Q&A with WS Advanced Champion, Florian Pechon
Faster Than Speed's Florian Pechon interviewed
League: World Series Adv
Category: Interview
Faster Than Speed's Florian Pechon crowned  "Q&A with Florian Pechon"
We caught up with Florian to ask him about his feelings about the season and his future plans.
Q: Florian, in only your first year in FSR, you were crowned WS Advanced World Champion in a fantastic season with 9 race wins, talk us through your season.
A: It’s been an incredible season. First, I started in my own team, but I was already able to obtain great results, as I always finished in the top 5 in first 4 races. For the 5th race, I joined Faster Than Speed and we could inmediately see the change in my pace, as I was able to fight again for the podium and even for the race win. In Monaco and Montreal, we did two perfect races. In fact, we won both races with a great gap to our main rivals. During the summer, we did not do as well as expected, specially in France and Hockenheim, but fortunately it was not a lack of pace, but rather a chain of technical issues related to my computer. Nevertheless, we were able to secure the win in Silverstone, taking 25 points to our main rival Jorge Maenen who had blown his engine in the final laps of this race. Valencia was a fantastic win, as I had to start from 5th position and I must admit that I had great fun during that race, as there was a lot of action on the track. In Spa, we missed a win that should have been an easy one, mainly due to a driving mistake. Finally, in the last races we got the job done, as Jorge Maenen was disqualified for refuelling after Q2. Nevertheless I’m sure that without this controversy, the result would have been the same, as we were looking very strong in China and Brazil specially.
Q: You started the season with your own team and you then moved to Faster Than Speed, where you went on to win the double, after securing the Constructors' Championship in Brazil, what are you feelings about  "Florian Pechon - 2008 FSR WS Advanced World Champion!"
A: Joining the Faster Than Speed Team was certainly the best thing to do for me. With their help, I was able to push harder and harder to finally achieve what I aimed to do: win races. After a few races with Faster Than Speed, I realised that it was possible to challenge Jorge Maenen in the championship and maybe eventually win it. Therefore, it was very helpful to practise with the team as I was constantly increasing my pace during the season. I had various team-mates this season, but without them the Constructors’ Championship would not even have been a possibility for us, as they scored points when we needed.
Q: If you had to choose one of your 9 victories, which one do you think was your best and most important one?
A: Valencia was certainly one of my best races this season. I had to start from 5th because of a grid penalty, and as it was pretty clear that I wanted to challenge Jorge Maenen in the championship, I had to finish just behind him, in order to avoid losing too many points. I did overtake some cars on the track, but the strategy was also perfect, because as we could see, I overtook Jorge Maenen during a pitstop.
Concerning the most important race this season, I would choose the Brazilian GP. During the whole weekend we knew that we had great chances to get the Constructors’ Championship, but you never know what can happen in a race. Thus, I knew that I had to score at least 8 points, but after my bad Fuji race, I wanted to finish the season in beauty by winning the last race. Therefore, I was not sure how many risks I had to take with the strategy and at the start. Finally, it all went perfectly as I was able to win dominantly.
Q: In Valencia and Spa-Francorchamps, the team awarded you with the chance to make your first WC experiences, how did you feel in those races and how is WC related to your future ambitions?
A: I was very surprised when Christian asked me if I could race World Championship in Valencia and I was very excited to race,  "Florian Pechon, WS Adv Champion (FTS-P8)"
Concerning my future ambitions, WC is certainly one of them, but I don’t want to get there too early, as I want to get some experience in WS Ace. Next year is certainly going to be an important season, because now I need to show that this year was not only luck. Maybe next year I’ll be able to race a few races in WC, but I don’t count on it. I will concentrate on my championship in WS Ace next season, and afterwards we will see whether going to WC is an option for me.
Q: What are your plans and expectations for 2009?
A: As I already said, my main plan is to achieve great results in WS Ace, but we need to wait, because it will depend on so many factors, like how fast I will be able to get used to the new mod. Sure I want to battle for podiums next year, but it will certainly be very difficult, as in that division all the guys are very fast. Thus, I do not really have set plans for 2009, because I need to see after a few races what the situation both in the championship and my overall pace looks like.
Faster Than Speed
Press Release
http://www.fts-racing.net
Article by: Christian Smirnoff, 2008-11-19 18:08:53
Additional recent articles (last 10):
| Faster Than Speed enjoyed an unforgettable weekend in Brazil as the team secured the WS Advanced Constructors’ Championship, which together with Florian Pechon’s Drivers’ crown, marks the team’s first... |
 |
| Read on... |
 |
Despite enduring a difficult race at WS Advanced’s postponed Pacific GP, Faster Than Speed left Fuji Speedway with the Constructors’ Championship lead. Next weekend’s season finale at Brazil will feature... |
| Read on... |
| Faster Than Speed driver Florian Pechon wrote a part of the team’s history as he became the third FTS driver to win an FSR World Drivers’ Championship, after the titles obtained by Faisal Niazi (WS Pro)... |
 |
| Read on... |
 |
While our WS Advanced drivers had its own Fuji race postponed for November 2nd, the rest of the Faster Than Speed drivers took part in the Japanese GP. The weekend marked the return to the points from... |
| Read on... |
| In this week’s arcticle we have a review of last weekend’s results, which include another trohpy for the Rothmans mantel, plus an exciting new driver announcement. With only three races left in the season,... |
 |
| Read on... |
 |
One more win, one more step towards end season glory. After a middle year troubled period, GhostSpeed Racing Team is now on full steam mode, and claimed the eight win of the season at the World Championship.... |
| Read on... |
| Faster Than Speed started the three-race Asian season with a victory, as Florian Pechon took his seventh win of the year, his sixth with FTS, in the challenging circuit of Suzuka, in Japan. It wasn’t... |
 |
| Read on... |
 |
For the fourth year in succession, Faster Than Speed took a World Series victory away from the Monza weekend, as Florian Pechon took his sixth win of the season in Italy, his fifth one onboard the FTS-P8.... |
| Read on... |
Article by: Johannes Kunkel
Category: Article
|
| Precision Motorsports is looking to extends it´s Staff for 2009. We are not only searching for new Drivers, but also for new Members of the Team management. If you want to be part of the Management of... |
 |
| Read on... |
 |
Faster Than Speed driver Drazen Cokor had a difficult first half of the season after a highly successful end of his 2007 campaign. At Spa-Francorchamps, however, Drazen took his first podium of the season... |
| Read on... |
|
|
|
