Hello Formula Virtual fans and welcome to the temple of speed, the holy grail of racing, Finn Schnyder's least favourite track - we are here for the Italian Grand Prix. Neil Allenby here to take you through the grid walk in the fabulous Monza sunlight. 26 drivers on the grid, all 14 teams being represented, led by the man himself, Enrique Ruiz, ahead of his two arch rivals and his teammate. Many teams have come out early onto the grid, so lets get stuck in. We've got 10 minutes until the national anthem, plenty of time. I might have spotted our first person already, Jamie Franklin in his last Italian V-Prix for now has just finished giving out to Tumo Kinnumen, let me just slide in.
Jamie, sorry to interupt you. You're a long way behind in the constructors championship with 4 races left, is the team focusing on getting the drivers now or do you still believe the teams title is possible? Well...that's a nice way to start. Whether we focus on the Constructor's or Driver's title is irrelevant, the goal remains the same, which is to walk away with the best results. Beyond strategising as best as we can and aiming for 1-2s every race, the rest is out of our hands. Backmarkers, reliability, weather, these are all variables that could throw us off course, but the same could be said for Downton. You've become known for being a hard person, but surely you're going to miss the atmosphere of a race weekend after this year? I'm sure I will miss it, the feeling of competing, knowing you're up against the best in the world and that you're still much better...yeah, I'll miss it. But whilst I won't be getting that here, I will for sure be getting that somewhere. Thank you Jamie, have a good race. That's Franklin then, the rest of the mechanics look busy and Ruiz is talking to Kinnumen, I wonder if they're discussing slipstreaming tactics. Anyway, we've got the two white and yellow cars lined up perfectly on the right but on the left it's their rivals - the orange Downtons. Nathaniel Powers was lagging behind after a mistake in qualifying, lets see if we can talk to him about that. Good afternoon Nathaniel, just a quick word for the viewers at home. Not your best quali lap by any stretch but it isn't over yet. Where do you reckon around the lap is the best opportunity to overtake the three cars ahead? No it wasn't, but thankfully the points are handed out today and there are places to overtake. Both the Rettifilo and della Roggia chicanes are good spots, and if you're late on the brakes and brave, Ascari is an option too! It's a desperately close title battle between you, Ruiz and Klaas. Which of yous do you think has the advantage at the mom- *Nathaniel's engineer comes over and whispers in his ear* Sorry mate, got to go. Alright, good luck. Hopefully there isn't any problems at Downton... though Bradley does look slightly concerned. So that's the two big teams done, we are in for a cracking battle between them. Behind them, it's a costodian of Mathershaws, Meteors and FIRSTs. The star has to be JML, a very strong 6th place ahead of his teammate. In fact let me see if I can talk to him - he is talking to Robert Mathershaw as well, I'll try to question both of them. JML, that was Juan (pardon the pun) on your best qualifying sessions of your career surely, with 6th, did the car just feel hooked up yesterday out on track? Yes, my performance yesterday is a step to showing that I belong here in FV. The car is ok for power so we expect Monza to suit us, but for me beating Lewis is great. I need more like this. It's going to be a tight battle between you and North Star for 6th in the standings, has the team been more motivated recently in trying to beat them? It is for sure the aim to win 6th place but it is not in my own mind, I focus on my future in this series and if doing this also helps the team the most. Thanks Mario, I'm sure we will be hearing about your future soon. Rob, while you're here can we just ask you some questions? You might be sick of hearing this but just 4 races left with you and DS as partners. How is the relationship right now and are you sad to see it end? I think it’s inevitable that at this time people are looking back at what we have done, and we are no different. All I can say is that we’re all working for the same goal for the final four races of the season, and this team are pushing very hard behind the scenes for a successful debut season for Porsche in Formula Virtual. On the face of it it has been a poor year for you, just 1 win and a distant 3rd in the standings. Do you feel that's accurate or do the results not reflect the work done by the team? We always knew this season was going to be a challenge, but ultimately if this is a poor season then I think we still have every right to be proud. We’d taken the decision to shift our focus to 2020 relatively early on, and that’s a move I stand by - the work being done by the team is as fantastic as ever, it’s just more long term in nature. Nice, next year might be a treat for any Mathershaw fans. I'll leave you two to it. The FIRST mechanics seem busy so I won't trouble them - worth pointing out that Perez and Zozulya are seperated by just 5 points in the standings, it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top there even if Perez heads the race head to head 10000 to 1. Next up, ah there's someone I wanted to talk to, Alex Easton, who's team Phoenix have gone into administration - on that note he's just told me that he's unfortunately busy, but James Thompson is free, the cult hero so we'll go to him. It's been quite a turnaround for your team this year, going from backmarkers to a very fast midfield team. Have you been a big factor in achieving this? Yeah we started the season off on the back foot really after a couple of problems last winter but I think everyone in the team knew we’d be looking forwards rather than backwards after the first few races, but I don’t think anyone truly expected us to get anywhere near seventh in the Constructors’! I like to think I’ve played my part, yeah. I’ve been with Phoenix a long, long time and have built a relationship with everyone where we all know what each of us is thinking without saying a word, which surely helps when we’re developing the car, and we put in a lot of hours in the simulator trying to work things out; which I think is evident by looking at our record of improving throughout both this season and last. How has the team handled the the financial pressure so far? Are you all just trying to ignore it or has it affected your motivation? Err.. I’m not gonna lie to you mate it’s been pretty tough. The last few weeks especially - after the administrators came in - have been some of the lowest times I’ve experienced in my five years here but everyone has pulled together and we’re all there for each other. I don’t think people realise just how small Phoenix is, especially with the DS backing masking things a bit this year, but we really are a tiny tight knit group who just want to go racing and have a load of fun along the way. Unfortunately the financial side of things has really caught up with us.. Alex and Tezza are working tirelessly to get things sorted though so hopefully we can make it through til the New Year then see where we are and what state we’re in. Even if we end up with year old engines in a dog of a car with myself and Dom [Hanson, ex Phoenix FV2 driver] driving; I’m sure we’ll find a way! I know Dom won’t mind me throwing his name in like that, haha! Sure JT, can't imagine you two not becoming fan favourites! I'll catch you after the race. I've just had a look at my watch and we've spent so much time getting through here that I don't think we'll have time to talk to anyone else unfortunately, unless I catch anyone on the way up but it seems like all drivers have gone to the top of the grid, unless I can catch a spectator... say that's a familiar face... Karl! Long time no see, how are you? It feels like ages since we've seen you on the grid. How's things been since you last drove in Malaysia last year in that chaotic race? It has been a long time. Despite the ups and downs of losing my drive at Westwood, getting and losing a drive with Excelsior, then regaining a drive with Westwood, it's been good. I've been keeping myself ready to race, and enjoying FV as a spectator sport for the first time. Pardon my pessimism but seeing as you're reaching your mid 30s, is there really any more life in your racing career? Or do you believe you have more to prove? Ah, my age is my advantage. I have the experience, the cool head, to keep the car on the track under very tricky circumstances. I don't feel as though I have anything to prove, but I am very excited for this opportunity. So will I, and so will many others. Thanks very much, just 20 seconds left now, so let's head up back to the commentators, Bradley Downton and Lilly Westwood.
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