Hello and welcome to the 2019 British V-Prix, in the famous Silverstone circuit. I’m Neil Allenby and I’ll be doing the grid walk for today’s race. Nathaniel Powers starts on pole in his home race alongside championship leader Klaas van Snelheid who’s been in fantastic form. Enrique Ruiz is behind them alongside Allar Kangur and ahead of Adrien Simon. The sun is out but it’s fairly cool, track temps are below 20 degrees, but don’t be surprised if there is a sudden change before the race starts. We're at the front of the grid, there is the pole sitter, Powers, after that fantastic lap yesterday. Let’s see if we can get a word with him, he’s just finished talking to his engineer. No, he has just signalled he's still busy, so we won't be able to talk to him but you'll see a lot of the current champion in today's race.
Moving on, van Snelheid and Kangur look pretty busy, and Ruiz is talking to Jamie Franklin. He’s just finished and Franklin looks free, let’s go to him. Jamie, you’ve lost the lead in both championships. Enrique is in third, just behind the two Downton cars. Are you aiming for a win? “...What do you think? Is that even a serious question?” Well ye- oh he’s gone now, probably over to Kinnumen so we will move on. I get see Simon in his car in fifth place, but Zozulya is coming up the grid, let’s see if he’s available for some questions. Oleksandr, pretty horrible qualifying, you’re starting last but it’s not over yet, how far up the grid do you reckon you can get? "Yeah, not a good day in qualifying. Thanks to the team for working hard overnight to get the car ready for today, I know it's cliche but they really did put in a massive effort. The goal is to get into the lower half of the points, which I think is possible with our car's race pace as long as we don't make any mistakes." Silverstone isn’t the best place for passing, where are the best opportunities to overtake today? "Probably our best overtaking opportunity is on strategy. We are starting on the Extra-Softs, which is an alternative strategy for this race that should give me some opportunities to put in fast laps and just push all race. However, with how far back I'm starting and how many times I'll have to pit, to make it work I will need to pass a lot of cars on track. Silverstone actually isn't terrible for passing. It has a lot of 'half opportunities' I like to say. Into Brooklands, into Copse, into Stowe, and into Village are all opportunities if you have enough of a pace advantage, which I hope to have on the Extra-Softs." Thank you Oleksandr, we'll see you post race. We’ve reached the end of the front runners and one of the stars of qualifying is next, Vasquez. He’s just got out of the car, let’s stop him before he runs off. James, pretty fantastic qualifying session for you, you need just one point today to save your team from Q1. How are you dealing with the pressure? “Of course the pressure is big but I've been in fights before.” There’s plenty of midfield runners just behind, who are you most wary of for the race? “The North Stars are rapid so we don't expect to keep them behind, ultimately if we come 10th with an Andromeda or an Ocelot behind us we will jump up out of Q1. Of those Hoskins is the big threat.” Thanks James, we'll leave you to it. Not long left now, we have just come past Jules Simon who’s talking to his older brother Adrien. They’ve just finished… Can we talk to you quickly Adrien? Fifth place for the start, just behind Allar, what’s the best result you can get today? "Yes, for sure not my best qualifying ever but still an OK position for sure. I think we can aim to move forward, and a podium is always possible to get more points for the championship for me and also the team as we are so close to Franklin in the championship." Klaas is up in second and he’s just ahead of you in the championship, is he your biggest rival today? "I think he has to be my biggest rival, and today it will be tough to make ground when he is ahead on the grid and in a car that should be faster across a race distance, but we've already seen many times how unpredictable the races can be, so all I can do is drive a consistent and clean race and see what happens." Thanks Adrien, you better move up to the front now. We have a minute until the national anthem, most drivers are at the top of the grid, is there anyone left? Oh Hoskins and Östberg have just come past us. Will, just one question as we don’t have much time. Your home race, coming here after you scored a point in Malaysia. Are you looking forward to the race? “Definitely! I'm looking to do my best and take the opportunity to score again, it's not every race we get so many penalties, so I feel I’ve been given a beautiful opportunity here that I’ll be looking to take an advantage of.” And Viktor, poor qualifying for your team, can you make up places or is it going to be a long race down at Lopez? "We've been able to make our way up the field before, so we'll see how we go once we get into the race." Thanks guys, see you later. We’re out of time now, it’s time for the national anthem.
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