| Triple Championship treat for Sydney Motorsport Park |
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By: F3 Media Release Date: 9/7/2012 at 11:16:25 AM |
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THREE FORMER GOLD STAR champions will feature on a Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship grid for the first time this weekend, when the series races at Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales.
2007 champion Tim Macrow will join current title rivals and winners James Winslow and Chris Gilmour at the circuit formerly known as Eastern Creek on July 13-15, making a one-off cameo appearance for Melbourne team Astuti Motorsport in an attempt to, essentially, keep his racing eye in.
He will drive the No. 11 Yellow Tail Wines Dallara for Astuti and make his first start since the final round last year.
The Victorian’s addition to the field makes it one of the most successful to ever enter a round in series history, the three former champions in the field accounting for nearly 25% of every Formula 3 race win in championship history.
Winslow (24), Macrow (17) and Gilmour (12) have 53 wins, three championships and 268 race starts between them and offer the best possible benchmark for any potential driver looking to make their mark in this years’ Formula 3 championship.
Steel Guiliana and Jordan Skinner, in particular, will see their seasons receive a massive boost if they can knock off the three former champions this weekend.
Macrow’s return comes at an awkward time in the balance of this year’s intense title fight between Winslow and Gilmour – the pair trading blows on track at Hidden Valley in a controversial feature race clash that turned the title pressure up to eleven.
The pair banged wheels with two laps to go in Darwin’s feature race, Winslow sent spearing off into the undergrowth and Gilmour forced behind eventual winner John Magro. The contact has resulted in a war of words between the pair in the media since, with both holding steadfast to their respective views.
Gilmour trails Winslow by a substantial margin – 32 points – but more than 120 remain up for grabs this year.
But what about Macrow? Well, the affable Melbournian says he isn’t worried about the evolving title battle.
“Not even slightly,” he grinned.
“That’s their problem and I’m going to make sure I stay out of their way by running up the front, and in particular, in front of them. Sam Astuti has proven he has fast cars at Sydney before and if we can get close to what Matt Sofi had there last year, when he won all three races, then I reckon we’ll be hard to beat.
“What James and Chris have going is good for the sport. It’s competitive and high-pressure stuff and a bit of controversy is good because it shows how competitive the series really is. You don’t want them crashing into each other but they’re both driving at a pretty high level trying to win a championship and that’s great – but I’m pretty keen to beat them.
“I’m itching to get back in the seat and have a crack. It’s been a long time between time behind the wheel and sitting back and watching what happened at Darwin just made it harder to stay away.
“I love the cars and the category and can’t wait to get back in one of them this week.”
Astuti won at the Creek last year with Matt Sofi, dominating all three races in an impressive performance. The team also finished on the podium at the Clipsal 500 this March and will be keen to see its Yellow Tail wines Dallara back at the front after a few rounds’ absence.
John Magro sits out the round, electing to conserve funds before an all-out attack at Queensland’s round in August. Jordan Skinner will look to assume the championship-class battle for Team BRM following Magro’s win in Darwin, whilst Steel Guiliana will seek to do the same against his championship-contending team mate at R-Tek Motorsport.
In the Forpark Australia National Class Lockie Marshall will look to pick up where he left off in Darwin with another win, though the prior Eastern Creek experience of Ben Gersekowski will be hard to beat.
Hayden Cooper will aim to continue to maintain his slender class lead, whilst Sydney-based AGI Sport return to the championship with their Dallara F304 and driver, Nathan Gotch.
The Snake Racing-sponsored outfit has spent plenty of time pounding around Sydney Motorsport Park’s3.9km circuit in New South Wales state competition and will be keen to benchmark themselves against the national competition after a promising debut at Bathurst, at Easter.
Round five of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship will feature the regular three races – two sprint and one feature – across the Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils program next weekend.
Sunday’s races will be streamed live on the Internet via www.thenationals.com.au
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