricard. Having a former world champion as his teammate in Elroy is helping him in learning to maximise the car’s potential. With that in mind we’ll be looking to keep pushing and eeking out everything we can this season and beyond. After all we reckon 6th is still achievable for us! Reporter: Your test driver Lopez took part in free practice in Spain and wasn't too far off Wagner, being within half a second of a world champion is surely going to attract a few people’s attention. He's a candidate for the FV2 title also. If he manages to perform there, could you see him in a race seat within the near future? DL: MJ as we call him was actually supposed to run in Elroy’s car, but due to Viktor’s stomach bug on Friday, we took no chances with him and gave.. Lopez his car (giggles). It’s incredibly unique having a driver who shares the same surname as myself. If he does continue on his merry way in the junior series, not even the sky is limit for him. We’re excited. Reporter: Would be interesting to see him in a Lopez! No, I haven’t forgot you Alex, it’s been a good few races for Davenport, taking his first points of the season in France and backed it up with a solid 12th in Spain. He had a tough season last year, a bit like Mattson’s as we mentioned earlier, but so far your car has been easily in the midfield. Has this raised his motivation? Alex Easton: As you say, Carson did have a bit of a tough season last year; FUN were unfortunately struggling and it was perhaps a bit of a shock for him to be scrapping it out right at the back. When he signed for us, we made it pretty clear that we fully expected to be rooted to the back this season, so he was prepared for another tough year. As it happens, we’re much higher than anyone expected which is really helping to motivate Carson even more, as well as Sergio providing tough opposition for him to try to beat every race! Reporter: So far you are 10th in the constructors’ championship, which has certainly been unexpected, however teams ahead of you for example FIRST and to a lesser extent North Star seem to be slower then you. Do you think it's possible to climb up the standings before the end of the season? AE: I think it’d be a really tough ask. Tenth was way beyond our wildest dreams before Melbourne, but it soon became apparent that tenth in the standings might actually be a fairly achievable aim as every single person involved with Phoenix has really worked their socks off this year so far and yeah, we do believe we’re now a solid midfield team.. which feels incredible to say! With Westwood unfortunately having to pull out that obviously provided us with a stationary target to overtake, which we managed when Carson came home tenth in France. As far as catching North Star on points, we don’t think we have an advantage over them to be honest, but I think it could be a cracking battle between us and them for the rest of the season! As for FIRST, it’ll probably require some luck to outscore them, but we’re hoping we can manage it. Reporter: It will be something to watch out for! Now, again some new fan questions for everyone! So, going in the same order... For Robert, this says: With Allar ever improving as time goes on, are there any plans for anymore young drivers to come into FV, either in a DS Mathershaw or somewhere else? RM: We've got a great Youth Academy set up, and I think the fact that Allar is showing his potential is testament to that, as well as a previous DS driver performing well for one of our rivals. Thierry is reaching the point where he needs time in a race seat in FV to be honest, and Jules Barclay is getting that way too - time will tell how we will provide that for them, but we are certainly open to a number of possibilities. In the longer term, we will always aim to develop talent for our cars as we have done since the beginning, but if we need to pay big money to hire drivers from other teams, then that is something we are very willing to do. Reporter: Hopefully there will be more new drivers following in Kangur’s footsteps! For Bradley: Who is the best driver to ever race for Downton, excluding your current pairing? BD: Excluding the current guys, easy – Marcus. Reporter: That is probably the popular opinion! For Will: What are you focusing more on; catching Ocelot or staying ahead of Holmqvist? WI: Despite Ocelots protestations - we're aiming for 5th. We've capitalised on our good start but there's clearly a large gap between ourselves and Ocelot. We're now looking over our shoulders and making sure to keep the edge over Holmqvist. Reporter: Can’t say I disagree with you! For Dylan: Do you think 7th in the Constructors championship is in the bag? DL: No way hozay, with more races like of that in Malaysia, anything’s still possible. Teams like us or Pheonix could win a race if the heavens open to the extent of which they did at Sepang, so we have to remain on our toes and ready for everything. Reporter: That is certainly possible, anything can happen! For Alex: As a small team, do you think you’ll fall away in terms of performance as the season goes on? AE: Unfortunately, I think it’s inevitable that the teams around us with bigger budgets and more experience are likely to out develop us as the season goes on. However, our small team is full of real hard workers who will use whatever resources we have to keep up that fight for seventh. Reporter: I think plently of people hope you do! Ok, so that’s all of those done, thanks again to everyone who sent them in! Now, something that was a bug talking point after last race: The Powers/Vocquelin crash. We recently heard that Vocquelin has a ten-place grid penalty. Do you think it was deserved, too harsh or too soft? Goi- Sorry, Dylan, you want to start? Go ahead DL: First of all, do we have an hour? No? I was looking forward to not seeing Seb on track here in Austria, In a nutshell though, I think the stewarding has been a bit of, no, a complete joke for quite a while now. With the exception of Beyer’s penalty, to say it’s been ridiculously lenient and inconsistent is an understatement for mine. The incident with Ruiz and Kangur in Sepang was the final straw in terms of my faith in the stewarding. Something really has to change and fast, because I fear it’s