After the Lotus announcement yesterday afternoon about the 2016 season of the Formula V8 3.5, we caught Roy Nissany between his flights for a few words.
Nissany who completed the 2015 season with the French team Tech1 as a rooky had a few good races including a podium at the Red Bull Ring. In December Nissany tested with Lotus in Barcelona and started the first morning with a good performance in the top of the lap time list. The good joined effort of the driver and the team, brought the managers of Nissany and the Charouz people to the negotiation table of which the result we could see yesterday in the official announcement.
Roy, how are you feeling today?
It is an amazing day, a great opportunity with a great team. So proud and happy to join Lotus, especially after a successful first-test with the squad.
How do you summarize the 2015 season?
It was a rookie season of studying and learning this big category, with some good results in between. Now the knowledge is acquired and we’re going for the crown.
It could be seen that you were improving race by race, do you feel it was you or the team finding a better set up?
The race-by-race improvement was an outcome of good teamwork. My skills, either of driving or of feedback giving, improved combined with good engineering work.
What is your and Lotus’ team goal in this year?
As I mentioned, our goal is the champion crown. I believe we have all the necessary tools for it.
As a child you were growing up in Budapest, does it mean that the Hungarian circuit is your favorite in the series?
My “Motorsport childhood” took place both in Hungary and Italy. Obviously I feel like home in both countries and especially on the tracks, but my favorite layout is not necessarily the Hungaroring.
Before the last season you tested the F1 car with Sauber, what can you say about the differences and similarities between the F1 car and the F3.5 v8?
Well, obviously the F1 car has more power and downforce, yet it is proportional to each other and after a season with F3.5V8 it is not a huge step.