December 14, 2013

 

The eyes of the paddock turned to Lahti in Finland today as FA Racing held an event to announce their lineup for the 2014 Supercup season.

Before taking their seats hot drinks were served to the press contingent that had braved the wintery conditions. Teemu Toikka, team principal of FA Racing and notably a man of few words, thanked everyone for attending and introduced a video package.

The video recapped the team's 2013 season, showing highlights including Kenney Lybeer's stunning fourth placed finish in Japan. Despite this the team finished tenth in the constructors' standings, no doubt a position they will wish to improve on in 2014. After this highlight package two black test cars came onto the screen, with two very notable helmets. The camera froze on each helmet in turn, revealing the two drivers picked to spearhead FA's challenge: Philip Cullen and Tom Parker.

Each driver in turn came onto stage to say a few words, followed by the team boss:

Philip Cullen: "I'm looking forward to returning to active competition for the upcoming season. Last year was difficult with having inadequate time to devote to racing, along with recovering from breaking a bone in my finger. I got fielded a number of interesting proposals, both at Supercup level and Formula Challenge but I guess the racer in me felt that I can still do the business at Supercup level. At least, that's what I thought before starting to see line-ups announced! Make no mistake about it, this years Supercup has all the hallmarks of being the most competitive in its history. Points finishes alone are going to be tough.

"The big selling point about this deal is actually the opportunity to work with Tom Parker I know, crazy right? Tom though ticks alot of the boxes I would like in a team-mate. I know he's going to be competitive, willing to work together on things and I know I can rely on some good communications from him during the race.

"Sure, it might be an absolute clusterfuck but sure we will give it a go and see where we land as we mere mortals race amongst the aliens."


Tom Parker: 'I'm glad to be joining FA Racing for the 2014 Supercup season. I hope to be able to take them higher up in the Supercup standings and I cannot wait to get working with both Teemu and Phil. I haven't been so excited for a season in a long time and I hope I have the pace to not only haul myself up the standings but FA Racing as well.'

Teemu Toikka: "With this line-up I seriously think we have a realistic chance at top 5 in the constructors' championship and maybe one of our drivers has the same chance at top 10 in the drivers' championship. I asked Tom Parker first if he would like a drive and to my surprise he said yes! And when Philip entered the market I thought this was my last chance at a good driver. I just told him that Tom would be one of the drivers and for some reason he said yes. I couldnt be happier with our team line-up."