Motor-racing teams are built around budgets as much as lap times. A Formula 2 operation must fund cars, engineering, travel, personnel, and equipment while meeting the commercial demands of an international championship. Virtuosi Racing’s early business model emphasized controlling those commitments. The team was founded in 2012 by Declan Martin Lohan, Andy Roche and Paul Devlin, after Roche and Devlin brought their racing experience and Lohan became involved on the business side. Its record included the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Teams’ Championship and three successive runners-up finishes from 2019 to 2021. Lohan’s contribution was mainly on the financial and organisational side of that development.
Accounts of the team’s early years describe a cautious approach to spending. Motor Sport Magazine reported that Lohan, Roche and Devlin questioned whether they needed to buy equipment and used rental arrangements where possible. Trucks were rented for race weekends, a trailer was sourced rather than bought, and the team initially rented premises on a month-to-month basis. The same account said the founders bought cars at auctions and sold them on to help balance the books. Lohan later said he continued to look after the finances and wanted the operation to pay its own way. These decisions were made during Auto GP, before its move into GP2 and Formula 2.
Circumstances outside the circuit also shaped the financial pressure. Lohan has described the period in which he became involved with Roche and Devlin as one affected by the banking crisis. He said he had assets but limited access to cash because banks were not prepared to fund against them. The founders therefore had to structure the operation around available cash. Their first Auto GP season in 2012 included a €500,000 contract for Pål Varhaug, with €65,000 required up front and the remaining €435,000 spread across the season. The example shows why driver funding and payment schedules mattered to the young organisation.
The move into GP2 increased the business’s scale. In 2015, Virtuosi took over the service contract for Russian Time, replacing iSport in managing the team. Motor Sport Magazine later reported that the deal was worth about £3 million. Russian Time covered the costs associated with its cars. By 2017, the Virtuosi-run team had won the FIA Formula 2 Teams’ Championship, with 13 race wins and 38 podiums during its four-year Russian Time association, according to the team owners when UNI-Virtuosi was announced. In 2018, it recorded four wins and eight podiums before moving in-house for 2019. Lohan’s role remained tied to ownership and financial management rather than race engineering.
Commercial partnerships became another part of the organisation’s development. In 2019, UNI-Virtuosi entered Formula 2 with the same engineering staff and structure used under Russian Time. The team finished second in the Teams’ Championship in 2019, 2020 and 2021, while retaining its operating structure. In 2022, Virtuosi added a British Formula 4 programme, adding another level to its wider organisation. Technical partnerships also formed part of the business model. AVL RACETECH announced a partnership with Virtuosi for the 2022 Formula 2 season as a continuation of their established relationship.
Lohan’s executive responsibilities became more visible as Virtuosi developed its commercial relationships. In February 2023, Invicta Watch Group became a title partner of the Formula 2 operation. The announcement identified Lohan as Virtuosi Racing’s CEO. In December 2023, Invicta acquired an ownership stake, and the Formula 2 team was renamed Invicta Racing for 2024. Lohan said the partnership had increased the team’s presence and competitiveness. Contemporary reporting also identified him as CEO, while photographs from the 2023 Formula 2 season described him as Team Principal of Invicta Virtuosi Racing. The title reflected a wider executive role than in the team’s early years.
The later ownership change ended that phase. In 2024, Invicta Racing won the FIA Formula 2 Teams’ Championship, and Gabriel Bortoleto won the Drivers’ Championship. In March 2025, Invicta Watch Group completed the acquisition of the operation from its founders. Formula Scout reported that Lohan, Roche and Devlin stepped aside from the Formula 2 team, with Roche remaining as a consultant for team operations and driver development. James Robinson became CEO and Team Principal, while Geoff Spear became Team Manager. The change ended Lohan’s day-to-day F2 role after more than a decade. His role is best defined by the business functions behind Virtuosi’s expansion from Auto GP to Formula 2.
