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Samantha Reid to make Formula 3 Debut |
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Thursday, 23 August 2007 |
Samantha
Reid is set to make a vital step forward in her open-wheel
racing career after today confirming her participation in next
weekends’ seventh round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula
3 Championship.
 In her F3 debut, Adelaide-based Reid
will drive a Trophy Class Dallara F396 for Melbourne team Scud
Racing at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania.
The
‘Trophy’ Class is made up of the oldest model (1996 – 1998)
cars in the field and is a stepping stone to the outright
championship class cars that contest the Australian Drivers
Championship.
The Tasmanian round will be the
20-year-olds first experience behind the wheel of a ‘wings and
slicks’ car.
Formula 3 cars are amongst the quickest
in the country and rely on light weight and high levels of
downforce to lap some five seconds a lap faster than a V8
Supercar.
It will be a return to competition for Samy,
a lack of budget this year hindering her chances to regularly
compete this season.
Reid raced competitively in the
opening round of this years’ Australian Formula Ford
Championship at the Clipsal 500 (She finished 8th) – as well
as contesting a limited campaign on the South Australian
Formula Ford series - before a funding shortfall put her
open-wheel career on hold.
She also drove with Holden
Motorsport in the Bathurst 12 hour endurance race in April
this year – her first production car start.
Reid has
since been developing her unique brand identity and working
hard to find support to enable her return to full-time racing
next season.
Samy said she grasped the opportunity
given to her by Scud Racing with both hands, relishing the
opportunity to get behind the wheel again.
”This will
be a great opportunity to finally get behind the wheel of a
Formula 3 car,” she said.
”I have always followed
Formula 3 racing closely and have been working hard all year
to raise money with an eye on racing in the series full time
next year.
”It will be a big learning curve but I know
I’m up to it. I’m very grateful to Bill Maddocks, Scud Racing
and Formula 3 Australia for giving me this opportunity to test
the waters and get some experience in a wings and slicks
car."
Reid has prior experience at the short Symmons
Plains Raceway – having driven her Formula Ford there in a
national championship round last season and scoring her best
results of the year.
However its experience – not
results – that are on her mind for next weekend’s return to
the circuit just outside of Launceston.
"The Dallara
I’m driving has the same characteristics as the championship
cars, so I’ll get to experience the huge levels of downforce
that F3 cars produce.
“If I can learn how to make use
of it, and improve in every session, It will be a successful
weekend and valuable experience before hopefully tackling the
full championship next season - however I’m still confident
that I can be competitive with the other Trophy Class cars
entered.
“I enjoy racing at Symmons Plains and in
Tasmania. Aside from my home track, Mallala, I couldn’t think
of a better place to make my F3 debut.” She said.
The
Symmons Plains race weekend will be held between August 31 and
September 2nd.
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