Difference between revisions of "Philip Cullen"

Revision as of 10:18, 5 June 2011

Philip Cullen

Superleague Career
Nationality	Irish
Active Years
Team(s)
Grand Prix
Championships
Wins
Podium finishes
Pole positions
Fastest laps
First Grand Prix
First Win
Last Win
Last Grand Prix

Philip Cullen is an Irish sim-racing driver who is currently inactive at the GPVWC. Cullen is well known for his vocal views on driving ethics and league standards during his time in the league.

He competed full-time in the current incarnation of the GPVWC in 2009, driving in both the 2009 Superleague season and the 2009 Masters Series season, finishing runner up to team-mate Adam Rouse. He competed in the F1VWC on and off from late 2005 until the leagues demise in 2008.

He briefly returned in the 2011 Superleague season to help his friends Phil Perkins and Rouse with car evaluation duties at Triple-Double Racing. Currently, the Irishman runs an unofficial alternate commentary service during Superleague races along with Ryan McConkey, called the "Rated-R Red Button" Room.

GPVWC Superleague

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 ten 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 would fail to see his luck improve. Despite great starts, he would be disconnected from the server while the event was under safety car conditions for a second time.

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. The following Irish Grand Prix would prove to be eventful for the Kildare native. An early spin saw him collect fellow Irishman and rival Kieran Ryan. A sterling recover 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. He was one of the quickest drivers around the Principality until his engine expired. Cullen would follow that up with a career best qualifying with third for the British Grand Prix.

However, race durability continued to be an issue with the Synergetic and Cullen would fail to finish for the remaining races he competed in. His season came to a head at the Bahrain Grand Prix where a formation lap fiasco committed by Dave-Carr Smith. The Englishman, despite starting third, took it upon himself to control the pace lap which left the Nordsjoen Racing front row sitting on the grid well before the rest of the field. A number of drivers would suffer from the crawling pace committed by Smith, resulting in numerous engine issues for the field going into the first corner.

The stunt 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 disappeared. McKee's sudden departure left Cullen planning to take the reigns of the team. 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

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.

Cullen would appear at the season test at Sepang, finishing the session faster than both Perkins and Rouse. His most recent appearance was during the free practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"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, not for the GPVWC." - Commenting as to why he returned to the league after two years.

GPVWC Masters Series

2009

Aquarius Racing

Upon the announcement of the GPVWC Masters Series, Cullen decided he would race for his own single-team entry, Aquarius Racing. 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 ever podium before the mixed fortunes from the reverse grid in Race Two would only see him finish seventh.

MMC Racing

Cullen would win three events in the inaugural Masters Series.

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 Surfers Paradise. Along with McConkey and Adam Rouse, MMC Racing quickly became a dominant force in the Masters Series.

Philip would go on to score career highs in the inaugural season. The race meeting at Cadwell Park would see the Irishman score his first ever sim-racing victory after a duel with team-mate Rouse. His season would end on the highest note, as he dominated the challenging Mount Panorama Circuit, sweeping 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.

Complete GPVWC Masters Series results

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

The Vocal Irishman

After spending numerous years getting the short end of the stick at the F1VWC, Philip entered the GPVWC with a new attitude. As opposed to staying quiet, he vowed to speak out on ethics and standards. This led to the Irishman becoming a voice for a number of the shyer drivers on the field.

Cullen was never shy to try to suggest ways for the league to improve itself and its image to the greater sim-racing community. His views on driving standards saw him considered 'outspoken' by some, as he sought to see the GPVWC achieve its goal as the premier online sim-racing community.

"I always try to enter a debate with an open-mind. Look, I understand I'm not always going to be right. I'm not that elitist and narrow-minded. I'm not out to be controversial or pick a fight for the sake of it. At the end of the day, I was interested in helping to make this place as great as it could be. This of course put me in the firing line more so than other but I stand by everything I ever said. I love a good debate and never had an issue when someone logically showed an alternative. It's just a shame other people can't manage that."

He was highly critical, as were others, of the Conde's driving standards and lambasted Carr-Smith for his decision to take control of the pace lap from his third position starting slot at Bahrain.

MeetTheAdmin-Gate

Philip was at his most vocal at the now defunt MeetTheAdmin sessions. These were originally supposed 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 choies.

In the final session, things got particularly heated as Cullen debated with league admin Michelangelo Manrique. At one point, the Spaniard just stopped short of an insulting remark 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 apparently scrapped. It was after this session that Cullen realised that his time with the league was coming to an end.

Leaving the GPVWC

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 some of the world's best drivers.