Difference between revisions of "Philip Cullen"

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Philip Cullen

Nationality	Irish
Superleague Career
Active Years	2005-2009
Team(s)	Synergetic Motorsports Stealth Grand Prix Krystal Oxide Team Woods Racing
Grand Prix	28
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First Grand Prix	2005 Italian Grand Prix
Supercup Career
Active Years	2006, 2012
Team(s)	Halcyon Racing Woods Racing
Grand Prix	1
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First Grand Prix	2006 Supercup Gibraltar Grand Prix

Philip Cullen (born 22 January 1986), often refferred to as "Phillie", is an Irish sim-racing who currently drives for the Halcyon Racing Team in the Supercup.

He has competed in the GPVWC since late 2005 in a part-time capacity throughout the years. The highlight of his career thus far is finishing runner up to team-mate Adam Rouse in the 2009 Masters Series before he left the league.

After a two year hiatus from the GPVWC, Cullen returned to make a brief cameo at the start of the 2011 Superleague season to evaluate the Triple-Double Racing car at Sepang and Suzuka. The Irishman would later return to active competition for the 2011 Masters Series, finishing fifth overall. Philip would later sign on with his former MMC Racing team-mate Rouse to spearhead Halycon's début season in the inaugural Supercup season.

Early Sim-Racing Career

Philip spent his formative years racing a variety of sims, ranging from single seaters, touring cars, off-road and stock cars. It was only a matter of time before he eventually made the big step up to online competition. Unlike most sim-racers, Cullen used a joystick as a controller as opposed to a steering wheel. It wouldn't be until the start of 2008 that he would have the opportunity to upgrade his controller.

In 2005, using the Grand Prix 4 platform, Cullen joined the GPChampionship to learn his trade. He would spend two seasons in the league, competing in 24 races and scored a best race finish of sixth position in his second season. Towards the tail end of 2005, he was offered a race seat by Ollie Woods at Woods Racing as the team returned to the Superleague.

Superleague

2005

The Kildare native would endure a fractured time when racing when the league ran under the F1VWC banner. He joined the league late in the 2005 after Woods Racing was granted the slot left vacant by MMC Racing. Cullen would juggle his VWC driving commitments with driving duties at the GPChampionship.

However, the team inherited a car shorn of development and would be grossly uncompetitive during the final races of the season. The car quickly earned the moniker of 'the shit brick' by the Irishman, given the cars poor aerodynamic performance. Philip would officially only finish in one of the four races - although he would bring the car across the line at the Belgian Grand Prix, he was not classified in the results.

2006

Despite a trying start to his career in the league, Philip remained optimistic on carving out a name for himself inside the VWC paddock. It would not be until late into the season that the Irishman would make his first start of the season. Early in the year, he made the decision to take the opportunity to work aboard during the summer. This led to him declining a full-time offer from the Woods team as he felt it was unfair to the team when he was unable to devote the adequate time needed to compete. He would stay on at the Croydon outfit in a reserve role.

Upon his return to Europe at the end of the summer, the itch to compete competitively returned. An opportunity to scratch that itch would appear when Argentinian outfit Krystal Oxide Team were in need of an emergency replacement driver for the races at Shanghai and Suzuka. He would return to Woods Racing for the final race at Interlagos. He would match his best finish of 10th position, again at the Brazilian circuit.

2007

While results did not match the talent, Ted Cragg of Stealth Grand Prix was willing to take a punt on the energetic Irishman. Talks between the pair started late in 2006 and led to Cullen having the opportunity to sample the Stealth car in a private test around Suzuka. Both parties impressed each other and continued talks would eventually see Philip signed to drive for Stealth.

The deal would see him paired him with David Brown. The league veteran would provide the perfect foil for the lively Irishman, allowing him to learn more about the intricacies of getting the most out of a racing car. Race results still failed to match the potential that he showed as both drivers had to overcome design flaws in the Stealth in the early part of the season.

A then career best for Cullen would arrive as early as the third grand prix of the season at Sakhir. A difficult run would follow, with a season low point at Montreal. After a rough start to the season, Stealth finally begun to turn a corner with the car development. Philip would bounce back from his own issues to score his first career VWC points at the German Grand Prix, finishing sixth.

However, this would be his final race of the season as computer issues would see him sidelined for the rest of the year.

2008

Political strife hit in 2008, causing for the division of the league. Cullen was originally tempted towards William Ponissi's new-look GPVWC league. He originally planned to join up with Adam Rouse to compete for top honours. However, after preparing for the first race of the season, Philip took the decision to withdraw from the series in favour of competing against a stronger field elsewhere while the new incarnation of the GPVWC found its feet.

