January 06, 2014

 

Third year GPVWC Formula Challenge team Velocity Racing have announced their driver line-up for the upcoming 2014 season.
Oxfordshire, England - On a chilly and rainy day at the Velocity Racing team base in Oxfordshire, team boss Ben Warren is ready to present the team's line-up for their third season as part of the ever growing and continually successful GPVWC Formula Challenge series.

Velocity Racing began the 2013 season with renewed optimism, with two fresh faces in the form of Juan Lopez and Tim-Oliver Wagner. After a strong result for Juan in the opening race, that proved to be the first and last points finish for Velocity the rest of the season. Lopez disappeared from the racing scene without trace, and Tim-Oliver struggled to adapt to the car, narrowly missing out on a points finish a number of times. Ollie Woods took the helm in the second seat for the majority of the season following Lopez's absence, and performed admirably, moving ever closer to that elusive first Formula Challenge points finish.

Unsurprisingly, Velocity have retained the services of the hard-working Ollie Woods. Perhaps more surprisingly though, he will be joined in the second seat by former Superleague driver, and reigning Race of Champion driver, Teemu Toikka.

Toikka competed for Woods Racing in Superleague last season, and while results were largely mixed, it does come as somewhat of a surprise that Toikka has not remained in Superleague, or even grabbing a seat in Supercup. Woods will take the #18 car, while Toikka will compete in the #19 car.

Ben Warren - "I am delighted to have kept Ollie on for a full season of racing in Formula Challenge. Although results have not always shown it, his progression as a driver has been very impressive in 2013, and he deserves a real chance to hopefully achieve a points finish, and more, this time round. I am also delighted, and admittedly a little surprised to be able to acquire a driver of Teemu's calibre for the #19 seat."

"I know Teemu had his focus set on competing in the Supercup series this time around, but it became apparent that seats in all series were filling up even quicker than anticipated, so we moved quickly to test the waters with Teemu, and we're extremely happy he's a Velocity Racing driver. Velocity Racing will remain part of the Woods family for 2014, so we anticipate Teemu's transition into the team will be smooth sailing. We have not yet signed a reserve driver for the upcoming season, but we will begin our search in due course."

Ollie Woods, #18 - "It's great to have been asked to stay on at Velocity for another year, and even better to have the team as part of the Woods stable. Ben is a great team manager and his knowledge and experience have already been invaluable. I improved a lot in 2013 and hope to do even better in 2014 - who knows, maybe points are just around the corner? It will be a tough challenge with so many big names in the league but never say never."

Teemu Toikka, #19 - "For sure I'm very happy with a seat, but after last seasons horrible driving I'm amazed anyone hired me again. I might have won Race of Champions but I'm nowhere near that when it comes to open wheel racing. Formula Challenge line-ups look strong and I think it'll be tough for me to break into top 5."

The car's 2014 livery has yet to be revealed, but it is expected that everything will be ready well in advance of the opening round of the season in Melbourne on the 25th February.