MadCape Racing Team Press Thread

Xavier de Carvalho · Apr 11, 2014

Official press release and car launch to be released tomorrow.

But for now...

Xavier de Carvalho · Apr 12, 2014

MadCape Racing Team Press Release 2014/04/06:

MadCape Racing Team is proud to present its contender for the 2014 season. The MC-F01, the weapon of choice for this seasons’ competition.

This is MadCape's first season in Formula Sim-Racing, and the team accepts the obvious challenges we'll be faced with by jumping straight to the top level competition, however we feel that given our experience with rFactor 2, we're in good shape to deal with those challenges.

MadCape has 2 strong drivers to contest the WC division in the names of Matt Sentell and Dino Paolini.

Below are answers to some questions which were put forward to the team during the pre-season:

Matt, you already have experience in top level championships (Most notably at iRacing), what are your thoughts heading into this new endeavor?

Matt: I'm really excited that FSR has made the move to rFactor 2. I think we're going to see a whole new level of realism in the racing as a result and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Are you expecting this to be the toughest challenge you've faced in sim-racing, or are you fairly relaxed about it all?

Matt: I don't know if relaxed is the right word but I'm not anxious about it. I'm excited to get the season started, find out where we stand, and start building on that. The pre-season (since the winter series) has been much too long for me.

Dino, this is your first time competing at this high a level in open wheelers', what are your expectations going into this season?

Dino: I’m just going to try and enjoy the driving, get the car to feel as good as I can, and have fun.

How have you found the preparation for this championship? What has your approach been, have you been relaxed, or has it been tough?

Dino: The usual preparation mostly, however it’s been tough to figure out setups and strategies, so quite tough.

This question goes to both of you, how comfortable are you with the switch to rFactor 2? MadCape has had it's fair share of experience with the sim over the past year, does that give you a boost in confidence at all?

Matt: No worries at all there, as I've been racing online with rFactor 2 almost exclusively for at least a year now. The F1 cars have represented a new level of challenge, as I had barely raced those at all previously, but I find them to be huge fun to drive at the limit and quite rewarding as well.

Dino: The switch to rF2 is what got me here in the first place. I am more confident in this simulation than in others for sure.

Final question to the drivers. What's the atmosphere like at MadCape, are you all friends, or is it strictly business?

Matt: I'd say it's a relaxed but serious environment. There isn't much fooling around as I think we're all pretty focused on optimizing our chances for the coming season. But it's a positive environment for sure, and I think we're all just ready to kick this thing off!

Dino: Well I’ve known some guys here for a while already, so it’s certainly a more relaxed atmosphere.

We now direct our attention to MadCape's Team Boss and Team Manager, Xavier de Carvalho & Jimi Hughes:

MadCape is a new team to FSR as a whole, let alone WC. So what made you stick your neck out to enter your team into what is regarded as the pinnacle of virtual motorsport?

Xavier: The team is only a year and 4 months old, yet we've been competitive in every championship we've entered. We've already managed to secure 2 teams championship wins in other series, and we've also managed to pick up a 2nd place overall in the VWEC teams championship.

Entering FSR had always been spoken about within the team, but we never really saw much value to entering the team into another ex-gen title run series. Our primary focus has been rFactor 2 over the past year, so when we found out that FSR was shifting over to rFactor 2, we felt that there was finally enough value for us to enter the championship. We think the shift in title choice will bring about a more level playing field for the teams this season, and it will be interesting to see who can take advantage of this circumstance.

I think our experience with this title could give us a slight edge over some of the competition, who haven’t been racing it for as long. Not to mention we have a strong team line up, both behind the scenes, and in the public eye.

The thing that has drawn us to this championship the most has got to be the sheer competitiveness. We’ve been seeking a new challenge which will push the team to its full potential. However, whether this is the right challenge remains to be seen.

Jimi: We're a comparatively small team but we have big ambitions. As Xavier said we have been competitive in every league we have entered, and over the last 12 months the team has continued to expand, going from strength to strength. We have talked about entering for a while, and with the switch to rFactor 2 for this season we feel the time is right for us to make the step up. We have a great driver lineup and some fantastic new commercial partners, there is a real buzz within the team so I am confident we are making the right move into the pinnacle of sim racing for 2014.

MadCape is known more for its touring car and GT endeavours, why the sudden shift in focus?

Xavier: We haven’t shifted focus really, we’re just expanding on what we’ve already been doing. We won’t stop competing in other series, we’ll just be adding another one to our calendar. Like I said in my previous answer, we’ve been looking for a new challenge to push this team to its full potential.

Jimi: At Madcape we have a great depth of drivers within the team who each have their individual strengths and preferences. We still fully intend to make our presence felt in touring cars and GT's, however we feel that it is important for us to be represented in FSR, therefore a professional and dedicated FSR WC branch of the team has been established to ensure maximum focus on all of our endeavours.

This is the teams’ first season in FSR, what are your thoughts heading into the start of the season?

Xavier: I’m not expecting any miracles to happen, I think that those who have been fast and dominant in the past will continue to be fast and dominant. It’s difficult to gauge where we are in relation to our competition, since all information from other teams is hidden until the first round. But I think we’re in a fairly good position to mix it up towards the front. This season will be a learning experience more than anything else, and it’s one I’m looking forward to.

Jimi: We need to spend this season establishing ourselves as the learning curve will be pretty steep. It is important to take each race as it comes and keep going forward, learning all the time. For the first round I will be happy if our cars make it back in one piece, but the whole team has put in so much hard work to get us where we are today it would be nice for them to be rewarded with some strong results. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the season plays out and am very excited to be a part of FSR in 2014.

Here are some previews of the livery we will be running at the beginning of the season:

That’s all we have for this press release. To keep updated on all of the teams endeavours, follow us on twitter: @madcaperacing or like us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/madcaperacingteam.

We’d like to thank our sponsors for all of their support thus far: RapidSwitch, GameVox, GTRsimulator, Scene Designs, and SharkSkins. Our thanks must also go to those who have been supporting us and have shown a keen interest in our endeavours. Your support is much appreciated.

Thank you, we look forward to the season ahead. See you all out on track!