Thursday Press Conference Transcript
THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
brITISH GRAND PRIX
Jace COLLINS , Lawson MOORE , Ryder KING
Q: Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Thank you guys for sitting down with us today.
Jace COLLINS: We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, Ed.
Q: Tell me, how are you guys feeling about this weekend’s race?
Ryder KING: I’m feeling pretty good. We’re in a good spot this season over at Nightingale. We’ve got a great car and last season we took P1 here, so I’m hoping to make a repeat of that this weekend.
JC: We’ll see about that, won’t we? [elbows teammate Lawson MOORE]
Lawson MOORE: [grunts]
JC: That means ‘Jace is completely right as he always is and no one should ever question him. He’s the best driver out there and will completely annihilate the competition, securing yet another home race win. I will probably come in second and Ryder can have a peek at what the bottom podium tastes like.’
RK: I don’t think that’s what he was ? —
LM: It’s not.
JC: It was the gist.
Q: Jace, you brought up that this is actually a home race for you three ? —
JC: That was actually Lawson. I was just ? —
LM: Let the man speak, Collins.
Q: [chuckles] So would you say Silverstone is special for you three? Isn’t there quite a bit of history here for each of you?
RK: There’s a lot of memories here, that’s for sure. I have a bit of a mixed relationship with this track which given the history isn’t surprising. But it will always hold a special place in my heart.
JC: We each got our racing licenses on this track. We raced here when we were nothing but wee lads who thought we were indestructible. We grew up here, I raised my son here. Silverstone isn’t just my home race, it’s where all of this started for me.
LM: I’ve always felt at peace on the track, but Silverstone is home. It’s definitely my most looked forward to race of the season.
Q: What about this particular track is something you look forward to most?
JC: The high speeds.
RK: High speed.
LM: What they said.
Q: [laughs] I guess that’s kind of a unanimous thought then. Okay, then what are some things you’d need to consider if you want to be quick around the track?
JC: The speed is definitely where it’s at, but it can be tricky with the wind. With it being such a wide open area, we encounter a lot of gusts which are very difficult to master when you’re at the kind of speeds we are. I mean you can go from getting rocked by headwinds to tailwinds in the snap of your fingers and that lends to your balance being thrown off and can result in some serious challenges.
RK: The wind is definitely a major factor because sometimes it doesn’t even affect you directly. Just last season, I had to dodge the majority of the grid when they would get thrown into my path because of the wind.
JC: What is so funny? [glares at MOORE]
LM: I’m just thinking of that edit of you someone did a couple seasons ago.
RK: Oh! The spinning one?
LM: [snaps fingers] That’s it.
Q: The one with the ‘you spin me right round baby’ song?
JC: Ed, not you too!
RK: That song was stuck in my head for days. Funny enough, Blake actually found that video the other day when she was looking up dash footage. Now she walks around and every time she spins, she sings it.
LM: Syd has it as the ringtone for his contact.
[KING and MOORE chuckle]
JC: The point is, you need to be cautious of the wind going into this race because you never know what will happen. Because if you spin out, apparently no one will ever let you forget about it.
Q: How do you balance that? You all grew up together, practically like family. Does the competitive nature of racing ever get to any of you?
RK: I’d say it’s a lot like a family game night, just with higher stakes. Yeah, the competitiveness is there and we all want to be the one on the top podium, but we don’t let things hang when we are off the track.
LM: When we first got into racing, we made a rule to always be open with one another, well, to an extent since there were four of us and only two drivers to a team. But if we had a problem with someone, we’d talk it out. If Ryder didn’t like that I cut him off in a corner, well get over it, it’s a race, but we don’t carry that outside of the fences of the tracks. We know this is a professional competitive sport, but out there, it doesn’t mean more than a lifetime together.
JC: Like you said, we grew up together. These lads are my brothers. We fight, have disagreements, and no doubt want to punch the other one in the face for something. But that’s what families do. At the end of the day, we love and respect each other and like both of them said, we understand that this is a competitive job, but it’s just that. A job. We love this job with everything we have, I mean we’ve dedicated our lives to it, but not even racing will come between me and the lads.
Q: Lawson, you mentioned that there were four of you. I’m assuming you’re referring to Nikolai Morozov who used to race alongside all of you since karting. Ryder, he was your teammate for your rookie season. How has it been having him on as team principal and not in the car next to you?
RK: I think I can speak for all of us when I say we miss having him out there. Nik was born to race and it was heartbreaking to see that ripped away from him.
JC: Especially when what happened wasn’t his fault.
RK: But having him as my team principal… [shakes head] There’s no one else I’d want in that position. He may not be in the car next to me, but he’s in my ear all the way telling me everything he could have done better than I did.
[everyone laughs]
Q: With this being a home race, is there anything you three are looking forward to most?
RK: Other than sleeping in our own beds?
JC: The crowd. God, there’s nothing like the roar of a home crowd.
Q: Is it pretty rowdy out there?
JC: It was so loud last season that at times I could hear them over the car.
Q: Would you say there are some added pressures to perform for this race?
RK: I’d say there are. [COLLINS and MOORE nod in agreement] Like you pointed out, there are pressures at every race, but a driver’s home race is a little more special. To win at home is one of the best feelings.
JC: [groans] We get it, you know the feeling on a deeper level than we do.
RK: And if I have it my way, you’ll never experience it again.
JC: Oh those are fighting words.