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James Winslow Joins Piccola Scuderia For 2007 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship |
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Wednesday, 17 January 2007 |
 A champion Formula 3 driver and a former Australian Championship winning team will be untied for the 2007 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star.
Piccola Scuderia Corse, winners of the 2001 Australian Formula 3 Championship with driver Peter Hackett, have confirmed their return to the championship after a years absence and have signed 2006 Asian Formula 3 Champion James Winslow as the driver.
Winslow, who hails from Essex in Britain, will drive a
2004-specification Dallara Mugen Honda starting at the A1GP World Cup
of Motorsport event at Eastern Creek on February 2 – 4.
The Piccola - Winslow combination has proven prior success working
together, Winslow driving for the Piccola squad in the team’s last F3
appearance at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix support races. The British
driver won the opening race and featured inside the top three for a
majority of the weekend.
Winslow, 25, won the Asian Formula 3 Championship last year driving for
the ThreeBond racing squad and also made an appearance at the Macau
Grand Prix, finishing 12th in the feature race.
He was honored with a bravery award from the humane society in London,
recently, for his efforts to rescue a trapped driver from a
badly-damaged wreck at the final round of the Asian F3 championship in
Indonesia late last year.
Winslow dragged fellow driver Moreno Soeprapto from the wreckage of his
car after the pair had a coming together in one of the series’
penultimate races. With fuel and fluids leaking from the car – that had
flipped at 160mph over Winslow and landed inverted on a tyre barrier –
and fire imminent, James was able to drag Soeprapto from the wreck
moments before it erupted into flames.
“I could hear Moreno shouting ‘James, James! Get me out!” Winslow later
told British publication Motorsport News, who nominated him for the
humane society award.
“I could see all the fuel pumping out over the engine and knew that it
would catch fire. I was searching around for ideas about how to get him
out. I was pulling on everything I could and not getting very far:
knowing that we could have been on fire ten seconds earlier.
“I don’t feel like I did anything special,” He added.
“I would honestly think that anyone would have done the same thing.
Accidents happen in racing but the best-case scenario happened here and
he was saved.”
Since their last appearance in the ranks of Formula 3 at the 2006 Grand
Prix, Piccola Scuderia have maintained their busy schedule by preparing
a number of Ferrari entries for the Australian GT Championship.
Despite their lack of racing miles in the last year the team remains
one of the most successful in the championships history, having
assisted in the careers of Hackett, Alan Gurr, Michael Caruso and
Leanne Tander – who made her Formula 3 debut with the team in early
2006.
“We are very pleased to have James signed for the year,” Said Piccola Scuderia’s Rudolf Masi.
“The car is an ex-Mansell car from Fortec Racing F304 with a Neil Brown
Mugen Honda engine, so it should be a good package. James will be
living in Australia for the year and will also be helping us with
driver training throughout the year as we expand the Piccola Scuderia
business.”
Winslow’s Piccola Scuderia entry will be supported by Opes Prime Stock
broking, Acer, Qantas, Bob Jane T-Marts Tempe, Flying Lizard and
Industrie Clothing.
Winslow’s conformation as a full time driver continues the building
international interest in the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3
Championship as a cost effective way of contesting and potentially
winning a National Formula 3 championship. British driver Ben Clucas
lead the way and became the first driver from outside Australia and New
Zealand to complete the full season, winning the championship last year.
Austrian ace Walter Grubmuller is another international driver already
confirmed for the opening round at Eastern Creek, a support event to
the Australian leg of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
For more information about the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship head to www.formula3.com.au
James Winslow Biography:
Age: 25
Car: Dallara F304 Mugen Honda
Career History:
2006: Won Asian Formula 3 Championship with ThreeBond racing.
Won race at the Australian Grand Prix Formula 3 Support event with
Piccola Scuderia
2005: Finished 3rd in the Asian Formula 3 Championship
2004: Ten race wins in British ‘Classis’ ARP F3 Championship, One British F3 Championship National Class start
2003: Contested two rounds of the ARP F3 Championship
2002: Contested Formula Ford 2000 in the UK
2001: Finished third in the Lotus GT Championship
1998 - 2000: Formula Ford in the UK.
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