February 17, 2001
Reigning Constructors Champions, A Racing, have made a shock last minute decision to pull out of the 2001 GPVWC.

The decision was made when number 1 driver, Richard Dickson, realised that he would not be able to contest more than half of the races in 2001. His Team Manager brother, Andrew Dickson, decided that it would be best to withdraw the team and leave the GPVWC on a high note.

Official A Racing Press Release

A-Racing would like to announce their withdrawl from the GPVWC.

Firstly, we would like to profoundly apologise to every member of the GPVWC that has become involved in A-Racing. We feel quite bad about leaving Christian in the lurch like this, but the management has decided to pull the plug on the 2001 campaign for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the team's first driver, Richard Dickson, has been having serious reservations about the coming season, and upon very careful consideration resigned to the fact that his commitment would not be high enough to be able to even consider keeping A-Racing at the top.

Richard commented:

"I have decided withdraw my entry as a driver in the GPVWC. My motivation level has severely dropped over the winter and I have had to re-prioritize my life and put the most important things first, these being mainly personal and also work, since I will be finishing A-levels very shortly and moving into full time employment. After talking to Andrew, and upon telling him my decision to stop racing, he has also decided to withdraw the team whilst we were at the top. I will however still take a keen interest in the league and will probably now assist the GPVWC management in some way, be it file checking or just trying to fit something in to help out. I will also be staying in touch with the people I have got to know over the past few months."

If anyone has further enquiries then contact Richard on ICQ 49280303 or e-mail a_racing@hotmail.com

Championship Manager, Daniel Lawrence, commented:

"After a short chat with Richard it became apparent that he was no longer passionate about Grand Prix 3. He admitted that he was not really looking forward to the 2001 Championship and would probably not even make half of the races. I urged him to pull out of the GPVWC if he was not going to be comitted as it would not be fair on the other teams. Unfortunately A Racing pulled the team out aswell."

"I feel very bad for Christian Neumann who would surely have challenged Endean for the 2001 Championship - he no longer has a team!"

"In 2000 A Racing have set the standard for all future teams to follow. The team were hugely committed to gaining the best results possible and I think this has rubbed off on several other teams (including my own team DL Racing). The whole team will be missed, especially Richard who oprovided immense support through the tough times of the GPVWC. On a more positive side, Richard will hopefully be staying on in some form of management/Administration capacity. This is great news as far as I am concerned".