At an online event this evening Lucas V-Prix revealed their new challenger for the 2021 season, the LW-6. The car, a completely new design for the season features a Downton V10 power unit. The car also sported a brand new title sponsorship courtesy of liquor brand Jonnie Walker. A move sure to court controversy among certain nations on the calender. The fallout of which will certainly play out over this season. It was thought that the team was divided over the sponsorship package but a late decision by team owner Lucas Wilson (himself a controversial figure in the paddock) pushed the deal through just 2 weeks ago. The team has been known for it's increasingly striking and (some would say) obnoxious liveries. This year is no different. The car's typical colours of bright purple and dayglow yellow being accentuated by the addition of dayglow wheels. A choice sure to divide the paddocks opinion. The more conservative of FV followers are surely glad of the black added by the previously mentioned sponsorship deal. However team owner Lucas Wilson made it clear that this will be the last year the team will run this livery after 3 years. Says Lucas: "I think the whole idea behind it was to sort of, be controversial I guess. We knew coming in it would be tough, we didn't know if we would even qualify. We joined the grid with 2 other, really quality, teams and some more experienced teams as well, who had unfortunately found themselves at the back that season. So I made the choice to be very bold with the design as a sort of shout to the world that we are back in FV racing. I think that has been achieved so we are probably looking at this as the final year for this livery." Another controversial decision is designer Andy Davies choice to design the the car with a rare inboard brake design. A choice often avoided by many FV designers due to complications. However the Lucas team feels confident that this was the right call according to Davies. "We made that call very early on for the brakes. We realised we are in such a tight field we need every advantage we can get. Now the move to inboard gives us a more dynamic and manoeuvrable car. But this required us to extensively rework the whole chassis of the car. It was a very difficult job, lot of long hours in the factory but we believe we pulled it off. A lot of teams as well, if you look in F1 for example don't employ this method due to things like safety cars and not being able to get heat into the tyres at slower speeds. But we really don't have that problem. So to us the pluses outweighed the minuses considerably." The team will be lead by Brit Marcus Thunder. Promoted to team leader after a number of superb performances last year, seemingly eclipsing his highly rated team mate 'big' Carson Davenport. "I think this is our best chance to make headway into the upper midfield" said Thunder in the press conference "you know we have had the regulation changes. As you remember these are the best chances to make a huge step up in performance. In think in few tests that we have had, the car is really good. Obviously we don't know how the other teams have improved but I think we have a good base car here." Thunder will be joined by highly rated Swede rookie Maximillan Thunstrom. "I think we have a good car. I think we can challenge for the upper midfield. We want to be with the Lopez and North Star and I have the belief that we can achieve that. I am happy I have been given the chance to prove myself to Lucas and the rest of the team so that they give me the chance to race in the Formula Virtual. And I will push hard all year to meet the requirements they want from me." Emma Wilson will be the reserve driver for the team after formally being the race driver for the team in 2015. "I feel like I am back home, my brother is obviously busy running the team but we still have that family connection in the team that I think makes us a strong outfit compared to some of the more corporate teams in the paddock. It's been a very long few months- I've been running sims almost every day back at the offices. We really want to be as prepared as possible going into this new season as we know this is our toughest year yet coming up." Also at the event was Team Owner of Downton and engine supplier to Lucas, Bradley Downton: "We're delighted to continue our relationship with Lucas into this new era of Formula Virtual. They've not had the easiest time of things since returning to the series, but started to show real improvement towards the back end of last season, and I've every confidence that can continue into 2021. Like Phoenix, the deal with Lucas goes far beyond simply a customer relationship, but at the very base of it, we look forward to working with them once again over the coming year and helping to push them back towards the front." The event also featured fellow FV team owner Alex Easton from Phoenix. Alex and Lucas have had a close relationship since the latter rejoined the sport in 2019 and in 2020 a deal was made to support the ailing Phoenix outfit with cash from Lucas. In exchange, a technical collaboration between the two teams: "It’s great to be here today in this fantastic venue, Lucas really does go to town with these events. The car itself looks absolutely fantastic doesn’t it? I think it’s my favourite Lucas livery so far actually! Their driver pairing of Marcus [Thunder] and Maximilian [Thunstrom] excites me too, I reckon they’re perfectly primed for a big push this season. Definitely a team to look out for to be a surprise package. The partnership between ourselves and the Lucas team really has helped Phoenix a huge amount in terms of having that security and not having to go into each race wondering how many more we’ll make. But it’s also benefitted both teams on track too in our ability to negotiate around the technical regulations; I really hope we get to see that come to fruition this season for Lucas.” The team all around looked very pleased. A fact which team owner Lucas Wilson stated: "I think this car, in terms of the pre-season package, is the one I am most proud off. Lots of great innovations and I honestly think this year we can be regular points finishers and go after those upper midfield teams. The atmosphere in the team has been great. We really found our form in the latter part of the 2020 season and I think that has continued right through to now. I'm really happy with our drivers. Marcus [Thunder] is such a consummate professional, he is able to clearly communicate exactly what he needs from the car. Maximillan [Thunstrom] has been a great support to the team and we think he'll really show his true potential in the car this season. All three have been running sims since the season ended, especially kudos to Emma [Wilson]. We didn't even have a break over the holidays. Every guy and girl in the team wanted to see us succeed and that makes me really proud. I constructed a bar inside out factory as a thank you. So no matter our results this year, I think they'll be happy!"
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