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Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai International Circuit
Tuesday 23rd of April 2024 19:00:00
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April 07, 2011
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Barely minutes after the end of an incredible Japanese Grand Prix, the top three drivers met Adam Smith for the customary GPVWC Superleague Press Conference. Available today are race winner Lee Morris (ENG, Draig Racing), 2nd placed Joe Consiglio (MLT, Nordsjoen Racing) and third position driver Sam Millar (SCO, Synergetic Motorsport). Morris and Consiglio are still drenched in sweat after their epic battle for the win, which kept viewers glued to the screens for the better part of the last 15 laps.
Q. We're here with race winner Lee Morris of Draig Racing. Lee, two races that have gone down to the wire, how does it feel to come out top in both?
LM. Well, firstly, as I have just said in the Broadcast interview - Joe, amazing race man, absolutley amazing. I honestly cannot speak highly enough of your racing credentials! To win this race is almost on par with my 2009 Monaco GP FSR win, which meant alot to me. Today I feel the same way, I hope we can have many more battles throughout the season!
Q. I asked in Melbourne about the new qualifying and strategies. How much do you think that strategy came into play today?
LM. Quite a lot today, as me and Joe were both on two stops, which made much easier to predict what to do in the race. For example, when Joe is on a three stopper you have to aim for a certain gap to stay within to be able to win, but when he's on 2 stop you know that you just have to beat him, so strategy is a key aspect of GPVWC 2011.
Q. And finally, you say strategy is a key aspect this year. Are there any key people, apart from Consiglio of course, that you're keeping your eye on this year?
LM. Well my main aim is Joe, as he is the one to beat at the moment; Sam today played a part in the race but his strategy was key to that, if he had two stopped he would have fallen back early on but his strategy helped him mix it up with us which was nice to see, but at the moment there is only one man who can race side by side, wheel to wheel like tonight and that man is Joe Consiglio.
Q. Ok, thanks for that Lee, great racing today. Joe Consiglio of Nordsjeon was a narrow second today. Joe, how are you feeling about the rest of the season, taking into account the last two races?
JC. Firstly, I just wanna echo what Lee said. It was an amazing race, possibly my best ever. I've never experienced such close and fair racing, every lap on the limit. I hope this race in a small way can give the Japanese people something to smile about as they go through such hard times. Lee won today but it felt like we were racing for them in way. Despite coming 2nd to Lee, todays race is what every simracer dreams of.
Q. Of course, great point! Despite coming second to Morris twice, are you still as optimistic at taking the championship this year as you were before Melbourne?
JC. Well, mostly I wanted this year to be about fun. I'm lucky enough to have a Championship (2009) under my belt so the pressure is off in that respect. Before the season I promised I'd push Lee as hard as I could and that's exactly what has happened so far. The Championship is something I'll start looking it if we manage to beat him on track and win some races! For now I'm just enjoying the ride.
Q. You say that this year is about having fun, but there were rumours of you quitting after Melbourne, are you firmly committed to the rest of this year now?
JC. In a word, yes. After Melbourne, quite a lot of guys in the league were good enough to encourage me and put some things in perspective. My manager Will (Ponissi) was also instrumental in convincing me to stay and I really wanna thank him publically for that. As long as I'm having fun, GPVWC is my home.
Q. Thanks alot Joe, Great race. Sam Millar of Synergetic Motorsports finished third today. Sam,you looked really confident in the opening stages today, but it looked as if strategy let you down tonight, what are you going to do to change your luck around?
SM. It was a great race tonight, I was surprised to see Lee get bogged down so when I saw that I knew I could probably get into Joe's slipstream and hopefully pass him into T1. I didn't want to risk a collision, it looked like I could stick with him so I tried it down the back straight and got past him there until it was time to pit, it looked like my strategy was going to pay off until there was an error which hadn't I noticed, would of fuelled me 10 laps too short for some reason. We have big upgrades coming soon so hopefully we should be able to mix with Joe and Lee.
Q. Your car looked strong against the Nords and Draig, can you confirm any developments in the past few weeks?
SM. The last development we had was for Abu Dhabi and it was only minor, our next upgrade due for South Africa is quite a big step and we hope it will deliver.
Q. In Melbourne, I asked you whether you think you have the fight for the championship; you said you'd take it one step at a time, has the second podium and promising battles given you more guided confidence?
SM. Again I think we'll need to take things a step at a time, it's too early to rule anything out but a lot of changes will need to be made soon for that to happen.
Q. Thank you Sam. Today, you all took part in a warmup lap to show your respect for the recent events in Japan, how did it feel to take part in such an event?
LM. It was very moving and a lot of people were touched by this. I was proud to represent myself and Draig in the tribute to the Japanese people.
JC. For me, it was just a way of showing my support. We're all thinking and indeed praying for Japan. It was good to see those stickers on the cars too. There's not much we as simracers can do practically of course but it shows that we are aware of how fortunate we all are to be healthly and racing each other week in week out. Like I said its good to put things in perspective once in a while.
