Back in the 2018 season, Philips - Force India (then Philips - Continental) ended their first ever season in the PCT in 18th place, being never really in relegation danger throughout, but never really threatening a top half finish either. Fast forward three years, a relegation and another promotion later, the team find themselves in a similar position once again. This time however, the team were in the relegation danger for most of the season and only assured their safety in the last month of the campaign. They eventually ended up 19th.
Interestingly, it was the season after this that Philips made one of the most talked about transfers at the time, and in the team's history, signing Wilco Kelderman from PT team Puma - SAP, in what looked like shrewd business. Fast forward three years again, and it has not been smooth sailing for the Flying Dutchman in his home team. His first season was quite good on a personal level, but the team failed to support him and relegated. He was then expected to steamroll the competition in CT with his skillset, but it was never quite so good. He did play an important part in our promotion but we should have been CT champions if he had been just a little better! Back to the PCT we went, and once again, underwhelming will probably be the best word to describe Wilco's season. He was overshadowed by the other leaders in the team when it came to crunch races, with a just a final flourish at Emilia salvaging his season to some extent! Where does the team go from here with him will perhaps be a big talking point this off season.
It's not all doom and gloom though. The team have been developing three future leaders in Inkelaar, Eenkhoorn and Minali for a few seasons now and they will finally be ready to take on the leadership mantle next season. Renewals allowing, this is already a boost to the team's structure and competitiveness, and is one of the big factors to look forward to in 2022 for the team.
It remains to be seen if there truly is Deja Vu in the 2022 season for Philips - Force India or can they finally make the step up from a relegation threatened PCT team to an established one.
Finally, a big thank you from everyone here at Philips - Force India to those who made the 2021 season possible and enjoyable. We are looking forward to the new season which is fast approaching. Signing off from 2021. See you in the new HQ.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Great to see Inkelaar and Eenkhoorn finally maxed and where they belong. Hope they perform well for you and that Inkelaar didnt get too greedy after being exploited by that doped to the max team last year.
@knockout: Very excited to have them maxed and ready to go. Also looking forward to giving it a go with Minali. You'll find out what happened with Inkelaar soon enough