The biggest change for the 2008 was that Cullen finally made the switch to a steering wheel controller. In all previous sim-racing seasons, he had raced with a joystick. The controller change would see an immediate improvement in race performance and help to prepare Philip for his eventual move away from the Grand Prix platform.

2009

Philip found himself with a Superleague seat on the eve of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, having only recently moved to the rFactor platform. He took part as a free agent at the final Donington Park pre-season test. Despite being unsure of his competitiveness, numerous offers were tabled to the Irish native. Cullen eventually plumped for a race-by-race deal with Synergetic Motorsports.

The season was marred with reliability issues for the Synergetic car, coupled with as what Cullen would describe as 'dodgy driving standards'. He would only cross the line twice in eleven events. On both occasions that he did finish the race, he would bring the car home inside the points.

The Australian Grand Prix was Cullen's 'online' racing debut. The event was to be short-lived as overheating problems with the Synergetic car would see the Irishman retire in the early stages. The trip to Asia would be marred by connectivity issues for Cullen. At the Chinese Grand Prix, timing errors on the server would see him wrongly discredited a lap, which would see him park the car up. The Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka would fail to see his luck improve. Despite great getaways on both race starts, he would be disconnected from the server while the event was under safety car conditions for a second time.

Cullen qualified an excellent 3rd at Silverstone in 2009.

As the GPVWC circus returned to Europe, his fortunes improved. A steady albeit unspectacular race at the French Grand Prix would see him net fourth place. Home territory at Mondello Park would prove to be eventful for the Kildare native. An early spin saw him collect fellow Irishman and rival Kieran Ryan. A sterling recovery drive, including battles with former Woods Racing team-mates Mark Wicks and Mark Fuller would see him finish in fifth position.

The Monaco Grand Prix would be a turning point for Cullen as his growing experience with the rFactor platform allowed him to show more speed. The prospect of a points race looked lost after a driver error sent him to the pits for repairs. He responded by lighting up the timing sectors around the Principality until his engine expired. Cullen would follow that up with a career best qualifying with third at Silverstone. Ultimately, driver error again ruined the opportunity for the Irishman to add to his points tally.

Race durability continued to be an issue with the Synergetic and Cullen would fail to finish for the remaining races he competed in. A season of frustration came to a head at the Sakhir where a formation lap fiasco occurred. Dave Carr-Smith, despite starting third, took it upon himself to control the pace lap which left the Nordsjoen Racing duo sitting on the grid well before the rest of the field. A number of drivers would suffer from the crawling pace run by Smith, resulting in numerous overheating, brakes and tire issues for the field going into the first corner.

The decision would lead to the Irishman becoming extremely critical of Carr-Smith assuming the duties of the pole-sitter on his own, particularly as the Englishman refused to accept accountability for the repercussion his actions caused.

"People have stated that, despite your selfish actions, their tires and brakes were stone cold..

There are 20 drivers on the grid. You want to be selfish, fine.. but don't fuck it up for the rest of us. Crawling behind you cost a lot of us engines, tires and brakes.. all just so you could have your car right. Great sense of competition there. Brav-fucking-o.

Might be great for you, having being at this at a while and can show up at a whim and after a few laps be on the pace.. but for the rest of us mere mortals who spend most of the week trying to get competitive to get ganked by this sort of shit ain't on." - Speaking on Smith's actions in the post-race discussion of the Bahrain Grand Prix

A crash due to lag would see him fail to finish in Kyalami after a promising qualifying effort left question marks on his Superleague return after the summer break. He would return for the resumption of the season in Canada after team owner Mal McKee went out of contact with the league. McKee's sudden departure left Cullen planning to take the reigns of the team in the interim. This would last just the one race, as the events of Canadian Grand Prix left him soured with the Superleague mod. Philip chose to focus all his efforts on the Masters Series which was now running concurrently with the Superleague.

2011

The Irishman raised eyebrows on his brief cameo at the season test in Sepang.

Two years after leaving the GPVWC, Philip would return on the request of his long-time friends, Phil Perkins and Adam Rouse. The pair were interested in the venerable Irishman's opinion on the Triple-Double Racing cars potential and the opportunity to earn additional development points for the team.

"Over the years, Phil and Rousey have gone above and beyond whenever I asked them for something. There was never a point either of them said 'no' to a request for help. The least I could do is return the favor. Thats what friends do. I came back for them." - Commenting as to why he returned to the league after two years.

