Hello everybody, thanks for coming! I'm glad we've got this going again, and it's great to see such a turnout. Welcome to Mexico City for the penultimate round of the 2017 FV Championship, which is shaping up to be an absolute cracker. I'm joined for today, going left to right, by Robert Mathershaw of DS Mathershaw, and Jamie Franklin of Franklin on the back row. On the front row, we have Nick Forrest of North Star Racing, Rai Myamoto of Ocelot, and Adam Blocker of FIRST. HW: Gonna kick things off today with a question to everybody! It was recently announced that the engine regulations were being revamped in the next couple of years, offering more freedom and strategical choice to the teams. Are you excited for these changes? Or do you see them as just an unnecessary complication? Rob, let's start with you.
Robert Mathershaw: I’m a big fan of the new engine regulations – one of the biggest things I enjoy as technical director is the freedom to innovate and develop. We’re working closely with Downton to develop the latest Downton-DS power unit, and I’m sure we can find an edge over the competition. It’s definitely an added complication at this stage, but the reality is this Formula Virtual – the pinnacle of virtual motorsport, so it should be complicated. Jamie Franklin: No comment. HW: Ooh, very secretive. What about you guys on the front row? Nick Forrest: I have to admit, Alan and I are – along with a few of the other guys at North Star – we’re kind of in two minds about this. It’s certainly a chance to shake up the grid, on the one hand, which can only be a good thing. I’m sure we’d all like to see a season-long fight, rather than one team dominating at the front, no offense to Bradley! Although, given we have been developing next year’s car for quite a while now, I do have to admit we’re not very happy with the way it’s been so abruptly implemented. Judging by what we’ve heard, it seems we’re not the only ones. We’re all for seeing how it pans out, it could be a fantastic move on Nic’s part, but we do think it should have been brought in a bit more smoothly. Rai Myamoto: I’m very excited about these upcoming changes as it will add life to the sport, the sound of the engines are going to be massively different which the fans will love but also because this will make the sport far more appealing to manufacturers who are looking to join the series, after all this new rule change was one of the reasons why we had many different offers from manufacturers from all over Europe and America. Adam Blocker: I am excited to see the different engine configurations and the different sounds that will accompany them. I think all of the changes will keep things interesting and keep all of us team managers on our toes. HW: Interesting, a few mixed opinions! Now I’d like to come back to Robert. Your team has been making brilliant progress lately, with the win in Turkey, solidly performing in Bahrain and then scouting a clear path through the carnage to a one-two finish at Indy! Do you expect to carry this momentum into the last two races, and might it harm the team’s progress going into the regulations shake-up in 2018? RM: We’ve worked hard on developing the car, but we’ve done so responsibly – the upgrades are simply parts that we can apply to the 2018 car as well that have been completed early in the development cycle. We’re trying new things all the time with the emphasis on next year, so I’m hopeful that we can carry our form through to the end of the season and then beyond, but our focus is on 2018, and has been for a long time now. HW: Great to see you'll still be at the front! Thanks for that. Now, onto you Nick. Karl Beckenbauer has driven fantastically in the latter half of this season, taking the team’s first podium and, eventually their first win, with it seeming as though he’s come alive during his stint with North Star! Given his pace lately, mistakes seem to be slightly less costly for your drivers now. How does that affect their – and your – mentalities in a race situation moving forward? NF: It doesn’t seem to have changed things all that much, we’re all still committed to getting the best out of the car, and the best out of both drivers. Karl has definitely taken things to a whole new level in that regard, and although Judson still has a little to catch up to Karl on, he’s one of the most consistent drivers out there, and very strong defensively, as we saw back in Canada and the US, keeping multiple world champions behind him on the track. They both complement each other very well, and we can continue to let them run their own races – as we have done all season – and it seems to be working out between them so far. HW: Now it’s time to address the elephant in the room, Nick, you criticised both of FIRST’s drivers for their driving in the last V-Prix, controversially accusing them of dancing around the rules. You said in the heat of the moment that the ”gloves are off now”. Does that still hold true, and can we expect to see North Star even better than before? NF: Yeah, I thought that might be coming up at some point(!) ’Heat of the moment’ is probably the best way to describe it, having just watched potentially a very strong result for both cars go down the pan. I was surprised that Hutchinson wasn’t penalised for his contact with Sikes, but that’s the decision, and we’ve gotta roll with it. Adam did seem to be quite proud, though, after the last race, of exploiting loopholes in the regulations. I’m not entirely sure how that’s gone down with the rest of the paddock, or where he gets the idea that North Star would be doing the same. Like I said, we’re gonna be racing fair and racing hard, same as we always have, and hope to come out on top the right way. HW: And Adam, what do you make of these accusations; most notably, Zozulya being held responsible – in Forrest’s eyes at least – for the incident between Karl and Jvs? AB: I’ve already commented on the incidents that happened at Indy between North Star and FIRST drivers. I think Zozulya raced Karl in a hard but fair manner and that Forrest was making a meal out of it. Yes, Karl being held up by Zozulya put him in the position to be in the incident with Jochem, but it isn’t fair to blame Zozulya for Karl’s failure to make an overtake. Zozulya is allowed to race against rivals, that’s the whole point of a V-Prix. HW: Staying with you Adam. You were initially pessimistic about your chances of holding 5th place in the constructors. With your team’s pace seemingly falling off, with North Star’s on the rise, do you still think it’s unlikely you’ll hold position, or has this recent saga fuelled the fire in FIRST’s belly? AB: I think it will