Welcome to the Press Conference for Round 8 of the Formula Sim-Racing World Trophy Championship.

Winning for Precision Motorsports, Ajibola Lawal; with teammate Pedro Melim ending up second, rounding the podium was DHR Simcraft’s Ivan Kaloyanov.

Q: Ajibola, can you explain to us how the move went from your perspective?
Ajibola Lawal: Well he had a bad exit so I passed on the next corner. The Wall of Champions turn that is.

Q: And the remaining few laps, when you were under pressure from Melim, did you think he could get back past?
AL: Well…I was pushing hard and hoping for the best really.

Q: You maintained the lead at the start, what were you thinking when Melim lead for those nine laps?
AL: The only thing I was thinking of was just pushing hard, and regaining 1st place.

Q: Pedro, how was your race?
Pedro Melim: We can say it was good, this track was difficult to me and finishing in 2nd is really good for me and the team since we got the much wanted one-two with Aji in front.
Fight with Aji a couple of times but had to save engine in the end so it was really difficult for me to pass him in the end, but I’m glad with the result.

Q: Another podium, must be brilliant for you. And to see Precision have a long gap to DHR and Ivan.
PM: Yep, according to team expectations all went according to plan, increase the gap to DHR, we are happy with it and we will keep doing the same thing over and over again if everything goes to plan in the remaining races.

Q: Do you think you could, or should have won here today?
PM: We can say I could have won it, but should, not really. Aji was about the same pace as me but he had a bit of damage. I was still hoping to do same as last year but this isn’t really my track so finishing in 2nd it’s a great result.

Q: Ivan, there were some rumours in the paddock that you had an issue in Qualifying. Is this true?
Ivan Kaloyanov: Yes, I had an issue in qualifying. For some reason, I started qualifying with traction control and anti-lock brakes both on high. I did not realize this until I had done my first flying lap, which was obviously spoiled because of the weight penalties. It is a shame because I had no cars around me, so it would have been a traffic-free lap. My next two attempts were spoiled by traffic, and on one try someone even exited the pits right in front of me. I think people should try to be more aware of others who are on hot laps. I was basically able to get my first real lap in with only 3 minutes to go, and I only had one more opportunity to improve upon that time. In the end, I wasn't satisfied with my qualifying as I had pace to put the car on the front row of the grid.


Q: How was your race?
IK: My race was relatively simple and straightforward. At the start, I knew that I had to get past Andreas Nilsson and then try to hold the pace of the Precision pair. I was able to get past him and that was pretty much all the action I experienced all grand prix. After that, I was able to hold the pace of Melim and Lawal for 2 or 3 laps, but when they started pushing, I had no chance. Seeing as they were quicker than me, I knew there was no point in pushing so much as I still wouldn’t be able to match their pace. As a result, I backed off and just started managing the gap to the cars behind me. The pit stops went well as we had no problems. In the end I finished 30 seconds behind the Precision pair, but I could have easily made that into 10 or 15 seconds if I had been pushing all grand prix as they have. In the end, a third place is a third place regardless how far off the lead you finish.


Q: Nearly 200 points deficit to Pedro Melim. This is a huge gap to close down.
IK: Yes, a 200 point deficit is quite a considerable amount, but under no circumstances will we give up. We are not even up to the halfway point of the season yet, so anything can still happen. We will try as hard as possible to close the deficit to Melim, and hopefully luck can be on our side. We have a new improvement for the car coming in Valencia, so we hope this will put us on par or make us quicker than Precision.