Who takes over the 2nd cockpit at Optiminal?

Emblematic of Optiminal's season so far

Several weeks after the surprising resignation of Roy Seifert, it is still not clear who will take over the vacant cockpit of the Mainz-based driver at Optiminal.

There are several names rumoured in the paddock that are associated with the Dutchman. Team boss Rouven Meschede confirmed: "We are in contact with several drivers, but we have not yet reached an agreement. One option is an interim solution consisting of two drivers sharing the cockpit alongside Sven, but we will be able to say more about that soon." This statement was made shortly after the South African Grand Prix and Meschede has not yet announced a second driver. It is therefore possible that the search is proving more difficult than expected.

One option is Meschede himself. The young German, who also lives in Meschede, is regarded as one of the fastest riders in the field; however, he wanted to concentrate on the GPVWC and is ‘only’ team boss at Optimal's VFC team. It is possible that this could now change.

Maxime Beaulieu would also be an option within Optiminal. The Franco-Canadian already took part in the last race of the 2024 season and proved to be a good rider who was also able to keep up with some of the bigger names. However, it is questionable whether he will drive for the entire season. It is possible that he would share the cockpit with Meschede.

Heiko Kolvenbach is also open as a driver. However, it must be said straight away that the multiple race winner is somewhat limited in terms of time; many private commitments mean that his schedule overlaps. As a result, Kolvenbach would probably not be able to drive for the entire season and would not be able to bring any consistency to the cockpit. At the same time, Kolvenbach's character could clash with that of Sven Schubert: there would be two drivers in the team who claim the status of No. 1 for themselves and would therefore race against each other. Great for outsiders, bad for Optiminal.

You could also imagine Tim Hauck in the cockpit. The German showed strong form in Austin and Melbourne and silenced the critics who used Hauck's 2023 performances as proof of a mediocre driver. However, the jump into the cockpit of a top team could be too early and support for Schubert in the World Championship battle would also be hard to come by. At the same time, Excelion team boss Roy Seifert is likely to have something against it.

As a result, the search for a driver continues to drag on and the goal of winning the team championship recedes further into the distance. Although they have one of the best VFC drivers in their own ranks in Sven Schubert, the Swabian is considered a polarising character and team colleague, which makes the choice all the more difficult. Schubert's former team-mates such as David Jundt, Kevin Peters and Marc Schlüter should know what that means.