Howdy. Neil Allenby here and today I'll be doing the grid walk for the 2019 German V-Prix. We're here at Hockenheim, which has hosted the race since 2013, we were orginally suppose to go to the Nurburgring but had a last minute change. Anyway, it's a bit chilli right now with about 20 minutes until the lights go green. Let's get started. We have another Downton front row lock out, Powers ahead after a fantastic final lap with championship leader van Snelheid alongside who has been on a good form recently. Likewise has the man just behind them, Kinnumen there in third, but the man of qualifying had to be Lewis Ellington, superb fourth. I can't see any drivers curre- never mind just spotted our last race winner.
Hello Enrique, quick word? You're coming here off the back of some great results, two wins and a second. Do you consider yourself a favourite for the title? I don't know about being a favourite, but I think I'm driving as well as I ever have, so for sure if we keep this momentum then we will be in the hunt at the end. Kinnumen has been on great form recently, have you felt under pressure from him more or is he pushing you into doing better? If by recent you mean Austria, then yes he's been on good form. As for pressure? Not really. I welcome any challenge and the team need him to be on this kind of form to really take the fight to Downton. Thanks Enrique, lets see what you can do from fifth. Just passing the two Holmqvist cars now, sixth and seventh with Bergkvist and Beyer is a great result for them. Perez slots in behind as the highest placed FIRST car, in eight... yikes. Bigger yikes, Kangur is the highest placed Mathershaw in ninth! He'll be doing his 50th V-Prix will Kangur in Bahrain. And there's a man who has done a lot more V-Prixs. Robert, long time no see. You had a below average qualifying yesterday, Kangur 7th and Simon only 15th. Did you have any technical issues or the like? I think it was just one of those days - the boys didn't have the balance in the car over a single lap so we're in this position. We think we'll be slightly better over a race distance, and the circuit allows for some overtaking so I'm hopeful we can do better. You've had some success at Hockenheim in the past, does the track suit the philosophy of your car design or do you just like the track? As a track it does highlight the strengths and weaknesses of our car well - the one lap pace as I say is something we've lacked, but I think as the tyres degrade we'll be in a good place towards the latter stages of our stints. Thank you Rob, good luck. And say, there's another Mathershaw- well former Mathershaw member, going to just slide in here. Thierry, hello there! General Kenobi. Ata boy. Must say, that was a great qualifying lap yesterday, really on the money to take 10th. Did you realistically expect that performace coming into Saturday? Thank you, I was very happy with that lap. Absolutely not, no! Before we got going this weekend, and even after analysing the data from practice, we expected to struggle slightly here in Hockenheim, huge credit must go to the team who worked tirelessly to get the feeling right in the car, I felt very comfortable today. It's hard to believe Phoenix were expected to drop into Q1 not too long ago, how have the team turned around their season so quickly? Yeah, it’s quite incredible really. I expected a very tough year as a newcomer to Formula Virtual and DS Phoenix but we’ve all put in the hours and gradually moved away from that danger zone. Hard work and determination! Something for all the new teams to take note, thank you Thierry. Now we're into the outside of the points part of the grid and it looks absolutely deserted from drivers, I can't see a single one free. All the mechanics look busy, I might have to pull over some random guy. Wait, is that who I think it is? Surely not... Lilly, how are you? It's great to see you on the grid again, we've heard that Westwood are returning next year with Beckenbauer and there's rumours that you've signed Giodano. Can you tell us anything else regarding your future plans? Howdy! Its great to be hanging around, I never quite left the paddock but I much prefer being close up to the action like this. I think everyone is aware the Giodano deal is almost done, since the whole ordeal happened very publicly. I can tell you that we will be aiming to solidify ourselves in the midfield for the coming several years before we even look at whether we want to look forward; we've got the right guys back at the factory, the right drivers for the job and a fantastic engine supplier behind us too, it'll be exciting for sure. Gotta head back up to the commentary box now, see you later. Thanks Lilly. And hello, I've heard your a Westwood VIP for this race? What's your name? My name's Ronivaldo Filho. Nice to meet you Ronivaldo, I'm Neil Allenby. Have you been following FV for long and do you have a favourite driver or team? I have followed FV a few months ago, and so far it's awesome to see such talents in the racetrack and give their all to win. I don't have any driver and/or team to say "it's my favourite", I just love seeing the race. This season has been very close between Franklin and Downton, you've got the advantage of not being biased, who do you think has the upper hand right now? Hard question. For what I've seen, both teams are at the top of the game this game and it's not easy to tell who has the upper hand, because everything can happen. Thank you Ronivaldo, I hope you enjoy the race. I've come now to the very back of the grid and back yet there isn't a single other driver avaliable, how strange. Well, we've got the national anthem coming up so... wait I can see two more people, how long do we have? Screw it. Nic Morley, CEO of Formula Virtual, a pleasure to meet you. We heard before that this race was going to be held at Nurburgring, why the change back to Hockenheim? Hockenheim offered more money at the last moment. In the top two teams, we've got Franklin leaving next year and Powers leaving Downton, are you sad to see these partnerships come to an end? As I’ve stated before I’m really sad to see Franklin leave but wish Jamie the best. Powers leaving Downton is big, but I’m interested to see who they replace him with in 2020. Thanks Nic. And sorry for interupting your conversation Aguinaldo [Pereira, Andromeda technical director], can we ask you a question as well? We've heard recently that your boss Hector Seibel was arrested, has that affected the team much or are you just operating as normal this weekend? The team has been focusing primarly on the race so we are as much in the dark as you guys regarding the Hector's situation. Hopefully we can secure a couple points here and keep our position in constructors stable. Thanks Aguinaldo best of luck to the team. Well we're out of time now, it's the national anthem now.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|