Shane O'Connell will take over running of Meteor International after the shock and sudden departure of Kazuki Armos. The former and original Meteor boss announced he would be leaving the sport a couple of days ago, creating a heap of speculation of who would take over running the team since. It has now been confirmed that Shane O'Connell will become the new Meteor boss.
Kazuki Armos entered Formula Virtual in it's debut season, and thus founding Meteor. The team has gone through many livery changes, a couple of identity changes, and even three nationalities. The team's most successful season under Armos was 2016, where the team picked up all it's wins under the Meteor name - the only other being in 2014 under the Peugeot name. Since then however it has been a struggle for the popular outfit. O'Connell will become the teams third boss in under a year, after the short spell of Adam Willis, and Kazuki Armos before and after that. It was also rumored that Harry Westwood may have taken control of the team for only the rest of this year, however never came to fruition after the deal with O'Connell. The Irishman will become the newest member of the prestigious Formula Virtual team managers club. “Well Piercarlo [Caliri, new Meteor owner] gave me a call as soon as the possibility of the takeover emerged, and I jumped at the offer to become the new Meteor International team principal. Have been following Formula V for some time now and have seen the series grow and grow in recent years, it’s been a dream to be a part of it all and for it to now finally happen is amazing", said O'Connell. “Of course, the new owners and management team have only been here for a few days, so it’ll take some time before we are able to assess everything and create a strategy for the short and long term, but very confident that we can return such a historic team like Meteor to it’s former glories", finished O'Connell. This news means it's the first time a team has changed ownership, excluding the very brief period of Adam Willis at Meteor. Only time will tell how the team will fair with a new, and fairly inexperienced manager at the helm. "I want to welcome Shane to the big time of Formula Virtual. He has been lurking around the paddock for a while now, and it was clear to me he is very passionate about running a team. I am very excited to see what he can do with the Meteor team and wish him all the very best", said Nic Morley. "I wish Kaz the very best for his future. It is always sad when a team owner leaves the sport, but Kaz has been in it since the very beginning and has contributed so much to the series which will be remembered for a long time. I particularly respect and admire his offer to let someone take control of the team, so Meteor can live on and continue it's presence in the sport - rather then let his team quietly fade away into nothing. I thank Kaz for being apart of it all, it's been a pleasure, and I hope we see him around here and there", finished Morley.
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