September 05, 2014

 

Woods Racing today released a Q&A with team principal Ollie Woods regarding the team's current situation.
Tell us about the situation with Danny Asbury leaving the team mid-season.
Danny came to me after the German Grand Prix and offered his immediate resignation. There were definitely a few factors in his decision including our current development strategy for this year and next. Things just didn't work out between us and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Danny for the work he put in and wish him the best for the future. We had high hopes for the season when we approached Danny and it's a shame that we weren't able to provide the correct platform for success.

What has caused the team to be in this position?
We lost a number of key personnel to other teams at the start of the season and mistakes were made in trying to entice new staff. We expanded our workforce for maximum efficiency which, with the cost of development significantly increasing this year, has meant that we have the research available to improve the car but at this stage of the season the money to create those parts would be better spent in 2015. As well as this, the cars have retired an unacceptable number of times - we have no way of scoring points if we can't finish races, though the crashes have often been caused by external forces.

What is your aim for the rest of the season?
I'd like to bring both cars home in all four of the last races. Our target will be to leapfrog Phoenix and Target - it'll be difficult given the class in the Superleague field but if we can finish there's a good chance of points.

Will Woods be around in 2015 and, if so, what can we expect?
I will not give up - the team has too much history in this league for me to just pull the plug, though I'll admit it hasn't been easy over the last few years. Assuming we are accepted next year we will be aiming to put our research from this year to good use. I hope for some continuity in the driving lineup but any drivers interested in joining us would also be very welcome - please get in touch on the forum if so. We'd also be interested in working with any teams as our feeders in the lower divisions. The time for negativity is over and I want to build the team up to challenge again in the not too distant future. Getting so close to gold in 2009 and 2010 (and last year in Masters) was great but we want more - it'll take time and effort but we need to believe.