Cullen would appear at the pre-season test at Sepang, finishing the session faster than both Perkins and Rouse. He would make one more appearance for the team, during the free practice session at the Suzuka. At the end of June, Philip would amicably split with the team to make room in the TDR line-up for Ric Scott.

2012

Philip tentatively announced his availability for the 2012 season before Christmas, joining a plethora of drivers looking for a team . Cullen admitted the return of the competitive itch after spending over half a year on hiatus from racing . He stated that while interested, he would wait until more firm details on the 2012 Superleague season before committing to a return after three years away from the top tier of GPVWC racing.

The decision to wait would see Cullen join the likes of Carr-Smith, Rouse, Perkins and Millar on the outside as race seats were quickly filled up with an influx of new talent to the league. An unrepentant Cullen stood by his decision to wait and verbally agreed a deal to a test driver role with Kernow Sport.

Supercup

2006

Cullen intended to dovetail his test driver duties for Woods Racing by driving for the team's Supercup effort. Philip would finish in the points on his Supercup debut, crossing the line in fifth at the season opening race in Jerez. Ultimately, plans to run the team full time fell apart for Woods and despite qualifying the car for the next two events, Jerez would be Cullen's only race start in the competition in 2006.

2012

Philip will return to the Supercup six years after his one-off appearance in the series. The Irishman originally signed with Halcyon Racing to spearhead the teams foray into recently launched Formula Challenge series. However Halcyon would gain a Supercup grid slot at the beginning of February. A quick meeting with Rouse would result in an agreement that would see Philip move up to the Supercup team for the upcoming season.

Masters Series

Philip Cullen

Masters Series Career
Nationality	Irish
Active Years	2009, 2011
Team(s)	MMC Racing Aquarius Motorsports
Races	28
Championships	0
Wins	3
Podium finishes	11
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	2
First Race	2009 Monza Masters

2009

The 2009 Master Series is, to date, the most competitive series that Philip has taken part in. He would demolish previous best career results during the nine event, 18 race season.

Upon the announcement of the GPVWC Masters Series, Cullen decided he would race for his own single-team entry, Aquarius Motorsports. He missed the opening around at Laguna Seca due to other commitments before making his Masters debut at Monza. A strong run in Race One saw him miss out on his first career podium before the mixed fortunes from the reverse grid in Race Two would only see him finish seventh.

After Monza, the Philip spoke at length with Ryan McConkey. The American offered Cullen a slot with MMC Racing to add a third car to MMC Racing, allowing the team to take the fight to Constant Racing. The move immediately paid dividends with a first career podium at Surfer's Paradise in the feature race, keeping team-mate McConkey honest to the flag. Third would later become second after Joe Consiglio was penalized for excessive corner cutting.

Despite a great start from the back, he would come undone in the sprint race as overly aggressive driving by others would leave him with a damaged car. His race came to an end from damage sustained after getting it wrong through the double chicane. For safety purposes, he parked his car to avoid disrupting the race.

The Masters Series travelled to Birmingham and see the beginning of a highly competitive streak for the Irishman. He would score another podium finish in the feature race after early race dices with Phil Perkins, Richard Bayes and David Stanton. An expiring engine for Consiglio would see him take the runner-up spot. Philip would back up his strongest Masters event to date with a fourth in the sprint race. The result was made all the sweeter for him as graphical issues on track load-up had him driving with distorted vision for the entire race.

Montreal would see him visit the podium again, completing a hat-trick of second places in the feature race. It was a rather uneventful race for him as he found himself in no-man’s land between his closest competitors. The sprint race start was dicey as the opening corners of the circuit allowed for some extreme bumper-to-bumper action.

He managed to avoid a melee at turn three which left him sitting outside the top three. Several laps later and Cullen would take the lead of his first ever sim-racing. The feeling would be short-lived as the ever quick Rouse and Consiglio hunted him down. Philip would finish third and mark his first double podium finish in the Masters Series.

Cullen’s impressive run would hit its height at Cadwell Park. The Irish driver took an immediate liking to the circuit and stuck the car on pole position. Nerves were tested within the team as all three MMC cars barreled up the hill looking to be in front on the opening lap.

After losing the lead to Adam Rouse, he would chase down and pass the championship leader before embarking on a series of qualifying-esque laps to open up the gap. The two traded fastest laps but Cullen would be victorious, taking his first ever sim-racing victory.

