Autodromo Nazionale Monza is the next step on our first season of the Tatuus World Series and many drivers are already very thrilled to get their hands dirty on the track. While some have already trained a considerable amount, others were not seen on the track so far. If that is due to strategy, to keep the competition guessing, what times might be possible on this legendary race track would count as wild speculation at this point but we still asked the question, we ask every single week: What are your thoughts, goals and expectation of the upcoming race?

While the grid is largely still the same, some news of new drivers are looming around the paddock. 2 new drivers have been seen in the Tatuus in the last few days and in an interview, Arturs Edvards Gavars confirmed, that Oskar Tomala, who we have seen a lot in other cars over the past few months (3rd place in Muffle Shop Racing at the 24 hours of Daytona, 3rd place at the Porsche Heat at Barcelona, 1st place at the 4 hours of Bikernieki) but not that much in the Tatuus so far. If he is the right fit for the LLL team who is aiming for the lead in the team championship is a question for the current leader in the drivers championship and owner of the team Arturs Edvards Gavars:

When did you think he would be the right fit for the team and did he immediatly say yes? What does LLL expect from Oskar? Since your position in the championship is quite high, the expectations have to be enormous. We have seen Oskar drive in different championship over the last few months, but not that much in the Tatuus. is he warming up to the car?

The second it was decided that two reserve drivers will be allowed per team I had to get someone, the choice was between Noah Burridge and Oskar but having driven with him in Daytona 24 i opted for Mr. Tomala. Also country flags are quite similar so livery kinda works for both of us. We expect him to be able to bring home more points in the races in which I or Kudlis are not able to drive so we are not left with 1 car only. I don’t think he will have any issues getting used to the Tatuus and also will most likely beat any expectations we could come up with. 3rd place at Daytona, 2nd at Porsche Heat and a win at Biķernieki speak for themselves, man is a Polish missile.

Is the future of Tomas Velientas participation in this series settled? WIll we see him again or does that remain a secret?

By no means is he forbidden or removed from LLL, as far as i know he’s quite busy and with Kudlis having to miss quite a lot of races, he is more often than not unable to drive, therefore Tomala will be taking the main reserve driver role from now on.

Can you give us a sneak peak into the practice you have done with Tomala for the upcoming race tomorrow? Are you talking it through or is he left by himself? Knowing him a little bit, i would assume that he can work both ways?

I have provided him a setup however i think majority of practice will be done tommorow together with him and the Junior team since i have done 7 laps as of now and he’s done 2.

What do you think about T1 tomorrow? Will it be devastating or mild?

Depends on the back of the grid, I hope to qualify high enough to see the carnage only in my rear view mirror.

Another exclusive short interview we could secure was with the new Muffler Shop Racing driver who will replace Sebastian Iordache for the future. Although he will not drive this weekend, we still asked him about his story and if he raced in the Tatuus before:

“i have driven taatus before. I have driven a lot of formula cars in general, my story is not really all that intresting im just a kid who loves driving and loves driving as fast and as best as i can. I was in the tsrb (That Sim Racing Bloke) events a couple of times, was once in a touge championship, really like touges and mountain roads they are really fun but i would say im better on track then anything really and i found out about WSS a couple of days ago because i was looking for a championship event or any tournament in general and i decided to grind it a bit. I have 2000 hr on assetto corsa aswell [but] i dont really have any real life experience other than my dads car and a bit of rental karting.” ~Floristeanu Filip (Muffler Shop Racing)

Looking forward or scared of T1? The teams answer

What we heard over the week was a slight fear of the first turn at Monza, which will decide the outcome of this race for many, if not all drivers. Here is what the teams have to say:

“Laguna Seca has been really unfortunate for us, but now the team is focused to get in the points area at Monza. Like everyone on the grid, we raced at Monza in every possible way, in any racing game, countless of times. It will be a fun race, but possibly the toughest one. Silviu is almost ready to go: Hockenheimring was meant to be the one, but we could be bringing forward the debut. He’s eager to prove himself and take on the challenge the TWS contestants offer.” ~Claudio Diana

“i have not trained yet, maybe later i will do a little.” ~Jason Bagley

“Only one thing. Don’t get murdered, don’t get murdered, don’t get murdered” ~Simon Brännström Stattin

“done no laps and I don’t think I’m going to do any today, my legs are dead after sports training so I don’t think it will be worth it as I might just cause more strain to myself, maybe early tomorrow, or I will use quali as training idk, ill see if I feel like it at some point before the race.” ~Tyler Schlebusch

“Feels like a fever dream a bit, curbs are lethal, Latvian-Polish domination hopefully” ~Arturs Edvards Gavars

“Tatuus is aight, monza tho” ~Oskar Tomala

“i had way more time to practice for monza than for laguna, where i somehow got p10, so maybe some decent points from me should be on the table” ~Simon Durkac

“I believe we have the pace to score big points tomorrow. On my side I’m looking to be at least on the usual podium or perhaps fight for the win – if we make it past t1. It’ll be about staying with the pack and getting the slipstream and we’ll definitely be there fighting for it” ~Matt Contreras

“targeting top 10 finish after couple of bad races. Hoping this time the unluck moves out to monkey paradise.” ~James Flanagann

“Monza is a well-known track, so i expect at least a top 10 from both, we’re gonna push and get those points!” ~Christian Potenza

“I’m not that confident in the race. I seem to be missing both pace and consistancy to finish in a high position. Due to the low downforce on the circuit, it’s very easy to lose the car in corner exits.” ~Wesley Van der Burgt

“The low downforce is very tricky with keeping the car fast, but also grippy/wanting to turn and not lose the car. Qualy pace seems to be alright, but race pace is not where I want it to be. I seem to lack consistancy and find it very hard to keep the tyres in the optimal window. Today it needs to happen so I will do a few more race runs and see if I can adjust a few little things.” ~Mike Van der Burgt