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Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Champion to make V8 Supercar Debut at Phillip Island |
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Monday, 04 December 2006 |
2006 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Champion Ben Clucas will make his Fujitsu V8 Supercar series debut at Phillip Island this weekend.
British driver Clucas, who won 11 of the12 races he contested in this year’s Australian Drivers Championship, will drive a Peters Racing Falcon V8 Supercar in the final round of the Fujitsu series, replacing regular driver Luke Youlden who is unavailable to drive for the round.
It will be Clucas’ first V8 Supercar race following a number of tests
with various teams throughout the 2006 season, including the factory
Ford Performance Racing squad at Winton earlier this year.
Clucas will join fellow Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Champion
Michael Caruso (Who won the title in 2003) in the Fujitsu Series field
at the CAT Grand Finale this weekend, championship alumni such as
Marcus Marshall and Aaron Caratti (the 2005 title winner) also factors
in the final major meeting of the year.
The British ace has been a revelation in Australian Motorsport this
season, dominating the Kumho Tyres Formula 3 Championship and also
featuring strongly in selected Australian Formula Ford and New Zealand
Formula Toyota races with great success.
Clucas, the first British driver to win the Australian Drivers
Championship in fifty years, said that he was looking forward to his
debut in a V8 Supercar.
“It has obviously been a goal of mine since coming to Australia, so I’m
very happy to have been given this opportunity with Peters Motorsport
for Phillip Island,” Clucas said.
“I have been in contact with the team for five or six months and spent
some time with them at the Queensland Raceway round of the championship
earlier this year. When Luke Youlden became unavailable to drive they
called me to take the spot for this weekend.
“It’s going to be a massive learning experience for me but I am really
looking forward to seeing where I sit in the pecking order.” He said.
After giving his Formula 3 outfit, Team BRM, four race wins from four
starts at Phillip Island already this season, Clucas said that he
expected the high speed 4.46km circuit to be a completely different
experience in a V8 Supercar.
“I have had a look at the data and it looks like a very different circuit,” he said.
“The braking distances are longer and corners that were flat in a
Formula 3 car are a lot slower in the V8, but I know the circuit quite
well which should help.
“This is going to be a great opportunity for me to find out where I am at amongst the Fujitsu field,” Clucas added.
“I have made no secret that it’s my desire to land a full time drive in
the series next year so I plan on learning as much as I can. I’m not
expecting a huge amount but I want to complete every lap of every
session and race and gain as much experience as possible.”
Clucas’ success in this year’s Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3
championship has propelled the driver into the national spotlight,
continuing the trend of Australian F3 Alumni progressing into higher
levels of Motorsport.
Recently 2002 championship runner-up Will Power scored his debut podium
in the Champ Car World Series, whilst 2004 champion Karl Reindler drove
superbly to third place in the recent round of the A1GP World Cup of
Motorsport in China.
The 2007 championship gets underway at the Australian leg of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport event in Sydney, February 2 – 4.
For more information head to www.formula3.com.au
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