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Leanne Tander: "The Championship Is Mine To Win In 2007" |
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Sunday, 28 January 2007 |
 FLEETCARE TanderSport driver Leanne Tander has high hopes that the 2007 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship is hers to win.
It’s been a strong preseason for the 25-year-old driver; continuity within her TanderSport outfit, new sponsors signing up to the program and a two solid days of testing at Sydney’s Eastern Creek are all factors leaving both team and driver confident of success when the Gold Star Championship kicks off in just a weeks time.
 TanderSport was formed by the Sydney born, Melbourne-based driver and
her V8 Supercar driver husband Garth at the end of 2005 and gained
momentum throughout last year, propelling Leanne to two podiums, ten
top-ten finishes, a pole position and an eventual fifth place in the
championship.
The first key part to propelling Leanne to history as the first ever
female race winner in an Australian Drivers Championship event has been
the confirmation that the team’s naming-rights partner, Fleetcare, has
returned to the team for the 2007 season.
Fleetcare is Australia’s largest privately-owned Fleet Management
companies and has been a long time supporter of both Garth and Leanne’s
driving careers.
“We passionately believe in the importance of encouraging all young
people to acquire and develop the skills inherent in motor sport,” said
Fleetcare Managing Director Nigel Malcolm.
"Responsibility, mutual respect, prudence, intelligent risk-taking,
accountability... All these characteristics are needed if you are going
to succeed in life.
“By helping the careers of young drivers we try to help them inspire
thousands of other young people to emulate the racing drivers’ high
standards of achievement and conduct. We are proud to say that Garth
and Leanne have grown into fantastic role models for young Australians
– and we like to think we’ve played a part in who they are today." He
said.
The second key part aiding Leanne’s confidence has been two full days
of testing at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney, the venue for next
weekend’s opening championship round.
“We’re really happy with the end result of the test,” she said.
”It didn’t start out so well because we had some understeer that took a
while to go out of the car, but we made some changes and by the end of
the day the car was really fast, faster than we’ve ever been there
before."
With a number of strong international and locally-based drivers entered
for the championship season, The Tandersport team will face their
toughest opposition since joining the ranks of Formula 3 racing when
the field lines up at Eastern Creek.
Despite the added competition, Tander said that it only serves to further her drive to win.
”I think it’s really exciting to have the field we have on the grid,” She said.
”As far as I can see there are going to be nine or ten cars that will
be real championship contenders, some we have seen before and some we
haven’t. It’s hard to judge where I might actually be until we get to
Eastern Creek but I’m really looking forward to it.
”I can’t wait to race them and hopefully beat them. I gave myself a
two-year timeframe when we started last year with a championship win in
the second year the aim,” she added.
“Judging on our pace from the last couple of rounds last year and the
test days before this season I’m pretty confident that we’ll have the
car speed - and then It’ll just be a matter of me putting it together
in the races, being consistently at the front so that at the end of the
year we’ll be in with a shot at the championship.”
Fleetcare TanderSport’s 2007 campaign kicks off at the A1GP World Cup
of Motorsport event, At Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney, on February 2
– 4.
TanderSport thank the ongoing support of their sponsors Fleetcare, HSV,
Holden, Greenwood & Freehills, Valvoline, Web105.com.au and
My105.com
For more information about Leanne Tander, Fleetcare TanderSport or the
Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship, visit
www.leannetander.com, www.tandesport.com or www.formula3.com.au.
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