The sprint race would see a continuation of the battle with Rouse. The two would trade spots for the lead on a number of occasions before a snatched gear would ultimately end his chances of taking a second victory at the track.

His successive run of finishes came to an end at Spa when a connection drop would see him retire from the race while he was sitting in third position. The misfortunate in the feature aided him with pole for the sprint race, leading a lap at the legendary circuit. He would soon be overtaken by his team-mates and James Linton – but would find improved speed following the pace setters. A late spin by Rouse would promote him into third as he watched Linton and McConkey compete in an epic duel for the win.

The Brands Hatch Masters would again be a tale of two races for Cullen. The feature race through the night around the Indy circuit would see a great duel between Rouse and himself, ultimately coming out in favor of the English driver. Philip looked odds on to take victory in the sprint race when he would again suffer from a disconnection. He would record fastest laps in both races, marking the first time he recorded a fastest lap in a race format.

The season would end around the daunting Bathurst circuit. He would again push newly crowned champion Rouse for the pole. He would jump the English driver at the start and would spent the first few laps battling with Constant’s Mark Stanton for the lead. After finding his rhythm, he opened a gap wide enough to take a comfortable victory in the feature race.

In spite of a great start in the sprint race, the tight nature of the main straight saw the Irish driver run out of room and last out of the first corner. This would turn out to aid Cullen as he arrived late into turn two as a multiple cars were involved in a pile-up. Philip squeezed through a tight gap between the wall and Mark Wicks before proceeding on his way. Martin Wright and Mark Fuller would both spin at the Esses, again leaving the Irish driver out front on his own at Bathurst. He would re-hash the script from race one, opening up a safe lead and bringing the home car to sweep the event.

Cullen would finish runner-up in the championship after competing in eight of the nine race meetings. MMC Racing dominated the Constructors standings, almost doubling the points total of Constant Racing in second.

2011

After sitting out on the second season of the Masters series, Philip announced that he intended to return for the Masters Series in 2011 with MMC Racing. His decision to return was largely down to the opportunity to work with Rouse and McConkey again, along with the opportunity to race against a large and varied field. The season would be the most competitive yet of the Master Series, with over sixty drivers taking part during the course of the season.

Cullen fights his way through the pack during the reverse grid race at Goldenport.

The opening race at the Norisring would be a trying time for Cullen. Seven months out of competitive racing showed itself, particularly in the Sprint. He would finish 9th in the Feature race, finding himself in no-mans land behind team-mate McConkey around the tight street circuit. The reverse grid Sprint race was be a trying affair. Caught up in the first corner melee, Philip was on his way up the field when he spun out over the bumps. He would find trouble again later on in the race on his way to a lowly 24th place finish.

The Irish driver would see a return to form at Goldenport. A sixth place in qualifying would be followed with a race long battle with Bart de Vos and Simon Cattell - with the former going side-by-side throughout the first part of the lap with Cullen as they tusselled. While Cullen would eventually lose out to both drivers, he would ultimately be scored in 5th following the disqualification of Lee Morris. Cullen managed to avoid the major incidents during the start of the Sprint race and would tag along with Jack Keithley and Joe Consiglio as they worked their way up through the field to finish 8th.

Zolder’s Feature race would play host a cracking duel between Cullen and Rouse. The MMC Racing team-mates would battle for 4th spot throughout the Belgian event in a hard but fair fight. Despite Cullen’s best efforts, he could not find a way around Rouse but drew praise from his colleagues for not losing his cool and resorting to nudging his team-mate out of the way. Philip would go on to finish 5th again in the Sprint race as he cut through the field and avoided the major dramas. Again, he would find himself having a number of great battles with competitors like Sam Millar and Lewis Redshaw.

After avoiding trouble at Goldenport and Zolder, Cullen would find plenty at Istanbul. A lonely Feature race was compounded by a late spin, giving up a place to Pavel Loknovski. During the Sprint race, while trying to avoid trouble around Turn Eight, he banged doors with Cattell. The Irish driver came off the worse and spun off the track. His recovery charge towards the points ended with an internet connection, marking his only retirement of the season.

Time constraints increasingly became an issue for Philip as the series returned from a week break. As such, he entered the next set of events little practice time. His pace suffered at Watkins Glen, qualifying outside the top-10. A nudge from Jason Muscat sent him straight through the chicane sending him spiraling out of the points. A stirring drive and audacious passing moves on his competitors would see him haul his car up to 7th place before finding the gap between himself and the next position un-catchable. After avoiding the melee of the first lap, Philip looked set for a decent haul of points before a punt from Scotty Moore sent him off again at the chicane. With a sense of deja vu, Cullen picked himself up and fought through the field again to bring the car home in 11th, narrowly missing out on a top-10.

