Jeddah Corniche Circuit

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX

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May 16, 2013

 

Woods Racing manager Ollie Woods called a press conference in the now familiar Woods Racing motorhome today to announce a new signing for the season.

"It is an absolute pleasure to finally be able to announce a permanent race driver for car 16. Ever since we learned that Tom Parker would be unable to continue we were preparing for the worst and it's now clear that he will not take part in further Superleague racing this year. It's a great shame that a driver of his calibre is on the sidelines and we wish him well and look forward to seeing him back in the team colours soon.

While I'm here I must also thank Mark Wicks for the sterling job he's done to score points for us in the last three races. I stand by my comments that Mark should never have left the Superleague, and we would have signed him up in a heartbeat for the rest of the season if it wasn't for other commitments. I can't thank Mark enough and I hope I've made it clear that he's welcome back for another season any time he likes.

Right now, however, I must introduce you to our new signing. A mutual friend who shall be rewarded in Krispy Kremes got in touch to say that this driver was interested and we acted quickly to sign him. Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Rouse will be in the #16 car for the rest of the season."

At this point Adam Rouse came out of the back of the motorhome and sat next to Woods. Woods continued:

"I've always wanted to have Adam on board, ever since the days of him and Dave Carr-Smith at Vod:Bul, and I'm delighted that we've finally signed him after all these years. He has the pace to succeed - we saw that in the Supercup last year - but the newly built Halcyon car hasn't let him show his full potential. I have no doubt that Adam will be able to guide us back up the ranks after our difficult start to the year, and with the return of Teemu Toikka I'm very excited about the rebirth of our 2013 season."

Adam was given the opportunity to speak:

"I am delighted to be joining Woods Racing, its been something of a secret ambition of mine since as far back as 2008 so to finally get a chance to sit in this seat is a great honour and I hope I can do it justice. I think Mark has done a superb job filling in this season and I am a little disappointed to be replacing him instead of racing with him but I look forward to working with the rest of the guys and wish Wicksy all the best for the rest of his Supercup campaign.

Obviously switching teams mid-season isn't ideal but I felt like this was an oppurtunity too good to pass up. I already know there will be a jump in car performance and with that naturally expectations should rise too. It's not been an ideal start for Woods Racing this year but I think considering they lost a very quick driver in Tom early on, Ollie and his team have done a good job keeping their heads above water and continuing to push on.

Canada might come a little too soon to really dial myself into the car but if we can find a decent base setup quickly, and I know Woods have their own in-house setup guys, we should be a strong and consistent outfit with ideally a settled driver lineup for the rest of the season."

With this the press conference drew to a close. The assembled press had hoped to ask about the future of Rouse's Halcyon seat, and indeed the short-term future of the team, but no answers were forthcoming.