January 18, 2016
Published on tags: Edonis Engineering Superleague

 

As we continue to close in on the start of pre-season testing for the top tier Superleague series here at the GPVWC, Edonis Engineering has announced their line-up for 2016 edition of the series.

Team Manager Menno Klont gives you a warm welcome at the Edonis Engineering press conference here in the city of Groningen, which is completely white because of the snow. I want to thank you all for coming here. The 2015 season was pretty good for us, in our third race we managed to get a second place in the race and after that we had some good races where we finished in 7th position in the constructor standings by the end of the season. We were very happy with that but we also had some difficult things in 2015, with Fran Lopez wanting to leave early to get an even better car. James Johnson and Marcos Riffel both did an excellent job but neither driver will return to the team for the 2016 season.

We always try to be one of the first teams to reveal our driver line-up, today we will do so.

I'm happy to announce Edonis has 3 quick drivers whose signing will hopefully help us to make that final step to the top of the Superleague championship. Rfactor 2 can mix up the field like never before. we hope to profit from that change.

The team is now in the winter phase and we just got our personnel bidding completed. we were ambitious but we signed all three of our choices in Round 1 of the bidding.

We got Rhys Griffiths (Chief Designer) and we were very pleased getting him on-board.
We also have got Dave Johnson (as Chief Mechanic) and staying with us will be Talbot Marier (as Commercial Manager).

Finally it is now the moment you all have been waiting for, the Drivers.

Making his GPVWC debut in 2016 and taking the #4 car will be Eros Masciulli from Italy. He is well known within the world of simracing and is a very experienced driver. He has a lot of rFactor 2 experience which can be very useful for the 2016 season.

Q: Hello Eros, you are new to the league, but you know rFactor 2, what are your expectations for 2016, what do you think of Edonis Engineering and lastly did you like the car in testing?

#4 Eros Masciulli:
I am really happy to join the team this season, I see from the beginning our team manager is fully involved in the project and this is great for this kind of championship in which you have to build your car. I race rFactor/rFactor 2 since 2009 with 500 races and 80 wins, especially in Italian leagues. I had great results in FSR, with wins and podiums especially last season, so I wanted a seat here to prove myself and show what I can do in a good level league as FSR is. I am happy also with my team mate as I have known him for a long time and he is a big friend of mine, he is fast and we can work well together I am sure. Obviously I am not here to watch others win, I know I am strong in rFactor 2 and I will try my best for me and the team. Winning is the target, probably not the expectation, but it is the target for sure.

The #69 car will be driven by Michael Francesconi also from Italy. He also is a experienced driver, with a lot of rFactor 2 experience.

Q: Hello Michael you are also new to the GPVWC league, so what do you expect from the 2016 season?

#69 Michael Francesconi:
I am joining the league after I was asked to drive by my long time mate Eros. We have a nice chemistry in simracing working together and I look forward to driving in GPVWC, however unfortunately there is a big point. I will miss the first 3 races of the Superleague season, so I don't expect big results, but I will do my best to help my team mate and the team, so let's see what will happen. I am well experienced on rFactor 2 and I think I can get great result with this team, the organization looks fine and the people are really good. I've got good wins in Italy and now it's time to do something here too.

The Reserve Driver role will be filled by Lars Brugman. GPVWC's current Atlantic Series Champion. He will also have the task of competing in several of the opening races this season.

Q: Hi Lars, unlike the other two Edonis drivers, you are a well known character within the GPVWC community. What was the main reason to join Edonis Engineering and what do you think this team can achieve in the 2016 season?

#RD Lars Brugman:
I think the team has great potential to do well this year. After a somewhat difficult first season in Superleague, the team has now taken a new direction that should put them in a position where they can fight for good positions in the championship. I am glad to be able to do the first 3 races for them and will be looking to score as many points as I can.

Finally we have a word with Menno Klont again with the big question.

Q: With two Rookies in the Edonis SL lineup, aren't you worried this will prove a unreliable combination?

Menno Klont:
With two new drivers we are taking a risk for sure, but this is a risk we really wanted to take as a team. Both of the drivers did master rFactor 2 in the past and with rFactor 2 now becoming part of the Career Ladder, it's important to have two drivers who know how to drive those types of cars. With Lars Brugman we also have a huge talent in our midst and he can also bring Edonis Engineering a lot of knowledge and experience, as well as hopefully good points. I hope that Edonis will be the surprise of the 2016 Superleague season.