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Opportinity Knocks For Leading Contenders PDF Print E-mail
Monday, 28 August 2006
Attachment 16940
Queensland Hope Chris Gilmour will be looking forward to his best shot at a win this year when the F3 field heads to QR. (F3 / Klynsmith)
A DATE Clash with the Sandown 500 for one leading competitor, and a lack of budget from another could just see this year’s Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship go down to the wire following this weekend’s penultimate round at Queensland Raceway.

Two leading drivers, Leanne Tander and Championship leader Ben Clucas, have been forced to miss the upcoming Queensland round - Fleetcare Tandersport driver Tander thanks to her team members’ existing commitments at Sandown and Team BRM’s Clucas’ thanks to a lack of money needed to make the long drive to Ipswich, just outside of Brisbane.

But whilst the two stars won’t be making the trip North, it could just be just the ticket needed to produce a thrilling season showdown this year between Clucas and his year-long rival Michael Trimble.

Queensland raceway will be a prime opportunity for Trimble to claw back some of the margin he needs to take the title fight to Oran Park in October, the Victorian driver of the #10 King Springs / Astuti Motorsport Dallara F304 needing to score 35 points or more in Clucas’ absence this weekend in order to keep the fight for the 50th Gold Star alive.

The 22-year-old will need to score a win and a second-place finish this weekend to maintain a shot at the championship.


“Mathematically there’s still a chance, so we will be there and try to get every point as possible to take the championship to Oran Park,” said Trimble, who once again will be joined by impressive New Zealand rookie Andy Knight in a two-car Astuti attack.

However the opposition won’t be letting Trimble get all the points easily, a number of leading drivers looking to make Queensland the place where they stand up and be counted after a season of domination by the absent Clucas.

Queensland’s only local outright hope this weekend - #17 SnatchIT.com.au Dallara F304 driver Chris Gilmour – just happens to be coming off his best championship round in over a year after posting a top three result at Phillip Island a fortnight ago.

Sunnybank-hills, Brisbane, based Gilmour looks to have found top form in the second half of the season and would love nothing more than to give his family-run team Gilmour Racing – and hardworking dad Errol – a win on Fathers Day this weekend.

“I think there is a good chance that we can go well,” the laconic 25-year-old said.

“We found a lot more speed in the car at Phillip Island and every time we go out it gets better and better. We don’t do that much running at Queensland Raceway but it’s always nice to have a home round on the schedule.

“It was great to be back on the podium at Phillip Island. When you are off it for a while you begin to loose confidence in yourself and the car so the third place last weekend was a real boost for us.”

“It would certainly be nice to win at home and on father’s day,” he said.

The home ground advantage, however, may yet be carried onto form driver Tim Macrow this weekend.

Macrow – who failed to score at Phillip Island after the engine of his venerable Dallara F301 failed after six laps of race one – will jump into the seat of the Bevan Carrick-owned, Queensland based Cooltemp Racing Dallara F304 Spiess at Queensland Raceway whilst his existing car is rebuilt.

The car was driven to a top-five finish in the opening round this year by Chris Gilmour, and has logged plenty of testing and development miles at QR in the hands of its owner throughout the last twelve months.

“I have to thank Bevan for giving me the opportunity to drive his car,” Macrow said.

“Gary Sturdy does an excellent job of preparing it and it’s a really nice car. I’m excited to be stepping into a 304-model car and I think that this could probably be our best shot at a race win this season.

“I know Queensland really well and was fast there last year so I think this could be a god weekend for us.” He said.

Stuart Kostera and Matt Sofi add to a strong Championship Class contingent that will take to the circuit this Friday for first practice.

Whilst the battle for the outright class may yet have life left in it, the Kumho Tyres National Class title race is set to be wrapped up this weekend.

Geelong-based Ricky Occhipinti can claim the Inaugural National Class title by merely finishing the first race at Queensland Raceway, his massive lead over year-long rival Tim Berryman meaning that he only needs 10 points in the remaining two rounds to clinch the championship.

Occhipinti has won eight of the twelve National Class rounds this year, looking to leave his mark on the record books as the classes' first ever champion before looking to a potential Championship class campaign next year.

Chris Barry will also return this weekend driving his Data #3 supported F301 Dallara in the class designed to be the a domain of the 1999 – 2001 specification F3 cars.

Lauren Gray will celebrate one year of Kumho Tyres Formula 3 competition this weekend when she looks to consolidate her lead in the Trophy Class championship, the 19-year-old Victorian having made her Australian Formula debut at the circuit with Scud Racing last year.

Gray leads the trophy battle by just 7 points, with Bill Maddocks and local driver Ian Haines looking to also battle for the class wins this weekend.

The Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star will tackle two races at Queensland Raceway this weekend.

For more information, please visit the official website of Formula 3 racing in Australia: www.formula3.com.au

The Queensland Raceway Formula 3 Lap record is 1m06.1159 – set on 03 / 07 / 2005 by Michael Trimble

Entrants – Round 7, 2006 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship

Number Class Driver State Team Car
2 C Matt SOFI NSW Transwest Insurance Brokers / Benchmark Motorsport Dallara F301 – Fiat
6 N Chris BARRY NSW Data #3 Racing Dallara F301 – Spiess
10 C Michael TRIMBLE VIC King Springs / Astuti Motorsport Dallara F304 – Renault
11 C ANDY KNIGHT NZL Astuti Motorsport Dallara F304 - Renault
17 C Chris GILMOUR QLD StatchIT.com.au / Gilmour Racing Dallara F304 – Spiess
25 C Tim MACROW VIC Scud / Cooltemp Racing Dallara F304 – Spiess
27 C Stuart KOSTERA WA PHR Scuderia Dallara F304 – Renault
32 N Ricky OCCHIPINTI VIC Formula-Uno-Racing Dallara F301 – Spiess
58 N Andrew MILL QLD Property Solutions Group Dallara F301 - Renault
60 T Ian HAINES QLD Hair on the Edge Dallara F398 - Toyota
87 T Lauren GRAY VIC Scud Racing Dallara F396 – Toyota
88 T Bill MADDOCKS VIC Scud Racing Dallara F396 - Toyota

Championship Class / Gold Star Points (After 6 of 8 Rounds)

Pos. Driver State Team Car Points
1 Ben Clucas UK John Deere / Gawler Farm Machinery Team BRM Dallara F304 – Spiess 249
2 Michael Trimble VIC King Springs / Astuti Motorsport Dallara F304 – Renault 171
3 Tim Macrow VIC Dodo / Scud Racing Dallara F301 – Spiess 119
4 Leanne Tander VIC Fleetcare Tandersport Dallara F304 – Spiess 101
5 Chris Gilmour QLD StatchIT.com.au / Gilmour Racing Dallara F304 – Spiess 99


National Class (After 6 of 8 Rounds)
Pos. Driver State Team Car Points
1 Ricky Occhipinti VIC Formula-Uno-Racing Dallara F301 – Spiess 201
2 Tim Berryman NSW Delta Agribusiness Dallara F301 – Spiess 121
3 Chris Barry NSW Data #3 Dallara F301 – Spiess 66
Trophy Class (After 6 of 8 Rounds)
Pos. Driver State Team Car Points
1 Lauren Gray VIC Scud Racing Dallara F396 – Toyota 162
2 Graeme Holmes NSW GKH Powdecoating Dallara F398 – Toyota 155
3 Bill Maddocks VIC Scud Racing Dallara F396 – Toyota 142

Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
 
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