The second season of the V10 R-League is quickly approaching!
Season 2 will bring a new format to the sim racing series, challenging drivers and teams to be more precise and communicative than ever before.
We've got the inside line on what the drivers and team personnel think about the alterations for this year. Keep reading to find out how they think it will spice up the action!
A new feel to V10 R-League
Season 2’s new format introduces home and away races to the V10 R-League. This allows the home team to select which circuit they wish to race around using a ban pick format.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eZDAfPm98s
Head-to-Head contests are out, with the relay and team races being retained. There will be one relay and one team race at each nominated track, making for a 4-point match.
Like nothing else in racing
We first sat down with Red Bull's flying Finn Joni Tormala to discuss what we could be in store for in Season 2.
Drivers like Tormala now have a full season under their belt, but the experienced racers will have to adapt to the change in format ahead of Season 2.
"I think it's going to be really interesting,” said Red Bull’s Joni Tormala, who will return for Season 2. “I don't think we've seen anything like this in sim racing before.”
“It’s hard to know what to expect, but I’m actually really excited about that.”
Tormala is a fan of more cars on track, and said that “if nothing goes wrong” Red Bull has a good chance of competing at the top. The problem is, things can go wrong very quickly in racing!
Chasing the win
A team that challenged for the title last season was Williams. The British outfit faced off against Porsche24 Redline in a thrilling battle at Yas Marina to end the campaign.
We caught up with Martin Stefanko to ask what he and his team will have to do to take the next step and win the title in Season 2:
"I think we did a really good job in Season 1, so I don't think there's anything we really need to change [for Season 2]. We just need to continue working hard and we should be fine."
"It's going to be a new thing for everyone. For the first round, it's going to be a guessing game."
While Stefanko isn't sure who will come out on top in round 1, he is definitely looking forward to racing the car around new circuits:
"Definitely, I love the car, and I'm looking forward to trying the car around different tracks."
Champions have their say
We've heard from the drivers, but how do the other team personnel feel about the change in format?
We linked up with Diederik Kinds, who is the Team Principal at Redline, to discuss the alterations:
"It's an interesting curveball, really. When we saw the format, we were pleasantly shocked. There's a whole range of things we need to consider now."
"For instance, we need to prepare well for five different tracks each week. We need to find out how good the opposing team was at each circuit in Season 1 and practice depending on that."