JV's comments in today's MN - Ouch!

[bella]

ryan's a talented driver, and he's consistent too, something that's been rewarded so far. similarly with danny watts, that's why he's doing well.

has anyone noticed how this forum attracts people who have axes to grind??

[littleman]

Couldn't agree more with your views on Ryan Sharp and just about every other young driver giving it their best.However,I detest team owners who try to throw up smokescreens for their shortcomings and blame anything and everything rather than buckling down to finding that winning formula.

[bella]

sometimes it's very important to cover your arse.

[Paul Rayner]

Originally posted by top-off
was it not f ford that made JV in the first place ?

Yes, which is why he's saying he wouldn't go back, ie it changed for the worse in his opinion, and Renault is now the way to go.

What would Renault gain from helping Fortec to win? Would they gain great publicity by saying "Danny Watts won the 2002 Formula Renault UK Championship with Renault power"? If they wanted to do that, wouldn't they have stuck "RENAULT" in big letters on the side, like in the European series with the Renault driver development cars?

Back at the start of the season, when Danny Watts signed to drive for Fortec for his third season in Formula Renault, after both had won races in the category last year, he instantly became the clear championship favourite for a title which no-one would have put money on.
Now we're half way through the season and Watts has a clear lead, (which would have been even bigger if he hadn't got excluded from the first Thruxton round), and some people seem surprised, and say bad things against the team.

If anyone in FRenault is doing anything not by the book, I'd love to see the proof so that I could print it on my web site, or even discuss it on this forum.

[Paul Rayner]

Originally posted by littleman
JV is a paranoid fool but clever enough to divert the finger of suspicion elsewhere.Meanwhile his FR driver creeps,almost unnoticed,into a threatening 3rd place in the championship-have you noticed that? The only 'secret weapon' Fortec have is Danny Watts.Take him out of the equation and Fortec could be accused of under-performing! Their cars are yellow & white to create an illusion and poor old JV buys it hook,line and sinker!

John Village wasn't slagging off Formula Renaula for having a works team, he was saying that he doesn't like Formula Ford because there's a works team there. It's other people on the forum who brought up the subject of Fortec.

[littleman]

Listen to Paul Rayner - he' got it absolutely right - Fortec are just a very good FR and F3 team. Their cars run in Yellow & White to enhance their Renault connection.Trust me - all their drivers needed to bring a proper budget to the team and the cars could have run in the colour scheme of your individual choice.Everyone involved elected to stay with the concept of a uniform image - it looks professional and has obviously had the desired impact.

[El_Gibleto]

Fortec do not share personnel between the F3 and F Renault teams. The mechanics and Enginners have too much to do to be involved in both series.

Richard Dutton, team owner, & David Hayle, MD, may appear at both meetings, if they don't clash, but neither have an active role in running the F Renault cars.

As can be expected, some of the staff from the "other half" of the team may appear to support their collegues, but they are NOT involved in actively running the cars.

NB I have no connection with the Fortec team.

[The Accomplice]

Getting back to JV's comments, I have to agree with him. There are more politics in FF than racing and most of it comes from the Norfolk direction.