A press conference was this morning held at the base of Formula Virtual team Phoenix, in Greater Manchester, England, where details were revealed regarding the new investor who saved the team from folding, as well as more information on the XXX Energy sponsorship. Various members of the media assembled in the small media room just off Don Street, adjacent to the Phoenix HQ. Team Principal and Founder Alex Easton, along with Terry McCarroll, Head of Sponsorship and PR at Phoenix as well as joint administrator at TMF Advisory took their places at the table and Terry addressed the room: “First of all I’d like to welcome you all here today for, frankly, something that seemed impossible a few short months ago; the announcement of our new investor and what this means for the team going forwards. Before we reveal any further details, let me say this; without this new investment this team would not have seen 2020 in my opinion, and this month you could’ve seen the liquidation - and extinction – of Phoenix Motorsport. So, without further ado, I’d like you to all give a very warm welcome to a familiar face in the FV world – Mr Lucas Wilson.” Lucas Wilson, Founder and Team Principal of Lucas V-Prix and billionaire owner of Wilson Oils, steps in from the terrible Manchester weather covered in hailstones, dusts himself down and joins the pair at the table – to a slightly stunned applause from the media personnel. Terry McCarroll: “Okay, Lucas and Alex will now take your questions.” Scott Parkin – FVTV: Alex, could you give us some more information on how this deal will work, with Lucas already having his own team? Alex Easton: “Of course, I guess it might seem a bit weird to some for Lucas to be investing in another team so I’ll try to explain as best as I can. As I’m sure you’re all aware; full ownership of the team was sold back to myself from DS after their departure. But of course, we then went into administration with debts soaring and bills to pay – our biggest creditor being DS themselves – so we knew we needed new investment to actually have any chance of carrying on. I’ve been good mates with Lucas for some time now and as soon as the news got out to him, he got in touch with me and Tez. In quite simplified terms; Lucas has purchased a 35% stake in Phoenix Motorsport which will see us run Wilson Oils EcoPlus as our official fuel supplier and selected information will be shared between the teams in a bid to aid both teams in their various battles.” Scott Parkin – FVTV: Lucas, it’s clear how this benefits Phoenix, but what’s in it for you? Lucas Wilson: First if all I want to say it's great to be here. I've had a long and fruitful relationship with Alex. As a self-made man myself I deeply respect how he has created this great team that consistently beats better funded rivals. I couldn't see that hard work go to waste. I think there will be mutual benefit here. We have struggled, in 2019, as you can tell, despite an excellent result yesterday. We want to be up there again battling for points and podiums so I think we can really learn from Alex and the rest of the team. We'll be sharing certain details about setups and car construction between the two teams. Alex has also agreed to run the Wilson Oils EcoPlus logo on his cars as well. That's more exposure for us - so it's a little return on investment for us. But that's about all I have to say. I'm just glad to be a part of this team and make this Phoenix rise again! Neil Allenby – FVTV: Alex, how will all of this affect your 2020 season? Will you be ready in time? AE: Ha, there’s the million-pound question! I think it was quite clear for all to see how our pace and competitiveness dropped off and, obviously, development of the PX3 came to an abrupt halt when the sponsorship money disappeared at the back end of 2019, so our expectations have had to be hugely lowered. I’m confident that we’ll make it in time for testing, though, with a lot of hard work and long hours from now until then. Theo Parker – VM Magazine: Question for Alex; does this in any way change the structure of the Downton family, as both teams will be running Downton engines this season? AE: I don’t think so, no. I think the only thing it does for the Downton stable is make the relationship between the three teams even stronger than anything we’ve seen in the past; I think for Downton -and McLaren - to have both their customer teams involved in a partnership such as this can only be a good thing for everyone involved, it really does feel like a proper family atmosphere between the three FV teams which is exactly what you want. Layton Smith – Thegrid.net: Lucas, is this an indication of your growing interest in Formula Virtual, or does it represent a get-out in case you decide to pull the plug on your own team again? LW: Turns to Alex You said I'd get easy questions! Laughs My interest in Formula Virtual has never been higher. I am fully devoted to my team and to Phoenix. I have increased the funding for my team for the next financial year as well as investing in Phoenix. We are here to stay; we are going to work and we are going to succeed. Layton Smith – Thegrid.net: Alex, at what point does it become the time where you say “Enough is enough, we can’t keep having financial problems like this. This little fish is too small for the big ocean of FV”? AE: Honestly? About two months ago! Before Lucas came in; me, Chris and Tez spent most of our time trying to decide what to do. Every single advisor was telling us to close the doors, drive away, and never think about Phoenix again, but we just couldn’t do that. We - as well as every single member of this team - have a real passion for going racing and sometimes passion makes you do mad things, but that’s what it’s all about really, at the end of the day. Lessons have been learnt from 2019 and this investment deal with Lucas has given the whole team a life line; he has saved the careers and livelihoods of everyone employed here - we’re not just a team, we really are a family. I suppose now is a good time to reveal that, in addition to the investment from Lucas and his company, the sponsorship deal with XXX Energy has been reviewed by both parties. Tez, d’you want to talk about that? TM: Yeah cheers Alex. So, just over a month ago, we revealed that XXX Energy would be coming on as a sponsor for 2020 and beyond. However, since the deal was initially done last year, XXX have reportedly enjoyed much more success than they originally expected and soon came to us again wishing to increase their funding and presence on the car, and the team in general. So, to get to the point; XXX will be the new title sponsor of Phoenix following the departure of Ecotricity and so, the official entry for 2020 will be XXX Energy Phoenix Motorsport. Rebecca Parnell – XtremeV: How will this impact the livery? Should we expect to see a vastly different one from the usual Phoenix colours? AE: No, that won’t be the case. We love our identity here at Phoenix and the burgundy and yellow are a large part of that. The title sponsorship with XXX Energy, as well as the major investment from Lucas and Wilson Oils, will see changes but nothing major. Hopefully you’ll all see the livery soon enough anyway! TM: Right well I think that’ll do, thank you all for joining us here today and I’m sure we’ll see you all again soon. I hope you all have a very safe journey home. The shock partnership between the two British teams will surely add another dynamic to the Formula Virtual field this coming season, not least in that Lucas Wilson’s investment seems to have kept one of the smaller teams in FV afloat. The fortunes of both teams will be something to look out for in the 2020 season. Below: Lucas Wilson's own team, Lucas V-Prix, logo. The Kent-based team finished tenth in the standings in their first season back in Formula Virtual, after former Phoenix driver Carson Davenport brilliantly held onto sixth in yesterday's Brazilian V-Prix, scoring eight crucial points for the team.
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