SM. I felt very proud that my teams cars we're sporting a tribute to the Japanese today, and I hope they recover well. A sad loss to all involved.
Q. Thank you so much for your time and congratulations again. We will be back with the GPVWC Press Conference after the Chinese Grand Prix in two weeks!
Q. We're here with race winner Lee Morris of Draig Racing. Lee, two races that have gone down to the wire, how does it feel to come out top in both?
LM. Well, firstly, as I have just said in the Broadcast interview - Joe, amazing race man, absolutley amazing. I honestly cannot speak highly enough of your racing credentials! To win this race is almost on par with my 2009 Monaco GP FSR win, which meant alot to me. Today I feel the same way, I hope we can have many more battles throughout the season!
Q. I asked in Melbourne about the new qualifying and strategies. How much do you think that strategy came into play today?
LM. Quite a lot today, as me and Joe were both on two stops, which made much easier to predict what to do in the race. For example, when Joe is on a three stopper you have to aim for a certain gap to stay within to be able to win, but when he's on 2 stop you know that you just have to beat him, so strategy is a key aspect of GPVWC 2011.
Q. And finally, you say strategy is a key aspect this year. Are there any key people, apart from Consiglio of course, that you're keeping your eye on this year?
LM. Well my main aim is Joe, as he is the one to beat at the moment; Sam today played a part in the race but his strategy was key to that, if he had two stopped he would have fallen back early on but his strategy helped him mix it up with us which was nice to see, but at the moment there is only one man who can race side by side, wheel to wheel like tonight and that man is Joe Consiglio.
Q. Ok, thanks for that Lee, great racing today. Joe Consiglio of Nordsjeon was a narrow second today. Joe, how are you feeling about the rest of the season, taking into account the last two races?
JC. Firstly, I just wanna echo what Lee said. It was an amazing race, possibly my best ever. I've never experienced such close and fair racing, every lap on the limit. I hope this race in a small way can give the Japanese people something to smile about as they go through such hard times. Lee won today but it felt like we were racing for them in way. Despite coming 2nd to Lee, todays race is what every simracer dreams of.
Q. Of course, great point! Despite coming second to Morris twice, are you still as optimistic at taking the championship this year as you were before Melbourne?
JC. Well, mostly I wanted this year to be about fun. I'm lucky enough to have a Championship (2009) under my belt so the pressure is off in that respect. Before the season I promised I'd push Lee as hard as I could and that's exactly what has happened so far. The Championship is something I'll start looking it if we manage to beat him on track and win some races! For now I'm just enjoying the ride.
Q. You say that this year is about having fun, but there were rumours of you quitting after Melbourne, are you firmly committed to the rest of this year now?
JC. In a word, yes. After Melbourne, quite a lot of guys in the league were good enough to encourage me and put some things in perspective. My manager Will (Ponissi) was also instrumental in convincing me to stay and I really wanna thank him publically for that. As long as I'm having fun, GPVWC is my home.
Q. Thanks alot Joe, Great race. Sam Millar of Synergetic Motorsports finished third today. Sam,you looked really confident in the opening stages today, but it looked as if strategy let you down tonight, what are you going to do to change your luck around?
SM. It was a great race tonight, I was surprised to see Lee get bogged down so when I saw that I knew I could probably get into Joe's slipstream and hopefully pass him into T1. I didn't want to risk a collision, it looked like I could stick with him so I tried it down the back straight and got past him there until it was time to pit, it looked like my strategy was going to pay off until there was an error which hadn't I noticed, would of fuelled me 10 laps too short for some reason. We have big upgrades coming soon so hopefully we should be able to mix with Joe and Lee.
Q. Your car looked strong against the Nords and Draig, can you confirm any developments in the past few weeks?
SM. The last development we had was for Abu Dhabi and it was only minor, our next upgrade due for South Africa is quite a big step and we hope it will deliver.
Q. In Melbourne, I asked you whether you think you have the fight for the championship; you said you'd take it one step at a time, has the second podium and promising battles given you more guided confidence?
SM. Again I think we'll need to take things a step at a time, it's too early to rule anything out but a lot of changes will need to be made soon for that to happen.
Q. Thank you Sam. Today, you all took part in a warmup lap to show your respect for the recent events in Japan, how did it feel to take part in such an event?
LM. It was very moving and a lot of people were touched by this. I was proud to represent myself and Draig in the tribute to the Japanese people.
JC. For me, it was just a way of showing my support. We're all thinking and indeed praying for Japan. It was good to see those stickers on the cars too. There's not much we as simracers can do practically of course but it shows that we are aware of how fortunate we all are to be healthly and racing each other week in week out. Like I said its good to put things in perspective once in a while.
SM. I felt very proud that my teams cars we're sporting a tribute to the Japanese today, and I hope they recover well. A sad loss to all involved.
Q. Thank you so much for your time and congratulations again. We will be back with the GPVWC Press Conference after the Chinese Grand Prix in two weeks!
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