only going to get worse. It’s not only the incidents that aren’t getting penalised though. It’s the ones that don’t even raise the eyebrows of the stewards which are just deadset ludicrous. Too many drivers are getting away with the most blatant daylight robberies almost every single race! I honestly think to myself after most race weekends, that whatever they have to say in defence, which I’m not interested in hearing anymore, that their fear of making guilty drivers upset is not something I will ever support. It’s been absolutley bull. It drills the idea of driving recklessly into the driver’s heads, because they know these unacceptable precedents will almost certainly clear their names. I really wish I would never have to let out such a rant, but I’m passionate for the sport. I want it to fierce and competitive, but first it needs to be fair and just, because it’s been anything but and I’ve had enough of it. I hope they’re listening. RM: I think it was a stupid incident from a driver who has been under a lot of scrutiny this season. The car is not what it should be, and he’s simply been brought into the series far too early in his career. As for a punishment, sending him to the back of the grid is going to have no effect on his starting position, but a race ban is harsh. Time will tell what Nic and the FVA stewards decide, but I’d be inclined not to be too harsh on the kid - he will have learned his lesson for sure, it was a heavy impact for him as well. To be honest though, I agree with Dylan to a certain extent. There’s a lot of pressure on the stewards to get things right and ultimately they’ll never be able to make everyone happy. However, I feel when an incident is investigated, the teams involved in the investigation are taken into account too much which results in some teams getting lenient penalties. I’d never say that is deliberate, but the stewards are inherently going to treat an incident with championship connotations very differently to a backmarker making the same move. Consistency is key, and if we can achieve that I’ll be very happy. BD: Dylan has nailed it really. Regarding the incident in Spain I did seek clarification from the stewards following their decision, and I understand why they took the decision’s they did, however I can’t say I agree still. Reporter: Could you elaborate on this? BD: No. That information is for the stewards to make public if they so choose. WI: I wouldn't say I agree with Dylan - I would hope that the sport encourages the drivers to take risks. Obviously the incident involving Beyer was ridiculous and Vocquelin's driving also left a lot to be desired, but when drivers go wheel to wheel I'm happy for the stewards to err on the nicer side. I am in favour of a larger pool of stewards however - Nic has a tough job. While it's been mooted that Harry Westwood and Ahmed Cheema should join the panel, I think a larger panel would be better. Perhaps 5 team principals and Nic look at the incidents. Obviously the team principals would have to be unrelated to the incidents, but I'm sure a fairer system could be devised. AE: It’s really not any of my business, although dangerous driving like that sorta becomes everyone’s business when there’s someone causing clearly unsafe racing conditions. All I’ll say is that I think Sebastien’s incredibly lucky to be here this weekend. As Dylan said, we don’t want young drivers to think they can just drive that carelessly and get away with it, it sets a really bad precedent. Maybe it’s something the FVA need to look into, maybe we need some sort of meeting, I’m not sure. Reporter: Wow I didn’t expect that! Well it seems there are mixed reactions. So now final question everyone: what’s your expectations for this race, who do you think will win and who will surprise us? RM: As ever, our expectation is a podium minimum, and the aim is victory. The weather forecast is looking ominous as well, so I’m hoping for a clean race with a minimum of error and incident. As for the biggest surprise package, my initial thought was that Ocelot would be the surprise once more, but at some point we will have to stop calling them the surprise package because I expect them to do well. In my eyes Phoenix are in a similar position - they’ve come in as the only new team for 2018, and ultimately they’ve shown a fair few people up with what they’ve done with their resources. Whatever happens though, this race is going to be one of the toughest of the season. BD: It’s really at that stage where it’s damn near impossible to tell. Franklin look strong in qualifying but seem to fall off in the races again, us and DS Mathershaw are obviously right there, and Ocelot now look a permanent threat too. It’s too tough to call, but I think this one may finally go Franklin’s way. WI: Franklin have to win one soon don't they? I'll plump for Ruiz with the surprise being another point for Phoenix. DL: Still getting over the previous question to be honest. We’re hoping our efforts to help to continue raise awareness will come will be matched with both drivers scoring points. With the predicted weather, god knows what’ll happen! AE: Austria should be a strong track for North Star so I think we may be a little behind them this weekend, I expect us to be lurking around the midfield as we have been recently, hoping to pick up the pieces if any of the top guys have issues. For the win; I reckon they might pull it out the bag! *pointing at Bradley*. And as for biggest surprise, it could be anyone really, especially if it’s gonna be wet! I’m gonna stick my neck out and say Halvosen for a good result. Reporter: Great answers from everyone! That's the end of the press conference, thank you so much to all the team principals here! Don't forget about free practice tomorrow, until then, good- wait, Bradley you want to say something? BD: Yes, just before we all break, can I just take this opportunity while we're gathered to wish my good friend Robert a Happy Birthday for Sunday! I would say I hope you get a win as a birthday present, but I'd rather prefer it if we took that trophy home! Reporter: Well then, a happy birthday from all of Robert and have a great Sunday! And for everyone watching, goodbye and see you tomorrow! Comments are closed.
|
|