Matteo Zetticci will race for Downton in the 2022 FV season in a shock move, the team has confirmed. The 19-year-old – who turns 20 in November – will therefore make his debut in the series with the triple world champions’, also becoming the first non-British or Dutch driver to race for the team.
“These past five years we have watched Matteo develop into an utterly fantastic racer,” said Downton team principal Bradley Downton. “Not only his performances in the VWRS, but also his exceptional outings in practice sessions have really made him impossible to ignore, which was exactly his aim.” “It got to the point where we had no option but to offer him a seat. He’s worked incredibly hard for this opportunity and I’m confident he will grasp it with both hands.” Zetticci has been a member of Downton’s’ junior driver programme since 2018. In that time he has collected the FV3 Series title and been a prominent front runner in VWRS, a series he looks on course to win this season. He has also participated in 12 practice sessions for the team, topping five of them – including at his home race in Italy last year – and only twice finishing outside of the top three. He said the confirmation that he will race with Downton was “incredibly special” and that he “can’t wait to get started”, but added “firstly though, I have a job to do with Formation Competition to secure the 2021 VWRS title.” “I am so excited that my debut in Formula Virtual will come with Downton,” said Zetticci. “There’s been quite a bit of talk for a year or more, and at one point we were on the verge of inking a deal with Phoenix which would have been fantastic. But everyone at Downton has shown tremendous faith in me, and I’m confident I can repay that next season.” “I’m under no illusions as to how monumental this challenge will be. I’ll be in my very first season against an incredibly impressive team mate, but I’m confident in my abilities to hold my own.” “My target first and foremost is to do the best job I can for the team and honour the trust they’ve shown in me by giving me this opportunity.” The move also means that one of Nathaniel Powers or Klaas van Snelheid will leave the team, and their record run of races as team mates will end at 85, the pair having been together at Downton since the start of 2017. The team gave no indication as to which driver would be moving on however, declining to comment and simply stating, “this is Matteo’s day.”
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