Welcome, welcome everybody. My name is Jeremie Petit and I shall be hosting today's Jaguar press conference. Please sit down Edgardo. Would everybody join me in welcoming our friends to the stage. Robert Foxwist, Head of Jaguar Virtual Motorsport. William Ingram, team principal of Ingram V-Prix. Ben Farrell, ARROW Team Principal. And Dylan Lopez, Lopez Team Principal. A picture, monsieurs? Thank you, thank you. Jeremie Petit [JP]: Right questions please. Scott Parkin [SP] – FVTV: Robert, since Jaguar joined Formula Virtual, in 2020, it has been a hugely successful venture. Fifth, then eighth, then fourth in the Constructors’ Championship for your works team, Ingram – as well as AMR’s best season since Arnello Milner & Ronson bought the team from Australasian Motorsport Research back in late 2017 – has surely been about as much as you could have asked for after just three years? Robert Foxwist [RF]: Of course we are happy, but I believe we can achieve a lot more. Jaguar entered Formula Virtual with ambitious goals and so far we are on track, but it is vital we keep the focus for 2023, 2024 and beyond. I believe we produced one of the best engines of 2022 but I want that to be a stepping stone to greater things. SP: Thank you, now William. The partnership with Jaguar has so far yielded great results; a podium in each of the past three seasons and your first victory since the two in 2014. After such clear progress this season, what is the next step for Ingram as a Jaguar works outfit? Can you take it to the next level and push for regular wins, or even a title? William Ingram [WI]: I know that’s Robert’s plan! Look, we’ve never been one of the top teams in FV, but with Jaguar by our side I think we’ve got to have some ambition. Our first race win since 2014 (Christ!) is proof that we are moving forwards so hopefully we can continue on that upwards trajectory. I don’t want any quotes about Ingram winning the title in 2023! We are still not there yet, but we believe we could get there. SP: You won't find any such quotes on FVTV! Ben, ARROW’s season this year was a clear improvement on the two seasons prior, however still felt as though the team were some way off making a real push for the top five, or even top seven. Do you think the switch back to Jaguar power could be the key to making the next step? Ben Farrell (BF): Yeah, to say it was a clear improvement is right, to score as many points as we did, and even had the possibility of doing better without certain results in the season shows that. But something we look at within this team is making those steady gains year on year, we wanna treat each year like another rung on a ladder, its vital that carry this momentum, and obviously the prize money that we do get from our elevated position, into next year. Of course, returning to something familiar will help us with that but the situation we got left in with Honda was far from optimal. SP: You are quite right, what happened with Honda was most unfortunate. My final question is for you Dylan. After what can only be described as an incredibly difficult season, with Lopez finishing last on zero points, does this change of engine suppliers come at the best time? In terms of a fresh start with fresh ideas? Dylan Lopez (DL): Hey Scott. Changing engine suppliers isn’t something that happens overnight. Many months of prep work behind the scenes has been going on to make today possible. I don’t believe therefore that there’s ever a perfect time to go through this process. I guess from the outside looking in, given our struggles in 2022 it does look like somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction. But in our eyes a future with Jaguar shall hopefully turn into a journey back to the promised land. SP: Thank you, that's all I've got. JP: Brilliant, now for any questions from the floor. Yes Leyton? Leyton Smith [LS] – Thegrid.net: Ben, during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, you repeatedly slammed Jaguar in public for the failures that befell your team, or sometimes for performance. Now, after the Honda ship sailed, ARROW have come back with tails between legs. How easy was it to repair the relationship between the parties? BF: If you take all the parts of a boat and replace them with new ones, is it ever truly the same boat, by the looks of it the whole engine department has taken on a new look since we signed the deal to move away a year ago. Are the engines showcased in our two seasons anywhere near what was showcased in both the exemplary performance and reliability last year when we moved away? I don't feed into media rumours, I choose whatever decision comes best to my team, and the one to join Jaguar wasn't actually one initiated by ourselves, we look forward to the partnership and hope it leads us both to the success we would have hoped it would bring in 2021. JP: Fewer questions about Jaguar being slammed in the future please Mr Smith. Theo Parker [TP] – VM Magazine: As Formula Virtual approaches a new era of engine manufacturers – with so many new manufacturers coming into the sport and the changes from 2023/24 – how much of a boost is it to everyone at Jaguar to have a full roster of customers? RF: We are very happy to grow, finally, to a third team. I would like to stress that previous departures from our stable have always been linked to driver deals, we like to tempt teams to Jaguar with the power of our engines. ARROW are the most exciting new team in FV in the recent past and our reunion will be a benefit to both parties. Lopez have been one few teams to challenge the top few teams and we want to reach those heights again with them. TP: Sounds like the ingredients could be there. Dylan, your team have been partnered with some of the best engine manufacturers in the sport's history, what have you learnt from the way they operate and what do you think you'll bring to the Lopez/Jaguar partnership? DL: There’s certainly more to it than what engine is thrown into the back of the car. Working with Downton and Porsche has been fantastic for a small team like us. I won’t particularly go into any detail as to what we’ve learned from their partnerships but we’ll come into next year with an objective, and from there we build our way back to the top. If you’re wondering, we’re setting the bar real low for next year… don’t finish last!! JP: Thank you Theo. Yes Danny, another question for Dylan? Danny Webber – ABC FV: This season has obviously been crap but let’s get real here. Lopez have been using one of the most successful engine manufacturers of the recent past, which took the team to two of it’s best ever seasons. What’s the thinking behind leaving them for Jaguar? DL: As you say, Porsche is one of the most recognisable and iconic brands the sport has to showcase. It was an excruciatingly difficult decision to come to in the end, but for us, we see huge potential and opportunity in this partnership. JP: Has anyone got a question where they don't refer to one of the teams as crap? Okay, Hitochi. Please try to keep it on topic. Hitoshi Ouchi [HO] – fansofocelot.jp: You spent last season as effectively the sole Honda runner, was there ever any chance of Honda staying in FV? Did you ever suggest Arrow becoming the lead runner and recruiting a second Honda team? BF: It was on the table, and isn't off the table for the future, having retained some of the Honda staff to work within our team and a large majority of Franklin employees who we took in during our upscaling at the end of the year. There's probably a strong possibility that this isn't the last of Honda in Formula Virtual, but for now that obviously isn't a discussion. JP: This is a Jaguar press conference, Hitoshi! Bof, maybe next time. Yes, Rebecca from XtremeV.
