2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

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Pinkd56
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

Post by Pinkd56 »

MKS would like to bid for management of Christian Poulsen. The team is aiming for a works deal in the GBRC in 2019 and sees Poulsen as a suitable driver.

We're also interested in taking on Carl Jordan.
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

Post by DemocalypseNow »

Pinkd56 wrote:MKS would like to bid for management of Christian Poulsen. The team is aiming for a works deal in the GBRC in 2019 and sees Poulsen as a suitable driver.

We're also interested in taking on Carl Jordan.

As detailed in the original post from a few days ago, only Yamamura and Einhrin are available to sign. The rest of HawkAussie's drivers will enter the free agency pool at the end of the 2018 season.
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

Post by FMecha »

Takagi Racing Enterprises (AR3.5) would like to offer a seat for Hans Einhrin for the rest of current season, in place of Simon Garfunkel (don't worry, he'll be entered into Formula 5000). :)
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

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D'oh, nevermind
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

Post by DemocalypseNow »

AKIRA YAMAMURA

Akira has been inundated with offers since his Tassie deal was terminated early. Despite not having much chance to show any talent at the short-lived backmarker team, he is still rated for his AR 3.5 junior career, and so he finds himself with plenty of options on the table.

The first offer is a co-operative one. DGN Management are looking to sign him up as a client, and they have already bagged him a drive for the remainder of 2018 should he sign on, the lead Kamaha seat alongside Melville ready and waiting for him.

Jones Racing have also weighed in with an offer, but he will have to 'earn' a place for 2019 via a testing shootout, and will only be guaranteed a reserve role in the long term, albeit with an option to be farmed out everywhere if such an opportunity presents itself.

Rob Lomas Racing have been more to the point, offering him a race seat immediately, displacing Jari Kekkonen, with an option also on the table for 2019.

He has more reserve/test options for this season - Venturi have promised him five outings in private testing for the remainder of this year, with a vauge promise of a potential drive with Venturi in 2019. Union Saver Developments have offered something similar, albeit with no specifics on what testing time he'd get.

Some of the less enticing offers come in the form of SEAT, who offer him a chance to become reserve driver status in their Supercopa series, and Astro Racing Stars, who want to hire him as an "Asian Brand Liasion Representative," despite said role not actually involving any driving.


The odds favour DGN somewhat. Combining their track record of securing their host of mediocre drivers decent seats year after year - with the middling Fredo Mestolio somehow having managed to drive for every top team under the sun at some point - along with having already secured a drive at the Kamaha team is a good prospect. The recent acquisition of Revolution's assets has catapulted them up the order in terms of race pace, and while in the past Kamaha had a reputation for impluse sacking drivers every five minutes, they have shown uncharateristic loyalty to potential team-mate Daniel Melville. Also, in an almost unbelieveble coincidence, Yamamura has already driven the car in the past, with their current chassis starting its life as the Aeroracing chassis he tested while still in junior formulae.

Jones Racing, while a frontrunner in years past, has fallen back slightly, with question marks still lingering over the Ford engine package. They are no doubt a better option than the rest (bar Kamaha on recent form), but the lack of guarnatees about seat time is a concern.

Rob Lomas Racing offers a decent paycheck, but little else. Competitively the team is nowhere, and having already suffered through the nightmare of being mired in PreQ for the entire season so far, Akira does not relish the thought of returning straight back there when more competitive teams are calling.

Venturi's at least offers a small amount of guaranteed seat time, but with only reserve status on offer, and a half-hearted mention of a potential race seat next season, there's no particular interest in the vacancy. It is at least a step up from USD however - a team he rejected once before, and even less competitive currently than Kamaha, Jones and Venturi. The almost scathing tone of their offer, the allusion to being expected to crawl back for an opportunity that guarantees no time behind the wheel whatsoever, borders on insulting, and so he rejects it instinctively.

The SEAT offer is also of no interest to him when his ARWS career is just getting on the ground, but he is at least appreciative of their request, and would not rule out a collaboration further down the line when his single seater career comes to an end on better terms. There is of course the lingering doubt in the back of his mind, the Tassie 'experience' denting both his confidence and his enthusiasim for the sport, and so he isn't even entirely averse to the idea of joining Astro in a business role, rather than a driving one.

1-80 Signs on with DGN Mgmt and takes the Kamaha seat along with it
81-88 Goes big picture and sides with Jones, looking to impress.
89-95 Takes security over ambition with the Rob Lomas Racing ride
95-96 Is a tad short-sighted and looks at Venturi's podium last time out as a sign of great things to come
97-100 Is completely disenchanted with the sport after firstly losing the frontrunning Aeroracing race seat he spent half a decade working for, and then his calamitous spell at Tassie, and takes up the Astro role, hanging up his helmet.

The result...16!

Yamamura senses Kamaha's current rich form gives him the best chance possible to put himelf in the shop window leading up to 2019. Given they have given him dispensation to test for other teams, he can still potentially participate in the Jones test whilst still being guaranteed time on track for the rest of the year, potentially a sensible choice.
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

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HANS EINHRIN

From the whirlwind of the Yamamura RNG, I had forgotten about this young German. So too had pretty much everyone else.

After a pretty horrid debut in ARWS, which led to his provisional license being revoked, he looks to recover in the junior ranks. Takagi Racing Enterprises offers him the rest of the season in their 3.5 team, while Lotto want him for F5000 starting 2019.

TRE have a reputation for being hopeless, but Jerry de Boer in the lead car has at least avoided being completely useless, and Lotto doesn't give him any seat time whatsoever until next year. On the other hand, TRE already signed one driver from 3.5, Chacko Palaniappan, and he didn't even reach the beginning of the regular season, being dropped after the 3.5 Africa Cup.

Neither offer is particularly good. Einhrin is somewhat humiliated after his Tassie escapade in ARWS. The fact the better of the two teams offering him a drive are from a series in which he didn't even manage to retain his drive, and the other is from a perennial backmarker that has a new line-up every year, is worrying indeed for his future in racing.

1-30 Looks long-term with Lotto
31-40 Is willing to ignore his better judgement and snatches the TRE 3.5 opporunity
41-100 After an utterly dreadful outing with Tassie, and the subsequent lack of interested from reputable teams, elects to call it a career and look for a 'normal' job.

48. 48. He thought a fair bit about keeping his career stringing along. Alas, he prioritises his mortgage over his dreams and goes in search of a pencil pushing job.
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Re: 2018 Free Agency - Sign Drivers

Post by Normal32 »

Abdel Genazzi will be invited to do a one-off with Mitsuri Motor Engineering's ECV2, at the British Round of GBRC.
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