All personnel slots settled prior to the start of sponsorship bidding.
The remaining GPVWC moved quickly after the first round of bidding to fill in their remaining personnel gaps. Several teams, including former constructors? champions Red Archer and Nordsjoen had available staff placements. By the end of the second round of bidding, only last year?s surprise package, Green Stripes Racing, was left with one available staff place. The team later secured the position in the third round.
Nijo Racing retained the talents of Takuya Kaneko. Team owner Chris Williamson is likely to be delighted to re-sign the 44 year old Japanese designer, who penned the car that took the team to seventh in the championship last year. There is change at Constant Racing following a difficult season for that saw them finish 11th in the standings. Out goes German Philipp Konig, replaced by Kieran Smith. The Northern Irish native is one of the elder statesmen of the current clutch of design gurus. No doubt Constant is hopeful for an immediate impact from Smith?s experience.
Red Archer were the final team who needed to secure a designer, bidding on 36 year old Illario Schiavonne. Like Constant, Red Archer are looking to bounce back from a difficult season and signing the youthful but inexperienced Schiavonne may be a sign of the team rebuilding for the future.
Three teams sought to staff their chief mechanic in the second round. Former champions Nordsoen Racing secured the services of Lorenzo Lombardi, who?s services were no longer required at Constant Racing. Kernow Sport and Green Stripes Racing battled over the services Mersin Zernec. The Bosnian was a free agent on the market following the demise of Draig Racing. It would be the Cornish outfit that won out on this occasion, forcing Green Stripes to go to a third round to solve their vacant position. The German team settled on Englishman Ethan Burton to fill the void left by Martin Naumann.
The final positions that a number of teams needed to fill were those of the Commercial Manager. Yet again, three teams vied over the remaining candidates. Torrent Motorsports signed Jacob Iversen, formerly of the now defunct Synergetic Motorsports team. Fellow newcomers Halcyon Racing also cast their net over the Nordic staff, signing Finn Onni Juuskunen. Red Archer tied up the bidding process by securing Dominic Bartlett, who arrives with a years experience from Green Stripes Racing.
That brings an end to the first part of the GPVWC bidding process. Sponsorship package bidding begins in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Further details will be available on the forum.
