April 06, 2015

 

Epic Racing are due to make their debut in the International Touring Cup this year after this week's announcement of a 20 team grid.
It will be Epic's third and final competition, having already competed in the Formula Challenge and World Sport Series so far in their comeback season. With the Chevrolet Cruze confirmed as their car of choice, it was down to Team Manager Lee Davidson to create an exciting line up for this brand new challenge.

"Ultimately, I could've gone with the old guard of familiar faces, certainly there was a lot available. However that would go against Epic's philosophy of investing in talent for the future and giving people a fair shot at sim-racing in GPVWC." says Lee Davidson, "So with ITC, a brand new series for the team and one we didn't actually have planned to enter at the start of the year, I really wanted to emphasise that philosophy and bring in two guys who don't currently have a full time drive elsewhere. However, I also didn't want to stop there, it's worthwhile investing in talent to manage the squad, creating a sustainable future for the team and ensuring my time is not too poorly invested, managing three squads."

Epic Racing's first driver will be Geoffrey Fournier, who has also recently signed up as Epic's reserve driver for the World Sport Series. "Geoff is an exciting talent, someone who will have a part to play for Epic in years to come - whether it is tin tops or single seaters. He's a committed and talented guy who got a lot more upside to achieve, he is a star in the making." commented Davidson on the hiring of the Frenchman who has competed in the Open Series and one off appearances in FC and WSS.

Parnering Fournier for the 2015 season will be newcomer Chris Shepherd. Whilst Chris hasn't competed in any races in GPVWC so far, word of mouth from the team's WSS driver Rob Mason convinced Davidson that he was the right guy for the unique qualities of ITC. "Chris has a vast amount of experience racing in tourers, he knows how to win in them and it's that drive that ultimately made me chase for his signature. As soon as our entry was submitted I got in contact with him. He's fast, committed and intelligent on the track. I'm really pleased to have signed a driver of his calibre."

With the driver line up confirmed, Davidson also announced livery designer and past team-mate Christian Zorner to be co-managing the squad on a day-to-day basis, it will be his first role outside of driving and a responsibility Davidson believes will come naturally to the German. "I've known Christian since our days in Live for Speed some seven or eight years ago, and he's been a big part of Epic's comeback behind the scenes, not forgetting to mention the superb designs he has allowed Epic to grace the track with. So naturally I asked if he could help out with managing the ITC squad. It's something new for him and will take a bit of time to become comfortable with, but I'm sure as the season goes on, it's something that will become natural for him."

The first race of the season takes place next week in Portugal.
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Comments from the drivers:

#32 - Geoffrey Fournier: "I'm very happy to run the ITC for Epic Racing. I'm already part of the team as WSS's reserve driver and i want to thank Lee for giving me a chance to run a full season as primary driver! It's gonna be an exciting season, and I will team up with someone i know very well in Chris Shepherd. So I'm looking forward to the start of the season and hope we can bring the team some good results"

#33 - Chris Shepherd: "First and foremost I would like to thank the Team Manager Lee Davidson for offering me a seat to drive for Epic Racing in what looks like to be a fantastic league, being the
International Touring Cup. I always set my standards high but at the same time am a realist. The aim, as always, is to win and take Epic Racing to the top, but this will be difficult on the count of two factors. Firstly, the grid is very strong and full of some great talent, of whom I have had some nice battles against in the past. Secondly, this is rFactor(1). I have never been an rF1 fan. I have competed in only a handfull of races here and there using rF1 but never driven consecutive races. I have not got to grips with how to be very competetive like I can usually be in other sims but you can be sure that myself and new team mate Geoffrey Fournier will be testing like never before to overcome my/our rF1 demons."