2018 Preview : Monolith Racing System

After three seasons away from the premier series, Evan Byrne is back in FF1M with a brand new identity initially trialled for the 2016-17 FF2M Asia series before expanding to FFeM for 2017, where Kamui Kobayashi dominated the opening race of the season. In preparation for their return, Byrne sat down with lead FF1M commentator for a brief conversation.

JB: Good to see you back on the FF1M grid for 2018. What are the main reasons for your return?

EB: I’d be lying if I said that one of the main reasons for rejoining wasn’t that I’d have an excuse to paint liveries again. I’d had good motivation for doing it in the past, but that’s fizzled out over the past year or two so I kind of jumped at the opportunity to get working, even just to fill in the gaps for other teams. Plus, despite having run a team in a few leagues at this point, I’ve never actually painted any of my own machinery. It’s nice to finally be able to correct that.

JB: Tell me a little bit about how the Liechtenstein-based Monolith Racing System differs from the previous Horizon set-up.

EB: Honestly? Biggest difference between then and now is financial backing. Horizon folded because our financials were unstable and just all dropped at once. However, we’ve secured long-term backing and our partners have been incredibly supportive of the project. Plus, representing a microstate on the world stage has its own appeal.

JB: You have a mixture of experience and youth as part of your driver line-up, former race winner Nico Hulkenberg and FF2M veteran Esteban Ocon. How do you envision the partnership between the two as well as the role of test driver Joo-Young Park, who was runner-up in FF3M last season?

EB: I’m thrilled to have landed Nico and Esteban. Their results speak for themselves and I think they can play off of each other well, can’t really go wrong with a veteran/rookie partnership unless you’re hiring people for their bank account. JP’s a hell of a prospect and I’m delighted that he’s joined up with us. South Korea isn’t represented much at the highest level of the sport, and with our driver development programme, I want to help nurture talent from regions that don’t get a lot of representation a foot in the door. While we’re here, I’m happy that Daniil Kvyat’s sticking on with the FF2M squad for another season. He’s better than a lot of people give him credit for.

JB: Being a new team for 2018, you are one of six to run an ‘18’ chassis, which can have heightened development compared to older chassis models. What are your aims for the 2018 season?

EB: The aim for this season is being the best of the three new teams entering the fray this year, the others being Tildesley and Galaxy. Whilst I’d love to say that we’re going to be sweeping the season immediately, it’s a great way to set yourselves up for disappointment. I think we’ve got the best package out of the newcomers and I’m confident we can finish at the front of that pack. Ahead of anyone else is a bonus.

JB: Any early predictions for the 2018 championship?

EB: Can’t really predict anything at this point. Given my luck with this sort of thing, my predicted standings will be the reverse of the actual standings at the end of the season. I suppose saying two mid-season driver swaps is an okay prediction?

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