Rebecca Parnell [RP] – XtremeV: Will, I think it is only fair that we acknowledge the fact that Downton are the clear powerhouse in British Virtual Motorsport – and indeed have been for some time. However, beyond Downton-McLaren, the Ingram-Jaguar-Lister combination is quickly becoming an iconic partnership that British fans have fallen in love with. Since this partnership began, have you seen a difference in terms of merchandise sales and increased revenue over the last few years? WI: You are too kind Rebecca. Downton are clearly the class leaders in British Virtual Motorsport, along with Franklin for a number of years of course. We hope the fans enjoy Ingram-Jaguar, I think the Lister connection is for the more dedicated supporters! Our merchandise revenues have been going up, but I think that’s at least as much down to the increasing popularity of FV around the world. Jaguar obviously have a very professional set up which helps us match demand. Our IGP Kite model certainly was our most popular for a number of years it must be said. JP: Now that's a nice question. Yes, Klaus, only one question today please. Klaus Ammermuller [KM] – RTV: I have a question for all please. Good morning/afternoon/evening gentlemen, I hope you are all well. Last week, the FVA announced the regulation change for 2024 with the statement: “Teams will no longer develop their own engine. Engine suppliers will now be responsible to create an engine in which themselves and all the teams they are supplying to will use for that season.” So where previously a base engine was provided to all customer teams which afterwards is left to those teams to develop to their ideal, it is going to be straight from the engine supplier into the car with tuning. How does this change the decisions from the customer teams to choose the correct engine supplier? And to the supplier, what promises do you have for the customer teams? BF: Just referring to my last statement, the obvious intent of ARROW is to move into a role that of a more manufacture-based look in Formula Virtual, to us it is too early to start considering that and how the rules change our decision for the end of the year. DL: For us it doesn’t particularly change too much, as Jaguar don’t have a standalone team in the sport. We had to take this into consideration before we signed off on the deal and we’ll be ready for whatever the future throws at us! WI: We are very happy with Jaguar, and I shall let Robert answer this. RF: Formula Virtual is a constantly evolving sport, which is why we are here. Jaguar realise that we don’t work in a vacuum. We can build the best engines we can, but if it does not suit the car then what is the point. We want to work hand in glove, not only with Ingram, but with ARROW and Lopez. Their insights will be invaluable and we want to work towards these new regulations as a 4 way partnership. JP: Okay, time for one more. Yes, Edgardo, you may stand up now. Edgardo Agretha [EA] – Play Virtual: My question is for Will and Robert. A simple one; since beginning the Ingram-Jaguar partnership, what is your best on-track memory together, and what has been your favourite off-track moment in the partnership? RF: For me that is quite easy, our victory in Sepang was a brilliant achievement. It really vindicated our partnership and was a real release of emotion of the last few years. Jaguar were also very pleased with the 2022 Czech V-Prix, which was the first time we had 4 Jaguar cars in the points. WI: It’s hard to disagree with Robert! Although, I loved our debut points. We, Ingram that is, had become so used to working with the brilliant engines provided by Franklin-Honda, and it was a real leap of faith from Jaguar to partner with us. It really helped our morale to see we could lead a project like this, and Jean backed it up with points in round 2 too! It really helped set us on our way. Off track I’d say we just work really well together. There’s a real harmony between our two operations, much of that down to the coordination between Juan [Fernando de Cortes, Ingram technical director] and Lyra [Parry, head of Ingram-Jaguar Engines] who work brilliantly together. Robert and myself obviously have a lot to do so their relationship is vital. JP: Lovely, that's all we have time for. Please stay tuned for more Ingram news in the future, as we welcome Allar Kangur to the team! Am I allowed to say that, has that been confirmed? Ah I see William is beckoning me off stage. Au revoir!
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