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Leanne Tander signs to race Formula V6 Asia in 2008 |
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Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
Leanne Tander
will earn some serious frequent flyer miles this year after
confirming today that she will drive for Opes Prime Team
Meritus for the entire 2008 Formula V6 Aisa
championship.
It will give Tander the chance to win two of
the toughest Open Wheel series in the region in the same year, as
she will dovetail her Asian racing with an attack on the Australian
Formula 3 Championship with TanderSport.
Whilst neither
calendar is completely confirmed, it looks likely that there will be
no schedule clashes, allowing Leanne to contest both series in
full.
Tander tested the Opes Prime car successfully in
December last year, completing two days at Sepang (Malaysia) in her
first drive of the 400hp, V6-powered cars – a step up in performance
from her regular TanderSport Dallara F3 car.
In her only dry
run of the two-day test Tander lapped within a second of the pole
time set earlier in the year, doing enough to impress the right
people to secure the full season drive.
Formula V6 Asia cars
– formerly used in the World Series by Renault championship - lap at
a similar pace to A1GP Cars, Matt Halliday and GP2 star Karun
Chandhok having already used the category to progress their careers
despite it only having been established for a short time.
In
2007 the championship featured rounds in Indonesia, China, Japan and
Malaysia.
 Leanne will be the first female driver to race in
the growing series after setting several records in Australia in
2007, winning two races and finishing second in the Australian
Formula 3 Championship.
She became the first female to win a
race in the 51-year history of the Australian Drivers Championship.
Leanne will test the car further before the championship
begins to ensure the Opes Prime car is competitive from the first
round.
”It’s very exciting and I’m looking forward to the
chance to race internationally in 2008,” Leanne
enthused.
”The test itself was a great opportunity so to be
able to commit for the fulls season and have a chance to race for
the championship is even better, I’m very thankful to Anthony
Blumberg and Opes Prime for their support.
”The team
were great and have proven success as one of the top operations in
Asian Motorsport. The series is growing quickly and there are
already several strong drivers looking set to compete this year that
will make it a very demanding championship.
”It will be a
busy year,” she added. “Racing in two championships across several
countries will not be easy but its every drivers dream to race as
often as possible in lots of fantastic different cars, so this is a
huge opportunity for my career and one I intend to take as best I
possibly can.”
The Formula V6 Asia championship schedule is
yet to be confirmed, whilst Leanne will next be in action between
February 1 – 3 for the opening round of the Kumho Tyres Australian
Formula 3 Championship with TanderSport, the team she co-owns with
Australian V8 Supercar champion Garth Tander.
About
Formula V6 Asia:
Formula V6 Asia is the most
technologically advanced car in its category and has one objective:
to train drivers, engineers, mechanics and team managers on their
way up to Formula 1. The car with 370bhp, 3.5i 24 valve V6 engine
with speeds reaching up to 275kph aims to increase performance while
limiting costs, enhance safety and make the Formula V6 Asia as the
choice series for all serious single-seater drivers in Asia
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