be really close. Clearly North Star has the potential to outscore us by 26 points in the last two races with their recent pace. Who gets it will ultimately be decided partially on tire strategy and each team’s ability to convert on their opportunities. North Star has been poor at doing the latter a lot over the past two seasons, so I am hoping that will continue to be the case. FIRST certainly will fight hard in the last two races to do all we can to finish 5th. HW: Brilliant stuff. Speaking of the constructor’s championship. Jamie, you’ve struggled with poor luck this year and you’re still in with a shout of third place in the championship. Do you think you can catch up in time and snatch it at the death? Or are you hoping to settle for fourth, which would mark the second season in a row Franklin finish outside the top 3 since winning the championship three times consecutively? JF: We’re a team that never settles for anything. If there’s a chance that third is possible, then we will strive to take it. As you say, we will need a bit of luck on our side, which has seemed to have escaped us somewhat lately, but we’re fighters here at Franklin and whilst there is still something up for grabs, we will go for it. As for finishing ”only” in the top 4 again – I daresay many teams would love to be in the position to consistently finish where we do given how many of the teams fluctuate from season to season. Obviously we want more, but we still prove year on year that we are race winners and that we will make our way back to the very top. HW: Fighting talk there, I love it! Now then! Rai, you’ve been quite busy in the driver market of the sport! Retaining Puccio Giodano obviously, and promoting the first driver from CODA. How do you think Giodano will fare moving from a top team like Franklin, to a – no offence – backmarker such as yourselves? RM: I think that Puccio will be okay with transitioning back to us after his stint at Franklin, who were in talks with to keep him there but unfortunately couldn’t agree to a deal with. I’d hope that next season Puccio can get back to performing to a level which we know he has especially during his time at Rossi. HW: Jamie, you’ve also been rather prolific, signing Ruiz for another year in Franklin colours, as well as winning the bid for Olen Inman. Are you concerned about his form in the current season, or do you hope to see more of the promise he showed in his title bid last year? JF: In all honesty, I haven’t even being paying attention to Olen this year. He had a good year last year and could easily have been champion in slightly different circumstances. Given that, I think he’s the best option on the table at the moment. Having said that, I’m not sure if he will challenge him yet. That’s something he will have to show me. Not many drivers have shown that they’re capable of doing that, so he will have his work cut out. HW: And now back to you Rai, you've not only been hiring drivers, there's also been some big changes within the team, rebranding as Pegasus, or Project Pegasus – I’m not sure which you prefer – this must be an exciting time for you and your team! RM: I’m extremely ambitious about our prospects with this new re-branding. I’m sure the results will slowly begin to come, it’s taken us a few years to get to grasp with how things work in FV, compared to say FIRST and North Star. I believe this has been due to the distance of our factory and base of operations compared to how the season takes more focus in Europe. We are at the heart of it, still the Ocelot team that everyone saw as the plucky underdog but this time we have a few new spots so to speak. Simply our idea with Pegasus is to create not only something for our fans but also something for our partners to get behind. The Ocelot name for many of them was seen as a backmarker but with now Pegasus being on the grid, its a chance for a new way to show the world we’ve re-invented ourselves similar to how a kid goes from high school to College. HW: Great stuff! But on a more serious note. Is this going to start bringing in those much needed results, and of course, what can you tell us about the manufacturer you’ll be working with as a works team? RM: I believe we lacked certain funds which halted our development in certain areas plus mistakes in the driver market where we went in for drivers we could afford. But only because that was how much passion we had in the sport, how much we craved for that first victory. But yes I do think the results will come our way once we get things going with our new manufacturer. The thing I can tell you is that the particular manufacturer is one with a historical heritage dating back to the golden ages of racing, perhaps a team time once forgot but now with some new blood behind it. A crave of passion, excellence and beauty. A team with no other substitute. HW: Ooh, a very cryptic answer from you there Rai! Well I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say I'm excited to see just who you'll be working with next year! Alright guys, thanks for your time and I won’t keep you much longer! You all know the drill. What are you all going to be aiming – or, hoping – for in the Mexican V-Prix? Starting with the winners from last time out, Rob? RM: Our aim is the same as always – maximise the potential of the car. Where this will put us is anyone’s guess in such a close season, but our target has to be a podium finish. JF: For us, we are always aiming to win. Whether that’s realistic or not this weekend is yet to be seen. Downton aren’t looking quite as dominant as they maybe did earlier in the season, but they’ll still be difficult to beat. At the very least, I’d want to see one of my drivers on the podium and the other scoring strong points to get back into third. NF: Well, it’s obvious that North Star needs to be outscoring FIRST quite comprehensively here if we want to have a chance of taking 5th in the standings. If we can have a clean race this time around, though, I think we can count on both Karl and Judson to be scoring a good handful of points each, and taking that fight on to the final round in Brazil. RM: Erm, we’d love a lucky point or two if it rains in the chaos but we know we are gonna be last. AB: I think a realistic target is a double points score. We haven’t had one for a while, so that would be a nice result. Ultimately the hope is that North Star will not outscore us by more than 13 points so that the job they have to do in Brazil is harder. Well that concludes the press conference for the 2017 Mexican V-Prix! Thank you all for coming, and I look forward to seeing you all on the grid!
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