The series returned to Bathurst, the scene of his last victory. With the ultra-competitive nature of the Masters Series, Cullen knew a repeat of his 2009 sweep would be impossible. Thoughts of a good points say in the Feature would be ended early, as David Jundt got into the rear of his car heading into turn three, spearing him into the wall. The resulting damage caused a puncture and dropped Cullen to the rear.

Despite his position and the obvious advantages of running at the rear with regards to the Sprint race, Philip hauled his damaged car to a 26th position finishing position, passing twelve cars. He would benefit from starting ahead of his faster rivals in the Sprint race and moved from 12th up to 3rd position by the end of the race, scoring his first podium of the season to make up for a disappointing Feature race. His third position became second during the post-race scrutineering when Sam Millar was penalised.

Philip would miss the final round at Donington Park due to illness. Despite this, he would finish the season a highly creditable 5th overall in the championship, scoring 117 points. MMC Racing would also re-claim the team championship, pipping Tiger Express Motorsports for the crown.

Racing Career Results

Superleague

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Supercup

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Master Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Community Involvement

After spending numerous years getting the short end of the stick at the F1VWC, Philip entered the GPVWC with a new attitude. He vowed to no longer remain silent when issues arose in the league and was always willing to suggest ways for the league to improve itself and its image to the greater sim-racing community. He was highly critical of questionable track choices, the need to 'rest' the server and the lack of driving standards of exhibited by certain drivers as he sought to see the GPVWC achieve its goal as the premier online sim-racing community.

Since returning to the league in 2011, Philip has been lending a hand in the community in various ways. He has teamed up with Adam Rouse to offer his expertise in organising the latest season of the Masters Series. He would co-Admin the Masters Series, which would see over sixty drivers compete over twelve rounds in touring cars. Philip would use the opportunity to introduce a number of ideas he picked up on his travels around the sim-racing world and trial them out with the GPVWC community. Alongside his Admin duties, Philip has been chiming potential concepts for 2012 and was tasked with compiling a track list for the inaugural Formula Challenge calendar.

MeetTheAdmin-Gate

Philip was at his most vocal at the now defunct MeetTheAdmin sessions. These were originally to be a forum for league members to voice issues and would be available to download on the site.

Along with other league members, Cullen used the forum to voice issues on the present and future of the league. The advent of fees for the 2010 saw the Irishman raise ongoing issues such as cheat detection, mod choice, the broken R&D system, driving standards and questionable track choices, amongst other issues.

In the final session, things got particularly heated as Cullen debated with league admin Michelangelo Manrique, coming to a head as the Spaniard attempted to define the Masters Series as an unofficial non-competitive championship for the GPVWC. At one point, Manrique just stopped short of an making an insulting remark aimed towards Philip before remaining silent for the rest of the session.

The session was later unofficially dubbed 'MeetTheAdmin-Gate', playfully following numerous media scandals and attaching the "-gate" suffix as the concept was scrapped. It was after this session that Cullen realised that his time with the league was coming to an end.

The Irishman would go on to find considerable success away from GPVWC against a variety of drivers and cars.

Following the events of the final MeetTheAdmin session, it was clear to Philip that there was a fundamental difference of opinions on how to move forward. While he respected the vision that William Ponissi was attempting to carve for the GPVWC, the Irishman had lost all faith in the Admin abilities of Manrique.

"I knew shortly after my last race here and the how the last meeting with Admins went that my future wasn't really going to be here. Now, that's not a slight against you Will. This is your house, and you know the direction you want to take her. Just that direction isn't where I want to go (even if the sixth 'I quit' post from Mich Mosley there is actually a good reason to stay, Paddy Powers probably won't give me good odds how long that will last.') So, in the end, call it philosophical difference of opinions! I wish you Will the best of luck in creating what you want here. The same goes out to all the drivers competing here." - Cullen speaking to the community about his decision to leave the league.

On the 25th of October 2009, he would confirm that he had left the GPVWC after finishing his commitments in the Masters Series. Cullen would move on to Race2Play and enjoy a career boom against a varied and high caliber driver pool before returning to the GPVWC community in the early part of 2011.

External links

• Philip Cullen's career history at Race2Play
• Philip Cullen's career history at GPChampionship
• Philip Cullen's YouTube channel