June 05, 2013

 

In a whirlwind lead up to the Canadian GP the Halcyon Racing driver lineup changed dramatically, just in the nick of time.
New signing Jamez Shepherd still with the price tags attached departed the team for unknown reasons, team boss and driver Adam Rouse also left for Woods Racing. This left the team with two gaping holes in their driver lineup, only reserve driver Georgios Davakos was left. Team boss Rouse further expanded on the reasoning for the departures:

"I had a fantastic opportunity to go and work with a team like Woods Racing, a team of which I've harbored ambitions to drive for since practically starting in the GPVWC many years ago so when I was made aware that Ollie needed some help and he was interested in me then I jumped at the chance. I've personally really enjoyed the racing this year and it was a clear step up in car performance to move this season so even though it left us a driver short at Halcyon I had confidence we could fill the slot.

The situation with Jamez is unfortunate but that is part of sim-racing, he contacted me shortly after the Spanish GP and decided he did not want to race therefore I could only accept that decision and I don't have any issue with it. Georgios and Phillie did an excellent job of filling in whilst we looked for more permanent solutions and thankfully we got some deals done."

Two new drivers, James Johnson and Martin O'Connor swooped into the Halcyon Racing seats just in time for the Canadian GP and James promptly picked up a very creditable debut 13th and 3 points, Rouse expanded on the details of these deals:

"Both of these signings were the definition of last minute deals, I was literally sending contracts 30 minutes before official free practice. I can only credit Martin and James for the way they both jumped into the car and got up to speed quickly, I'm sure with plenty of practice and tweaking their setups for personal preference they can really do well. I have to really point out that key to both of these deals was Mike Pitman and the Vod:Bul team, he was a catalyst for not only finding and recommending the team but he also did it in a very short time period, we owe him a lot for that because the teams short term future really was looking sketchy at one point."

The team now clearly hopes that it has a stable lineup for the rest of the season as the team battles in the middle of the constructors table, currently sitting 7th.